I bite down so hard, my jaw aches. “You’re one to talk.”

He squints at me.

“Don’t talk to me about discomfort.” I steady my voice so I don’t cause a scene. “Your entire existence has made me uncomfortable. Ever since I met you, life has been a million times more unpleasant for me and my mom. Do you have any idea the kind of uncertainty you’ve sown into our jobs by taking over our spot? That thought is more than just uncomfortable.”

When I pause to take a breath, I feel like I’ve finished the hill sprint workout at spin class.

“There you are every single day, parking right next to us, reminding us that in a few weeks we could lose it all. You wouldn’t even listen when I tried to explain everything to you the day we met. I was just trying to be nice . . . Some trucks were awful to us when we started out, snapping at us because we didn’t know the rules. Finally, someone clued us in, and things were so much better. All I wanted to do was help you, like someone helped me.”

My heart is racing and I’m practically panting as I unload these words, these words I’ve been aching to say to him for weeks, but I’ve never had the nerve—until now. Now that we’re trapped together in a metal tube with no clear escape, I may as well lay it all out.

“Remember the farmer’s market? I was just trying to be nice again, and you glared at me like I was the vilest thing you had ever laid eyes on. You walked by me like I was nothing. Any idea how uncomfortable that made me feel? And how you refused to take that money I offered you at the vet’s office and when you jumped my car? God, you were so condescending about it. I guess hard-ass Callum has no time to be even the tiniest bit decent to his competitors.”

I stop before my voice has the chance to break. Why did I ever think he could be anything other than brash and cruel? That’s all he’s ever shown me.

Only one hour into this flight, and already our attempt at pleasantry is an epic fail. I death-glare at a cloud outside my window while quietly deep breathing my way to something resembling calm.

“I’m sorry, Nikki.”

His quietly spoken words are a shock to the body. Good thing I’m already sitting, because if I had been standing, I would have fainted.

Pushing up his sleeves, he shrugs. “I didn’t know you were trying to be nice. At the farmer’s market, I mean.”

“I was smiling and waving at you. Jesus, what’s your version of nice?”