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Chapter Twenty-Eight
MACKENZIE
“What,” I breathed, “was that?” I asked Fallon as she lay next to me, staring at the ceiling.
“That was… well, it was… fuck, I don’t know.” She rubbed her face.
We really had to stop doing this. The whole reason I left the pool early was to avoid getting tempted—only to end up doing exactly what I was trying to resist.
Clearly, I couldn’t outrun whatever this was between us. Especially when she had looked at me the way she did.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how she looked in that pool—with her sage green off-the-shoulder bikini top and black bottoms. That color against her red hair? My weakness. Every damn time. When she kissed me, unless she pulled back, there was no way I wasn’t dragging her into my apartment. Saying no to her? Impossible. The situation we were in now proved that.
“What were you thinking, Fallon?”
She sat up, scoffing. “Excuse me? I’m pretty sure you were a part of this, too. You’re the one who showed up to my peaceful swim, looking so mouthwatering. What was I supposed to do?”
I felt a blush creep up my neck. “I’m sorry. It’s not my fault we both had the same idea.” Her compliment sent a rush of pride through me, and I sat up a little straighter, purposefully letting the blanket fall just enough so my nipples were almost showing.
She noticed, and I reveled in the way she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. It was a quick moment, but it was there.
Shaking her head, she cleared her throat and tried to scowl again. “Not to mention, that little stunt you pulled—jumping in the water and making your boobs bounce? Come on! That was definitely intentional. And you kissed me first!”
“Like your whole bending-over show wasn’t? And don’t think I didn’t notice how slowly you walked out of the pool, all dripping wet, putting your whole perfect fucking body on display. You just had to go that slow?” I raised an eyebrow and smirked.
She laughed. “You could’ve looked away. I was just getting out of the pool. It’s not my fault you can’t keep your eyes to yourself.”
“Have you seen yourself?!” I yelled. “Of course I can’t keep my eyes off you! We’re getting way off topic here. None of that matters, anyway. Yeah, I kissed you, but I stopped and left, so this,” I motioned between us, “didn’t happen.”
“Well, look how that turned out. It happened anyway.” She smirked.
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, Fallon. You were the one who said we had to stop, which is why I left. I was trying to respect your boundaries.”
As much as I didn’t want to stop, I respected Fallon, and I didn’t want to lose her in my life, no matter what role she played in it.
She groaned, running a hand through her hair. “I know I did. And we do, I just… shit! We really have to stop doing this, Mackenzie!”
I sighed, leaning back against the headboard. “Yeah, I know. But let’s be real—neither of us actually want to stop, do we?”
She looked up at me, and for a second, her expression softened. “No, I don’t think we do.”
“What are we doing, Fallon?” My voice was quieter when I spoke.
She twisted the bedsheet between her fingers, exhaling slowly. “I don’t know,” she said, meeting my eyes. “But whatever this is, I don’t think it’s going away just because we keep telling ourselves it will.”
I didn’t know either, but I didn’t think I could stop, even if I wanted to.
We sat in silence for a long while. “My ex royally fucked me, Fallon, and not in the mind blowing way you do. I don’t know what you’re wanting this to be, but I’m not sure I can go through that again right now. But, I also can’t deny that I can’t seem to keep my hands to myself when I’m around you, nor do I want to.”
She chuckled softly. “Yeah, I can tell. I get it, though. My ex messed me up, too, and honestly, I’m not sure I’m ready for that either.”
“So what do we do then? Do we stop and go back to being friends? Do we end our friendship entirely and go back to ignoring each other? Does one of us move?” I asked, my voice trailing off by the end. I didn’t like any of those options.
She didn’t respond right away. The silence stretched, making my chest feel tight. I knew she was going to put a permanent stop to this, but I wasn’t ready to find out exactly how.
I nudged her gently, thinking maybe she hadn’t heard me. Then, finally, she turned to face me, her expression unreadable.
“No one’s moving, and I don’t think we can go back to ignoring each other. That didn’t work even when I didn’t like you.” She smirked. “I think we’re two friends who enjoy each other’s company… and apparently, fucking each other into oblivion. Why change things?”
I couldn’t hide my laughter. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, why define anything?” she said, her voice a little hesitant. “I’ve never done this before—this kind of situation, I mean—and I don’t really know what I’m doing. This move was supposed to be a fresh start, something different, so…” She paused, biting her lip for a second. “We both aren’t ready for a relationship right now, so let’s just keep it simple. Keep it casual, if you want to.” She turned to face me, her expression serious. “But I think we should set some boundaries. Some rules, to make sure we’re both on the same page with everything.”
She wanted to keep sleeping together? Really? I tried, and failed, to hide my stupid giddy smile. “I think I can handle something simple. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, it probably goes without saying, but as long as we’re being safe, I think we should be able to do our own thing.”
“Of course. Okay,” I said. I wasn’t sleeping with anyone else right now, but she didn’t need to know that. And I certainly didn’t need to know if she was.
“We need to be honest with each other,” she added, her voice firm. “But we don’t have to give too many details if we aren’t comfortable.”
“Okay, I can manage that. Anything else?” I asked.
She frowned. “Well, do you have any rules? If we’re going to do this, it needs to be equal.”
I thought for a minute. My only rule was to not fall in love, which I didn’t think I would be breaking, but I chose a different condition instead. “I don’t think we should have sleepovers.”
She nodded. “That’s fair. Are we agreed then?”
I wanted to tell her no, we were not. This sounded like the worst idea in history. I was already feeling things I shouldn’t have been, but to add more sex to the mix? That didn’t seem like a good combination.
I looked at her for a minute, then spoke softly. “Yes, Sunshine, just don’t go falling in love with me.” I winked.
Rolling her eyes, she answered in a sarcastic tone, “I’ll try my very best.”
“I told you if you kept rolling your eyes, I was going to show you how to do it the right way, sweetheart.” That was the only warning she got before I topped her and showed her exactly that.
After a few more hours of eye-rolling and disturbing the neighbors, we took turns cleaning up, and I walked Fallon to the door. I was already regretting the no-sleepover rule. I just wanted to stay in bed with her all night.
“Oh, I wanted to ask you. There’s a book signing next week at the bookstore. It’s for the author of the book in the window. I have to work it for a little bit, but I was wondering if you wanted to stop by?”
I paused. “I saw that display. It’s what convinced me to go inside that day. Sure, that sounds fun. Count me in.” I smiled.
She grinned widely. “Thanks, it was my idea.”
“Wow, really? You did an amazing job. It’s beautiful. Now that I think of it, that makes sense.”
“What does?” she asked, looking confused.
“That a beautiful soul created that beautiful display.” I winked.
She blushed. “Jesus, you’re something else. Well, I only have to work half of it, but Drea’s cashier, Kaia will be there to help out all day. Drea gets extra stressed during these things, even though they always work out perfectly.”
“Well, I’ll be there to help for a bit too, so no worries, darling.” I smiled and she planted a kiss on my cheek.
“Thank you. Goodnight, Kenzie.”
As she started to pull away, I stopped her, cupping her chin and pulling her in for a real kiss. Now that I could, there was no chance I’d let her leave my sight again without a proper goodbye.
She melted into me, letting out a soft sigh before breaking the kiss. As quickly as it had started, it was over—and she was walking away. The only difference this time was that I knew she’d be back.
Table of Contents
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- Page 28 (Reading here)
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