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He looks at his friends and says loud enough for everyone in China to hear, “Hey, Jay! She calls you ‘Man Bun!’”
The three of them fall over in their chairs with laughter, holding their stomachs. Ezra falls against me, and I push him away, irritated.
When they’re finally done, I say, “how am I supposed to know what his damn name is if all he does is stare at me like a creep?”
Suddenly, Man Bun stands up. His head almost reaches the ceiling, and even though I’m sitting at least six feet away from him, it still feels like he’s in my space.
“First you call me Man Bun, now I’m a creep?” he says in that dreadfully deep voice of his. I can’t help the warmth that flares in the pit of my stomach. “I spoke to you at the club.”
“Yeah, well, you weren’t exactly a conversationalist,” I mutter sarcastically. Amusement glints in his dark brown eyes. Fuck, if I wasn’t with Ezra, I’d be falling all over this guy.
“I prefer pillow talk,” he replies quietly, sitting back down in his seat. His eyes never leave mine, and I finally have to look away because his gaze is so penetrating.
The flight attendant rolls a cart with four silver trays down the aisle. She hands two to Lee and Man Bun—no, Jay is his name—before continuing down the aisle and handing two to Ezra and me. I pull the lid off, and my stomach instantly starts growling. We’re given small snack trays to eat. It’s no gourmet meal, but it looks delicious.
I begin scarfing down cheese, cold cuts, crackers, grapes, nuts, and everything else on the tray. The flight attendant hands us glasses of water, which I gulp down in no time. When I’m done, I feel everyone’s eyes on me. I turn to look at Ezra, who looks both shocked and impressed.
“I thought you weren’t hungry,” he teases, putting a cracker in his mouth. He still has half a tray of food left.
I shrug and wipe the crumbs from my dress. “I didn’t realize I was until now.”
“Damn,” Lee says from the other side of the jet, mouth full of food. “Where the hell did she put it all?”
My cheeks burn from embarrassment for the second time tonight. I don’t think he’s making fun of me, but I still cringe self-consciously. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight since I left Ezra, but I sometimes still feel like that chubby girl he met all those years ago.
“Don’t do that,” I hear Ezra say. I think he’s talking to Lee, but when I look up at him, he’s looking at me with a fierceness that makes me melt.
“Don’t do what?” I whisper.
“You’re beautiful,” is all he says. I swallow, the intensity of his gaze making my mouth water. He knows me well enough to know where my thoughts have gone. I tend to wear my emotions on my face, but despite that, he always senses what I’m thinking.
He takes a sip of his water before continuing. “I don’t ever want you to think so poorly of yourself anymore. And especially not around me. Do you understand, Maya?”
I nod and whisper, “yes.”
He turns back to his food, and I let out a breath. It’s stupid, I know it is. Ezra has never once commented on my weight or appearance, never made me feel inadequate because of it. He’s always loved my body. I definitely wasn’t stick thin when he met me, and when it was clear I wouldn’t be able to leave him when I wanted to, I let myself go. I used food to keep from losing my mind. Food was, and still is, everything to me. But stress and exhaustion caused me to turn to a liquid diet of coffee and water. Once I realized the harm I was doing to myself, I stopped and began running on my lunch breaks.
Ezra slides the rest of his food to me without a word. I smile at him gratefully, and something in his eyes changes.
“I miss your smile,” he says quietly.
I grab a small glass dish of chocolate chips and pop a couple in my mouth. “I miss you feeding me.”
He raises his eyebrows in shock. “So you did miss me?”
I roll my eyes. “I said Imissed you feeding me. Don’t get your hopes up, Baldie.” I rub the top of his head affectionately.
He chuckles. “Honestly, I’m surprised you still have such a big appetite. That’s always been one of my favorite things about you.”
Once again, that intense gaze does so much to me. I’m flooded with the emotions of the past. I want to kiss him, hug him, fuck him. But then I’d be a hypocrite—to myself. How can I want the very same person I’m trying so hard to distance myself from?
When I look into his eyes and see the love and affection there…
It’s just hard to give up those feelings. Even though the relationship was tumultuous, it made mefeel.
“How long does it take to get to Eastlake on the jet?”
Eastlake is the small city in New York where Ezra lives. His mansion, The Fortress, sits right in the heart of a large forest; the seclusion makes it easier for him to get his work done and stay hidden from his enemies.
