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She shook her head. “I was going to spend the entire day in the art studio, but honestly, that can wait. I’m kinda invested now, since I’m the reason any of this is happening.”
“What do you mean?”
“I knew Hell Skate was playing at Disco Digs last night. I mentioned it to Mackenzie.”
“Oh.” But, I shrugged. “I should be thanking you then.”
Her eyebrows both went high and her head leaned back an inch. “Wh—huh?”
I gave her a slight grin, but only a slight one because my insides were still in turmoil. “A lot of shit’s going on in my head right now, but one thing’s obvious. I need to connect with Mac again. I don’t like not knowing what’s going on with her. I shouldn’t have let us fade so much. So, thank you.”
She blinked at me, a surprised look on her face. “I—uh—yeah. No problem.”
She began to climb into the back of Cris’ truck, but I said, “I’ll go back there.” When Lauren looked like she was going to protest, I added, “I want to check again. Just in case.”
As she stood back, letting me climb in first and then to the back, Cris said, “You weren’t back there last night. Like, at all.”
“I wasn’t?”
He shook his head as Lauren got in, shutting her door.
My head fell all the way back against the seat. “Well, shit then.”
He studied me again as he started the truck and pulled onto the street after I gave him Troy’s address. “You worked up about going to this guy’s place, or is it something else?”
I looked out the window, hugging myself, and only lifted up a shoulder in response.
I was worked up about so many things.
Hooking up with Cris again, remembering how it felt to come apart under his touch, and knowing it’d be hard to get that out of my system again.
Or that I couldn’t remember the last conversation I had with Mackenzie, or what it was even about.
Or that when we got to Troy’s, there was a possibility Jude would be there, and what would that interaction look like? With me showing up with Cris?
The thing I was worried about the least was that I didn’t know where my phone was. That struck me as funny for some reason, and my mouth twitched as I tried to hold in my laughter.
Then I couldn’t, and once one laugh escaped, another joined it, and a third, and a fourth. Soon I couldn’t stop laughing because in all realness, my life was so messed up and I was only now starting to play catch-up.
I was aware of Cris and Lauren’s attention on me, but I thought about talking to Mac, reconnecting with her again, and the inevitable question would come up. What happened to us? What happened to me? And I’d have to tell her, because it was Mac and she was the bestest kind of friend there was, and when I told her—my laughter dwindled—then I’d have to tell Cris too.
The laughter died.
I stopped thinking instead.
7
MACKENZIE
Kellie Rispins was insane. I’d learned that from my online search.
“Babe?”
I stiffened, before remembering that Ryan texted earlier, asking how I was. I’d only told him I was in the library, and it was now in the afternoon. I couldn’t make myself leave for my second class of the day.
I looked over, seeing him coming toward me with a frown.
More than a handful of people were checking him out.
