by RC Boldt
They both turned to see her standing there with a concerned look on her face. “Do you want me to get the vacuum to pick up any small shards of glass?”
“No!”
Raine drew back as if she had been slapped and he instantly felt remorse for the strength of his answer. He took a quick breath before ensuring he had a gentler, more even tone before speaking again.
“No, thank you. I don’t want you getting dirty tonight.” He met her emerald gaze, made more vibrant by her darker, contrasting makeup. “You look too beautiful to even think about touching anything, let alone using a vacuum.”
Her smile grew wider the longer their gazes held, eyes lighting up at his compliment. Mac wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way until Laney yelled, “Hey, Lawson! Can you bring the vacuum over here so there’s no bloodshed tonight?”
“On it!” came his reply.
Mac tossed the remaining pieces of the bottle away and heard the vacuum start, thankful for the noise, offering a reprieve to gather himself.
Jesus. This was Raine. Get it together, he told himself. She was his best friend. The last thing she needed was to have him drooling all over her.
“All clear,” Lawson called out after he had shut off the vacuum.
Catching his eye, Mac nodded to him. “Thanks, man.”
Taking a deep breath, he turned to face Raine, managing to keep his eyes from dipping to her neckline or lack thereof.
“What can I get you to drink?” he offered with what he hoped was an easy smile. “The usual?”
“Yes, please,” she answered.
She leaned back against the counter of the island and watched him as he fixed her a vanilla vodka and coke. Placing two maraschino cherries into it since he knew those were her favorite, he placed the drink on the counter beside her. “Vanilla vodka and coke for the cutest girl in Fernandina,” he winked, feeling decidedly calmer and more composed.
Until, that is, he watched as she picked up one of the cherries from her drink by the stem and wrapped her burgundy painted lips around it.
Holy fuck.
Mac swore the inseam of his dress pants got considerably tighter.
Look away, look away, look away.
“Mac?” He tore his gaze away from her lips to find Raine’s worrisome gaze on him. Except now, he was staring into her green eyes. Eyes that he would love to stare into as he thrust deep–
“Mac?” The urgency in Raine’s tone jerked him from his wayward thoughts. And, hell, they were indeed wayward. Like really fucking wayward.
“Yeah? Your drink okay?” he asked hurriedly. Shit, was that his choppy breathing? Yeah, that was him. Real smooth.
“It’s fine. Are you sure you’re okay?” There was that little crease in between her brows that was making his thumb twitch to reach over and smooth it out.
“I’m- ” He was cut off by the sound of Zach arriving with his date.
“Hey, guys!” he greeted them, his hand on the back of his date. Zach’s date happened to be the new P.E. teacher, which was considerably a bad move on his part since she had already begun to burn bridges at their school.
What the hell was Zach doing bringing her with him tonight? The girl—he only knew her by her last name of Tittle, as unfortunate as that surname was—had only taken over the old P.E. teacher’s spot recently due to a sudden medical retirement.
Tittle had wreaked havoc amongst many of the teachers with her refusal to work with the same scheduling that had already been in place since the beginning of the school year. She had butted heads countless times with Laney in particular.
“Oh, hey, guys, look! It’s Miss Titties- I mean, Tittle! Yay!” came Laney’s sarcastic barb, camouflaged in a syrupy sweet voice, from across the room.
Lawson choked on his drink and Laney patted him on the back without any pause in her staredown of the other woman.
Mac and Raine looked at each other in dread. “Music,” they said together and turned to get the remote to adjust the music playing far too softly inside the house.
Once they managed to get a good, upbeat song playing loud enough to deter conversations for the moment, he and Raine made their way to the large dining room table and loaded up their plates with food.
“Want to take this out onto the deck?” he asked her, leaning over to her ear so she could hear him over the music.
“Sure,” she nodded.
He opened the sliding glass door and helped her step onto the upper section of the deck, closing it with a quiet thunk behind them. Setting their plates, laden with food, onto the wide deck railing, they stared out at the ocean, the sun beginning to set and painting the sky a myriad of pinks, purples, and oranges and ate in companionable silence.
RAINE STUDIED MAC while they ate outside on the deck. He’d been acting really strange since she’d arrived at the party. She felt almost as if he didn’t want to be around her.
“Mac?” she asked, tentatively.
“Yeah?” He barely glanced her way before turning his attention back to the ocean.
Taking a fortifying breath, she forged on quickly. “Is there something wrong tonight? I mean, with me or the way I look? Because you haven’t been able to look at me for more than three seconds at a time.” Good God, her voice had started to sound frantic.
“Do I . . . look really awful?” she asked carefully. “Because Laney and Tate told me that I looked fine and if they lied to me, I will have to kill them in some torturous way,” she added, her words coming out rushed.
“Raine, breathe.” Mac had turned to her, grasping her shoulders gently to face him. She stared up at him, uncertainty lining her features. She saw indecision in his eyes and watched as he searched her face for a moment. Releasing his grip on her, he stepped back and ran an agitated hand over his head.
“You really want to know what’s going on with me?” He gave what sounded like a forced laugh at the end.
“Yes,” came her near whisper of a response.
Exhaling loudly, he began, “You walked in tonight, looking like that,” he gestured to her. “And you take my breath away . . . every time I look at you.” He paused as if he were trying to gauge her reaction.
“You take my breath away in a good way, Raine.” He ran both hands over his face with a groan. “In a way that makes me forget that you’re Raine, my best friend, the person I should most definitely not be thinking of in that way,” his tone filled with reproach.
They stood there in silence with nothing but the sounds of the party and the countdown trickling through the door to the house.
“10, 9, 8 . . .”
“Are you finished?” she asked, gently.
He stared at her with a look of disbelief on his face. “That’s it? That’s what you say when I tell you that?”
“7, 6, 5, 4 . . .”
Raine took a step toward him and saw his wary gaze. Swallowing the tight lump of uncertainty in her throat, she pushed on. “What would you say if I told you that I struggle with the same exact thing?”
Her question was met with silence, Mac’s eyes staring into hers, the blue of his eyes blazing with heat.
“3, 2, 1 . . .”
Just when she went to turn away in embarrassment, Mac moved forward swiftly, sliding his fingers into her hair, his mouth crashing down onto hers, his lips firm as they took control of her mouth.
Raine gasped in surprise and Mac took advantage of this to deepen the kiss. When his tongue touched hers, flicking teasingly, she nearly moaned. Running her hands up the front of his button down shirt, her fingers slid against the smooth texture, feeling the firmness of his abs and coming to rest over his heart. Raine was certain it was beating as rapidly as her own.
Suddenly, she wanted more. More of this closeness, more of this kiss, more of . . . Mac. Fisting her hands in his shirt, she tugged him closer toward her. She heard him groan when his hardness pressed firmly against her stomach as their bodies met. Mac slanted his head to deepen the kiss further as one of his hands slid down her back, tra
iling over the smooth skin revealed by the dress before moving down to glide over her ass. Gripping it firmly, he pulled her into him as if he couldn’t get close enough.
“Raine,” his voice rasped before pressing his firm lips to hers. “We have to stop.”
“No,” she breathed, reaching up to cup his jaw. “I don’t want to ever-”
She was cut off by the sound of an obnoxiously loud noisemaker being blown.
THEY TURNED TO see Laney standing in the doorway, holding a noisemaker in one hand and the other hand over her eyes.
“You two have to stop before you rape each other in front of all these impressionable minds inside.”
“No, don’t stop, yet! You’ve gotta let me video it, first!” Lawson yelled from inside.
Raine hid her face, forehead resting on Mac’s chest, shoulders shaking with laughter.
Mac tried to use his most intimidating look on Laney who had dropped her hand from her eyes. “We’ll be there in a moment.”
Laney just smirked. “Sure thing.” She turned to go in but paused. “Oh, and good luck, Mac,” she called out over her shoulder.
“Good luck with what?” Raine asked him, looking up. But, he wasn’t looking down at her. His gaze was focused on the figure who was staring a hole in him from inside the house.
Foster was going to kill him.
His friend stood at the door with his date beside him, her hand on his arm and her mouth moving probably trying to placate him.
Placate Foster? Yeah, right.
Raine patted Mac’s chest after noticing Foster. “Don’t worry about him. He’s more bark than bite.”
“That’s what you think. He thinks of you as his other little sister, Raine. He’s already threatened me once,” he sighed loudly.
Raine drew back in surprise. “What? When was this?”
“Before we had even met.” And, again, after we almost kissed on the dance floor.
Mac looked down to see her green eyes filled with indignation.
She took another step away and put her hands on her hips defiantly. “That isn’t necessary. I can take care of myself. I’m not twelve!”
Angrily turning toward the house, she said, “I’m going to have to talk with-”
Mac grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, her front coming up against his, an “oof” coming from her before he took her mouth again in a kiss. He told himself it was to shut her up and get her off track from giving Foster grief simply for watching out for her and being the good guy.
Maybe that was the partial truth. But the bulk of it was now that he had a taste of Raine, he felt like an addict and needed more.
As she moaned against his lips, her tongue darting out to tangle with his, her breasts pressed against his chest, he knew he had to cut off the kiss. But the way his cock pressed against her stomach, harder than it had ever been, he struggled with reason.
Forcing himself to at least move away from her mouth, he trailed kisses along her jaw and to her earlobe, running his teeth over it gently before pulling away.
“You’re making me crazy.” Raine was breathless, eyes opening slowly to look up at him.
The fact that those green eyes of hers were darkened with lust fed into his male pride.
“That and I’m not going to be able to go inside looking like this,” she gestured to the bodice of her dress where her nipples were evidently hard, pressing against the material.
“Fuck, Raine,” he groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face and leaving them over his eyes. “You’re fucking killing me, right now.” After taking a fortifying breath, his hands dropped from his eyes and he forced himself to keep them trained on hers.
“You need to go inside.” Glancing back toward the door where Foster was clearly waiting, he continued. “I have to chat with Fos for a minute.”
Raine looked up at him worriedly. “Are you going to be okay? You guys aren’t going to go into caveman mode and beat up on each other, are you?”
Probably. “No. Don’t worry, Raine. Just head inside and make sure Laney’s staying out of trouble.”
That got a laugh out of her. “Yeah, right,” she muttered, turning to head inside. As she got to the fifth step up on the deck -and safer distance away from him- he called out to her.
“Raine?”
“Yes?” She turned, slightly, the moonlight casting an ethereal glow to her. God, she was beautiful. His throat got tight for some reason.
Swallowing hard, he asked her, “Stay the night?”
There was a long enough pause that he was certain she was going to decline. Even though she had spent the night more than a dozen times before, they both knew this was different. That he was asking something entirely different of her.
“Yes,” came the soft reply and she turned and walked the rest of the way up to the door, trading some words with Foster before she slid inside.
Foster closed the door behind himself and made his way toward Mac. Widening his stance, Mac steeled himself for the confrontation he knew was going to happen. He watched warily as his friend came to stand across from him, arms crossed, muscles bulging as if he were still in the Teams, on the same rigorous fitness schedule.
Stormy blue eyes met light brown ones and it felt almost like a standoff for a moment until Foster finally spoke.
“You know I warned you about Raine. And, yet, I find you mauling her out here as if you don’t have your pick of chicks every single fucking night,” he bit out angrily.
“Fos, it’s not like that, man.” Shit. Even his response sounded weak to his own ears.
“Oh, yeah? What’s it like, then? Because it looked to me like you were treating Raine like one of your cheap one nighters.”
Now, Mac was pissed. “Raine is not like that. Nor will she ever be,” he snarled, suddenly up in Foster’s face. “Don’t you ever even think that I would treat her like that.”
Foster tilted his head to the side casually. “So, what’s Raine like then? If she’s not like one of your usuals?”
“She’s fucking amazing. She could never be one of those chicks.”
The corners of Foster’s lips turned up into a smirk. That’s when Mac realized he’d been had. Sneaky shithead.
Uncrossing his arms, Foster nodded at him. “That’s good to hear. But just so you know where I’m coming from, I have to do this.”
That was when his friend pulled back and punched him.
“WHAT THE HELL?!” Raine yelled, frantically grabbing at the handle of the door to run outside.
Laney grabbed her arm and held her fast. “Wait a sec. That’s just a guy thing, Raine. Nothing to worry about.”
She looked at her friend like she was crazy. “He just punched Mac! In the freaking face, Laney! How is that nothing to worry about?”
Laney sighed, shaking her head. “Just give me a hug first, okay? This was way more excitement than I expected for tonight,” she reached out to embrace Raine in a tight hug before leaning back to give her an assessing look. “You sure know how to surprise me, girl. My date’s probably expecting this every time we go out, now. Dinner, music, and a side of porn. Who knew?” she mused. “But, don’t worry. Tate distracted everyone else once I noticed what was going on, so no one saw anything” her friend whispered to her before walking off to meet her date who stood over by the kitchen island.
Tate stepped up to her, a worried look on her face. Quietly, she asked her, “Are you . . . sure?”
Raine, knowing she was referring to Mac, simply nodded which Tate appeared to accept. Then, her friend hugged her tight and whispered, “Love you, sweetie.”
“Love you, too.” Tate gave Raine’s hand a squeeze before she walked off.
Lawson came ambling over and slung an arm casually over her shoulders after handing her an ice pack to bring to Mac. “So. If that’s how you celebrate the end of a year with your ‘friends’ . . .” he trailed off, closing his eyes and puckering his lips.
Laughing, she shoved at him playfully. “Go bac
k to your date, Laws.”
He sighed dramatically. “We could’ve had something special, Raine.” He paused and added, “Just remember that when you’re getting your hymen busted.” He darted off before she could swat him.
She turned back to the door and saw Foster heading up to the house. She stepped out and closed the door behind her. Meeting Foster at the upper section of the deck, he stopped and looked down at her with the most serious expression she had ever seen him have.
Placing her hands at her hips, she looked at him sternly. “What the hell, Foster? Why’d you hit him?”
With a gentle smile, Foster tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “It’s a guy thing, Raine. A warning of sorts. Go check on him and do your mother hen thing.”
His smile disappeared and he took her hand, grasping it gently. “But, Raine, please be careful.” She nodded at him wordlessly. “I’m kicking everyone out if they haven’t gone already. Tell Mac he owes me.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her hair and walked around her to head into the house.
She looked down to where Mac stood on the lower part of the deck, hands in his pockets, looking up in her direction. She wished she could see his eyes from here, to know if he’d changed his mind; if he had simply been caught up in the moment. Breathing deeply, she tried to brace herself for whatever he might say.
Here goes everything, she thought.
MAC WATCHED AS Raine hesitated on the top of the steps and he wondered if she were having second thoughts. Had she just been caught up in the moment? Maybe it hadn’t been any big deal for her. That thought sure as hell bothered him since that kiss had been a big deal -a huge deal- for him.
Something in his chest pinched as he watched her slowly descend the steps and walk toward him. God, the moonlight casting the glow over her in that dress and her hair being tousled in the gentle breeze nearly took his breath away.
Finally, she was standing before him with vulnerability shining in her eyes, hands clenching the ice pack in front of her, signifying her nervousness. Raine should never feel nervous around him. Just as he was about to tell her so, she spoke, thrusting the ice pack at him.