Fly with Me: a novel by Andie Burke

chapter 22

It would not be a stretch to say Stella climbing out of a cockpit was now Olive’s sexual orientation. The sun glinted off her dark hair, which was coiled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. Aviators were perched sexily on her nose, and she was wearing fitted jeans, sturdy hiking boots, and a soft-looking flannel that made Olive want to nuzzle her. Which was not creepy at all.

It had taken Olive several hours to decide what to wear. Was this an athleisure type of hike or more of a rough-it type of hike? She stood near the airfield where Stella had told her to park and was actually happy with her choice of attire. Beat-up jeans and an old thrifted Kate Bush concert T-shirt with a hoodie. She guzzled the rest of her third coffee of the day and then put the empty cup back in her car.

Olive had stayed late over at Stella’s house the previous night, helping her develop a social media strategy complete with choosing presets and filters and brainstorming ideas for how to leverage her followers to continue to make a name for herself at the airline and as a leading female pilot in the industry in general. Olive hadn’t posted anything on her own Adventures with Gus account since it blew up after the viral video, but helping Stella with hers felt less intimidating.

Stella shook hands with her flying student and then trotted over to meet Olive.

“Thanks for meeting me here,” Stella said, grinning. “Ted was running late, so I wanted to give him an extra few minutes so he could get his full hour of flight time in.”

“That’s okay. You want to drive, right?”

“If you don’t mind.” Stella offered her an unsure quirk of the lips. “We can pick up your car before dinner.”

“Sounds good.”

They crossed the parking lot to Stella’s ever immaculate silver Prius. They hopped in and drove toward Harper’s Ferry. Olive knew better than to offer her any sort of snack now. Stella would probably have a heart attack before eating in her car given that she wouldn’t even drink coffee in a rental.

They arrived at the start of a trail and headed out together. Olive tried not to focus on the brush of Stella’s hands against hers in the spots where the trail narrowed. She shoved her own hands in her pockets to avoid the temptation to intertwine her fingers with Stella’s. She kept pace easily, even though Stella’s legs were several inches longer than Olive’s. Olive was gladder than ever about her race training. It was a beautiful day. Maryland had teased them all by staying warm now more than a week into November, which meant the coming cold snap would be more of a gut punch.

They’d stopped every now and then for Stella to point out a particular tree or landmark. Stella had Girl Scout written all over her, even if Olive hadn’t seen the picture of her in the green vest and pigtails yesterday. Most of Olive’s hiking over the last year had been either alone or with Gus. And she wasn’t so much hiking as showing up at the national parks and wandering around until she felt the box on Jake’s list could be honestly checked off or until aging Gus began huffing and puffing. Hiking with Stella would be an entirely different experience.

Sweat formed on Olive’s head, so she took off the sweatshirt and wrapped it around her waist. Stella mirrored the motion by pulling off her flannel. Underneath she wore a tissue-thin white T-shirt that matched what she’d been wearing in the car to Disney.

Stella pointed. “There’s a beautiful view up ahead. Is it okay if we do it there?”

“Do—do what?” Olive stuttered out words, before her brain caught up with the filthy fantasy that began playing in her mind as soon as the words do it came out of Stella’s perfect mouth. “Oh, take photos.”

“Right. What did you think I…?”

“Rest and eat a snack,” Olive said without hesitating, unsure if Stella would buy it.