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Mack seemed distracted during the entire drive. He was constantly checking his rearview mirror and even turned almost fully in his seat to have a good look around when we’d reached a stoplight.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, unable to ignore how nervous he was making me feel.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said before shifting the car into gear and taking off as soon as the light turned green.
When we reached the restaurant, he asked the waitress to seat us in a booth away from the window, and Mack sat opposite of me so that he faced the room. I attempted to make small talk after we ordered our food, but he seemed disinterested and only gave short answers, so I stopped talking. I noticed the way his eyes would catch sight of something and stare for a long moment before he would focus his attention back on me. We ate in silence, and the food was tasteless to me. This wasn’t the man I’d just spent the last twelve hours with. It was hard not to feel like I was the reason for his behavior. Was he worried that we’d be seen together? While I was mostly sure that wasn’t the case, part of me couldn’t discount the idea completely, so I decided to get it out in the open.
After putting down my fork, I took a sip of my orange juice, then another sip before I felt my voice rise to the surface, and I cleared my throat.
“Mack?.?.?.” That’s when his phone rang.
“It’s about time,” he barked into the phone and turned his face away. “Did you get my text? Yeah?.?.?. All morning?.?.?. How the hell am I supposed to know?” The conversation continued with one-sided answers, and I had no clue what he was talking about. When the waitress arrived with the bill, Mack threw some cash on the table and grabbed my hand as we exited the restaurant. He motioned for me to get into the car while he walked a few feet away, lit a cigarette, and paced while talking on his phone and looking around.
Crossing my arms, I rested back against the seat and waited. The car was immaculate. The leather seats were polished, the chrome shined, and not a speck of dirt on the floors. I ran my fingers along the smooth contours of the dash admiring the beauty of
the car, and that’s when the glove box popped open and out poured a pile of colorful material. It took my brain several seconds to comprehend that a mountain of panties just fell onto my lap. Red, black, white, and turquoise panties were everywhere, but what really caught my attention were the pale pink satin panties I thought I’d lost at the hotel. Feeling enraged, I shoved them all to the ground. I pulled open the door and stormed over to Mack, waving my stolen panties at him.
“What the fuck, Mack!” I screamed. He whirled around, his eyes growing wide as he watched me approach. Then his stare went to what I was holding in my hand, and his face went pale. He said something quickly into the phone and then ended the call.
“Jonna, hang on a minute. I—”
“Collect panties like some kind of perv?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“Okay, so do you wear women’s panties then?” My voice reached a higher octave as I tried not to go into hysterics. Oh God please say no. Please don’t let him be into wearing women’s underwear.
“Fuck no,” he shot back and actually had the nerve to look offended.
“Well, if you feel insulted by that imagine, how I feel finding my panties hanging out with a group of other panties. So I’ll repeat. What the fuck, Mack?”
He ran a hand over his face and stared at the ground, then he mumbled something I didn’t hear.
“What?” I said, wanting him to repeat himself.
“It’s a superstition thing,” he said a little louder.
“Explain.” I put a hand on my hip and tapped my foot expectantly.
“It was something stupid Brando and I started doing. We were young and getting our first taste of women. At first the panties were a bragging thing. We couldn’t keep them in the house because our mother would find them, so we started keeping them in the glove box of our cars. When I first got the old Shelby it was all I had, so I drove it every day and raced with it. Except it wasn’t very fast. Then without thinking I put a pair of panties in there one night after a hookup and won a race that night. Brando is superstitious so he had me convinced that it was the reason I’d won. So after that I kept collecting them, and I kept winning.”
“That is ridiculous and disgusting, Mack.” His head snapped back as if I’d smacked him, but he didn’t say anything. “Maybe the reason you won is because you are good at what you do, not because of how many women you’ve fucked. This is juvenile and uncool. Ugh.” I threw my panties at his chest and stormed off. He didn’t call after me, and I didn’t look behind me as I walked straight to the ferry dock. Several minutes later, I heard the roar of his car engine as he drove away.
What an asshole.
I stood there for a while looking at the colorful pieces of fabric blowing around on the street and thought about Mack. He put on a cool and cocky façade, but inside he had insecurities. I remembered his comment about the way I looked at him like he was special, and I was guessing no one ever looked at him that way. It made my heart ache for him so much that I found myself walking in the direction of his house.
When I arrived his car was in the driveway, so I walked up the front stairs and opened the door. It was quiet inside, and I listened for any noise that might indicate where he could be. I walked through the great room and caught movement out of the corner of my eye on the back deck. Mack was leaning over the railing, staring at the ferry as it sailed away in the distance. I slid the glass door open, and he turned, looking a bit startled. When he saw that it was me his shoulders visibly relaxed.
“What are you doing here? I thought you would have been long gone by now?” He pushed away from the railing and moved to sit on one of the lounge chairs.
“How come you didn’t come after me?” I asked quietly. “Did you want me to leave?”
Mack stared at me for a moment and then replied, “No,” in a low voice as he looked away.
“Then why did you let me go?” I repeated, and he shrugged. With a sigh, I walked to stand in front of him. “Do you want me to stay?” His eyes shot to me instantly.
“Yes.”
