Page 66 of Jumping In

“It’s not pressure if I want it too,” she says, barely above a whisper. I look back over at her and her eyes tell me we’re on the same page. Hesitant, but wanting the same things.

“We’ll figure it out, okay? If you’re staying in town, you’re welcome to stay here whenever you want. And we’ll figure the rest out as it comes. Deal?”

She nods and lays back into me.

“Iamstaying,” she says with defiance.

I nod and kiss her forehead again, settling into the pillows.

July 23

Taylor Swift blares from the speakers and fills the shop as I clean up my tools and workspace. It’s been a slow day but there’s always work to do to keep things in order so that I’m not running around like a wild man when I need a specifictool. MJ is on the couch, as she has been for the last few days, bobbing her head and mouthing lyrics while she works on her laptop. She’s singing about being twenty-two, and I almost drop the bucket I was moving.Fuck. Her birthday is coming up and I have nothing planned for her.

I grab my phone out of my pocket and quickly shoot a text out to Shannon and the guys. Movement catches my peripheral vision as MJ stands and stretches like a cat and then walks over to me. I pocket my phone and lean against my workbench. She presses her body into mine and leans up as I meet her lips with mine.

“Damn, I could get used to this.”

“Is that so?” she asks. A smirk pulls at her lips, and I smile back. I guess I said that out loud.

“Yeah.” I lean back down and kiss her again as her strawberry scent envelops me.

“If you need a Taylor Swift playlist, I can always send you one.” Her eyes dance with mischief, and I huff out a laugh.

“Nah, baby, I have my own.”

Her jaw drops as I grab her waist and pull her back into me. Nuzzling her neck, I place butterfly kisses down her neck, over her shoulder and then back up.

“I was talking about this,” I whisper. Her body melts into mine and she lets out a sigh.

“Have a few minutes for a break?” she asks, and I nod, letting her lead me back to the couch.

She yelps as I smack her ass, and I chuckle as she picks up speed to get away from me. The leather creaks underneath our weight as we sit down together. MJ grabs her laptop from the coffee table. “I wanna show you something.”

I slide my arm over the couch behind her and she settles into the crook of my arm, opening a PowerPoint presentation. She walks me through the slides, which contain snippets of her Instagram posts, including the sandwich shop ones from when she was in Piermont. She has some of her new stuff she’s worked on for Blake and Austin and even created a collage of photos I didn’t know she had taken of me at the shop.

“Wow, this is pretty impressive.”

“You think?” she asks, looking up at me from beneath her eyelashes. I nod and brush her soft skin with my fingers. Looking back at her laptop, she shows me some empty slides. “I just need to add some statistics about the course I want to take online. Also, I need to look up annual salaries and stuff for graphic designers and social media managers. You think my parents will like it?” Her eyes are hopeful.

I grip her chin with my fingers, pull her closer, and pepper kisses on her lips and jawline.

“Mac, come on!” She giggles but pushes me away from her. “I’m serious. Do you think they’ll be okay with my plan?”

“I don’t see how they couldn’t, baby. It’s a good plan.”

She worries her lip again as I lean back and give her some space.

“I just . . . I need them to be okay with it. I really want to stay here—with you.”

I raise my eyebrows and shake my head.

“Not just for me, though, right?” My heart beats faster as I wait for her response.

“I’d be lying if I said you weren’t a big part of why.” I shake my head again and open my mouth to tell her all the reasons I don’t want her to stay for me, but she holds up her finger. “Let me finish, please. I can already see you have some feelings about this. I’ve missed Oakridge. The rumor mill and gossipers, not really. But Shannon, Blake, Austin. Being close to my parents again. It’s been amazing. And, I don’t know . . . when I was younger I used to hate the slow-paced life, but now I kind of enjoy it. Reading in the library at Mom and Dad’s. Hanging out by the creek in the hammock. Even popping in to see Beck and Sophie at Spoon. This is myhome. This is where I want to be.” Her eyes are filled with tears, but she smiles at me. “Like I said last week, you’re just a bonus.”

We laugh together and I slide my hand up to her neck, pulling her into me to kiss her. “I’m just happy to be your anything, baby.”

She leans away from me, looking me in the eye, “You’re mine. And I’d like to be yours. I know we haven’t really officially called it what it is, but we’reus.”

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