Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

WOOD

I 'm just trying to get this water to Macy.

"Yeah, so like, we should totally hang out some time. Like, just you and me. Let me give you my Snap?—"

I smile at the brunette who currently has me cornered by the sink.

"Hey, yeah, for sure. Just let me take this drink to my friend and I'll catch you in a bit." I give her a little nod and raise the cup as I walk away, making a mental note to avoid her the rest of the night.

She seems fine and all, and I admire a girl who will make the first move, but she's not…

Macy.

I can't help it. If Macy's here, I can't even be bothered to glance at anyone else.

It's a problem, I admit.

The music has been turned back up to full volume now that Bex has jumped down from the table after making her announcement, half the party swarming her, giving her hugs and congratulations. Girls squealing over the ring. The other half is getting refills and starting to dance.

Macy is standing in the same spot I left her, casually dressed in light-washed jeans and a ribbed tank, hair up in a loose bun, several red curls falling out around her face. Her face… Fuck. She has the smoothest skin covered in faint freckles and dark, warm brown eyes. She could get me to do whatever she wants with just those eyes.

And as I'm walking back to her, it's déjà vu. Like this could be the first night we met almost six and a half years ago, when she and Bex showed up at my frat's party sophomore year. She had me captivated then, too. Instantly. From the second she snort laughed and waved off my pickup line as a joke instead of the very serious attempt it was.

After twenty minutes, I was smitten. Head over heels. Ready to forget every other woman on the planet existed just to listen to her talk all night. It was a new experience. One I haven't had since.

But that night, when I came back after getting her a drink, she was sitting in the corner talking about pre-med shit with Spencer. And she's been with him ever since.

Spencer hardly ever went to the frat parties. He shouldn't have been there that night. But I guess they're a good match. She's too smart for me, anyway. It probably wouldn't have worked out past a couple dates. Still, whenever I see them together, something eats at me. Something in the way he talks to her, looks at her—or maybe it's the way he doesn't look at her. I don't know. Makes me wish things were different.

Tonight when I find her to deliver her drink, she's standing on the outskirts, looking at Bex, who is currently squeezing Livvy. After a moment, Livvy runs back to Noah's arms and then Bex is bombarded by more friends.

"Why aren't you over there?" I ask, having to raise my voice over the music.

Macy startles. "Oh gosh, she's got so many people congratulating her, I'll go over in a minute." She smiles, but I know her genuine smile—the one where her eyes sparkle. And this one isn't that.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything else?" I ask as I hand her the water.

She shakes her head. "I'm good, thank you. You can go mingle with your friends."

I swing my head around exaggeratedly, then land back on her. "That's what I'm doing. You're my friend, Mace. Right?" I couldn't give a flying fuck about mingling with anyone else here.

"Oh. I mean, yes, sure." She smiles but it's a fake one. Again.

But this time there's a sadness in her eyes, a slight tremble in her voice.

I lean in so I don't have to yell. "Is everything all right?"

She looks up at me, eyes wide. "Yes. Why wouldn't it be?"

"You don't seem okay. What's wrong?"

Macy doesn't say anything. She tries to smile wider, but the corners of her mouth start to droop, her throat bobs, and she blinks as her eyelids start to fill with quivering tears.

Oh no. Oh fuck.

Fuck.

"Shit, come here." I scoop her around the back and lead her away from everyone, down the hall to the bedroom.

She bursts into tears as soon as I shut the door behind us. Face in her hands, body-wracking sobs, ugly-crying.

This is not how I envisioned getting Macy alone in a bedroom.

And the room is completely empty. Fuck.

"I'll be right back," I say.

I scramble out to the bathroom for some tissues. There aren't any. I look under the sink. Empty. So I steal the lone roll of toilet paper off the wall and rush back to the room.

"Thanks," she hiccups, tears running down her cheeks.

Even red and blotchy and blowing snot into three squares of toilet paper, she's still the most beautiful girl I've ever met.

My chest tightens and I ball my hands into fists, standing here dumbly, not knowing what to do or how to fix this.

"Mace, how can I help you?"

I touch her shoulders and she looks up at me. A moment of silence passes between us and then her expression crumples and I pull her into a hug.

Her face is pressed into me as she sobs against my chest, wetting my shirt. I don't care. It's hers. She can do whatever she likes, whatever makes her feel better. I'll take it off my back and give it to her if that helps.

I tighten my arms around her, patting her back and then rubbing it in gentle circles. I don't know if this is better or worse. I'm holding her, and I love how she's melted against me, taking my comfort. But she's shaking and it's fucking breaking me in half.

After what feels like nowhere near long enough, the tears stop, her breathing quiets, and she pulls away from me.

"Sorry, that was a lot. I'm so embarrassed."

"No, no, no. Don't worry about it at all. You can cry on me any time."

She glances down to where my white T-shirt is wet with little black smudges on my chest and her face goes pale.

"Oh my gosh." She balls up some toilet paper and starts wiping at the makeup on my chest, her cheeks getting redder by the second.

"Macy, it's fine." I tilt her chin up to look at me. "I have more shirts."

"You aren't mad?"

"What is there to be mad about?"

"It might not come out."

Is she serious? She's serious. Fuck. "Macy, I don't care about the shirt. I care about you. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She rings the wadded up toilet paper in her hands, still staring at my chest.

"Tell me," I say, quieter.

She looks up at me with those big, brown eyes, her shoulders falling. "I feel like a terrible friend. I'm happy for them, I really am. It's just?—"

Swallowing, she turns away.

I touch her shoulder again. "Keep going, it's okay."

"It's just, they've been dating less than a month. Spencer and I have been together over six years and I just… I thought I would be the one announcing my engagement first. That's all."

I clench my teeth together—it keeps me from saying something stupid and unhelpful, like how Spencer is a fucking idiot. Instead, I say, "It's totally understandable to feel that way."

She wipes away a rogue tear, her lashes wet and clumped together. But this time when she gives me a small smile, her brown eyes twinkle. Just a little, just enough that I know it's a real one.

Or maybe it's just the tears in her eyes. I don't know. I'm going to choose to believe the other option.

"Are you ready to go back out there?"

Macy nods and blows her nose again. "How much of a mess do I look?"

Again, I know saying she looks radiant would not be helpful.

But she does.

"Come on." I motion for her to follow me to the bathroom where I shut the door behind us. "Here, just take a minute."

She goes to the mirror and leans over, inspecting her face and wiping the smudges around her eyes.

While she's turned away, I yank my shirt off over my head and run some water over it in the sink. As I'm trying to scrub the black streaks away, I glance up. Macy's eyes catch mine in the mirror before quickly darting away, her cheeks turning a deeper pink.

Fuck.

She goes to the door as I pull my shirt on, pausing with her hand on the knob, but not looking back.

"Thank you, for this." Then she rushes out.

My shirt is soaked. The black makeup stains have not gone away, in fact, they're thriving. And there is no towel in sight. Fantastic.

I go out into the hall to look for something, anything. I open the closet door at the end of the hall in hopes of finding any type of cleaner or towel.

Instead, when I open the door, I get a view of my cousin's ass, his pants around his thighs, Livvy's leg wrapped around his hip, her face flushed, as he's fucking her up against the wall.

"Oh fuck." I close the door instantly. "Sorry, guys."

I've seen way too much of Noah's ass lately.

There's laughing on the other side of the door, and then the unmistakable rhythmic pounding resumes.

I check the next door—no ass this time, but a stackable washer and dryer. This will do. I throw my shirt into the dryer and run it on high for five minutes. It's not a hundred percent dry when I take it out, and the stains are here to stay, living their best life. Oh well.

By the time I get back out to the party, Macy is in the middle of the crowd with Bex, smiling and hugging and chatting with almost no indication she had been crying against my chest ten minutes ago.

I'm getting another beer.

"Where did you disappear to with Macy?"

I look up. Noah's leaning against the wall, his tattoo-covered arms crossed.

"We weren't fooling around in a closet, if that's what you were wondering."

He gives me a mischievous smile. "I know. Livvy and I were in the only closet big enough for that."

We fist bump. "Happy for you, bro. No, she just needed some privacy. We were in the bedroom."

He looks slowly down at my stained shirt then back up. "Spencer?"

"Spencer."

"That dick."

"Yep." I can't decide which feeling is stronger—how much I despise him for not making her happy and putting a ring on her finger already, or how happy I am that he's an idiot for not locking her down.

Her red hair catches my eye as I glance toward the living room. I can't help it. She always stands out to me. And I'm always subconsciously scanning for her.

And then she's walking toward me. A grin tugs at my mouth, so wide my cheeks hurt.

"That'd be my cue." Noah pushes off the wall with his hip, making sure I see his knowing expression as he goes.

Macy, however, is not smiling when she comes over.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask. "You need me to hide you away again?"

She stares blankly as she looks for a place to sit, not finding one. "Bex asked me to be her maid of honor."

"That's awesome."

Macy nods. "They've already set the date. They're getting married in three weeks."

"Oh, shit."

"I think I'll take that drink now. Do you have salt and limes, for the tequila?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Great, I'll take two shots. I just need to run to the bathroom first." She pauses as she turns. "Actually, make it four."

I've gotten the salt, sliced the limes, and am pouring the eight shots—because I don't intend to make her take them alone—when the brunette from earlier sidles up to the counter.

"Is one of those for me?" She touches my arm and arches an eyebrow.

"Uh, sure. Here you go, girl." I hand her one of the shots with a smile and a nod.

Now, please leave.

She doesn't.

"Salt?"

I hand her the salt. She makes sure to maintain eye contact while she licks the back of her hand so it'll stick where she shakes the salt on it, then she puts the glass to her lips and asks me to get her lime ready.

So, I hold up the little lime wedge for her to take as she, once again, licks her hand, slower than necessary. She winks at me this time. As if I needed more of a hint.

She shoots the tequila back, like a champ—I have to admit—but then, instead of taking the lime from me, she sucks on it directly from my fingers. Oh shit.

And as her lips are clamped down on the lime, brushing the edges of my fingers, sticky lime juice running down my palm, Macy returns, taking in the scene.

Goddammit.

"Hey, Mace." I drop the lime and step away from the brunette, trying to ignore the lime juice dripping down my forearm. "I got your tequila. And some extras so you don't have to take them alone."

The brunette closes the distance I'd made between us. "We could do body shots," she says with a smile.

Macy lets out an uncomfortable giggle and picks up four shots, two in each hand.

"I'll leave you two to it, then. I'm going to see if Bex wants any of these. Thank you." Macy gives me a little nod then leaves, taking the shots with her.

"No body shots for me tonight, sis. But I'm sure you can find someone who'd be more than happy to partake." I grab a beer and back out of the kitchen before I can get wrangled into more conversation.

Macy spends the rest of the night with Bex and Livvy while I keep my distance. Watching from the outside.

Because that's how it always is with us.