Chapter Ten

Mikah

After enjoying the first coffee of the day from the balcony of my suite, I dressed casually in swim trunks and a tee. It was unlikely I'd be hitting the water today, as we were only a few hours out from Ollie and Sloan's wedding, but I wanted to be ready if the need for an ocean dive struck. I got in a quick breakfast before finally making my way to the sandy beaches of Cancun. Even though it was early, the beach behind our resort was already bustling.

Paragliding, painting, horse-back riding, surfing, snorkeling... you could name it, and it would be an option here. I did my best to thank or avoid any offers. The beach, the sun, an alcoholic beverage poured by someone else, and the book in my hand were all I needed this morning. It felt like ages since I felt any sort of peace like this. With every wave came a breeze, and the air here was so fresh compared to back home in Chicago.

Upon acquiring my first drink of the day—a margarita on the rocks—I planted my ass into the sand, donned my favorite sunglasses, and opened my book... A Beginner's Guide to Brewing. It wasn't the first time I'd read it. In fact, it was the fifth, and the pages showed it. They were worn down, sticky, some torn. Today the sand would be added to the creases, and maybe a few more folded pages where I'd left off. It was the first time since Dad died I'd picked it back up. I didn't need to impress Henry Mulligan anymore; it was my big brother.

Ollie's temperaments could swing at a moment's notice. Maybe that's what I used as a reason not to tell him about the dreams I had for Mulligan's. With his and Dad's love of cooking, I guess I never felt like I got a say in the restaurant. While I hated being there, I also strived to want the want to be there. I wanted days where my dad would be just as proud of me as he was of his firstborn. They had a connection that no one could penetrate, just like Mom and Kit. I was stuck somewhere in the middle, watching those relationships thrive and then burn around me.

The day I told my dad that I wanted to brew was the single biggest blowout we'd ever had. I'd read this book twice. I'd begun purchasing the tools needed. I spent days in the college library, reading every single piece of literature I could find on the benefits of wheat and barley with various brewing techniques. It was the first time I felt like I enjoyed something. However, my dad didn't see it that way. Especially when I started the conversation off with how I'd quit college the week before coming home, and I wanted to spend my life drinking and making beer. He never let me get to the part where I wanted his help, and I wanted Mulligan's to be where that happened.... right beside the two people I strived to be like most.

A bookmark was stuck somewhere between two pages, and on it read Mulligan's Fine Dining & Brewing in my best cursive—a reminder of what I wanted more than anything. If I was going to tell Ollie that this was where I wanted to steer Mulligan's to, I needed him to be in the best of moods. I couldn't think of a better timing than his damn wedding. Could he really be in a sour mood when marrying your soulmate?

And if he was in a shit mood, at least he'd be drunk!

I still couldn't believe that the day was actually here. Ollie was getting married, and I couldn't have been happier for him and bummed for myself. He had it figured out... like he always did. His life was together, mostly. He found the one. I tried hard to read the pages of the book, but I was basically skimming and stewing in envy at the same time. I wanted it. All of it. The right career, the right house, the right partner by your side...

I shut the book and gave it a toss to my side, along with the sunglasses. The margarita disappeared in just a few heavy swallows, leaving behind some salt and a hint of lemon along my lower lip. After putting the glass down with the rest of my items, I leaned back on my hands, feeling the bite of hot sand upon my fingers and palms. I scanned the beach, watching couples, friends, and families play and enjoy their vacations. But there was one other on this beach, who was alone and off in her own world while staring at the waves with her hands in a fist that held up her chin. She looked lost, and I had a pretty good idea of why.

I had no desire to join Hallie at any point in this vacation. It was bad enough that I was partnered with her for the wedding. But what happened yesterday needed to be addressed. And we were the only two people, other than Sloan's father, who knew just how fucked that situation was.

"I won't tell anyone." I'd scooped my things from one side of the beach just to drop them at Hallie's side. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes and gaze up at me. The scowl that followed was fairly normal for anytime we spoke. I dropped back down to the sand, making sure to get some on her towel. "Just in case that was worrying you..."

"Why not?" She laughed, turning her head back to the sea. "You have some serious tea on me, sir. Hell, you could ask for that apartment right now, and I'd have no choice but to oblige. I am fucked ten ways from Sunday."

"As appealing as that sounds..." My head shook no. I've had some horrible hookups in my day, but Hallie screwing her best friend's dad took the cake. While it may have been funny for me, watching Hallie's spirit leave her body during dinner wasn't what we had in mind for a fun bet. "I wouldn't do that. The only way that secret spreads is if you or Dean are the ones doing it."

Hallie cringed before dropping her face into her hands and screamed, loud enough that everyone within a twenty-foot radius was now facing our direction.

"Her dad, Mikah! Dean is her dad! She's going to kill me! And for what? He's no father! I now know him better than she does! He's not circumcised!"

I couldn't help it. The last sentence from her had me holding my gut as I tossed my head back with a laugh. While Hallie told me to shut up with a handful of sand being tossed at me, I heard her giggles join mine. She grunted and dropped herself backwards until she was on her back and gazing up at me.

This was the first time I'd ever viewed the uniqueness of her blue eyes. They appeared to have sparks of yellow throughout them. Maybe we'd just never been close enough to notice. She was using them to stare a hole right through me. I broke the eye contact, but I only made the situation worse by staring at her toned body in a little black bikini. This wasn't the Hallie I was used to, and it was the second day in a row I'd seen her in something other than sweats or scrubs. The dress from yesterday told me her body was sinfully a perfectly curved gem. Today's swimwear choice was leaving nothing to my imagination, because this was better. Her tan sure hadn't come from the skies of Chicago, and the jewel in her belly button matched the stud in her nose. What really surprised me were a few tattoos—some only showing a little peek and otherwise hidden near some intimate and naughty places. I was particularly fascinated with what appeared to be a tiny heart on the crease of her right leg and pelvic bone.

"A Beginner's Guide to Brewing," Hallie said, stirring me from the daze her body held me in. She flipped herself to her stomach, now showing off her ass in a thong-like swim bottom. Her cheeks were covered in a thin layer of white grit. "You want to brew? Like, beer?"

I snatched the book back from her and shook my head no. "I don't know. Maybe. That stays between us. I'll keep my mouth shut about Dean if you keep this"—I held up the book—"to yourself."

"Who would I tell?"

"Sloan. And then she would tell Ollie, and I need him alone for that conversation."

"She doesn't tell him as much as you'd think."

My eyes shifted back to the blonde, lifting a brow, wordlessly asking what she meant by that.

"Sloan is pregnant."

Hallie had a real knack for telling secrets that weren't hers to share—usually alcohol was involved. It's the reason I'd named her Tipsy. And while usually I just ignored whatever she had to tell me, this secret made my smile ache. All I could do was nod, because this was how it always went. Again, another big moment for Ollie. It was fine. I was happy for him all the same, but it still stung. It always did. Honestly, I was glad I was hearing it now rather than a family announcement later.

"Hasn't told him yet, eh?" I laughed, knowing neither of us found this funny.

Hallie rolled to her back again and sat up, shaking her head. "Apparently Ollie doesn't want kids, and she's terrified he won't want it. Therefore, she's having her midlife crisis early and brought Dean. She could have just come to me."

My hand waved all the shit she'd just said away. "Ollie will be fine. He used to be adamant about not wanting them, but he's not a damn monster. He's just worried about mental health. But, Hal, your jealousy is showing. You gotta let this Dean shit go."

From her other side, she lifted her laptop and plopped it onto her lap. "I wish everyone would stop saying I'm jealous. I'm not. I just wish she would have come to me first. Now she has Dean... her family."

"You have family..."

"I don't." Her head shook wildly. "Sloan is my family. Steve was. TJ..." she paused, lifting the lid of the computer up. "TJ was. I have adopted parents who I haven't even known for ten years. And an adopted sister even less who rarely speaks."

"That's more than Sloan had."

Hallie tensed without removing her attention from the laptop. "Just because I was adopted doesn't mean we were the fucking Brady Bunch."

"Right."

"Besides, I think you like when my jealousy shows."

"Oh? Why's that?"

She turned, so that she was facing me and not the computer screen. "Why did you help me make TJ jealous yesterday? It was very unlike you."

"I'm not a complete dick." My pointer finger hit my chest hard. "Kit told me he cheated. I see enough of that shit at the bar. Making him squirm was for me."

She smiled as her eyes dropped back to the device in her grasp. "Mmhmm."

While what I said was partially true, we both knew I did it for her. I saw the way she looked on the plane after he'd shown up. When you live with someone, you notice when they are hurting. Hallie is a pissy firecracker most days. That plane ride was the first time I'd seen her that upset.

"So it had nothing to do with the dress you were ogling?"

I scoffed. "I did not ogle your dress."

"You did." She giggled.

"I didn't."

"You also ogled my swimwear." Her blue eyes lifted and met mine, forcing my smile to crack.

I nodded. "That... I did." I needed to change the subject, because her reminder of the bikini made me want to again. And she was wordlessly daring me to do it again. We were good at games, and I wasn't falling for this. I'd wind up staring at her breasts, and she'd find some way to make a scene and call me a pig. "What's on the computer that I'm not allowed to see?"

Her laughter said she realized I was on to her. Still, she held the screen of her computer so that no one on this beach, especially me, apparently, would see it. She reminded me of me as a teen, hiding porn from my parents. Whatever was on this screen was for her eyes, and her eyes only.

"The blog?" I asked, recalling her drunken night of rants.

Her face flushed, and it wasn't her skin burning from the sun we were under. "What blog?"

"The one you told me about while smashed. Are you going to let me read it?"

"Hell no!"

The flabbergasted embarrassment radiating out of Hallie had her packing up the computer without me so much as getting a glimpse. It was slapped shut and beneath her arm. She was standing and walking away before I had the chance to grab my things.

"Fine!" I had to sprint to catch up to her. "I won't read it.

"I would not tell you how to find it, anyway."

Had I not been the one to name this very blog? Clearly, she recalled little about that night. Finding it was going to be easier than she thought. Hell, a Google search would likely land me where I needed to be as soon as I got back to the room.

Hallie's rush continued through the lobby until we were near the elevator. It wasn't time to get ready for the wedding yet; we had quite a few hours until sunset.

"Where are you going?" I asked as she passed the lift. I pointed to it, silently reminding her that our rooms were on the fourth floor.

"I have a bet to win, and that will not happen if I'm stuck in an elevator with you. Stairs sound great." She winked and disappeared into another hall.

I didn't follow. And while the elevator attempted to trap me for the umpteenth time, I was getting good at finding its sweet spot, which garnered many thanks from the strangers I'd ridden along with on the way to the fourth floor.

There was still time before the wedding. Plenty of it that could have been used to dive into the brewing book. I tossed it to the couch and took the cushion beside it, instead unlocking my phone. Hallie may have not remembered that night in the bar, but I did. I searched Toys for Thots. After the ads, a sex toy blog was the first search hit.

I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting to find. I never took Hallie for a writer; so a blog seemed odd. And yes, there were a few generic posts about the toys, where you could tell she was finding her groove. But after a few paragraphs, I was deep into my roommate's sexuality—toys, her favorite orgasms, details about random hookups. Today's beach entry caught my attention as soon as I saw a picture of the beach we'd just left.

I dove in, knowing I was crossing a line. This was something Hallie thought no one she knew was reading. It started with a story of how she'd unknowingly slept with her best friend's dad. That wasn't the shocking part. What was, was that she liked it. She enjoyed having a dirty little secret. And with it came a bucket list of every sexual fantasy she wished to come true... with fucking a friend's dad checked off at the top. The outing of Dean as Sloan's father had awakened something inside her, and what I was reading left me speechless and erect. Exhibitionism, threesomes, fucking her ex, toys, some light bondage... I was reading every dirty inner desire Hallie had.

It couldn't be helped. After the dress and the tiny black bikini, Hallie's fantasies flashed through my head—one after another, after another. With every bulleted sexual craving, I imagined her naked, screaming and shaking in ecstasy. And in every scene, I was the one making her come...