Chapter Twenty-Four
Kayla lay on her back, her head hanging off the side of the bed so the view through the window was upside down.
The ominous gray clouds puffed like evil smoke below the roiling ocean.
Rain poured upward, continuing to soak the world.
She squinted and could just make out a sliver of blue sky in the distance, but that didn’t exactly inspire confidence.
It was much too far away to offer hope of the sun breaking through.
Beside her on the bed lay an open box containing the remnants of the Caribbean equivalent of a Margherita pizza.
It was a little strange, with unidentifiable but undeniably discordant notes of spices in the sauce, but it was pizza after all, so there wasn’t too much that could be lost in translation.
The pepperoni pizza was just like home, so she and Mack had crushed it quickly.
The floor was home to several empty Coke cans from the well-stocked refrigerator and the half-empty rum bottle. They accounted for her current position dangling from the bed. She wasn’t drunk, but her body was pleasantly floaty in a not-quite-sober way.
She was also bored out of her mind. Not that she hadn’t had fun. Honestly, she’d had an amazing afternoon with Mack, but she was an active, outdoorsy person and she couldn’t remember the last time she spent this much time inside. Especially in a hotel room that was shrinking by the minute.
Of course, if there was anyone she wanted to be trapped in a tiny hotel room with, it was Mack.
Despite the low burning anxiety over not being able to move forward with the Plan of Seduction, it had felt like old times with her best friend.
Laughing, playing games, and talking about all the little parts of their lives they usually ignored in favor of work and daily life.
They hadn’t had many days like this recently.
Adulting always provided something that got in the way.
Well, no more of that. If there was one thing she had learned this week, it was that she and Mack weren’t as close as they could have been, and she desperately wanted to be as close as possible.
Kayla was determined to change once they got back home.
No more letting life pass her by. No more wasting their precious time together.
She would be a better friend from here on out.
Kayla thrust her fist into the air with determination, narrowly avoiding contact with Mack’s leg. A part of her brain had registered the toilet flushing and the sink running, but she hadn’t realized Mack was back in the room until she’d nearly knee-capped her.
Mack took the near miss in stride. Laughing, she asked, “How’s it hangin’, LaLa?”
Kayla laughed and rolled onto her stomach. Mack’s crooked smile was far more charming from this angle. She propped her chin on her hand. “S’good.”
Mack plopped onto the bed, tossing Kayla up a couple of inches off the mattress then back down. “Maybe it’s time to lay off the rum, huh?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Not even tipsy anymore.”
“Yeah, the food helped.”
Kayla rolled onto her side to get a better look at her friend. “I was just lying here thinking about the old days when we hung out like this all the time.”
Mack slid the pizza box onto the floor so she could stretch out. Kayla followed the movement, but not because she was hoping for a peek of flesh. Not exactly.
Mack said, “We didn’t get to that much when we were kids, either. You were always away at training or a tournament or on recruitment trips to colleges. Getting you to relax was like pulling teeth.”
Kayla thought back and realized how right Mack was. She was constantly asking her teachers for homework she’d missed or for permission to do make-up quizzes and tests. She was gone at least one week a month from the time she was fourteen.
As she contemplated, she noticed Mack eyeballing her work tablet.
She’d glanced over at it enough times that day that Kayla was starting to feel jealous.
She poked Mack’s leg to get her attention and said, “Now it’s the other way around.
Don’t think I don’t know you’ve snuck off once or twice every day this week to check work emails. ”
Mack’s cheeks blazed an adorable pink. “I thought I’d been subtle.”
Kayla laughed. “You’ve never been subtle your whole life.”
“What? Yes, I have.”
“Oh yeah? What about when you had a crush on Wendy Case, sophomore year? You did a sketch of her in art class and labelled it ‘Beauty Personified.’”
Mack joined in the laughter, the color not quite fading from her cheeks. “Women always did make me do stupid things.” Her eyes flicked up to Kayla and quickly away. “Just look at me now, pretending I’m going to marry a woman when we’ve never even had a real kiss.”
Kayla’s stomach flipped and squirmed. Did Mack know how that sounded? Was Mack saying she wanted to share a real kiss? And what exactly did she mean by real? Hopping up onto her knees on the mattress, she slammed her fists to her hips. “Excuse me, ma’am. We’ve kissed several times.”
Mack shrugged but also smiled. “I guess.”
“You guess? What? You don’t remember? Maybe it’s time to remind you.”
Holy shit. Had she actually said that? And was Mack really moving closer to her?
It was hard to tell with the roaring of blood in her ears.
A heartbeat later, that undeniably sexy and uniquely Mack scent enveloped her.
There was something dangerous in Mack’s eye that made Kayla’s whole body thrum in anticipation.
Mack’s hand landed low on her hip, then slid up to meet her hand. On instinct, Kayla released her fist and allowed their fingers to entwine. Mack’s breathy voice was little more than a whisper, but it sounded like it came from the end of a long tunnel. “Those don’t count. There was no tongue.”
Kayla’s laughter sounded nervous even to her own ears. “This really is high school again, isn’t it?”
Mack quirked an eyebrow. “Is it?”
Adopting a high-pitched, mimicking voice, she said, “If it wasn’t French, it wasn’t real.”
“That was your line, not mine.”
Mack was so close now that their bodies were touching. Mack’s chest grazed her breast, making her nipple ache with desire. Could Mack feel that it had hardened the moment of contact? “I was just trying to get away with kissing as many girls on the soccer team as I could.”
Mack ran a thumb along Kayla’s jaw, sending rivulets of electricity through her body. “And the cross-country team.”
“True. But not you.”
“No. Not me.” Mack’s gaze locked on Kayla’s lips with an intensity that almost scorched. Her voice rumbled low through Kayla’s blood. “We could make it official now if you want. Do you want to, Kayla?”
Something snapped inside her. Maybe it was Mack using her first name for the first time in forever.
Maybe it was the way her arm wrapped around her waist. Maybe it was the burning desire that had been simmering between them for days.
Whatever it was, Kayla wouldn’t deny it anymore.
She could barely find the breath to whisper, “Yes.”
She expected Mack to pull her in hard and kiss her even harder, like one of those Hollywood scenes where the woman was bent backward. That’s how Skye would have kissed her. Hell, that was how Skye had kissed her every time Kayla had egged her on like this. But that wasn’t Mack’s style.
Instead, Mack cupped her cheek and pulled her in gently.
Not like she was fragile, but like she was precious.
Her mouth was firm and unhurried, her lips soft and sure and completely in control.
She kissed like she had been born to do it.
Then she swiped her tongue across Kayla’s lips, asking for permission to enter rather than forcing her way inside.
Kayla eagerly opened to her, her body trembling with need.
She wasn’t used to being the more desperate one.
She gripped Mack’s shoulders with clawed fingers and whimpered as their tongues met.
She tasted sweet from the rum or the soda or both, and, just like with her scent, Mack’s mouth held a flavor uniquely hers.
Kayla was certain she would remember it for the rest of her life, even as she chased for more.
Luckily, Mack wouldn’t let her eagerness overwhelm the moment.
She was very much in control of the kiss, giving Kayla everything she wanted, everything she needed, and making her want so much more.
Kayla lost track of time, consumed by the passion of the kiss, her mind blank and her pulse racing.
Had she ever experienced a kiss like this?
Especially a first kiss? Because, yes, now that she’d had a “real” kiss with Mack, she could agree this was nothing like what they’d shared on the beach or the balcony.
They had been an appetizer that could never live up to the ecstasy of the main course.
But it wasn’t a main course, was it? If kissing Mack was this divine, what would it be like to make love?
No. Not love. Sex with Mack wouldn’t be making love, would it?
Before she could contemplate her mental slip, Mack was pulling away.
Another whimper, this time much louder and more embarrassing, escaped Kayla’s lips.
Even after it ended, Kayla kept her eyes closed for several long seconds, not wanting to break the spell.
She needed to both savor the moment a little longer and also ground herself back in her own body.
Her hand rested limply on Mack’s shoulder, and the rest of her body slowly came back to her.
Her knees would be wobbling if they hadn’t been pressed into the mattress.