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It’d been a couple hours, but they didn’t need to know that. They didn’t need to know I’d gotten home just as Maci had been leaving her apartment for mine, and that we’d barely made it inside before reaching for the other’s clothes.
I gestured to the hall I was trying so damn hard not to look at. “I’d just started falling asleep when you came beating on my door.”
“Ah, shit, I’m sorry,” Dakota said with forced sympathy before tossing a hand in my direction. “Now, get ready so we can go.”
“Why are you breathing so hard?” Dylan asked, and it took everything in me not to go still at the question and to maintain my irritated façade.
“I woke up to you yelling and hitting my door. I thought someone was breaking in, and I was going to have to shoot them. I have a shit ton of adrenaline coursing through me right now.”
The twins just studied me for a while, either not buying my story or not caring.
When Dakota spoke, I knew it was the latter. “So, are you coming with us or not?”
“I’m fucking exhausted,” I repeated slowly, then rubbed at my jaw as I tried thinking of a way out of this. But that would only make the twins more suspicious because avoiding them wasn’t something I usually did.
I just wanted to spend every free second with Maci.
Holding back a sigh, I offered, “We can go out tomorrow night.”
“Done,” Dakota said as he started for the front door, a mischievous smirk crossing his face as he glanced at Dylan when he followed. “Maybe Maci wants to come with us.”
Shit.
“Bet she brings Amber with her.”
“Fuck yes,” Dylan said, clapping my shoulder as he passed me. “Let’s go talk to her.”
“She isn’t there.” The words burst from me before I could think better of it, and I hurried to school my expression when the twins shifted to look back at me.
“Yeah, she is,” Dylan said curiously. “Her car’s in her spot.”
I fumbled for all of two seconds before blurting out, “She was getting in Amber’s car when I got home. With how they were dressed, I don’t think they’re hitting the bars around here.”
Dylan pointed at the wall that connected my apartment to Maci’s. “If she comes back with a guy, fucking call us.” When I just nodded, he added, “I’m serious.”
“I know,” I said, the words all exasperation because that’d been their demand ever since Maci moved in next door. “If I hear a guy in her apartment, I’ll let you know.”
“Good man,” Dakota said as he opened the door. “See you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, see you both then.”
I waited until the door shut before releasing the breath I’d been holding.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Locking the door, I went over to the windows that overlooked the parking lot and watched Dakota’s truck once I spotted it. As soon as they took off, I jogged back to my bedroom, calling for Maci as I did.
Flinging open the closet door just as she did the same, I struggled to catch her when she crashed into me. Clinging to me and pressing her mouth to mine in a kiss that encompassed every panicked thought I’d just been having.
“Please tell me Amber won’t be at the bar tonight,” I begged as I curled my arms tighter around her, drawing her even closer.
“She got called into the hospital before you even got home.”
“Thank God,” I breathed and kissed her again, only to stop when I finally realized the girl in my arms was trembling. “Mace...” I moved her back enough to make a quick inspection but didn’t release her. “Sweetheart, why are you shaking?”
“I just...I thought I—fuck.” Her head fell to my bare chest as a sob scraped up her throat.
“Maci, no. Don’t...please don’t cry.” Pulling her close again, I quickly moved us to my askew bed and sat down so we were facing each other. My chest twisting and lungs straining watching this girl cry.
