Chapter Fourteen #2
“Sorry. I didn’t...” I get ready to make some lame excuse, though at this point, I don’t know why I bother. It’s not like she and I will ever be friends, not after what she did to Joey.
“By all means, don’t stop on my account.”
“I’m sure you’d love to watch,” Macallan hisses, voice dripping with disdain. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
My gaze swings sideways in time to see him clench and unclench his jaw.
“Are you still mad about that?” She pouts out her lip in disappointment.
“You hid in the closet and watched me fuck another girl. Yeah, I’m mad.”
I have to close my mouth, certain that if I don’t, my jaw will be on the floor.
For all that Lana has denied, she sure doesn’t seem to have a problem owning up to her actions with Macallan standing in the room.
“You’re so easy to rile, Mac. Honestly, most guys get off on being watched.”
“I think that’s a stretch. And regardless of what some like, I don’t like it.”
“So you say.” She grins, but there’s nothing friendly about it; her attention snapping to me. “I thought we had an agreement to stay away from him.”
“What I do is none of your business,” I fire back.
“You’re naive. Stupid and naive if you believe for one second it will be any different this time than it was the last time. He’s a user, Maisie. It’s what he does.”
“Like you used Joey to try and get back at him? Like you’ve been trying to use me?” I shake my head.
“I’ve never used you. I tried being your friend and you spat in my face.”
“You tried involving me in your scheme with Joey. You think that’s not using me?”
“That was my mistake. I thought we were like-minded in our need for revenge. Clearly, I overestimated you. Pity.”
“So you admit then?” Mac takes a step forward. “You drugged Joey.”
“You already know I did. And it was a beautiful plan too, if someone hadn’t ruined it.
” Her glare slides to me for a brief moment before her eyes are once again locked on Mac.
“Quite easy, really. Joey is like you. When he looks at a woman, all he sees is what she can do for him. He was all too eager to accept the drink I gave him. All too eager to get into bed with me.”
“After you drugged him, you mean?” Macallan vibrates with anger.
“Relax, it was a couple of Xannies. It wasn’t like I was going to kill him.”
Like a light being flipped, Macallan’s entire demeanor shifts, a wide smile lighting up his face. The sight is quite jarring given our current situation. And that’s when I see it... His phone in his hand.
“Thank you for that. Now the police have everything they need.” He locks the device and shoves it into his back pocket.
“You wouldn’t...”
“I think you underestimate the lengths I will go to in order to get rid of you, Lana.” His hand closes around mine as he pulls me close.
“Now you have two options. You can get expelled and go to jail, or you can leave. Transfer to another school, drop out entirely, I don’t care, but I want you gone immediately, or I take this video to the police. ”
“I can’t just leave.”
“You can and you will. Unless you prefer to be behind bars, that is.”
“You won’t get away with this,” she hisses, looking half a mind to lunge at him.
“I think I will. Because if I ever see your face again, I won’t hesitate to turn you over to the police. You have until the end of the day tomorrow.” He turns to me. “Get changed and grab your things. We’re leaving.”
While normally I wouldn’t stand for being told what to do, in this case, leaving is exactly what I want to do.
“Shouldn’t you be packing?” he says to Lana, careful to stay between us as I quickly slip on a hoodie and shoes, grabbing my cell and laptop before moving toward the door.
“Ready,” I tell him, hand on the doorknob.
“I would say it’s been a pleasure, but we both know that would be a lie,” he tells Lana, backing toward me without ever turning his back to her. “I meant what I said. I never want to see you again. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly.” She gives him a smile that’s all teeth, her eyes narrowing to nothing more than tiny slits.
Eager to get the hell out of this room, I tug open the door and pull Macallan into the hallway, not taking a real breath until we’re outside and away from Lana.
“Are you okay? Do you need one of us to come get you?” Char asks seconds after I’ve finished recapping what happened with Lana, though I might have left out the part where she caught me and Macallan seconds away from ripping each other’s clothes off.
“No, I’m good. I’m at Macallan’s.”
“Yeah, but you don’t plan on staying there, right? I mean, unless there’s something you’re not telling me...”
“Well...”
“Oh my God! There is something you’re not telling me. I knew there had to be a reason he was in your room outside of your psych project.”
“It’s not like that... exactly.”
“Then what is it like?” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“I’m not actually sure,” I admit, tucking my legs under myself as I take a seat on the edge of Macallan’s bed.
“But things are... Good?”
“Yeah. No.” I’m hesitant to say because, truly, are things good? I don’t even know. “I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“Everything is complicated with you two.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“But given you’re at his place, I take it that means you don’t actively want to chop his balls off. That’s a start.”
“I guess.” I blow out a slow breath.
“So are you going to tell me what’s changed?”
“I will... Just not right now.” Not while a certain someone could overhear, I think but don’t say.
“And you’re sure you don’t want me to come get you?”
“Not right now. I’ll call you if I need a couch to crash on.”
“That won’t be necessary.” My gaze shoots up to find Macallan standing in the doorway, his arms crossed in front of his broad chest. “You’re staying here.”
“What did he say?” I vaguely hear Char ask.
“Nothing. I’ll call you later, yeah?”
“You better.”
It’s the last thing I hear before I end the call, my entire focus shifting to Mac.
“How are you doing?” he asks, pushing off the doorframe to cross the room toward me.
“A little freaked out but otherwise okay.”
“I’m sorry about all this.” He lowers himself onto the bed next to me. “Lana is...”
“A lunatic...” I offer.
“That seems a fitting word.” A semblance of a smile tugs at his full lips and my eyes are immediately drawn to the action, still feeling the effects of those lips on mine.
“Do you really think she’ll leave?” I ask.
“If she doesn’t want to end up in jail, she will.”
“Good move, thinking to record her like that.”
“I had a feeling if I goaded her, she would admit to it, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get leverage on her.”
“Shouldn’t we turn her in? I mean, even if she does leave, it’s only a matter of time before she does this to someone else.”
“Perhaps. But I’d like to give her a chance to do the right thing for once.”
“You’re too soft for your own good.” I give him a pointed look.
“I’m the exact opposite of soft, or would you like to investigate this fact for yourself?” He cocks a brow.
“Your bed is really soft,” I blurt, an unnatural heat spreading up my neck before spilling onto my cheeks.
“Not the first time you’ve been in it, though, if I remember right.”
It takes me longer than it should to realize what he’s referring to because this is the first time I’ve ever been here with him.
“I lied. I didn’t sleep with Trev in your bed,” I admit.
“But you did sleep with him?” He shifts toward me, and it takes everything I have to meet his gaze.
“I did. It was once and—”
“Don’t tell me anything else or I’m liable to walk out there and put his ass through a window.” The way he says it causes my heart to stutter.
“I don’t like him like that. I never have. I only wanted...”
“To make me jealous?” He guesses.
“In that way, I guess I’m no better than Lana.”
“You’re nothing like Lana.”
“You sure about that? Because it wasn’t just Trev...” Bile rises in my throat as I think about the lengths I went to in the hopes of hurting him.
“Not another fucking word, Mais.” He shakes his head. “I don’t care. I’ve slept with my fair share of women since you.”
His words sting, but they aren’t unexpected. Of course he did.
“But those women weren’t my friends.”
“Some of them might have been.” He shrugs, apology lining his face. “I don’t remember a few of them.”
“Well, it wasn’t Lyric or Char, and those are the only ones I care about,” I say matter-of-factly. “Not that any of this matters.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why doesn’t it matter?”
“Because it’s not like we’re going to be together or something.” I snort out a laugh like it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard.
“Says who?” He shifts closer, freezing me in place with that intense gaze of his.
“Mac...” My mouth opens and closes as I fight for the right words to say.
“Mais...” He reaches around me and grabs my arm. In one fluid motion, he pulls me up and over his lap, settling me on top of his thighs, my legs going to either side of him, my hands instinctively going to his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” My words are breathless as Macallan reaches for the bottom of my hoodie, tugging it over my head without a single ounce of resistance from me.
“Finishing what we started earlier.” He kisses the side of my neck.
“I don’t... I have no interest in being your fuck buddy.”
“My fuck buddy.” His laughter is warm against my throat. “No, Maisie, I think you’ll be much more than that.” He presses a kiss to the other side of my neck.
“You say that now...”
“When are you going to realize that I’m not playing to get my dick wet?” He takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing my gaze to his. “I’m playing for keeps.”
I can barely hear his words over the roar that fills my ears, the heavy beat of my heart racketing off my ribs like a bass pedal hitting a drum.
Thump. Thump. Thump. The rhythm so fast it makes me feel lightheaded.
Or maybe that’s because of the way he’s looking at me.
Like he means every word. And God, do I want him to mean them. ..