14. Mac #2
Gravel and dust fly as I pull into MJ’s driveway a little faster than I meant to.
I turn down We the Kings, which may have gotten me a little too pumped for tonight.
Looking up over the hood of my car, I see MJ standing on the front porch waiting for me.
Fuck, am I late ? Glancing at the clock, I confirm that no, I’m not late.
Odd that she’s already waiting outside for me though.
Cutting the engine, I pull the keys out of the ignition and open my door as MJ bounces down the porch stairs toward me. I pick up the pace to make sure I beat her to the passenger door.
“I can get my own door, Mac,” she says with a huff, but the twitch of her lips tells me she’s playing with me.
“I know you can, but you don’t have to. Let me.” I open the door and she slides into my car. She straps her seatbelt on and then I lean down to hand her the small bouquet of wildflowers I picked from my parents’ backyard. “Also, hi, you look gorgeous.”
Electricity shoots up my arm as our hands brush.
MJ takes the bouquet from me with a soft smile.
The dress she’s wearing is like the one she had on this morning.
This one is black though, with sunflowers all over it.
The cut of the top is the same, and I know I will probably not be watching a lot of the movie tonight.
I try to swerve my thoughts back into friendly territory as I race around to the driver’s side of my car.
Reaching to start the engine a light touch on my arm makes me pause. “Wait,” MJ says, and I look over to her. “Is this like a date?” she asks, her eyes darting from the flowers and then back to me.
“If you want it to be,” falls from my lips before I can stop it.
Well, that’s out there now. I glance over to see her reaction.
A beautiful shade of pink covers her neck, but she doesn’t respond.
We crawl through town, making our way to the auto shop, dodging pedestrians who are already out and about for the event tonight.
I park in front of the shop. Smiling, I unstrap my seatbelt again and run around the car to help MJ out.
I think she’s learning because she doesn’t make a move to get out until I’m there with her. Good girl.
We walk across the st reet hand-in-hand, neither of us letting go. I open the door to Spoon with my free hand, the bell dinging overhead. She drops my hand to walk in first and I follow behind, my hand already feeling empty without hers in it.
Soft lo-fi music plays in the speakers overhead, clearly Beck’s choice again. But Sophie is the one who greets us from the back. “Be right there!” she calls.
Standing next to MJ at the counter, the back of my hand brushes hers.
She most likely dropped my hand out of convenience—I hope.
But I also don’t want to push her out of her comfort zone.
I may be ready to pursue things, but I’m not certain where she stands.
A smile tugs at my lips when I feel her pinky reach out and link with mine.
Sophie comes out from the back room, followed closely by Beck, and they both eye us up and down.
They say nothing, but Beck gives me a wink when MJ is busy ordering with Sophie.
We both opt for iced teas to help beat the heat tonight.
Before MJ can try, I pull my wallet out, swiping my card to buy the drinks.
“Hey!” MJ protests.
“Oh, just let the man pay, Em!” Beck says with her back turned.
How did she know? Freaky. The bell over the door dings again as we take our drinks from Beck and say our goodbyes.
Dodging the patrons who walked in on our way out, I try not to wince at the whispers I hear. It’s going to be a long night.
We wait for the others out front of Spoon, while Beck and Sophie close the coffee shop.
Austin, Blake, and Shannon all walk up, Shannon lugging a huge tote bag overflowing with blankets.
Damn, I knew I forgot something. As if reading my mind, Shannon reassures me, “I brought a few blankets, so we don’t all have to sit on the grass. ”
“Thank you,” I mouth to her, and she smiles sweetly.
“That was nice of you,” Blake says in a tone I can’t place. Shannon must be familiar with it though, because the look she shoots him is anything but sweet.
Sophie and Beck join us, Sophie carrying a little picnic basket.
Damn, that would have been a good idea, too.
We all walk toward the grass area where Noah is already setting up a blanket for him and Sophie.
He waves us over and we all pitch in, helping spread blankets out and make sure there’s room for all eight of us to sit.
Once we’re all settled, Sophie opens the picnic basket and surprises us with enough muffins and cookies for everyone. Man, I love being friends with that woman.
We make it through about half of the movie, MJ and I sitting next to each other when I notice MJ fidgeting. She’s leaning side to side, rolling her neck, and cannot sit still.
Leaning into her, I whisper, “You okay?”
“Yeah, just a little stiff from sitting up like this,” she whispers back, stretching her legs out in front of her.
Scooting back a foot or two on the blanket, I extend my legs and then spread them so there’s a nice little spot for MJ to sit. “Come on, lean up against me so your body can rest a bit.”
She looks at the spot, then back up at me, her eyes darting around the park and then back to mine. I nod, encouraging her and pat the spot on the blanket. She nods her head but doesn’t move. “What’s wrong?”
“Um.” Her eyes dart to the surrounding people again and then up to mine. “I don’t want to get up and block everyone’s view, but I also don’t want to flash my underwear by crawling around to move.” I snicker but nod.
“Okay, one sec.” I channel my inner gymnast and roll my body back to give myself room to bring my legs down on either side of MJ. I can’t see her face, but I can guarantee she’s trying not to laugh.
“Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down,” I hear Beck whisper from behind me. Austin’s quiet laughter joins hers. I turn my head to glare at them and am surprised to see how close they’re sitting—back-to-back, using each other as back rests.
Facing forward again, I slide my arms around MJ’s waist and pull her into me, whispering in her ear, “Better?”
Goosebumps rise on her arms as she nods. I inhale her scent, closing my eyes as a soft hum slips from my lips. Strawberries and sunshine.
Settling back in to finish out the movie, I can’t help but catch snippets of whispers.
So many eyes looking at us and then whispering to each other.
The gossip mill is going to be in full force tonight.
We’ll likely be the talk of the town tomorrow.
Even people who weren’t here tonight will know MJ and “that Macdonald boy” were looking awfully cozy.
It bothers me a bit; not for me, but for MJ.
She’s not used to the town talking negatively about her.
And while it’s mostly about me, I don’t want her to feel judged by association.
“You ready to get out of here?” I whisper to MJ as the credits roll.
She nods, peeling her body from mine. We’re both sticky, and there’s an imprint on my shirt from where our body heat combined.
I scoot back, standing and then offer my hand to help her up.
Everyone helps fold the blankets up. Shannon and Blake folding one together, but it looks more like a comedy bit.
Every time he goes right, she goes left.
It would be funny if they were laughing, but they are definitely not.
We say our goodbyes and head to my car back at the auto shop. I help her into the car and then get in, cranking the AC to give us some relief, the heat of the day still lingering well into the night.
“Would you wanna go for a swim?” she asks as we hit the roundabout.
“Sure, we can do that.” Taking an earlier turn, I head down a little dirt road that will get us closer to the creek than her parents’ house.
My car is going to take a little beating, but I don’t think either of us wants to make the mile trek when we’re already hot and sweaty.
Too bad we weren’t hot and sweaty for another reason .
The thought flies through my head. Well, okay then.
Racing around to open her door for her once we’ve parked, I realize a pretty important part of swimming that we’re missing. “Uh, MJ, we don’t have suits.”
She gives me a devili sh smile over her shoulder as she walks away from me, heading toward the creek.
I follow, slightly confused. Maybe she has a suit in the locker her dad has up here.
It’s usually full of firewood, but it would be just like her to plan like that.
All questions—hell, all thought—leaves my mind as MJ grabs the hem of her dress and lifts it up over her head.
“Undies are just as good as a suit, right?” She yells over her shoulder as she tosses her dress onto a tree stump. Fuck. Me .
The moonlight allows me to watch her saunter down the hill.
Hips swaying, her black lace underwear matching her bra perfectly.
My brain short circuits. All the blood rushing from my head to my cock in an instant.
Tripping over my jaw, I follow her down.
Reaching the stump her dress was haphazardly thrown upon, I fumble out of my shoes, undoing my belt at the same time.
Almost falling over, I step out of my jeans and then pull my shirt over my head, leaving me in just my boxer briefs.
I jog down to the creek, where MJ has already waded into the water and follow her down.
The water has a slight chill to it since it’s shaded most of the day, but it’s refreshing on a night as hot as this.
I swim out to where MJ just dipped under, treading water near her.
She pops her head back up and looks at me with a teasing smile.
Her eyes trail from my face and over my shoulder.
For a moment her faces fills with terror but then it’s gone.
Looking over my shoulder I see the swing swaying in the breeze.
It’s always there and I know she never jumps but I’ve never seen her react that way before.
“Hey, what was that ?” I ask. MJ shakes her head, but I know better. “The swing?” She nods. What about the swing has her spooked right now? “MJ, did something happen?”
She’s frozen, not focused on me or this moment, but on whatever happened. “MJ, talk to me.”
Her eyes lock on mine, filled with unshed tears.
I let her take a breath and then she tells me a story about when she was younger, and her brother got caught up on the swing and almost drowned.
They were both pretty young, but somehow, she was able to unhook him from the swing where his swimsuit got caught and he was okay.
She was so fucking brave to go through that and save her brother.
But that explains why he stopped coming down to the water years ago, and why she never jumps off the swing.
“Baby,” the nickname tumbles from of my lips too naturally.
“Your brother was being reckless. Blake, Austin, and I—we never try to jump in the way Brad did on our stomachs. And for good reason.” She sniffs and nods, knowing my words to be true.
“You wouldn’t try to jump off the swing that way, right?
” I ask, and she shakes her head, eyes wide.
“It’s okay to be scared. I get it. You are so brave.
But just know, I’d be right there to catch you.
I’d never let anything happen to you. Ever.
” I move through the water to get closer to her and rub my hands over her arms.
She looks up at me, her eyes shining. Not a tear has fallen, though. She nods and then just above a whisper says, “Okay.”
Her hair is now darkened and curled by the water, and I reach up to brush loose strands out of her face and cup her cheek. Her pink tongue d arts out, wetting her full lips. She looks up at me again, her eyes clear of tears and now full of something else. Something I am all too familiar with. Want.
Licking my lips, I slide my hand down from her cheek to her neck, my thumb grazing her jawline.
Am I reading her wrong? If I am, this could ruin our friendship before we’ve even fixed it.
But if I’m right . . . “Fuck it,” I whisper before pulling her into me.
Her legs wrap around my waist like it’s second nature and I crash my lips to hers.
Our bodies mold together as she kisses me back, her arms around my neck.
It’s fast and fierce. Both of us starved for each other after all these years.
I kiss her deeper, slipping my tongue across her lips and she parts them, letting me in.
Our tongues meet and I groan against her mouth.
She tastes like she smells, like strawberries and sunshine and I’ll be kicking myself until the day I die for making myself wait to kiss Emmalynn Jane just like this.