“Sit far away from them,” Alek warns me. “They are like this all the time. Seeing Sky’s bare ass in a chicken restaurant bathroom still gives me nightmares.”
“It was a beef joint,” Skylar corrects as I sit in one of the wooden chairs. Mackie pulls out the one next to me and sits. I look at him as he smiles and grabs a menu.
Noah sits down opposite us, his eyes locked on Mackie and me,and I quickly avert my gaze. It’s obvious there is something between them. Is he just protective? It shouldn’t matter. There are so many reasons Mackie and I could never work, but when he leans into me while everyone else is talking, I lean into him as well to make it easier to hear him.
“What are you going to order?” he asks.
“Oh, um, I didn’t look,” I admit as I grab a menu. “I’ve never really eaten this kind of thing. I’m a vegetarian.”
“Oh, you should have said something. Let’s go somewhere else.” He stands, and I can’t help but bite back a smile as I tug him down into his seat.
“It’s fine. There will be options,” I assure him as I scan the menu and pick out a few items.
“Are you sure?” His bright eyes swim with worry. I want to do anything to make that disappear.
“I’m sure,” I promise. “What are you going to have?”
“I was going to have the feast, but I’ll order something else.” He eyes me with concern, and I laugh.
“You can eat whatever you want. It doesn’t bother me. I’m used to it. It’s my choice to be vegetarian, not yours,” I reply.
“Why are you a vegetarian?” he asks curiously, leaning closer.
“Hmm, I didn’t have a lot of meat when I was younger. I guess I was picky, and when I grew up, I just didn’t really like it. Besides, I like animals a lot, and the idea of eating them always made me feel a little weird,” I explain. “I had lamb before I became vegetarian, and I found out later I’d fed the lamb the day before. Bleh.”
He laughs, leaning away, and I lift my head, feeling eyes on me. Noah is glaring at me, and his hand is wrapped around his knife as it digs into the table. Swinging my gaze from him to Mackie, I worry I’ve overstepped, but Mackie seems oblivious.
I nudge him and quietly ask, “Are you and Noah dating?”
“What?” he yells, looking shocked. The whole table looks at us before carrying on their conversations, and Mackie’s cheeks pinken so adorably I have the urge to keep teasing him. “No, why would you ask that?” he asks quietly, shooting Noah a look. “He’s my . . . boss.”
He steals another look at Noah, however, and there’s something in his gaze I recognize—longing.
Interesting, there’s something there for sure, but is it one-sided? I watch them as the meal goes on, and Noah barely interacts with Mackie, but he steals glances at him when he thinks Mackie isn’t looking, and every time I offer Mackie a bite, Noah glares at me. It becomes a game. I’m curious how far I can push it, not to mention Mackie is . . . cute.
He’s fun to talk with, and he makes me feel about ten years younger, not to mention I want to get to know him.
I have a debt to repay. I just never thought I would want to repay it so badly. The dead organ in my chest seems to beat a little faster, something it has not done in years, but I ignore it.
“Did you always want to be a racer?” I ask as I take a sip of my beer. It isn’t wine, but it will do. I didn’t want to stand out by not drinking it.
“Hmm, yes and no,” Mackie answers with a grin as he wipes his mouth. “I wanted to be a lot when I was growing up. I was kind of an indecisive kid.” He smiles fondly. “They could never calm me down, so one day my grandma took me to one of those go-kart racetracks and just let me go around and around until I was tired. I’d never felt so free, and she must have realized it because we went back every week. She started researching, and then we started watching races together. When I was a teenager, I realized I could do it if I wanted to. It wasn’t easy, since I had to do a lot of training and getting into a good company was nearly impossible, but Noah took me in and has been teaching me a lot.”
“That’s amazing. You have clearly worked very hard for it. Are you and your grandma close?” I ask curiously.
“Very. My parents died when I was young, and she took me in. She’d already raised her kids and was retired, but she never once hesitated. She gave me the best childhood I could have ever asked for, and I love her a lot,” he says.
“I’m sorry about your parents,” I murmur, covering his hand with mine. “That must have been hard.”
“I was young, so I don’t remember a lot about them,” he admits, looking at my hand on his. “I know I should miss them, but she always made sure I never wanted for anything, including love. I’m luckier than most people in that situation.”
As I stare at him, I wonder how anyone could be that kind. He lost his parents, yet he seems so well adjusted and thankful. He didn’t let it warp him. If anything, he used it to be a better person.
“She must be very proud,” I say softly.
“I hope so.” He grins. “What about you? Did you always want to be a photographer?”
“God, no.” I laugh, and he grins. “Someone I loved very much did, and I guess I just followed him. I realized I was good at it and could use it to look after the people I cared about.”
