Page 84 of Play Fake
“All right.” I nod. “If you can give me a ride home, Ally?”
“Sure,” she smiles at me.
Ezra looks surprised I said yes, but he smiles a genuine smile in response. I desperately need to be with my old friends tonight, and I just hope I’m not giving him the wrong message by doing so.
TWENTY-SIX
Waylon
“You okay?”Ben leans over the back of the team bus seat.
“Yeah, it’s just Mac’s not answering my texts. And I asked Olivia if she knows where she is, and she said she went over to Ally’s house after the show was over.”
“So maybe they’re having fun, and she didn’t see you texted.”
“Or maybe he’s there. She’s been talking about wanting to at least try to be friends with him because of Ally. And I know that fucker would press his luck with her if he had the chance.”
“Don’t worry about what he’s doing. Do you trust her or not?”
“Of course, I trust her.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
I grunt because I don’t want to give the real answer, the one that makes me sound like a little insecure bitch.
“Don’t let shit get in your head, man.”
“Easier said than done.”
* * *
I getin my truck when the bus gets back. It’s late, but I decide to drive to Mac’s to meet her when she gets home. Olivia texted me Mac had told her Ally was going to bring her home. It’s not lost on me I’m already completely whipped when it comes to Mac. A day away from her and I already miss her. I tell myself I’m just dropping her off a late-night snack and telling her goodnight, but in reality, I just can’t wait to see her again.
When I get to the house, I grab the shirt I got her and the half-melted milkshake. I have no idea what I was thinking, but it seemed like a good enough excuse at the time. I shoot off a text, letting her know I’m waiting for her on the porch, so she’s not freaked out. The show should have ended an hour ago and they should be on their way back by now, but she still doesn’t answer.
Before I can think too much more about what could have happened, a blue Camaro pulls up in front of the house and parks. It’s hard to see who’s inside because of the tint of the windows, but it seems like there’s at least two people.
When the door opens and Mac steps out, my heart kicks up a notch. She looks gorgeous, dressed to kill in a leather skirt and boots that go up to her knees. I can hear her laugh carry through the wind up to the porch, and I almost call out to her when I see the driver get out the car.
My stomach twists the second I see him. Immediately it all makes sense—why she was home later, why she wasn’t answering my texts, and why Olivia and Wren didn’t stay with her. My hands ball up into fists as I watch him round the car and take her hands into his. I can hear them talking, but I can’t make out what they’re saying.
My stomach roils at the sight of them together. The little smiles she’s giving him are ones I’m all too familiar with and it kills me to see it. I know we’ve never had the discussion. That we’ve never made things official, but I thought after everything that’s happened between us she was at least done with him.
I can’t hear the words he’s saying, but it’s clear from his body language and the tone he’s using he’s doing everything in his power to win her over, assuming he hasn’t already. I feel sick at the thought of losing her before I’ve even really had a chance to tell her how I feel. To see what we can be when we’re not pretending.
But watching them together, how easy they look, I feel like nothing but a mistake she made. A payback for him cheating on her, and a quick rebound before she gets back on the path she was meant to be on. Her words from our first fake date at the bar echo in my head because I know exactly how she feels.
Then he kisses her, and I really feel like a giant fucking fool for standing on this porch waiting for her.
Anger and jealousy swarm in my gut. I pull my phone out, thinking about texting her to tell her I left stuff for her on the porch and went home. Judging whether or not I can jump off the side of the porch without her seeing me or my truck. Then I realize I’d be running away from all of this like a bitch, and that’s not who I want to be. If she’s going to go back to him, she can tell me to my face.
I swipe to open the text box and stare at the unanswered messages there. Messages she didn’t answer because she was with him all night. Messages she didn’t answer because I’m not the person she really wants. So instead, I type the only thing I can think to say.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Mackenzie
Ally endedup not being able to take me home, so Ezra had offered. It made me nervous to say yes because it was clear, especially after listening to a couple of the songs at her place, he didn’t want things to be truly over between us. And I definitely didn’t want to be giving him false hope. Waylon and I might be over now too, but even so, I was going forward, not backward. That’s the one lesson I’d learned from all of this.
