Page 44 of Mac Meyers Needs Me

“Later.”

“I’m your roommate tonight,” Brody says to Gage.

“Word.” They fist-bump.

“What about me?”

All three of them roll their eyes.

CHAPTER 17

FEE

Tilton wins the game 3-1, putting them in the tournament semifinals the following day. Their game isn’t until ten in the morning, so we head back to the hotel, the guys eat copious quantities of food, and then we head back up to the room where the guys all indulge in a single light beer—except Mac, who has an electrolyte drink—and Cammie and I each have a cooler.

And then Cammie and Chase go down to his room to celebrate on their own, leaving me with the guys in Cammie’s and my room. Which has one king bed—it was all that was left when she booked it.

Brody yawns dramatically. “Whelp, I’m going to bed. I want to be rested for the game tomorrow. See you all at breakfast?”

“Sounds good.” I barely resist the urge to give him a thumbs-up.

“Gage, you coming, man?” Brody pauses at the door.

“Huh?” Gage drags his gaze away from his screen.

“It’s late. We should get some sleep.”

Gage frowns, then glances at me and Mac. “Right. Yeah. It’s way past Mac Attack’s bedtime.” He hops to his feet. “Meet you at the breakfast buffet. Sleep tight, kids, and play responsibly.”

Brody and Gage leave, and then it’s just me and Mac and the elephant that was our kiss from last week and the single king-sized bed in the room.

I want to tell Mac that I authentically like him, and I can’t stop thinking about that kiss and how I’d like it to happen again, on repeat, with our whole bodies touching and maybe some skin-on-skin contact. But Cammie and Chase are probably mid round one, and if he doesn’t feel the same, I’ll have to interrupt and ruin their night, and potentially ruin Chase’s and Mac’s game tomorrow. Too much is on the line.

“Cammie and Chase will probably be a while.” Way to state the obvious.

“Yeah,” Mac agrees and glances at the king bed, then the two-seater couch. “Is that a pullout?”

“We can check?” I motion to the bed. “But there’s lots of room and I don’t really move much in my sleep, so you don’t have to resort to a shitty pullout if they take more than a couple of hours.”

“I don’t know that it would be as bad as the one Chase destroyed.” Mac rubs the back of his neck. “I’m kind of curious, to be honest.”

Disappointment turns my stomach into lead. “Wanna check it out just to see?”

“Sure.” We pull the cushions off and discover it’s just a regular two-seater and not a pullout.

“I’ll just lay here for a while?” Mac pats the empty side of the bed that would have been Cammie’s.

“Yeah. Of course. You need your rest.” I clasp my hands behind my back and wring my fingers. “I’m just going to use the bathroom.”

“Cool. Yeah.” Mac stretches out the bed.

I disappear into the bathroom and change out of my jeans and into joggers and give my teeth a quick brush. Gripping the edge of the sink, I meet my anxious gaze. “It’ll be fine, Fee. You’re just going to lie next to him on a bed, you don’t have to spill your heart’s desires.” If I was more fearless, like Cammie, I’d take a page from her book and just own my feelings for Mac.

But when she and Chase ended up in the same hotel room for the night, it was a complete fluke. They didn’t know each other; their friend groups weren’t entwined like they are now. They weren’t already good friends with lots to lose. They had their whole university career ahead of them. And he wasn’t getting on the ice the next morning hoping to win a regional tournament.

Tonight isn’t the night for brave and fearless.

I square my shoulders, take a steadying breath, and open the bathroom door. The lights have been turned off apart from the one on the right side of the bed, which is empty. Mac is already stretched out on top of the covers, fingers laced on his chest, eyes closed. He doesn’t rouse as I climb up and stretch out next to him.