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He leaned in closer, turned his head to the right and closed his eyes. His upper body held his weight as he deepened the kiss. Their tongues touched with a zap of electricity. He must have felt it, too, because he pulled away for a second, just a second, and she felt him smile against her mouth. Macy wanted to lean closer, but that was too bold, and besides, she could fall.
Duke’s hands touched her thighs, his thumbs on her inner thigh while his fingers spread across the thickness of her legs. Slowly they moved to the curve of her waist. As their tongues danced, his hands were on her back, and he pulled her closer to his chest. For a quick moment, Macy felt herself panic. This wasn’t safe. This was dangerous. She couldn’t breathe at first, and then she could feel his arms crossing over, and his fingertips held on to her shoulders.
Finally, she breathed.
She recalled one time when her nonna came home from the hospital with a small oxygen tank. Macy had wanted to see what it was like. Maybe now was not the time to recall that memory, but the thrill of the risk felt somewhat the same. Macy was so scared that she would get caught, but at the same time she could breathe with such clarity. Her lungs were clear; her mind was clear. She felt as if she were walking on a cloud.
“If I hadn’t outed Santa,” Duke finished for her, “I probably wouldn’t have been able to kiss you.”
Just then the phone in her back pocket rang. Macy looked at the number, frowned and answered it. She watched Duke’s face as he watched hers, trying to read what was wrong. She hung up the phone after a few okays and uh-huhs.
“Is everything okay?”
She half smiled. “It was just a reminder of why this—” she wiggled her hands back and forth between them “—is an impossible situation. My life is too complicated right now for a relationship.”
Disappointed at her own admission, Macy pushed away, but Duke held on to her hand.
“What is it?”
“It’s just one of those days. Gia’s at school, and she had to stay late because her media teacher needed help while he was doing something else. Mario was supposed to pick her up, but he got caught up with MJ...” She growled with frustration. “I’m sorry, but this is just typical of Mario. He’s so irresponsible!”
Duke cupped her face and gently made her look at him. “So, okay, she needs a ride? Let’s go get her.”
“It’s not just that, Duke.” Macy felt herself melting looking into those eyes of his. “It’s a ride today, a dozen cookies tomorrow. Someone is sick and puking in the future... My life is unpredictable, Duke, and your time here is short.”
He dipped his head down, capturing her lips with his. Gently, his mouth coaxed hers open and his tongue slid across her lips, breathing life into her once again. “So let’s go get Gia. I can help with cookies tomorrow, but hopefully no one will be puking later.”
* * *
“You really didn’t have to come with me,” Macy was saying with her hand on the passenger’s side of her truck. They were pulled up in front of the local high school. Duke had seen Macy angry before and was glad this time that he wasn’t on the receiving end of it. If he’d had any questions about her relationship with Mario, it was all answered by the way she went off on him on the ride over. Apparently, Mario was supposed to pick up Gia after school, but got caught up at MJ’s karate class. And that had been one of the basic complaints Macy had about him. Duke liked the guy, but even without being a parent himself, he knew you had to learn how to multitask. Apparently, things like today happened more often than not.
Duke released his seat belt and rushed out his door to help Macy out, even though she had one leg on the ground. “You know I didn’t mind. It’s quite domestic.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at her and ignored the fact that she rolled her eyes at him.
“If you like being domestic, I’ll give you my grocery list.” She slightly laughed. “I’ll be right back here,” Macy called over her shoulder as she entered the building. “Try to stay out of trouble.”
Trouble. Duke snorted outwardly and leaned against the passenger-side door. He looked all around him. There were a few cars left in the pickup parking lot of the high school. When he was younger, there had been no one to pick him up, so he and his siblings had to walk. There were no buses, but their mother made sure each and every single one of them knew the importance of going to school. Duke had had coaches to keep him steady. If he didn’t go to school, he wouldn’t play.
In the distance, Duke thought he heard the familiar sound of a bat cracking against a ball. He’d know that sound anywhere. As if on autopilot, he headed toward the direction the sound came from. Off to the left of the building, he spied a baseball diamond. His pulse quickened, as it did every time he saw a field. His hands itched to throw a ball or swing a bat. A group of kids dressed in what Duke assumed were the school colors of blue and white were tossing around the ball. There was someone on the sidelines with a clipboard. The man didn’t look tall enough, or nearly muscular enough, to have ever played ball before. Duke hadn’t realized he was chuckling until the man looked up, waved and started walking over toward him.
“You’re Duke Rodriguez!” the man stated.
“I am,” Duke confirmed slowly as he extended his hand. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your practice.”
“Bah!” the man grunted with a flick of his wrist. Behind him the other members of the team were coming up the hill. “You weren’t interrupting much. We’re down a coach, as you may have heard. Oh my God, of course you heard. You commented on it on the news the other week when, you know...” The smaller man elbowed Duke in the ribs and with his other hand, covered his mouth and whispered, “When you outed Santa.”
Here we go again, Duke sighed inwardly. “Yeah.” He scratched at the back of his head. “I’m sorry about that, Coach.”
“Don’t be. I thought it was a hoot. Oh, where are my manners? I’m not the coach here. I’m the media teacher, Bob Nogowski. I’m just filling in until we can find a more suitable coach. Uh-oh, here they come.” Bob nodded toward the boys coming up the hill.
The boys, all fifteen of them, all seemed to be over six feet fall, and each and every one of them spoke at once, introducing themselves and shoving their hands in front of Duke to shake. He did his best to keep up with the names. Out the corner of his eye, he spied Macy with Gia walking toward the car. He hoped he didn’t embarrass Gia.
His attention was diverted momentarily as the kids asked questions like lightning. It amazed Duke that these kids could recall his batting average back in the day. They had to have been in elementary school when he had that old life. It also amazed him that he’d already been reporting the news for a few years now, and it dawned on him that everyone, besides Macy, always referred to his days as an athlete.
Within the crowd of questions, Duke heard someone clear her throat. He looked up and saw Macy standing behind him. Her arms were folded, but she had an amused crooked smile and one eyebrow raised. “You are such an athle-tante!” she teased.
One person who wasn’t smiling was Gia. She looked more mortified than when he’d first met her. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her. Perhaps these were her friends and he was invading her privacy or something.
