Page 40 of Jumping In

“Oh, hush. It’s the hormones, okay?” she blubbers. I extend my arm out and she shuffles around the counter to join in on the hug. While hugging the two women who are practically my older sisters, I decide: I’m going to jump into whatever this is with Mac, heart first.

Later that day, I tuck myself up against the wall of the window-seat in the library with the book Mac gave me. Light streams through the window, fading as a cloud blocks the sun.

In my excitement, I hadn’t noticed what book he handed me, but looking at the cover, I now realize it’s one of the last books we read together. I flip through the pages, quickly identifying Mac’s scribbled handwriting. His penmanship is much nicer than many other guys’. It’s easy enough to read but lacks the bubbly curves of mine. He never uses tabs but about midway through, right around when the main characters realize they’re falling in love, I notice something that’s not like Mac.

Next to a quote where the female main character confesses there is a bond between her and the male lead, Mac has doodled two hearts linked. Beside a passage about removing armor to let light in—being soft yet strong for the one you love—he’s underlined it multiple times, added a heart, and doodled a knight in armor with a piece falling off.

Deeper into the book, when the main characters take their relationship to a physical level, Mac has written “SOON” with a heart doodled next to it.Holy.Shit. I try not to giggle as I see he’s made some kind of notation during all the steamy scenes, but my heart tugs when I see the cute doodles next to the sentimental stuff.

I finish flipping through the book and close it, hugging it to my chest. Happiness wells up, forming tears. I’ve missed him. I’ve missed annotating with him like this—seeing his vulnerable side. I wonder if he even realizes that’s what annotating is: a way to be vulnerable with each other.

Pulling out my phone, I snap a selfie and send it to him with a thank you note. I don’t think he realizes what a gift he’s given me by opening up this side of him again.

Chapter 16

Mac

June 24

It feels like I haven’t seen my girl in forever, even though it’s been just over twenty-four hours. My girl. Yeah, that feels good to say. I’m thankful as fuck she answers the door when I show up for another meeting with her dad Monday morning. She’s wearing a sundress with buttons up the front and tiny flowers all over. Her hair is in a braid down her back, and she looks fucking perfect. She looks like mine.

We both take steps toward each other. My hand reaches her waist, and I fist her dress to pull her the rest of the way into me. MJ tilts her head up and I kiss her softly. She grips my shirt and kisses me deeper, but I pull away. A whimper comes from her throat. “I know, baby.” She drops back down on her flat feet, her face full of hurt.

Ducking down to look into her hazel-green eyes, I smile softly. “Do your parents know?”

She shakes her head as her eyes fill with understanding. I squeeze her side with a groan. Fuck it. I lean in to kiss her again, still soft, not toodeep, and I feel her lips quirk into a smile against mine.

The creak of her dad’s leather office chair forces me to break the kiss and release her. MJ turns quickly. “Okay, okay,” she whispers, and then announces louder, “Mac’s here, Daddy!”

The leather chair groans again and her dad’s baritone voice travels to us from the office. “Alright, I’m ready for him, Emmalynn. Bring him back.” MJ turns and smiles at me, then leads me to her father’s office. I swat her ass as we turn the corner, and she looks back at me with heat in her eyes. “Later,” I mouth to her just before we reach the office.

“Three weeks until your trial, Alexander. How are you feeling?” Mr. Lawrence asks.

“Feeling okay, sir. What are we going over today?” I sneak a glance over at MJ and she gives me a soft smile.

“I think it would be best to start preparing what you can say up on the stand. I strongly advise that you take the stand, show remorse, and offer to give back to the community. That’s the goal, correct?”

I nod in agreement, wiping my palms on my jeans.

“It’s not guaranteed, as you know the maximum sentence you’re looking at is about six months in prison.” MJ sucks in a breath, and we both look at her. She mumbles an apology before Mr. Lawrence continues to speak. I don’t hear much of what he says though, my heart is pounding so loud. I silently start naming things I can see, touch, smell. By the time I get through all five senses my heart rate has slowed but I must have missed a question because Mr. Lawrence is looking at me expectantly.

“I’m sorry, sir, can you repeat that?”

He sighs loudly but asks me again if I have anything prepared already, and I shake my head.

“Okay, let’s spend the rest of our time brainstorming ideas. Emmalynn, can you take notes and then we can work on creating some talking points for Alexander for next time.” I see her nod out of the corner of my eye.

The rest of the meeting goes well. I stay engaged and am feeling more confident with the ideas we came up with.

“Are you busy today?” MJ asks as I open my car door.

I sigh. Unfortunately, I have a lot of work to do. The shop might be closed, but there’s still plenty to keep me busy—even the cars we own need attention. The Thunderbird I’ll be driving in the upcoming parade needs some work before I can take it out. It hasn’t been driven in a while. On top of that, I was hoping to take advantage of the downtime to get caught up on inventory and other stuff I’ve been ignoring.

Turning to face her, I nod. “Yeah, unfortunately.” The disappointment on her face is obvious. “Tell you what, though—give me today and tomorrow. Wednesday, we can have some time, yeah?”

She nods. “Okay, yeah. That sounds good, honey.”

I smirk as her cheeks flush. Looking around to make sure her dad hasn’t come outside, I lean into her.

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