Page 51 of Third Strike Smitten

“So,” she begins, settling deeper into the couch cushions, “it all started on the flight back from Chicago last month.”

“Wait, what?” I sit up straighter, my hand tightening on her knee. “That’s not⁠—”

“Shh,” she presses a finger to my lips. “Let me tell the story, Haynesy.”

I try to telepathically communicate that she’s about to cross a line, but she just bats her eyelashes at me like she’s completely innocent.

“We were on the flight back from Chicago and Killian here had eaten something at the hotel that didn’t quite agree with him. You know how it is with athletes and their sensitive stomachs.”

I feel my face heating up. “Wait, what⁠—”

“Shh,” she pats my hand on her leg. “I’m telling the story.”

Shepherd and Sebastian exchange amused glances while Sutton leans forward even more, hanging on every word.

“So, there we are, cruising altitude, smooth sailing,” Isla continues, gesturing with her hands. “And suddenly, Killian gets this look on his face. You know the one, eyes wide, a little green around the gills.”

“I did not⁠—”

“Anyway,” she continues, her voice taking on the dramatic cadence of someone telling a campfire story, “There we were, thirty-thousand feet in the air, when Killian here disappears to the bathroom.”

“Standard procedure,” Bishop says with a nod as if all this really happened and he was a witness. “He’s got the bladder of a small child.”

I shoot him a death glare, but Isla’s already continuing.

“About twenty minutes pass, and I notice the bathroom light hasn’t changed.” She pauses for effect, looking around at my rapt audience. “I figured maybe he was just...taking his time.”

My brothers are leaning forward now, completely invested in my humiliation. Even Bishop, who knows this is complete bullshit, looks entertained.

“Then I think to myself, maybe we didn’t restock the toilet paper after the last flight. So, I ask Padrick and he says he didn’t do it and I know I didn’t do it which means it’s highly probable that Killian Haynes is in the bathroom taking an abnormally huge dump with no toilet paper in sight.” She shrugs. “I mean, what’s a guy to do?”

“Wait, no—” I start, but she presses her finger against my lips again.

“Shh, I’m getting to the good part.” She smiles like a southern woman on her front porch with an iced tea in her hand. “Another ten minutes go by,” Isla continues, her eyes twinkling with mischief, “and I start getting concerned. So, I knock on the door. And that’s when I hear it.”

She pauses dramatically, looking around at my family’s eager faces.

“Hear what?” Sutton asks, completely invested.

“The most pitiful voice I’ve ever heard,” Isla says, her expression a perfect blend of sympathy and barely contained amusement. “Killian says, ‘Isla? Is that you?’”

I’m shaking my head, trying to interrupt, but Shepherd holds up a hand. “Let her finish, bro.”

“So, I say, ‘Yeah, it’s me. You okay in there?’ And he goes—” she drops her voice to what I assume is supposed to be an impression of me, “I need toilet paper.”

The room erupts in laughter. I bury my face in my hands, but I can feel Isla’s body shaking with silent laughter beside me.

“So, I grab a fresh roll of toilet paper from the supply closet and head to the back of the plane,” Isla says, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “I knock on the door and say, ‘Mr. Haynes, I have your supplies.’”

Shepherd snorts into his beer.

“And there’s this long pause,” she continues, “and then Killian’s voice comes through the door, all shaky and embarrassed. He says, ‘I need...more than that.’”

Sebastian howls with laughter while Sutton claps her hands together in delight. I bury my face in my hands, but I can’t help the smile tugging at my lips. This is payback for my teasing her on the plane—I just know it.

“So, I go back and grab the whole box,” Isla says. “Mind you, I have to open the door each time to give him his supplies and my eyes are squeezed closed so I don’t…you know, see anything. But when I close the door again I hear this…relieved sigh that I’m pretty sure could be heard in the front of the plane.”

The room is in stitches. Sebastian has tears streaming down his face, and Shepherd is bent over, clutching his stomach. Even Bishop, who knows this never happened, is laughing so hard he’s wheezing.