Page 48 of Try Line Hearts
Eli slid into the empty seat beside him, jacket unbuttoned, tie already loosened like he’d decided formality was a suggestion, not a rule. He followed Lucas’s line of sight toward the windows.
The couple were still there. The taller one reached into his partner’s coat pocket, stole a piece of chewing gum, got swatted for it, laughed. The shorter man fixed his tie and rolled his eyes in a way that was pure affection.
“Nice,” Eli said softly. “Good for them.”
Lucas dragged his gaze away too fast. “Wasn’t staring.”
“You absolutely were,” Eli replied easily. “I thought you’d spotted a defensive pattern out there I’d missed.”
Lucas’s mouth twitched. “Planes don’t have backlines.”
“You’d find a way to run one,” Eli said. He watched Lucas for a beat, then his voice gentled. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Lucas said automatically.
Eli didn’t call him on it. Didn’t corner him with kindness. He just tipped his head toward the windows.
“They look happy,” he said. “Don’t they?”
Lucas swallowed. “Yeah,” he managed. “They do.”
Eli hummed. “Nice to know it exists in the wild.”
“In the wild,” Lucas repeated, because it was easier than sayingI didn’t know it could be real. I didn’t know it could be simple.
“You know what I mean,” Eli said. “Not on a screen. Not in some far-away city. Just… here. In our airport. Stealing gum and missing flights.”
There was something almost wistful in his tone—like he’d been looking for proof too.
“You want that?” Lucas asked before he could stop himself. “Someday.”
Eli didn’t hesitate. “Yeah,” he said simply. “I do.”
The honesty landed in Lucas like a dropped stone. Heavy. Unavoidable.
He wanted to sayme too.
Instead he said, “You’d be insufferable with that much happiness.”
Eli laughed softly. “Probably. But I’d make it look good.”
Aoife clapped her hands then, gathering them to the gate with shepherd efficiency. Boarding began. Tickets beeped. Passports flashed. Lucas let himself be carried along by motion.
As they walked down the jet bridge, he glanced once more toward the window.
The two men were still there, shoulder to shoulder, heads bent over something on a phone, smiling like time didn’t hurt.
Lucas tore his gaze away and stepped onto the plane.
They were in the same row, of course.
Lucas took the middle. Eli took the window, shoving his bag into the overhead with practiced ease. A stranger slid into the aisle seatwith a polite nod and immediately put headphones on like this was a bunker.
Across the aisle, someone from the squad dropped into place with a theatrical groan. The cabin filled with the rustle of suits and the whirr of overhead fans, and the low, familiar hum of men trying not to show nerves by becoming extra annoying.
Eli prodded the edge of Lucas’s tray table with his knuckle. “You nervous? About flying, not about the men in tasteful rings.”
Lucas snorted. “No.”
