New Heights

by Quinn Anderson

  Mika snuck a look at James, and James looked back. Something unspoken passed between them, and suddenly, Mika became aware of how closely together they were sitting, knees almost touching.

  Should I . . . lean in?

  The thought startled Mika almost as much as what James did next. It was only for a second, but his blue eyes slid down to Mika’s lips before darting back up. Almost as if they’d slipped.

  Mika’s heart was suddenly pounding. He was hit by the realization that he really wanted to kiss James. In hindsight, that should have been obvious, but finding James attractive was different from wanting to act on it. Mika couldn’t . . . They couldn’t . . . They’d just gotten onto good terms. No way Mika was going to do anything to screw that up now.

  Before he could do anything, James broke the spell. He took a big gulp of wine and then cleared his throat. “So, Mika Bailey, tell me more.”

  Mika swallowed and managed to croak, “About what?”

  “You. There’s still a lot I don’t know about you.”

  Mika seized onto that like a lifejacket, even as disappointment twanged in his gut. “What do you want to know?”

  “You said you’re in New York on business, and you’re flying to Charleston from here. Is that where you live?”

  “Yeah. You?”

  James nodded. “That’s a funny coincidence. You’d think an airport would be a great place to meet someone who’s not from the same city as you.”

  “I don’t usually meet anyone at all. I guess it was meant to be.” Mika smiled. “Actually, before we were introduced, I had a nickname for you.”

  “You did?”

  “I didn’t know your name, so I had to call you something.”

  “Oh my God.” James spun in his chair until he was facing Mika dead-on. “What was it?”

  Never one to resist a chance to tease, Mika cocked his head to the side and smiled coyly. “Tell you what, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. What’d you call me?”

  James’s cheeks flooded with pink. “I, uh, didn’t have a nickname for you.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Well . . . you gotta realize, you took the last charger and cut me in line. There was no way I was going to call you something flattering.”

  “I promise I’ve been called worse. Spill.”

  James hesitated for a moment longer before dropping his gaze to his lap. “Rude Headphones Guy.”

  “Is that all?” Mika laughed. “You’re adorable. With the way you carried on, I was expecting something from George Carlin’s seven dirty words.”

  “Sorry to disappoint.” James looked up. His fair hair had fallen over his eyes in a way that made it difficult for Mika to breathe. “Your turn. What’d you call me? Actually, if it’s too mean, I don’t want to know.”

  Mika pulled himself together. “It’s not mean at all, believe it or not. I called you Colgate.”

  “‘Colgate’? Why?”

  It occurred to Mika that he hadn’t thought this through.

  “Because, um, with your big, bright smile and your hair and everything, I . . . thought you looked like you could, you know, be a toothpaste model. Or something.” It was Mika’s turn to blush as James stared at him. “What?”

  “You—” James smothered his laughter with a hand. “You think I look like a model?”

  “Hey, in my defense, you’re all tan and tall and shit.” Mika waved a hand up and down James’s body. “I thought you might be from California. I thought a lot of things that didn’t end up being true.”

  “You know you basically just admitted you think I’m gorgeous, right?” James fluttered his eyelashes.

  “Shut up.” Mika finished his beer and signaled to the bartender for another one. “At least my nickname had some creativity behind it. Rude Headphones Guy? Could you have been more literal?”

  “Whatever. I’m a model from California. I don’t need to be creative. I can get by on my looks.” James pretended to flip his hair back.

  Mika couldn’t help but laugh. “Colgate and Rude Headphones Guy. Sounds like the worst crime-fighting duo ever.” The bartender brought him another beer, and after he’d paid for it, Mika wasted no time slamming a gulp back.

  James looked between Mika and his own half-full glass of wine. “You wanna talk about it?”

  “It’s not like that. I have a system. Like I told you before, my job makes me travel a lot. I spend so much time in airports, I have this whole thing down to a science. When to arrive, what seats to take, and how to get a good buzz going without being drunk on the plane. They won’t let you board if you’re intoxicated. If I got turned away at the gate after going through all of this, I’d be pissed.”

  “Makes sense. How often does your job fly you out?”

  “Depends, but at least every other month. There’s always some seminar or workshop or job fair for me to go to. Advertising changes so quickly, and there are a million products for growing a business. Part of my job is to research them and then decide what we invest in.”

  “I can’t imagine being away from home for so long. With you traveling all the time, it must be hard to—” Abruptly, James pressed his lips together. Then he grabbed his wine and drained the rest of it in two swallows.

  Mika looked at him askance. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  He leaned forward until he was in James’s line of sight. “I’m not going to stop pestering you until you tell me.”

  Sighing, James glanced at him. “I was going to say that must make it hard for you to spend time with your family, or hang out with your friends . . . or date. Unless you’re already seeing someone, or whatever.”

  There was a chance Mika was imagining it, but that last part sounded a little too casual. The idea made his heart pound hard against his ribs.

  “Actually, no. I’m not seeing anyone at the moment. In fact, I’ve never had a serious boyfriend.”

  At the word boyfriend, James’s eyes snapped to Mika’s face and widened. Mika braced himself, praying he wasn’t about to find out James was a homophobe or a Bible-thumper or something.

  To his relief, James merely raised an eyebrow. “Never? Not even in college?”

  “Nah. My longest relationship was three months, I think. And it was more of friendship that included some ill-advised sex. It didn’t end well.”

  James whistled. “Damn. I’m the opposite. All my relationships are long-term, sometimes to my detriment.”

  “Are you seeing anyone right now?” Mika held his breath.

  “No.” He winced. “I got dumped a few months ago. We were together for nine months.”

  “Sorry to hear that.” Mika was not the tiniest bit sorry. “Were you caught by surprise?”

  James shook his head. “I should have ended it way before then, but like I said, I’m a serial monogamist. Thank God he finally broke things off, or who knows how long I would have stayed. And for what? The joys of not being single? Ugh.”

  Mika knew he should be paying attention to the poignant and character-revealing information James was telling him, but his brain was stuck on James’s pronoun choice. He.

  James had dated a man. He was interested in men. The knowledge smacked Mika across the face.

  What are the chances I’d end up talking to the one guy at the airport who’s gorgeous, lives in my city, and is interested in men? I was joking before when I suggested this was meant to be, but . . . maybe it was.

  Mika wasn’t the sort to believe in fate or whatever, but this was a hell of a coincidence.

  He wet his lips. “We don’t have to talk about your ex-boyfriend if you don’t want to.”

  “No, it’s okay.” James fastened on his trademark brilliant smile. “You’re actually the first person I’ve felt comfortable talking about this with. Which is weird, because I was prepared to hate you for all eternity earlier today.”

  “But you don’t hate me?” Mika’s heart fluttered.

  James looked like he was fighting back a l
augh. “Nah. I don’t hate you.”

  “I don’t hate you too.”

  They locked eyes. Mika lost the ability to form coherent sentences. If this weird energy kept springing up between them, he was going to need a defibrillator. While he struggled to think of something to say, James giggled.

  “What?” Mika asked.

  “Nothing. It’s just weird to see you tongue-tied. Bet that doesn’t happen a lot.”

  Mika swatted James on the shoulder and muttered some disparaging remarks under his breath. He has a point, though.

  The bartender came by to check on them. She pointed at James’s empty wineglass. “You want another one?”

  “Sure, why not.” James looked at Mika. “You want another beer?”

  Mika thought about it for a moment. He was already buzzed, but he could handle one more. After this, he’d take it slower. He didn’t want to end up spilling all his secrets. “Please. Thank you.”

  Within a minute, James had a fresh glass of wine, and Mika had one and a half beers in front of him. He was definitely going to need to slow down.

  He gathered his few sober brain cells. “Can I ask you something?”

  James paused on his way to sipping his wine and nodded.

  “Is your ex the second reason why you don’t like to be called Jamie?”

  James tensed, and for a second Mika thought he’d fucked up, but then James relaxed. “That obvious, huh?”

  “Not at all, I promise. I have an annoying ability to put two and two together.”

  “Well, it definitely equals four in this case. He used to call me that. Ruined it for me for life.” James peeked over at him. “Can I ask you something in return? There’s a question that’s been on my mind for a while now.”

  “Sure.”

  “Why’d you buy me lunch before? I get that it was an apology of sorts for stealing my seat at the charging station, but couldn’t you have said you were sorry? Why buy me food?”

  The alcohol was definitely getting to him, because for once, Mika didn’t have a smart answer. The only thing on his tongue was the truth. “I wanted to get your attention.”

  James leaned closer, stealing away Mika’s breath with every inch. “Why?”

  Mika shrugged. “You already know why. Because you’re gorgeous, remember?” His teasing tone didn’t quite come across.

  James’s expression was a beautiful mixture of surprise and heat. When their eyes met, Mika thought, I assumed I was leading this dance, but now I’m not so sure.

  Half an hour and another glass of wine later, James was probably tipsy and absolutely having the time of his life. He didn’t know for sure what was going on between Mika and him, but he knew it was flirty. And fun. More fun than he’d had in a long time.

  After getting over the initial awkwardness of having drinks with his “nemesis,” James had discovered that they had a surprising amount in common. There was the superficial stuff: they were around the same age, lived in the same city, and liked a lot of the same music and movies. But there were also some odd coincidences.

  They both hated cinnamon, and hated when other people acted like they were bizarre as a result. They both had a younger sister who liked to meddle in their lives. And they both owned multiple, well-read copies of Catch-22.

  James couldn’t believe he’d ever thought this was an opposites-attract sort of situation. Mika and he had different approaches to life, sure, but at their cores they were frighteningly similar. Stubborn. Passionate. More in need of validation than they were willing to admit. James was even learning an appreciation for the things about Mika that he’d thought he didn’t like.

  When Mika wasn’t turning it against people, his quick tongue was James’s favorite thing about him. What he’d said before was true: he told the best stories. He had an endless arsenal of jokes, most of which were so bad, they were good. He’d told James one about Medusa and objectification that had made James spit out his wine.

  James found it surprisingly easy to open up to Mika as well. He hadn’t talked about David with anyone but his sister since the breakup, and even then, he’d mostly told her not to talk about it. With Mika, however, he was finally able to work through why it’d bothered him so much.

  “I guess it’s because it was so unequivocally my fault, you know?” James ran a hand through his hair and propped an elbow on the bar. “I’m an anxious person, if you can’t tell, so I’m used to wondering if I’ve done something wrong. But in this case, there was no question. I lied to him, pretended I was still invested when I wasn’t, and now I’m paying the price.”

  Mika paused on the way to take a sip of his (third?) beer. “What do you mean?”

  “David and I still talk, but not in a congenial way. He hasn’t come out and said it, but he’s been asking me for favors ever since things ended.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he thinks I owe him one, or twelve. It’s made it difficult for me to get closure and move on.”

  “Tell him to fuck off, then.”

  James chuckled. “Good one. Because I’m totally the sort of person who can do that. Also, I do owe him. I committed the crime, and now I’m serving my time.”

  “So, what, you’re gonna let him emotionally blackmail you for the rest of your life?”

  “Not the entire rest of it.” James frowned. “Hopefully.”

  “Do you want to stay friends with him?”

  “I hate to say it, but not really. You’ve been better company in the past few hours than he was the whole time we dated.”

  For some reason, Mika looked down and coughed. “Right. Then you know what you gotta do. Vaporize him. Crush his heart once and for all, and pray it hurts so bad, he never speaks to you again.”

  “Jesus. Aren’t you just a half-full glass.”

  “It sounds harsh, but trust me, it’ll be healthier for you both in the long run. You need to rip off the bandage.”

  “Believe it or not, I agree.” James made a frustrated sound. “But that’s so much easier said than done.”

  “I know confrontation is hard. I mean, not for me, but everyone else seems to think so. However, I want you to imagine the relief you’ll feel when you tell him the truth and cut ties.”

  James was silent for a second. Then, he nodded. “I see your point.”

  “Good. Also, if you let things go on this way, you realize what you’ll be doing, right?”

  “Um . . . no?”

  “Before, you knew the relationship was over, but you stayed in it because you didn’t want to end it. Now, you’re once again maintaining this charade of a friendship instead of being honest. I sense a pattern here.”

  James eyes grew wide. “Oh my God. You’re right.”

  “Yeah.” Mika winked. “I’m deep.”

  “You really are.” James pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Last time I spoke to David, he wanted me to help him with some car trouble. Think I should tell him we need to talk when I get back?”

  “Nope. Let him know right now that you think you two should go your separate ways.”

  James nibbled on his lower lip. “Really? You don’t think I should do this face-to-face?”

  “No, and for three reasons.” Mika held up a finger for each point. “One, you might chicken out. Two, shitty news is shitty news; it hurts no matter how it’s delivered. And three, he’s not your boyfriend anymore. He’s not your friend either. He’s some guy who’s hassling you for favors. You don’t owe him a sit-down dinner to tell him what you both already know: the relationship is over, and outside of standard civility, you two have no reason to interact.”

  “Damn.” James exhaled. “You make it sound so simple.”

  Mika waved him off. “It is simple, I swear. I have to do a lot of apologizing—as I’m sure you can imagine—so I’ve become an expert at telling where the blame really lies. In your case, the initial blame was on you, but now David’s the one who’s milking it. Tell him so long and thanks for all the fish. The sooner, the b
etter.”

  James was still as a statue for a second before he held up his phone. “All right. I’ll do it.”

  Mika looked at him sidelong. “Right now?”

  “Sure. Why not?” He was talking to himself as much as Mika. After taking a breath, he tapped on his messages and selected David’s name. David had sent follow-up texts asking if James was going to send him money or not, which James had ignored. He reread them now. David hadn’t bothered to ask why James was in New York, or if he’d had a good time.

  Whatever lingering hesitation James felt evaporated.

  I’m sorry about your car trouble, David, he typed. I can’t help you, though. I’m still in New York, and even if I weren’t, it’s not appropriate for you to ask me for money. I know we said we were going to remain friends, but that’s not working out, and we both know it. Please don’t contact me again. I hope you have a good life.

  James hit Send before he could change his mind, blocked David’s number so he couldn’t send something nasty back, and tossed the phone onto the bar. Before he could so much as blink, Mika snatched it up.

  “Hey—” James protested, but Mika’s eyes were already scanning the text.

  “Not bad.” Mika handed the phone back. “I would have thrown in a couple of four-letter words, but you did well. You were clear without being cruel. Kind, but firm. I’m proud of you.”

  “Thank you. I’m proud of me too.”

  It was the truth. The relief James had imagined before swept through him, warming him. Or maybe that was the wine. Either way, he felt better than he had in months. He hadn’t realized how much this thing with David had been dragging him down. Now that the weight was off, cliché as it sounded, everything seemed different.

  Including Mika next to him. James had always thought Mika was handsome, but now when he looked at him, he saw so much more. He never would have guessed Mika had so much emotional intelligence. Or that someone who’d never had a serious boyfriend could give such good relationship advice.