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I peeled off my coat and threw it into the back seat. “So, where are you going surfing?”
“We. Where arewegoing surfing?” He corrected with a wink. I threw a balled up napkin at him.
“That remains to be seen. I make no promises.”
“The Rockaways.”
“No shit, really?!” We had spent a heap of time down there just before we started senior year. It was one of my favorite beaches because of the memories from that summer. This date was absolutely my fault, I shouldn’t have posted all those photos I found in the clean up to our group chat.
“It’s not too far, and it’s a nice break, good for someone just starting out,. Plus, I’ve got another surprise up my sleeve.”
“Another one? You’re going to run out of room up there if you’re not careful.”
“Nah, I’ve got big sleeves.”
I clapped a hand over my mouth to stop the coffee from spraying out all over his fancy, leather upholstery, but I felt the liquid burning up behind my nose as I tried and failed to stop laughing. I managed to swallow most of it, only the smallest of dribbles escaping, before I descended into a coughing/laughing fit. It really hurt, but I couldn’t stop. Mack was laughing too, though I wasn’t sure if it was at me or with me.
“You are such a perv,” he said eventually, wiping a tear from his eye.
“Me!? You were the one talking aboutbig sleeves.” I tried to keep it together but it was no use.
Not quite two hours later—thank you New York traffic—we pulled into the short drive of a small, gray-shingled shack one block back from the beachfront. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen and, without even seeing inside, I already knew I wanted to stay here forever.
“Did you rent this place for the night? It’s adorable.”
“Not quite …” He grabbed the bags, refusing to let me carry mine because he was still on his gentleman kick, and led the way inside. As soon as I was over the threshold I knew this wasn’t a rental, it was his. It was impossible not to see it—the colors, the style, the art and photographs on the walls. Even if I hadn’t recognised myself in some of them, it all screamed Mack.
“Wh–you bought a house down here? How–When did you do this? Why didn’t you tell me?” I was dangerously close to crying, what the hell was the matter with me?
“I didn’t keep it a secret on purpose. It was a complete dump when I bought it and I was waiting until it was all finished but it took longer than I thought. I know about remodeling a kitchen and a bathroom now—it’s a bastard—and then there was the wedding and things got busy and it just...” He shrugged. “Sorry I didn't tell you.”
I laughed. That was not something he needed to apologize for and I told him so. I was in awe. He remodeled a house, maybe not all by himself, but still, he was incredible.
“You want the grand tour?”
“Of course, show me everything!” I threw my arms around his neck and jumped onto his waist, kissing him fiercely. Just when I thought I knew everything there was to know about him, he showed me something new.
“What was that for?” he asked, walking us towards the kitchen with his hands planted firmly on my ass. Couldn't we just do this, hang out in the adorable almost-beachfront cottage rather than get into the icy waters of the Atlantic.
“I just like kissing you,” I said, peppering kisses across his cheeks and jaw to demonstrate.
He angled his head up and I moved down his neck, giving him a nip on the ear lobe on the way past. His fingers bit into my ass a little more firmly. Yes, let’s just stay here doing this all day long. I doubt he’d need much convincing.
“That’s lucky, because I really like kissing you, too, but do not think that you can kiss me and try to get out of your surfing lesson.”
Busted.
He deposited me on the speckled charcoal counter of the small kitchen island, one hand trailing up my side to cradle my jaw and tip my head back. “This is the kitchen,” he said against my throat.
“It’s very nice.” It was more of a breathy groan than actual words. And, honestly, we could have been in a meth den for all the attention I was paying to the room now that his mouth was on me.
“Thank you, I’m glad you like it. I painted a lot of the cabinets.” His lips were grazing along my neck, raising goosebumps down my arms. I glanced at the white-washed cabinets, he’d done a good job.
“They look great.”
“I’m pretty proud of them.”
“You should be.”
