44. Macie

Chapter forty-four

Macie

S omething had changed within me, and I couldn't pinpoint what it was. In the mirror, my eyes were brighter, my cheeks held a rosy flush, and my smile beamed bigger and cheerier than before. Where the world once felt small, it now felt big. Where things once were black and white and two dimensional, the entire universe now exploded in blazing color.

Sitting at the kitchen table, I could barely listen to the conversation between my parents, Abby, and her husband, Logan. They were chatting, keeping the conversation light and away from the reason why we were here, but it didn't matter as all I cared about was my texts with Relic. I loved him, he loved me, and there was no way I was letting go.

Relic: Almost there. A stop light away.

Me: I'm excited to see you.

Relic: Same. Are you nervous?

Me: I should be, but I can't wait to see you again.

Relic: I'm here for you, Macie. We'll get through today together.

I could decipher the subtext of his words—he still intended to leave me today and joining the gang, but I couldn't let it happen. I had to figure out something, and fast.

Relic: Demarius is dropping me off at your driveway.

I jumped out of my seat, and everyone stopped talking. "Relic's here."

"Wow," Abby said.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Wow what?"

Abby had brown hair a bit lighter than mine, but I loved how hers lay sleek against her shoulders, where as I had to fight daily with my natural curl. Out of all my nonblood aunts and uncles, Abby had been my favorite. She had a take-no-prisoners attitude with life, and eagle eyes that saw everything. It was that sharpened gaze on me that felt like she was literally reading every thought in my brain that made me now question if she was truly my favorite. "You have it bad for this boy."

I refused to break eye contact with her first. "How do you know?"

"Besides the fact that you've been head down on your cell texting with him the entire time even when I've said your name to gain your attention?"

"I could have been texting Ariel."

"But you weren't," she said with confidence.

She had me there. "But I could have been."

"But you weren't," she dug in. "When you text with Ariel, you don't smile like you're about to explode into kittens and unicorns."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

"Don't whatever me," she said in a singsong way. "I know you, Macie Hutchins. Your cheeks are flushed, your eyes are bright, whenever he took too long texting you back, your knee bounced, just like your mom's does when she's nervous, and you looked away when I hit too close to the truth."

Annoyed, I squished my lips to the side. "Are you done FBI psychoanalyzing me?"

"Not even close, but I insist you go bring this boy in so I can meet the person who swept you off your feet."

A pit formed in my stomach. "You have to be nice to him. Promise me you'll be nice to him."

"I'm always nice," Abby said.

Logan scoffed. "You're never nice."

She turned toward Logan. "I was lying. She didn't need to know I was lying. The whole me not being nice was a secret between us."

"It's not a secret," Logan said with a smile.

"I knew you were lying," I added.

"Whose side are you on?" she said to me.

"Mine," I answered, and I couldn't help but smile when that made Abby laugh. I liked that I could make her laugh. I liked that the two of us had always been friends more than her being my aunt.

The doorbell rang and I sent Abby a pleading look. "Please be nice."

"For today, Macie, and today only. Next time I see him, I'll be grilling him like they taught me to at Quantico."

I skipped to the front door, opened it, and my heart leapt at the sight of Relic. He gave me that smile that belonged only to me, and I stepped forward, into his waiting arms. Relic hugged me close, I hugged him tighter, and when I looked up at him, he pressed a gentle and brief kiss to my lips. He pulled back much faster than I wanted as I longed to kiss him like I had last night, but that wasn't why he was here, and I needed to remain focused so I could help Relic leave the gang behind.

"Ready to meet Abby?" I asked.

"I'm ready to meet anyone who can help you nail these bastards."

All the happiness washed out of me, leaving me lightheaded. I wavered, Relic tightened his hold on me to keep me up, and his eyes darted about my face in concern. "You okay, Macie?"

I swallowed hard. "It just hit me that I'm doing this. Or that I'm going to try to do this. Oh my God, what if I can't do this?"

Relic caressed my cheek, and his warmth and strength was all I needed. "Then you don't, and you'll try again some other time. The most important thing is that you're safe mentally and physically and that you take the time you need to deal with what happened."

Panic rose within me. "But we don't have time."

"This isn't about me anymore. It's about you. I'm here to encourage you, help you, and if you can describe the tattoo, I'll keep an eye out on the streets for it. I'm not here for the money. That ship's sailed."

"You don't understand. Gianna and Brayden know we're searching for the carjackers. If they know, then so does everyone else, which means whoever did this to me might know, too."