Page 65 of Finding You

“For the love of it, Maxwell, go get the girl and go home already! We’ll put you out of your misery and finish the final round without you,” Levi said, laughing.

The manly thing to do would be to deny everything and say he’d stay and play the final game. But Devin was up for proving his manliness in other ways - in the privacy of his own home. With a wave and a smile, he jogged off the court and made his way over to MacKenzie.

“You done?” she asked with a knowing grin, as if she could read his mind.

“Yup.” Reaching across the table, he took the mug of beer MacKenzie was handing to him. “Thanks.” Finishing it, he put it down and looked at her expectantly. “You ready?”

“God…yes…take her!” was the collective comment from the women around the table.

“Hey!” MacKenzie turned and yelled over her shoulder, even as she laughed. “What did I do?”

“Sweetheart, we’ve been sitting here talking for hours, but once we moved to this side of the yard, your attention has been fully on the volleyball court,” Avery said and then saluted her with her beer. “Go! And don’t do anything we wouldn’t do!”

“But we do everything,” Ashlynn said, giggling.

“You know what?” Devin interrupted, taking MacKenzie’s hand. “I don’t even want to hear any more of what they might share. I’m afraid I’ll be scarred for life.”

“Don’t forget you’re on kissing booth duty Sunday!” Ashlynn called after them and Devin groaned.

“Kissing booth duty, huh?” MacKenzie asked as they walked up the driveway toward the street. “I didn’t know you had signed up for anything.”

He shrugged, feeling a little awkward. “It’s not a big deal. Not really. All the single guys in town volunteered. Hell,” he added with a slightly nervous chuckle, “even some of the married ones volunteered.” He paused while they climbed into the truck. “It seemed like a fun thing to do when the committee came around and asked about it a few months ago. I can back out, if you want. Really. It wouldn’t be a problem. I can…”

“Devin,” MacKenzie said, putting her hand on his arm, “relax. It’s okay. You’re allowed to do whatever you want to do. It’s not my place to tell you what you can and can’t do.” Then she shifted and pulled her hand away.

And he didn’t take that as a good sign.

“We’ve only known each other for two weeks.” She shrugged. “I’m sure you committed to this a long time ago and…again…I don’t have any right to tell you what you can and can’t do. And really, if my car had been running…I was going to head out on Sunday. I realize it’s kind of a moot point right now, but…”

He felt like there were rocks lodged in his throat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I guess…I wouldn’t want to sit there and watch you kissing a line of women. It would be…awkward. Not that I knew about this before now, but still…”

Awkward? That’s all she had to say?Awkward?If the roles were reversed, he’d want to punch every guy that was in line to kiss her in the throat! And he’d probably pull her from the booth before even one guy had the chance to get his lips anywhere near her! And all she could say was how it would be awkward? Damn. And for the life of him, Devin had no idea how he was supposed to respond.

He opted for silence because there was no way he could form a rational thought or put all the crazy shit that was spinning around in his head into words. For her part, MacKenzie stayed silent as well. And they stayed that way until they were in the house and began to kick off their shoes and wander aimlessly.

This? This was awkward!

“Let me ask you something,” he finally said, unable to stand it any longer. “Were you always planning to leave on Sunday? I thought we talked about this and you weren’t in a rush to leave. Now all of a sudden, you’re saying if your car was fixed, you’d be on the road! Which is it?”

She shrugged but wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“If I went to the shop right now and worked on the Mustang all night and could guarantee it was fixed, then what? And if I said I would back out of my shift in the booth, would you be staying?” And he hated the needy way he sounded, how he was reduced to almost begging.

She didn’t answer.

“MacKenzie?”

She took a shuddery breath and let it out slowly as she looked up at him. “I was always going to leave, remember?” But her voice was quiet, weak. As if it wasn’t what she wanted to do.

“But is that what you want?”

Tears filled her eyes. “It’s what I’d planned. The reason I was driving that day…it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Again, there was no strength behind her words.

Stepping directly in front of her, Devin gently grasped her shoulders. “Is that really what you want, MacKenzie?”

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