Kayla couldn’t hide a little grin at her best friend’s adorable pouting. “You hugged me and said you were there for me.”
“Yeah, and you wouldn’t give me my arm back. You made me hold it wrapped around your shoulders the whole service. I still have circulation problems from that.”
Kayla gave her a playful slap on the shoulder, and Mack’s smile warmed her from the very center of her chest. “Liar.” Mack shrugged, but her reluctant smile was just as cute as her pouting. “I needed you that day. The weight of your arm around my shoulders grounded me. It reminded me how much I still had on the day it felt like I’d lost everything. You did that for me when Skye left, too.”
Mack wasn’t smiling anymore but staring at Kayla with an intensity that made her shiver. “Yeah, well, I owe you.”
Now it was Kayla’s turn to burn with anger. If there was anyone in the world she truly hated, it was Mr. and Mrs. Bristol. How could they ever have abandoned their own child, especially a child like Mack? Good, kind, caring Mack, who would give anyone the shirt off her back. It boggled her mind. A sliver of uncertainty ran through Kayla. Was she taking advantage of Mack’s selfless nature? She shook the thought off. If she were, she would make it up to her. She would find a way to repay Mack for everything after she and Skye were married.
Kayla said, “You don’t owe me. You support me. You always have. I needed you that day and didn’t know how to ask. I’ve learned how to ask. I need you now, Mack. Please, I’m begging you.”
Mack ran a hand through her hair, inadvertently tugging a few long chunks loose from her ponytail. “Ah shit. That’s not fair, LaLa.”
Kayla walked into her space and wrapped her arms around Mack’s sweaty middle. Kayla squeezed tight, but Mack didn’t move. For a moment, she worried that she had finally asked too much. Mack’s fists stayed perched on her hips instead ofrelaxing and pulling her into one of her famous Mack hugs. Time for those drastic measures again.
Kayla released Mack and dropped onto her knees. The rough surface of the track cut into her skin, and her right knee screamed in protest. These days she was pretty good at managing her injury, but abrupt movements and severe bends were difficult at the very least. As she winced at the pain, she wished she had thought through her actions. She really didn’t have to beg from her knees, but since she was down here, looking up into Mack’s wide eyes, she might as well give it a shot.
“Please, Mack. I need you. Please marry me?” Kayla said.
The gaggle of yoga pants moms gasped as they jogged by. Mack seemed equally horrified by Kayla kneeling in front of her and the moms thinking this was a real proposal. Her head kept whipping back between the moms and Kayla, her mouth now open as wide as her eyes.
“No, no. It’s not that,” Mack said to the moms. When they started shooting more pitying looks at Kayla, she stumbled over her words again. “I mean yes. It’s not… This isn’t… Christ, LaLa, stand up, would you?”
Kayla was pretty sure she heard one of the moms bemoan the fact that she wasn’t the one on her knees in front of Mack. She forced her words out between giggles. “Not until you give me an answer.”
Mack’s stricken look was almost worth the pain. She yanked on Kayla’s hands and said, “This isn’t good for your knee. Come on, stand up.”
“Please, Mack.” Kayla wasn’t exactly playing to the crowd, but she wasn’t above using the audience to help further her efforts.
Since she couldn’t seem to convince Kayla to stand up, Mack got down on her knees in front of her. She spoke low and seriously, clearly trying to ignore the increasing numberof stares from the other joggers. “Why are you doing this to yourself, LaLa?”
As much as she wanted to crack another joke and make light of the situation, it was starting to feel like Pops’ funeral all over again. She was flailing, she knew that, but she knew how to fix it, and she just needed Mack to see. “She still loves me as much as I love her. I know it.”
Mack’s snarl turned her words into sharp, snapping syllables. “Oh yeah, nothing says I love you like marrying someone else.”
“It’s a cry for help. She’s doing it so she doesn’t have to be the one who comes crawling back. She just needs time to remember how good we are together.”
Mack sighed and looked down at their clasped hands. Kayla held her breath and shifted her weight off her aching knee.
Mack said, “Come on. Stand up.”
“Not until you answer—ouch.” Her words cut off abruptly as a stab of pain rocketed from her bent knee throughout her leg.
“Dammit, LaLa, stop being stubborn.”
“Okay. Fine. Just…can you help me up?” Kayla whispered the last words and couldn’t keep eye contact as she said them. Damn knee. Why did it always have to ruin everything?
Mack didn’t give her a hard time about it, though. She stood and shuffled behind Kayla, wrapping her right arm over her shoulder before positioning her wide, powerful hands on her hips. “Count of three, okay?”
Kayla nodded, gritting her teeth. They’d been through this together a hundred times at least during Kayla’s major injury and the half-dozen minor ones before it. Whether it was helping her out of bed, off the toilet, or into the shower, Mack had gotten incredibly good at taking care of Kayla’s body. Knowing how to move her to ease pain and recognizing the limitations Kayla didn’t always want to accept.
On three, Kayla squeezed her arm tight around Mack’s shoulder and pushed up with her good leg. As Mack stood, she pulled up on Kayla’s hips with her hands, and the leverage of Kayla’s arm around her shoulders gave her the extra lift she needed. They moved together in a well-choreographed dance. Kayla held her bad knee bent until her left foot was on solid ground. Mack kept hold of her hips to support her while she slowly straightened her bad knee. It was slow going, and there was a moment at about forty-five degrees where the joint wanted to lock up. Kayla took several long, slow breaths to steel herself for the pain and forced her knee to continue its journey. The breaths didn’t help with the slicing agony, but it was brief.
When she finally had both feet on the ground and was sure they would hold her up, she groaned and relaxed back into Mack’s arms. Mack hugged her from behind for a heartbeat, then leaned down and whispered into her ear, “You’re an idiot, LaLa.”
“Yeah. I know.” Kayla’s voice was hollow with pain, but it was steady.
“Kayla? Is that you?”
