Falling For My Worst Nightmare

CHAPTER 3

Avira's POV

I double-checked my boarding pass for the tenth time as I wheeled my suitcase through JFK Airport. First class to London - I still couldn't believe Dorathy actually did it.

"Gate 47... Gate 47..." I muttered, scanning the departure boards. My phone buzzed with a text from my godmother:

Safe travels, darling! Can't wait to spoil you rotten! xx

I smiled. I couldn't wait to be spoiled rotten either. A few weeks in London was definitely what I needed.

The first-class cabin was everything I'd imagined - spacious seats that looked comfortable, and flight attendants greeting everyone with genuine smiles instead of the tired fake ones I was used to seeing. I settled into seat 3A by the window, ready to put New York and all its drama behind me.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard Flight 892 to London Heathrow..."

As the plane taxied down the runway, I felt my shoulders relax. I pulled out my phone to take a selfie when someone slid into the seat directly across the aisle from me.

I didn't bother looking up. Whoever it was could mind their own business while I minded mine.

I was scrolling through my playlist, trying to decide between sleep or a movie, when the plane lurched violently to the left.

My stomach dropped.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN!" The voice crackled through the intercom, filled with panic. "WE'RE EXPERIENCING TOTAL ENGINE FAILURE! CABIN CREW, PREPARE FOR EMERGENCY EVACUATION!"

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Engine failure. Emergency evacuation.

Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God.

Panic erupted throughout the cabin like wildfire. Passengers screamed, some crying, others praying. Flight attendants rushed down the aisles, their faces pale as they started distributing parachutes.

I pressed myself against the airplane window, my hands shaking as I watched passenger after passenger grab parachutes from the overhead compartments. My heart hammered against my ribs as I counted them disappearing: Five left... four... three... two...

The plane tilted sharply to the right, and I went tumbling across the aisle, catching myself on an armrest. When I looked up, there was one final parachute hanging in the compartment directly above my original seat.

One left.

Just one.

I lunged for it, my fingers stretching desperately toward the canvas straps, when another hand shot out from nowhere - a large, masculine hand that grabbed the exact same parachute at the exact same moment I did.

"No way," I breathed, my eyes traveling up the arm to a face that made my stomach drop faster than our failing aircraft.

Steel-gray eyes. Sharp jawline. Tousled dark hair.

Kyle f*****g Luggard.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, his voice that same low growl I remembered from yesterday.

For a split second, we both just stared at each other - two people who'd hoped never to cross paths again, now facing death while fighting over our only chance at survival.

"I got it first!" I shouted, yanking hard on the parachute straps.

"Like hell you did!" Kyle pulled back with equal force, his knuckles white around the canvas. "I was here first!"

The plane lurched violently again, throwing both of us against the cabin wall. My shoulder slammed into the window, and stars exploded across my vision.

"Give me that parachute!" I screamed, pulling myself back up and grabbing the straps again.

"Not a chance!" Kyle yanked back with brutal strength. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Yeah!" I snarled, my fear turning into the same rage I'd felt in that lobby. "You're the asshole who slapped me yesterday! And now you want to steal my parachute too?"

Kyle's jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscle jumping. Through the window behind him, I could see the ground rushing up toward us at terrifying speed. We had maybe minutes.

Maybe less.

"We don't have time for this!" Kyle's voice was raw with desperation. "This thing is going down whether we like it or not!"

"Then let go of MY parachute!"

For a moment, something shifted in his eyes. “f**k it! I'm not dying because of you!"

Before I could react, Kyle grabbed me around the waist with his free arm and started dragging me toward the emergency exit, the parachute clutched between us.

"What are you doing?!" I screamed, struggling against his grip. His arm was like an iron band around my waist. "Let me go!"

"Are you insane? We're sharing it!" he shouted back.

"I didn't agree to this!" But even as I protested, I wrapped my arms around him tightly.

The emergency door was already open, wind howling through the cabin like a banshee.

"On three!" he shouted directly into my ear. "One!"

My arms held on tighter, hating myself for it.

"Two!"

The plane gave one final, devastating lurch. Metal screamed. Glass shattered somewhere behind us.

"THREE!"

Kyle launched us both out of the plummeting aircraft.

For a moment, we were weightless - falling through empty sky.

The ground rushed up to meet us as Kyle fumbled with the parachute cord. I could see ocean below us now, dark and endless.

"Pull the damn cord!" I shrieked.

"I'm trying!" Kyle yanked hard on the release, and finally - FINALLY - the parachute deployed with a violent jerk that felt like it might rip us in half.

We were still falling fast, too fast, but at least we weren't falling to our deaths anymore.

"This is all your fault!" I gasped, my face inches from his as we swayed beneath the parachute.

"My fault?" Kyle's eyes were wild with adrenaline and fury. "You're the one who…”

His words were cut off as we hit the water.

The impact drove all the air from my lungs. Salt water rushed into my mouth, my nose, burning everything. The parachute collapsed on top of us, heavy and suffocating, dragging us down into the dark blue depths.

And Kyle Luggard was still holding onto me like his life depended on it.