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She shook her head. “But I did, in a way. I felt like something was off about you not leaving the house. I just didn’t listen to my gut. Pisses me off.”
“Listen, I’ve known what he did for over six months and still haven’t done anything about it,” I said more forcefully, pouring us two more shots.
“How could you?” she gawked. “He kept youprisonermost of that time.”
“I could have found a way,” I muttered.
“We can’t play that game. Hindsight being twenty-twenty and all that crap.” She threw back her shot, and I did the same before turning on the stereo and syncing my phone to play music off one of my playlists. I had them organized by mood, and today called for the darkest, most depressing of songs.
“How are things with Conner?” she asked when the music started.
“Surprisingly well, actually.” Heat bloomed across my cheeks. I prayed she would chalk it up to the booze, but no such luck.
“Oh my God. You’re blushing. You guys had sex, didn’t you?”
I met her gaze, mine glinting with erotic memories of the night before.
“Hell yeah! That calls for another shot.” She grabbed the bottle and began to pour.
“Holy crap, Pip. You trying to get us blackout drunk?” I gaped at her but couldn’t fully quash the smile teasing the corners of my lips.
“Hey, if we’re lucky, we’ll forget how fucked up our family is.”
What could I say except, “I’ll drink to that.”
After that, I refused any more shots, but my near-empty stomach absorbed what alcohol I had consumed straight into my bloodstream until my head was spinning, and my brain-to-mouth filter had broken down. Pip and I talked about all the little things we’d missed chatting about during my absence. We’d covered the big stuff when we talked, but this was different. This was the way things used to be—talking about the dress she’d considered buying for a cousin’s baby shower and discussing why the new season of our favorite show wasn’t quite living up to our standards. Our conversation was easy and light and flowed like a summer breeze. That was until my phone began to ring.
“Oh God. It’s Conner.” My eyes bulged wide.
“Just don’t answer if you don’t want to.”
“Right, and get my ass spanked?” I bit down on my lips when I realized what I’d said, and we both burst out laughing. “Shh… stop it,” I hissed through my laughter. Picking up my phone, I took a deep breath and accepted the call. “Hello?”
“Hey. You have a good morning?”
“Uh, yeah. Pip came over, and we’ve been visiting.” I tried my very best to sound perfectly sober, almost cracking when my cousin doubled over in a fit of giggles.
“What was that?”
“Oh, just Pip being silly. What’s up with you?” I now had tears in my eyes from the strain of holding in my laughter.
“I talked things over with Keir this morning about your father, and we decided too many factors are in play to let you handle it. I said I’d consider what you said, but it’s not possible. We have a plan, though, and it won’t be much longer until he’s a distant memory.”
“Wait … what?” My sluggish brain struggled to process what he’d said. “A plan? You can’t plan when you don’t even know … No, Conner. This is … not at all … you can’t.” Emotion and alcohol jumbled my words until I couldn’t get out a complete thought.
A silence darker than shadow drifted over the line.
“You been drinking?” Conner finally asked, low and menacing.
I lifted my chin defiantly, though he couldn’t see it. “I’m a married woman. I think I can have a drink if I want to.”
“Care to tell me why you’d want to get shit-faced before lunch?”
“Nope.” I popped the P proudly. “If you get to do whatever the hell you want, then so do I. I mean, where do you get off? I choseyou, Conner. Not Sante.You. And you’re just gonna go fuck it all up … I mean.Ugh!” My mini rant bubbled up from deep inside, a geyser I couldn’t hold back.
“I’ll be home in ten.”
The line clicked dead.
