Chapter 15
MACKENZIE
Asoft light filtered through the blinds, waking me up.
I stretched slowly, rolling onto my back and raising my arms overhead.
I reached for Max, but he was gone. I sat up, staring at his empty spot, with memories of last night playing over and over in my head, like some kind of mental loop torture.
I wanted more. After he touched me, he smiled, kissed me, and cuddled up next to me like I was his lifeline, like I was his anchor, and we drifted into sleep together, tangled in each other.
It had been… romantic.
The bed felt cold and empty without him. Where was he?
I silently slipped out of my bunk, glancing into the shadowed main part of the cabin.
The other counselors lay sprawled across mattresses, limbs tangled in restless sleep.
I hurriedly pulled on my yellow camp shirt and black shorts, pretending I was a normal eighteen-year-old girl with a normal brain.
Not someone consumed by the memory of her best friend’s grasping hands all over her.
I went through my morning routine on autopilot, my movements almost mechanical.
I brushed my teeth, tied my hair into two braids, and slathered SPF onto my face, each act a desperate distraction from him.
His toothbrush and aftershave sat next to my hairbrush and makeup on the bathroom counter, a haunting reminder of how close we were. A real couple, by all standards.
But here we were, trapped in a twisted game of cat and mouse with no qualms about the consequences. How long could this chaos last before we shattered everything?
A small red mark on my neck made me freeze. I leaned closer to the mirror, examining the splotches beneath my ear. Had he given me a hickey? My fingers brushed the red print.
Yes, he had. That jerk had marked me!
I scanned the room, searching for him like he was going to appear out of thin air. I wanted to punch him, to make him pay. The silence was deafening, and I felt a strange sensation of being watched.
I didn’t like being without him.
As I stepped outside, the morning sun was already thick and heavy.
The deafening screech of cicadas echoed eerily through the trees.
I flicked a mosquito off my arm, a small prick of blood erupting on my skin.
I immediately regretted skipping the bug spray.
I hurried toward the nurses’ station to get mosquito repellent when I suddenly froze, my senses sharpening as a silence crept in.
It was almost as if the air had thinned down to this single moment.
And there he was. Running shirtless down the trail, sweat slicking across his chest, gray shorts hanging dangerously low.
His muscles flexed with each stride; every step calculated.
He yanked off his baseball cap, dragged a towel across his brow, and then shoved his cap back on.
My eyes, traitorous and thirsty, followed the sharp cut of his V-line like it was a treasure map I wanted to trace with my tongue.
I shut my eyes, but the image branded itself there anyway. When I opened them again, it was too late. His gaze was locked on mine, and he gave me a shit-eating grin.
Crap.
I nearly ducked behind a bush, but he was already walking toward me, peeling out his AirPods.
“Hey,” he said, his voice rough from the run.
“Hey.” My cheeks burned. He knew. That smirk wasn’t random. Max McKinnon never did anything without intent.
“You’re up early,” he drawled, his breath heavy from his run. I tried not to watch the way his chest rose and fell with each breath.
“I could say the same for you.”
“I couldn’t sleep.” His eyes dragged over me. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
My pulse thrashed. He stepped closer, close enough that I could smell him. He was temptation wrapped in a package made just for me.
“Are you thinking about it?” he asked, not even waiting.
When did Max McKinnon become such a tease?
“No,” I lied, turning my face away.
“I think you are.” His smirk widened.
The air between us snapped tight, electric, the same pull that had been strangling us for years.
“You working hard?” I asked, acknowledging his sweaty body, pretending I wasn’t seconds from ripping his shorts off. “You know—after you gave me a fucking hickey last night.”
I pointed to my neck.
He stretched, laughing, and my gaze betrayed me, tracking every flex.
“Gotta keep up with this body,” he said, cocky. “Can’t let the girls at college think I’ve gone soft.”
The words landed sharply. His tone was joking, but his eyes cut to me. He was waiting for a reaction, for jealousy, or possession.
Unfortunately, he got it. The flare of it burned in my stomach before I could school my expression.
He, apparently, liked it because he ran his tongue along his bottom lip and checked me out so hard, I thought his eyes might fall out of his head.
“Besides, I gave you more than a hickey last night,” he smirked, rolling onto the balls of his feet.
My eyes dropped down his body, and when they snapped back up to his face, he was smiling like he had won a game.
“You checking me out again?” he teased, like he hadn’t just baited me on purpose. “You make this too easy.”
“Make what easy?”
“Keeping up your facade,” he said. Before I could move, his hand hooked my waistband and yanked me against him. His mouth brushed mine in a quick, taunting kiss that was just enough to make me crave more.
When he pulled back, that devil’s grin was plastered across his face, smug and infuriating.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” I muttered, shoving him back.
“Too late,” he laughed. “You looked so beautiful underneath me last night.”
I exhaled sharply, my body betraying me. I turned towards the first aid cabin. “I’ll see you at our station at nine.”
But before I could step away, his hand slid down my arm and closed around my elbow. It was incredibly possessive, the way he grabbed me.
“Trouble, wait—” His voice dropped, quieter now, softer. “I didn’t mean to be a dick. I’m just teasing you.”
I looked at him for a beat. “It’s okay, Max.” My fingers brushed his hand before I could stop them, a squeeze meant to soothe. “I don’t think you’re a dick.”
But I sure as hell was thinking about his dick.
His jaw clenched tightly, and his eyes fixed on a burn scar on my arm with a piercing suspicion, as if he desperately wanted to say more. I instinctively raised my hand, covering the mark. It was little, right above my left elbow.
“If I ever find out that you hooked up with him, I’ll do far worse than this to you,” Jackson had hissed, as he held me down in the back of his car, extinguishing his cigarette into my skin. The smell of seared flesh filled the air as I let out a shrill cry.
“Trouble, I…” Max’s voice broke me out of the memory, but he abruptly cut himself off, leaving a heavy silence hanging between us.
“What?”
“Never mind.” He shifted, letting out a resigned sigh. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for bug spray,” I said, turning away. “Unless you want to watch me get eaten alive.”
His lips curved, eyes darkening, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. Something indecent.
I could have him eating out of the palm of my hand if I wanted. I smiled as I walked towards the nurse’s cabin.
The air was cool inside, and the cabinets were lined up. I started rifling through them.
“Band-Aids, gauze, Dramamine… seriously, where does she hide the bug spray?”
Max lingered at the door, leaning against the frame, his large body filling it entirely.
“Trouble…” he said suddenly, voice lower now. “Can I ask you something?”
“About what?” I asked distractedly, then dragged a small ladder from the corner and climbed it. I balanced it as I opened the highest cabinet.
“Last night, you said you hadn’t done that with anyone. Was that true?”
I froze. The question hit me so hard I nearly toppled off the step ladder.
“I didn’t say I hadn’t done that with anyone. I said I wasn’t as experienced as you.”
A veil of jealousy crossed his face.
“So. It’s true then. Did you really fuck Jackson?” he spat.
“What?”
“He said you did. During two truths and a lie. I want to know from you.”
His voice dripped with hatred, his cheeks flushed in anger.
“Max!” I snapped, heat rushing to my cheeks. “That’s none of your business.”
He huffed, his jaw flexing hard in frustration. He stepped closer to me.
“Mackenzie. Stop this.”
I snapped my head down toward him when he said ‘Mackenzie.’ His eyes were pleading with me.
“Stop what?” I asked, feigning indifference. I knew exactly what he was implying, but I was too nervous to have this talk with him.
“Acting like this is pretend.”
I inhaled.
“It is pretend,” I whispered.
He ran a hand over his face, took off his cap, and smoothed the dark locks around his ears.
“Oh my God, Trouble. Fine, fuck,” he rasped out. “If I’m gonna play your boyfriend, I need to know what I’m up against. Where you’ve been.”
I eyed him.
“It’s none of your business,” I bit out. “All you need to know is what happens between you and me.”
That made him go still. His eyes locked on mine, darker than I’d ever seen them.
“What’s happening then?” His voice was gravelly, every word dragging. “Between you and me? You said this is pretend. You said no sex, but I think we passed that barrier last night. So, where do we stand?”
I groaned, trying to mask the pulse pounding between my thighs.
“Don’t take everything I say so literally, Max. I don’t fucking know what this is.” I motioned between us.
“Funny,” he murmured. “Because all I want is to take you literally, horizontally, vertically, however you want.”
My pulse soared, and I quickly turned away to avoid his gaze. I felt as if I might melt right into the floor.
“Shut up, asshole,” I scolded. “Are you jealous?”
A darkness crept over his face, and I saw it in his eyes. Possession.
“Do you want me to be?” His tone was playful, but he was holding back from revealing how much he truly felt. I could see on his face that I was pissing him off.