Page 22 of Not So Happily Ever After (British Bad Boys)
I knew Mac would be here tonight. It was the deciding factor to take Di up on the invite.
So much for staying the hell away from her.
Like that was going to happen.I’ve lost count how often she’s been on my mind since last night. And not in the platonicmy-best-friend’s-little-sisterway,either.
Fuck, no. I can still feel how soft her skin was beneath my fingers. The way she tasted and clung onto me as I crossed all the lines again.
“Are you looking forward to going back to university?” Alice asks Mac.
“Yes, sure.” Mac smiles. Am I the only one who sees how tense she is? Or maybe she hasn’t told everyone how tough she’s finding the course. I have the crazy idea to crash the conversation and change the subject. “You?”
As the girls talk about Uni, I grab a beer. Not that Mac’s saying a lot. She’s just asking Alice questions.
I frown and take a slug of beer. I get that Uni is harder than she expected, but something feels wrong. It’s like she doesn’t want to talk about it at all, which doesn’t make sense, considering how big a part of her life Uni is now.
“Harry.” Alice turns in his arms to face him. “When are you going to do your speech?”
Harry? Do aspeech? That’ll be the day. I glance at Mac and grin, and she smiles back, obviously on my wavelength when it comes to the limits of her brother’s sociability.
“Right.” He doesn’t sound horrified, the way he always did when Lucas and I used to invite him to go clubbing with us. He slaps Caleb on the shoulder, and the pair of them head toward the back of the room. I catch Mac’s eye, and she pulls a comical face.
Somehow, we end up standing next to each other.
Yeah, like that’s an accident.
It’s as though my feet have a mind of their own. Her subtle scent makes it hard to concentrate, but I’m not going to fall off the wagon like I did Monday night. At least she’s not calling me out on that, as I have no excuse.
Focus.
“Since when does Harry do speeches?”
She shrugs. “Beats me. Mind you, he’s always been outgoing when it comes to the guys in Blitz. It’s just the rest of the world he likes to avoid.”
Harry and Caleb deliver a routine that floors me. The look of shock on Mac’s face probably mirrors my own.
“It’s like I don’t even know him,” she hisses in my ear. Her breath tickles, and it’s way too much of a turn-on, but I stand my ground.Masochist, much?
The guys finish with a toast for the happy couple and receive an equal amount of applause and insults from the crowd. I face Mac, and she doesn’t back off, even though we’re close enough to kiss.
Don’t linkMacandkissin the same sentence. It’s way too dangerous. And when it comes to her, I’ve already proved my resistance factor is less than useless.
She’s gazing at me with those beautiful blue eyes and if I don’t speak, this moment will die.
Let it die, you wanker.
Except I like the way she’s looking at me way too much.
“You going to the survivor party?” Because yeah, that’s how Atomic Fire have labeled it.
She laughs but still doesn’t back up.Jesus, it’s hot in here.
“You really think we have a choice? Poor, deluded, Will.”
“It did read like a royal command. I thought I was being paranoid.”
“On the plus side, it’ll kill any rumors that the fundraiser’s in trouble.”
“True,” I concede. “At least it isn’t next weekend. That would’ve been a pain in the arse.”
