Page 22 of Jumping In

Mac clears his throat, the spell broken. “Thanks, man. We’ll be up in just a few,” he replies for both of us. He looks back at me and gives me a tightlipped smile, nodding his head. I take the cue, heading out of the creek and up the hill in front of him. I add a little sway to my hips. My back heats from his stare, and I swear I hear him curse under his breath. Damn Austin and his timing!

I dry off and wrap the towel around my waist, leaving my upper body out. I felt Mac’s eyes on my chest when we were in the water, so why not continue giving him an eyeful? Smiling to myself, I help Blake bring everything over from the grill to the table. Mac heads over to the cooler with Austin where they talk in hushed tones.

I grab a plate and start putting it together with the delicious food Blake made, murmuring a thank you to him. Austin and Mac come back and Austin hands me water. I set it down next to my full plate and then root around in my tote bag for my phone. Finding it, I begin my usual ritual of taking photos of my food. Austin and Blake both shake their heads with faint smiles, already seeing me do this last weekend. I can feel Mac’s eyes on me, though, and it’s obvious he’s curious.

“It’s not rocket science. I’m just arranging the food in a way that makes it more appetizing and then snapping a few photos.” He leans in to look over my shoulder, and I try not to shiver as his breath hits the back of my neck.

“Huh.” He climbs into the seat next to me, his leg bumping into mine. My stomach does a flip, but I try to stifle the excitement. Austin and Blake already sat down on the other side of the table. Logically, this was the only seat left.Take a breath.

I finish taking my photos and then tilt my phone toward Mac so he can see the photos. “See?”

“Oh, I see. But I guarantee I couldn’t take a photo of the same damn plate and make it look that good.” He smirks and his eyes flick up and down my body quickly. Was that . . . Did he just check me out?

“Honestly, I couldn’t either, and I cooked the food,” Blake chimes in.

I scroll through the options and favorite the best photo for an Instagram post later when Mac leans into me again, his arm against mine. “Do you make content other than photos?” He asks. My eyebrows raise and I look at him with a shrug.

“I guess, yeah. Here,” I pull out my phone and show him some of my Instagram posts that are more digital content rather than real-life photos. I show him the “about me” post and a few I made about the books I read.

“Those are really cool,” Mac praises and I beam at him. “You know, I could use some advertisements and flyers for the auto shop if you’re interested in helping me out. I usually justuse the good-old Paint app on my computer and they look fine.” Mac looks at me with sincerity, and I hear Austin laughing from across the table, muttering something about Mac being full of shit.

“Let me guess, you use Comic Sans too?” I jibe him a bit, and Blake cracks up.

“Comic-what-now?” Mac asks, and I burst out laughing too.

“Never mind. Yes, I can probably make a few flyers for you. Just text me the details you’d want.” My hair falls over my shoulder as I lean my head to the side to look at Mac, who’s looking away from me.

There’s a scuffle of feet underneath the table and Mac shoots daggers at Austin but then turns his body toward mine and whispers, “Thank you.” I nod and then turn back to my plate of food, digging in with the guys.

We eat in mostly silence, everyone enjoying the food Blake prepared. Mac’s leg is up against mine and I’m trying not to move too much and lose the contact. Mac is chugging his water when Blake breaks the silence. “So, I hear you’re helping with Mac’s case now, MJ?”

Mac sputters and his body tenses next to mine. I look over at him, but he’s looking directly at Blake, having some silent conversation with him. “Uh, yeah. I’ve sat in on a few meetings now.”

“Nice, nice. Any thoughts on the case so far?” he asks, and Mac whips his head to face me.

“Um, I mean. I guess I’m not officially your lawyer, Mac, but if you don’t want me to share, I don’t have to.” I look at him and he shrugs.

“Nope, go ahead. The guys know everything already.”

“That we do,” Blake comments.

“I guess I’m still having a hard time believing Mac actually did this.” I stare at Mac as I talk, and his eyebrows rise. It seems he’s surprised to hear me say this even though I literally said it in the last meeting.

“I think we all have a hard time believing it, to be honest.” Blake says and Mac gives him a look I can’t read.

“Right? It seems a little out of character. But . . .” I debate if I should say this next part. I don’t want to hurt Mac, but I also think he deserves to know how I’ve felt these last few years. Because if I’m being honest, he was right. How am I to know what kind of character he is now? All eyes are on me as I bite my lip in contemplation.

“But what?” Mac urges. For a moment, he looks younger. He looks like the Mac I fell in love with, the one who shared my love of reading and was always by my side, no matter what. The air becomes heavy, and it feels like Blake and Austin have both leaned in, hanging on my every word.

Deciding I don’t want to hurt Mac and call out the fact that I don’t actually know him that well anymore, I change course. “But if the evidence is there, all we can do is work toward a better sentence. Right?”

Mac’s face falls. “Yeah, right.”

A few hours later, my cheeks aching from laughter and my heart full from time with the guys, Mac is leaning against his car waving to the twins and I walk over to him to say goodbye. The butterflies in my stomach take flight as I realize this is the first time we’ve been alone together. We were alone in the water, but Blake and Austin were just a few steps away. Now, unless my parents are up, there’s no chance of us getting interrupted.

I take my bag from him. “Thank you for—”

“MJ, I—” We talk at the same time. “You go first,” Mac insists.

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