Chapter Twenty-Four #2
When she finally opened her eyes, her vision was full of Mack.
Her smooth cheek, her long, silky hair, and the hauntingly pale green of her eyes.
It took a moment for her to realize that she wasn’t the only one who’d been affected by the kiss.
Mack’s features were etched with the same confused joy raging inside her.
There was no witty teasing or strutting.
In fact, the room was perfectly still and silent apart from the pounding of her heart and their shared ragged breathing.
The moment was charged like the heartbeat before kick-off in a tournament final.
Kayla was standing on the brink of something, and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to leap off or curl up into a protective ball.
Finally, the moment cracked. Mack’s lips curled up in a decidedly cocky grin. Kayla wanted to give her a hard time about it, but she had to admit, if there was any woman on the planet who was allowed to be cocky about her kissing, it was Mack.
“Jesus Christ, Mack. Where the hell did you learn to kiss like that?”
Mack laughed, and the tension leaked out of the moment. Whatever they had been a moment ago, they were back to being best friends. “While you were busy spreading your wild oats with the Youth National Team, I was honing my skills with Wendy Case.”
“You actually dated her?”
Mack nodded. “The sketch flirting worked.”
“Whoa. I heard she could tie a cherry stem with her tongue.”
Mack marched over to the fridge and pulled out another can of Coke. “She could take the stem off, peel the cherry and eat it, then tie the stem into a bow around the pit, all with her mouth. I had a hell of a senior year, let me tell you.”
Kayla was finally starting to uncurl her toes from the kiss. A pulse of something like jealousy pushed through her at the description. “How the fuck did I not know that?”
Mack topped a healthy pour of rum into two glasses with the soda. “Well, you were away at National Team camp and trying out for every Division One soccer school in the country.”
Looking back on those days from this side of thirty, Kayla wondered where she had the energy. It was exhausting just to think about. “I did most of the year as self-study.”
“You didn’t think I was sitting at home waiting for you to call every night, did you?”
Now, Kayla was starting to get annoyed. “You were living with us at the time. Does Mom know?”
Mack set their new drinks on the closest bedside table with a wink. “Mom was a guest at Wendy’s wedding a few years back. She knew everything.”
Kayla flopped back on the bed and stretched her legs out in front of her.
Her knee was aching from being bent underneath her for so long, but she was more focused on the sinking of her stomach.
“Damn. I was about to say that we should hang out like we did back in high school. Only now I’m realizing we didn’t hang out as much as I thought we did. ”
The bed creaked and shifted beneath her as Mack dropped onto it.
She wrapped an arm around Kayla’s neck. Kayla immediately dropped her head down to rest against Mack’s shoulder.
Her body was the same—warm and comforting—but it was more now.
Kayla couldn’t help remembering how good that arm had felt wrapped around her waist, pulling their bodies flush.
Mack said, “I would love to hang out more with you. This week has been great.”
“You really think so?”
“Of course. I hadn’t realized how little time we’ve spent talking about life these days.”
Kayla curled in closer, burying her nose into Mack’s neck.
The short hairs of her undercut tickled, but it was worth it to bury herself in that Mack smell.
She rested her hand on Mack’s distractingly muscular stomach.
“Things are a lot more complicated these days. I thought life was supposed to get easier when we got older.”
Mack laughed, the sound reverberating through Kayla’s body. She slipped her leg across Mack’s thigh because she couldn’t stop herself from moving closer. Mack’s thumb traced a line up and down her forearm. “I don’t think life ever has or will be easy. It just gets complicated in a different way.”
While she wanted to focus on how good it felt to curl into Mack, there was something in her voice that broke the spell. Kayla looked up to see a worry crease between her eyebrows, and suddenly her heart was breaking. “Hey. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Seriously. Talk to me. Maybe I can help. How are things complicated for you these days?”
“Other than the fact I just made out with my best friend? I can’t imagine.”
Laughter loosened the tightness in Kayla’s chest. “There is that. But still. This week with you hasn’t felt complicated at all.” Her heart rate picked up as she looked into Mack’s riveting eyes. “In fact, it’s felt really comfortable. It’s felt right.”
Mack didn’t look away. She didn’t even blink.
Was she thinking the same thing as Kayla?
Was she thinking that surely that meant something?
Because now that Kayla was thinking it, she couldn’t think of anything else, and that felt deeply complicated.
It felt like maybe she shouldn’t be spending all her time chasing Skye after all.
But she loved Skye, didn’t she? It suddenly occurred to her that, apart from the quiet moment when Mack had been in the bathroom, she hadn’t thought of Skye once since her morning meltdown.
What the hell was that all about? She had spent a shocking amount of money when she didn’t really have to chase Skye down here to paradise to stop her wedding, and now she wasn’t even thinking about her much less chasing her.
The thought terrified her, but she quickly shook it off.
Clearly, Mack had done a good job of distracting her.
That was all. It didn’t mean anything that this had been the best day of the week.
Best day of her month. Okay, if she was honest, this had been the best day she could remember in years, including when she was with Skye.
Mack had been focusing on making her relax rather than fighting something she couldn’t control, and she was doing an amazing job.
It had nothing to do with developing feelings for Mack.
She was just doing what a best friend did.
Kayla rubbed circles with her fingertips across Mack’s bicep.
“Thank you so much for being here. For making things easier. It was a lot to ask, to come out here and pretend to marry me so I could get Skye back. It’s the kindest, most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me, and I really appreciate it. ”
Tears welled in Kayla’s eyes, but she willed them not to fall.
She didn’t want to break the electrical tether of her gaze to Mack’s.
If she looked away, she may never reestablish this connection, and she wanted nothing more than to live inside this moment.
This cocoon with just enough room for her and Mack.
Mack whispered, “You’re welcome. I’d do anything for you.”
One of those stubborn tears fell without permission. “People say that all the time, but you really mean it. You’re a wonderful person. I’m lucky to have you.”
Mack’s smile somehow hurt more than it cheered.
There had never been a more genuine smile, but it was laced with the knowledge of the future and the past. The complicated bits and the beautiful bits and all the bits that might never be.
She guided Kayla’s head back to rest on her shoulder, then bent down to press a kiss onto her forehead. “You’ll always have me.”
Lying there in Mack’s arms, listening to the quiet patter of raindrops against the window and rocking gently on the rise and fall of her chest, Kayla fell into the most peaceful sleep of her lifetime.