25. MJ
MJ
M y phone pings on the bar top in front of me. Glancing at it, I see a text from Mac pop up. Then another, and another.
“Sorry, Shan, let me check this real quick,” I say.
She was in the middle of venting to me about how she’s not sure she wants to work with Blake at the restaurant. Work has barely started and apparently they’re already at each other’s throats. And he’s not even paying her.
She wipes the bar down, prepping for her shift later today. Hal doesn’t know what he has and I’m hopeful Blake and Austin will snatch her up for their place.
I tap into the message thread with Mac and almost drop my phone as my jaw follows.
“What’s wrong?” Shannon asks, noticing my reaction. She instantly comes over to read my texts upside down.
“Apparently my dad went to the shop to talk to Mac.”
“What the fuck?”
My thoughts exactly. I read through and he doesn’t give me much, just that Dad was there, and they had a pleasant talk. He said he’d tell me more when I got home. Home meaning his place. That awakens the butterflies in my stomach, and I grin to myself.
“Uh, that face is telling me you need to go see your man like now, girly!”
Leaning across the counter, I hug my best friend. “Thanks, Shan. I’ll text you later!”
I walk toward the door to let myself out and turn back. “Oh, and Shan? Give Blake a break. He’s not really an asshole like you think.”
She huffs out a breath, rolling her eyes as I turn back to the door and head out to my Jeep parked out front.
I startle Mac when I show back up at the shop much earlier than planned, but he takes the time to sit down with me and share how the conversation with my father went.
There are tears and smiles and confusion, but he shares why my dad has had such a hard time accepting Mac with his supposed criminal status.
I didn’t even know I had an uncle, but I’m assuming this is the story Dad said he’d share with me one day.
But what floors me the most isn’t the estranged uncle, but that Dad told Mac he didn’t really care if I went to law school or not and he wouldn’t force me to take over the firm if I didn’t want to.
The leather cushion groans as I tuck my legs underneath me, repositioning.
Mac is sitting on the couch next to me, his legs spread wide and his elbows resting on his thighs.
He has his hands clasped in front of him and he’s popping his knuckles as his left knee bounces.
“Mac?” He looks over at me, a loose strand of hair falling into his face. “You okay?”
He tosses his head, flicking the loose strand of ha ir back in place. “Yeah, just . . .” he trails off. I nod my head slowly, urging him to continue. “It doesn’t feel real, I guess?”
I tilt my head to the side, my hair falling over my shoulder, and he closes his eyes, taking a deep breath.
“Earlier you said you were staying. I’ve heard you say you’re staying in town a few times now. I know you’re working on stuff with Blake and Austin, and I’m not worried you’ll find something more permanent and sustainable. But I guess . . .” He bites his lip and leans his head back.
I unfold myself and lean into his space, placing my hand on his thigh and pressing down to stop him from bouncing his leg. “You guess what?” I ask.
He looks out across the shop and then back at me.
“I guess, what happens when you tire of the small-town life? You said you like it here and want to be here, but what if that changes? What if you get sick of me?” He looks at me with pain in his eyes and I roll my lips together, taking a deep breath.
“Hey,” I say. I reach up, holding his face in my hands. “Mac, look at me.”
His blue-green eyes lift to meet mine and I smile.
“That’s never going to happen. I love you.
I’ve missed you all these years and while I’m sad we missed out on all that time together, I think it also made me want to cherish the time we have now.
I’m not going anywhere. Oakridge is small, but we can travel; go stay in Cedar Bend for a bit or go wherever for vacations. I’m here for good, honey.”
I lean into him and kiss his lips softly. He sighs against me and nods.
“Okay, but if you change your mind—” he begins, but I cut him off.
“If I change my mind about any of it, I will talk to you. We’re a team. That’s what couples do—talk things out. I doubt I’ll change my mind, but I promise if I do, we’ll talk about it. What’s got you so anxious about this?”
Mac blows out a breath and looks at the floor. “I’m stuck here. And you don’t have to be, as you proved when you went off to Caracrest.”
I recoil, leaning away from him like he punched me in the stomach. I wasn’t expecting that from him, especially when he was the one who pulled away before we were even out of high school.
“That was always the plan though. I didn’t even know you needed me. You can’t blame me for leaving when I didn’t know. We weren’t even friends then.” He looks up at me like I’ve assaulted him now and I realize he’s been holding on to this hurt just as long as I have.
“We’ve always been friends, MJ. It was when I wanted to be more that I pulled back.
I didn’t want to hold you back and make you feel stuck in this podunk town with me.
” He runs his fingers through his hair. “You had all these dreams and ambitions, and I would not be that guy who made you give up on them.”
Tears prick the back of my eyes, and I shake my head. He huffs.
“You can honestly tell me you still would’ve gone to Cara crest if I had told you how I felt way back then?” he asks.
“How you felt?” I shake my head, confused.
“I loved you, MJ. I’ve always loved you.
You have always been my person from when we were little kids to now.
You get me like no one else does, and I want to hang on to you with all my might, but because I loved you, I knew I couldn’t do that.
” The tears are falling now, sliding down my face, and he reaches up to catch them on my cheeks.
“You would’ve stayed and probably resented me at some point, and I would have hated myself.
So yeah, I’m scared this isn’t real. I’m scared you’ll change your mind.
” I shake my head and take one of his hands into mine, bring it to my lips.
“I’m not changing my mind. I’m here for good.
This is real. I want to renovate the loft or find a house for us in town, for real.
I want to get married someday and have all the babies with you.
I want to teach them how to read, and you can teach them how to swim.
I want to make all the memories at the creek and grow old with you.
I want to spend evenings sitting on a porch with you looking out at the creek.
I want to have our own library filled with our favorite books and all the annotated copies we’ll read and reread. I want it all.”
I kiss the tears that are now tracking down his cheeks and give him a watery smile.
“I want it all and more. With you.” As if my long-winded declaration convinced him, he finally nods his head and leans in, pressing his lips to mine.
“I love you, Mac. You’re stuck with me now,” I murmur.
He chuckles against my lips and then grabs my thighs, pulling me into his lap.
I kiss him deeply, sl iding my tongue into his mouth, and he groans.
He squeezes my thighs and stands with me in his arms. I lean away to protest, but he chases my mouth and captures my lips again.
He moves us through the shop, up the stairs and onto the bed in the loft where he devours me and makes me feel just how much he loves me too.