“Catching a plane this afternoon. Gonna enjoy some Christmas Eve barbecue with the family, kick some ass in flag football, catch up with some friends—the usual.” I helped myself to coffee.
“That sounds like a blast, but you don’t seem too excited about it.” A frown furrowed her brow.
“Eh.” I shrugged. “Just tired and sore from that fiasco yesterday. I’ll snap out of it when the plane touches down in Louisville.” After slugging back some fortifying brew, I remembered my manners. “How ’bout you? What are your plans for the break?”
The green-eyed monster threatened to rise up and choke me at the look they exchanged.
Callahan pushed a stray curl off Jamaica’s forehead. “Guess we’re meeting each other’s families.”
Jamaica lifted her cheek for the kiss he brushed over it, and they repeated the whole deep-into-each-other’s-eyes staring thing again. I was too envious to flip them any shit for it.
Instead, I said, “Things are serious with you two, huh?”
“Yeah,” they said in unison in the same dreamy tone.
“Good for you.” I downed more coffee to cover the crack in my voice. “Finn and Danny down yet?”
“Haven’t seen ’em,” ’Han said with a secret smile for his girl.
“Guess I’ll head back upstairs and roll Finn out of bed. He’s my ride to the airport.”
“Merry Christmas, Bax.” Jamaica smiled over ’Han’s shoulder.
“Merry Christmas, you two,” I said as I saluted them with my cup, drained and rinsed it, and set it aside.
The entire time I was packing up and riding to the airport with Finn, I replayed my last night with Piper. Exactly like I’d done all through finals week when I should have been focused on school. Somewhere during that evening, I’d blown it, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how. When the plane touched down in Louisville, I still didn’t have any answers.
Chapter Eighteen
Piper
Turned out, Ididn’t mind screaming babies in economy when the alternative was sitting near my sister in business on the flight to Aspen. What I did mind was seeing Charlie waiting for us at the arrivals gate. The holiday was a clusterfuck already, and we hadn’t even said hello to Dad and Mom yet.
“Hi, babe,” he said, his eyes on me even as Phillipa slid beneath his arm.
Pulling my phone from my purse, I called up a ride-share app. “I’ll catch a ride, give the two of you alone time.” I tried not to grit my teeth, but from the look on his face, I hadn’t pulled it off.
“I thought the plan was to work things out on the flight,” he said to Phillipa.
“We might have done that ifsomeonedidn’t give up a business-class seat for economy.” A flip of her hair accompanied the eye roll.
Huh. My sister was as much a cliché as the jersey chasers who never seemed to leave Wyatt and his friends alone.
Exactly why was he in my head again?
Wait. That was my response to seeing my sister and my ex-boyfriend together for the first time since The Fuckery?
“Piper—” Charlie began.
Seeing the time on my phone reminded me the semifinal game between the Wildcats and the Buffaloes was about to start. I slid my phone back in my purse and said, “On second thought. You two go ahead. I’m gonna find a bar that’s playing the Wildcats game, somewhere they serve alcohol.” With a pointed look at my sister, I added, “Somewhere for twenty-one and older.”
Having only a carry-on with me meant I could take off before the two of them reacted. Still, I heard Charlie call after me.
“Come on, Piper. Don’t be like this.”
I kept walking. Knowing Pippa, she’d filled two industrial-size suitcases, and she’d want to pick them up from the carousel ASAP. When I sneaked a glance behind me as I turned the corner to the bar, sure enough, she was tugging on the sleeve of Charlie’s jacket, pulling him in the direction of baggage claim while he continued to track me with his eyes. Ignoring him had been much easier than I’d anticipated. Not for the first time since that night in the Molly, I’d wondered at my lack of feelings where he was concerned. Of course, after what went down, he’d left me in no hurry to try again with someone else.
Or maybe I was still numb from seeing him again with my sister. What the hell was up with her anyway? Was she truly so heartless as to bring him home with our family for Christmas? What was wrong with her?
