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“You should walk away regardless.”
“Say it.”
I try to. I try forcing the lie out of my mouth but I can’t get my brain to cooperate. Instead, I sigh. “Colton.”
“You can’t say it because you feel it, too.” He places his hands on my hips and rests his forehead against mine. “That pull that was between us all those years ago, it’s still there. You know it as well as I do.”
Closing my eyes, I try to find some balance – convince myself of all the reasons this is a bad idea. I can’t let myself do this, no matter how bad I may want it.
“Whether I do or not is irrelevant. I’m getting married in a few months.”
“I know.” He pauses then groans before stepping away and running his hands over his face. “I know. I just, I miss you, Mac. I miss having you in my life, and this whole avoiding each other thing you want to do is my worst nightmare. I can’t know you’re this close and not be able to be around you. I’ve known you for more than half my life.”
“I-”
His finger raises to stop me. “Just let me finish.” I swallow what I was about to say and nod. “I don’t like it, but if it’s what you really want, I’ll do my best. I’ll try not to be here when you have plans with Maverick or Tatum. I’ll make an excuse not to go places where I know you’ll be. Hell, I’ll even figure out a way to not be at your wedding if it comes to that. You deserve to be happy, McKenna, and if that’s what you need – I’ll do it.”
I don’t know what to say, so I choose to not say anything at all. I think he knows that because instead of expecting me to speak, he places a soft kiss to my forehead, then leaves me alone in his bedroom. Giving myself a minute to breath and compose myself, I fix my hair and head back downstairs.
Through the glass doors I can see Colton sitting with his guitar on one of the lounge chairs while Roman and Maverick are playing a game of corn hole. Just as I’m trying to see where Ivy and Tatum are, I hear their voices coming from the kitchen. The last thing I want is to be alone with Colton right now, especially not when I have no idea what to say to him. So, I follow the voices of my two closest friends.
“There you are.” Ivy sounds relieved to see me. “What the hell was that about?”
“Please tell me you two didn’t just fuck.” Tatum chimes in.
I ignore them both and head straight for the fridge. Thankfully, the bottle of wine is right in front. I grab it, pop cork out, and bring it straight to my lips. It’s a little dry for my taste, but I don’t care. All I need is for the alcohol to course through my bloodstream so I can process what the hell just happened.
“They did. They totally just fucked.” Ivy murmurs.
“Damn it, McKenna. I told you not to go there.” Tatum rubs her temple frustratedly as I pull the bottle away from my mouth.
“Will you two just shut up for a minute?!” I shout, causing them both to freeze. I focus my attention on Tatum. “Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“About his tattoo. Did you know?”
“What tattoo? The roman numerals on his collar bone?” I nod. “No. He never told me what it’s about. Why?”
I turn to Ivy. “It stands for April 19th, 2015.”
Her jaw drops. “That’s the…”
“The night we first kissed. Yeah, I know.” Neither of them seem to know what to say as I take another swig of wine. “He said he was drunk and basically made it seem like a mistake.”
“Do you believe him?” Ivy questions.
I shrug. “I have no reason not to, I guess.”
“How did I not catch that?” Tatum whispers to herself. “He’s…”
My eyebrows furrow. “He’s what?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing. So, what now?”
“Wel
l, he said that he wants me in his life but that if I really think we should have nothing to do with each other, he’ll do it. He’ll stay away.”
