Page 1 of Pink Cheeks (DKAG Summer Shorts #2)

KIP

I had a dream last night that my teeth all fell out, and when I tried to scream, I couldn’t make any sounds. I just opened my mouth and there was nothing but silence. That might have been more upsetting if it wasn’t my usual stress-induced nightmare.

My phone vibrated under my pillow, and I couldn’t hide from the daylight anymore. Mom’s face was smiling at me before I opened the message. Don’t be a baby. UR going to the wedding.

Cute, but no. Use my card to buy some resort wear and get a gift. A nice one. I knew she wasn’t done, so I kept watching my phone until the rest came through. Love you, sweetheart. Heart emoji. Heart eyes emoji. Palm tree on an island emoji. The woman loved her emojis.

I rolled my eyes and huffed. Fine, but If I die, you gotta live with that.

Noted. She’s registered at RH. Get a painting or something for the house.

An hour later, I was at the mall in yesterday’s jeans and a hoodie that smelled like hibachi from the smores I made last night.

Not even my favorite stylist at Nordstrom could get me in a good mood.

My family had a lot of money, but they didn’t share it with me unless they wanted something from me.

In this case, to make their perfect little family photos look perfectly Stepford. Puke .

In the end, I picked up a few linen shirts, some cropped chinos, and new sunglasses I could never afford with my sad little salary.

Oh, and let’s not forget the tight little swim shorts that basically became transparent when wet.

If Mom insisted I show up for her little display, I hoped she liked me being fully on display… for all to see.

Before I left, I grabbed some sunscreen I saw on TikTok and a pineapple-shaped clutch to hold my actual luggage. AKA my phone, charger, chapstick, an emergency Klonopin, a condom, and gum. If I actually survived the flight, I wanted to look good when I got there.

The airport was a nightmare, as usual. After doing my best to avoid being violated by overworked, underpaid security agents, I finally gave up and let the TSA dude touch me everywhere but my soul. He was cute, so it wasn’t too much of a hardship.

When I finally got to my gate, I scanned the boarding area for hot guys to sit next to but mostly found straight couples in matching athleisure or old people with sudoku books.

The only good thing that came of my early arrival was the gate agent who slipped me two extra drink tickets after I called her gorgeous.

For the record, she really was gorgeous.

I took a selfie with a bloody mary the size of my head and texted it to Kaley. On my way to paradise, bitch. Hope you have SPF 50000 for my emotional sunburn.

She hearted it, followed by three shark emojis. She was already turning into our mother, the poor dear.

There was a pilot at the gate with arms that didn’t quite fit the polyester sleeves and eyes that looked like the clearest ocean water. He was maybe five years older than me and apparently bored of all the women within a thirty-foot radius.

I made eyes at him as I sipped my drink.

He rolled his eyes but didn’t seem mad about it. He didn’t seem interested either. Dammit.

I entertained myself by imagining all the ways I could get kicked off this flight for “disruptive behavior.”

When they called boarding for Group 1, I sauntered up to the counter with my boarding pass displayed on my phone and winked at the desk. “I hope the in-flight entertainment is as good as the ground show.”

She laughed like she’d heard this before, but maybe not from someone with my particular brand of “daddy issues and a side of never-ending horniness.”

Business class was amazing. The last time I’d traveled with legroom was during a family trip to Japan before graduation.

After college and my “rebellion,” as the family likes to refer to my coming out, I was on my own to travel in the supreme luxury that only the county bus system could offer.

Warm cookies and champagne before takeoff helped to relax me, but the key to my survival was the emergency pill that became my sleepytime candy.

By the time the captain came on the speaker with his little welcome speech, I was feeling good and chatty with that drunken slur that I thought was pretty endearing. Unfortunately, the other business class people didn’t seem to agree, based on the lack of reciprocal chatter I was getting.

I was almost asleep when we hit some turbulence and my heart shot up into my throat. “Are we gonna crash into a mountain or just spiral into a watery grave?” I asked a little bit too loudly.

“Not today, sir.” A flight attendant patted my shoulder. “Can I get you another drink?”

“Yep, please.” I handed her my empty glass. “If you got any berries, drop ‘em in.” I started humming a little tune to myself as I waited for a new glass of bubbles to appear.

There was a couple across the aisle from me who seemed like newlyweds with the way they were giggling and holding hands. I listened to them talk about the wedding they were attending and how excited they were to “hike the volcano.”

I made a mental note that might have also been verbal to avoid any and all hiking or volcanoes.

A full glass was pressed into my palm just as another jolt hit. “Thank you.” I squeezed my eyes shut and took a sip before starting the breathing exercises my therapist taught me.

In for four, out for seven.

In for four, out for seven.

There, that was much better. I just had to do that for the next four and a half hours. No problem.

I spent most of the flight playing some bird-shooting game on my Switch. It was one of those dopamine loops where you get nothing done but the score went up, so it felt satisfying.

The older lady beside me fell asleep with her head leaning on my shoulder. Her curly hair tickled my cheek and she could have used a mint, but I didn’t wake her up. Honestly, it was the most wholesome contact I’d had in a year, so I let it happen.

An older guy walked past me toward the bathroom, and I immediately unbuckled myself and followed him to the little door. I was just loopy enough to not have an ounce of sense left. In other words, this was where I shined.

“Is this the part where you pull me inside behind you and we mile-high it like a G6?” I waggled my eyebrows and gave him a sexy leer. I think. I might have choked a little on my spit, but it was still hot. Mostly.

He looked me up and down and sighed. “How many drinks have you had?”

“I’ve lost count, which is how you know you’re gonna have fun.”

He leaned in conspiratorially and pushed open the bathroom door. “You’re cute, kid, but I don’t do drunk people. Take a nap and maybe I’ll see you on the island.”

I immediately took that as a promise to fuck after landing, so I smiled and returned to my seat, feeling like I’d just scored the golden ticket in a very gay version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

For the next hour, I thought about what it would be like to hook up with a hot stranger at my sister’s wedding.

If her groom wasn’t so into her, I might go for him just to get back at her for making me fly over an ocean in a million-pound coffin.

But since I kinda liked them both, I had to settle for airplane strangers. Or pilots. Or pool boys.

If I were lucky, all of the above.

The last half-hour of the flight, the cabin started to get restless. People were putting away their devices and babies were crying, and I was still awake.

Why the hell wasn’t my pill working? I should’ve been completely knocked out for the entire flight… Especially with all the drinks. But no. I was stuck being…lucid. Annoying.

When there was finally land in sight, I braced myself for the inevitable drop with a tight grip on the armrests. If you make me die, Kaley. I’ll never forgive you .

Luckily, we touched down with barely a bump. I decided to take that as a personal sign from the universe that this trip was definitely gonna be a fuck fest. It had to be. I couldn’t get back on a plane to go home without some tropical D memories.

As we taxied to the gate, I got a text from Mom. Dinner @ 7. Mezzanine restaurant. Please don’t be late. We’ll take pictures.

Of course we’d be taking pictures. My parents couldn’t do anything without a fucking picture to document how wonderful our little family was.

I responded with a simple “k” and thumbed through my apps to see if anything amazing had happened while I was offline.

Sadly, there wasn’t much to report. My friends were doing their normal Friday-night coordination to club hop, and I was almost glad to not be in town for that.

Being single was getting exhausting. Even the random hook-ups weren’t as much fun as they used to be.

I stepped off the plane and worked my way to baggage claim.

After a quick glance around for the hot guy by the bathroom, I was disappointed that I couldn’t find him.

I would have lingered a bit longer but my head was a bit throbby and I only had five hours before I needed to get ready for dinner, and I wanted to spend as many of those as possible by the pool.

The next six days were going to suck, but it seemed I was gonna survive them. And the ratio of hot guys looking for a fling had to be higher on an island than on the mainland. And if there was one thing I was always open to, it was a hard cock and a kind smile.

Time to go find both!