Tipsy

Eight

Chapter Eight

Mikah

Cancun would be my first vacation in years. The only thing in my way was a four-hour flight and customs. With my carry-on bag shoved into the compartment above me, I took my place between Kit and a stranger who had already made it clear with a romance novel in hand that she wasn't up to make friends—unless they were fictional. Kit had opted for a word search to pass the time before takeoff. Both of us were ready for a drink. While I waited for that to become a reality, I watched Hallie board the plane. She may have taken the same Uber as I did, but she held the attention span of a gnat while in the airport, visiting every giftshop she could find. She'd nearly missed boarding.

It must have been my eye roll, Kit saw. She closed the word search and turned to glare my way. I removed my eyes from my roommate and directed them at my sister. With a quick glance to Hallie, and back at me, she motioned a hand in the blonde's direction.

"What?" I asked, already aggravated and feeling as though I was being accused of something.

"She's never been to an airport. It's her first flight. You couldn't help her out?"

"Didn't realize it was my day to babysit," I said. "Speaking of... who is watching my niece?"

I was smacked with the word search on the arm before Kit turned to sit upright in her seat. "She's with aunt Laurie. Don't change the subject."

"It is not my job to be Hallie's chaperone. Nor did she ask for help. She's a big girl, Kit. She found the plane all by herself."

I was used to my little sister's huffing and puffing when she felt she hadn't gotten her way or had lost an argument. The word search was once again opened, but she wasn't actually finding lost words. It seemed to just make her appear busy when she wasn't. It was a classic tell for nearly everyone in the Mulligan family... silence was rarely a good thing.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." Kit's knee bobbed as she flipped the pages of the puzzle book.

"Nothing is never nothing with a woman. What did I do now?"

"Are you still seeing Shelby?"

I cringed and played off the accusation, knowing that wasn't the entire truth.

"Mikah!" Kit hissed.

"I don't need a lecture," I said defensively. "I put the relationship on pause again. It was just sex, and she was getting clingy."

"Because in her delusional head, she loves you!"

My cheek caved as I bit it, watching the seatbelt line flash to red. I applied it, as Kit did the same, still muttering about Shelby being part of my life. I had to assume it was Shelby herself who had said something to Kit or to my mother. But Kit got it wrong. It was me who was the delusional one.

"And what about you?" I asked Kit, still feeling heated. "I hear you're sleeping with your therapist?"

"Fuck off," she said beneath her breath with a shaking head. "You don't know shit."

I knew way more than she realized. My delusional ex saw them together, and it was anything but professional. We came from a small town, and not much stayed a secret around there. I needed to break the ice on this subject and now was as good of a time as any. Kit couldn't go anywhere. Her ass was planted for the next four hours.

"I'm not paying that creep by the hour to sleep with you," I said, scolding her. We now had the attention of the romance reader, peeking from above the book. "That is so beyond fucked up, Kit. He is taking advantage of you. It is unethical."