Page 100 of Man Cuffed
And now there’s another sound! But it’s not a headboard banging. Instead, Mac answers with four little knocks in quick succession. And those four knocks... That’s our code. That means he wants me to come over!
For a hot second I’m elated. But then I put the brakes on. Of course I do. I can’t run over there and throw myself at his feet. Not. Happening. If he wants to see me, he needs to come over here and apologize. Preferably on his knees.
An image of Mac crawling on his knees toward me is almost enough for me to lose my balance. So I start singing again.
But then I hear his voice. “Meg?” It’s so soft, I can barely make it out. I tiptoe over to the wall and press my ear against it.
“Meg,” he calls again, louder this time.
I don’t say anything. Because he doesn’t deserve a response.
“I need…”
My heart stops for a second.What do you need, Mac? Just say it!
“I need you!” he calls. My traitorous heart leaps. Because that’s all I ever wanted to hear him say.
Except I don’t trust it. He could have called me to say so. I’ve been in Chicago, for craps sake. Not Ouagadougou.
“You need me,” I say to the wall. “Because you chose this moment to realize it? Or because you’re trapped under something heavy.”
He chuckles, low and sultry, and the hair stands up on my arms. God, that laugh. I miss it so much. “It’s a little of both,” he says. “Come see.”
“Maybe later.”Or never. I have so many feelings for Mac. But I’m not sure he’s capable of returning them. Some wounded people never get over their wounds. And I won’t spend my life waiting to find out if he’s one of them.
“Now, Meg,” he says. “I need you now.”
There’s a definitive tone to his voice that I can’t ignore. My feet point toward the hallway before I can even stop myself.
“You’ll have to climb the fence,” he says.
That stops me. “What? Why?”
There’s that chuckle again. “You’ll see.”
“No I won’t,” I snap. “You can’t play games with me, okay? I’ve had enough.”
“I know you have.” Because we have such thin walls, I can even hear his sigh. “The irony is pretty rich, but I need you to break in just one last time. I’ll never ask you to again. My front door is probably locked, and I can’t open it myself.”
I feel a tingle at the base of my skull. “Why not?”
“You’ll see in a minute. And maybe you’re not ready to believe anything I’m saying. But ten bucks says you’ll think the sight is worth a couple minutes of your time.”
The sight of…?
Okay, fuck it. I’m intrigued. And something tells me that there’s a setup at work.
“Hang on a sec!” I call. I think back to how awkward Aubrey was and how she wanted to make sure I was coming home.
So I text Aubrey…
ME: WTF is happening at Mac’s apartment?
…
AUBREY: Oh, good! You’re home!
ME: Yeah but???
