by RC Boldt
Groaning, she stretched, sitting up. “Sorry I fell asleep on you.”
“Well, you didn’t miss much. The Gators continued to beat up on them,” he told her. “It was actually a pretty boring slaughter.”
“Thank goodness,” Raine breathed.
“Go get some rest, kiddo.”
Raine stood up and kissed her father on the cheek. “Goodnight, Dad. Love you.”
“Love you, too, munchkin.” Her father turned and headed off to his bedroom.
Raine folded up the blanket she had curled up under and placed it back on the couch. She felt bad that she hadn’t been the greatest company, falling asleep on her father, but she’d really been beat after the sex marathon she’d had with Mac.
Good grief. She could feel herself blushing just recalling it. She had worked hard at resisting the urge to send him a text today. Because that would have been crossing the line again. And they both agreed that things would return back to normal after their little sexual binge, of sorts. So she had resisted because they were just friends who had scratched an itch, one time only. One and done. She was totally fine with this. They were better off friends anyway, especially with Mac’s track record.
It was only later on after she had showered and was crawling into bed in her father’s spare bedroom, all alone in the dark of night, that she acknowledged how much she wished Mac were lying there beside her.
MAC KNEW HE was acting neurotic checking the time every few minutes, waiting for the usual text from Raine that she had made it home safely from her dad’s. He knew she normally left at around noon so that she wouldn’t get back too late on a Sunday. Normally, she’d text him that she was home and, depending on his schedule or plans, he’d head over with dinner since he knew she hated eating fast food on the road.
Shit. It wasn’t like he did it every time. And why he was so intent on seeing her? Hell, they were across the freaking hall from one another at work, after all. He’d see her in the morning.
So why was he all but pacing in his living room, waiting for the usual “home safe and sound” text from her? He wanted to know she had made it home alright, that’s all. She was driving six hours by herself. Yes, she’d done it a million times before, but this time was different for some reason. He couldn’t say why. It just was.
When his phone chimed with a text notification, he all but pounced on it.
Raine: Made it home safe and sound. See you in the morning. :)
Mac stared at the text long enough that the screen on his phone went dark. Was that supposed to mean for him not to come over?
Shit, he was acting like a freaking girl. He had two footlong subs in his fridge just for their dinner, knowing she would have the other half of hers for lunch tomorrow. He was just going to show up and if she didn’t want to eat with him, he’d drop her sandwich off to her and head home with his own. No big deal.
Yeah. That’s what he was going to do.
Mac grabbed the subs, slid on his flip flops and locked his porch door behind him. Heading over the sandy beach to her house he tried to prepare himself to be turned away at the door. He knew she was always worn out from the drive back from her dad’s house and liked to do her laundry and veg out a bit before heading to bed.
The more he thought about it, he decided to just hand over her sandwich at the door and head back home. He’d let her have time alone. They had just seen each other Saturday morning. Granted, she had left pretty early in the morning to head to her place to pack. But they’d had fun in the shower before she had finally left.
Mac found himself having to adjust himself beneath his khaki shorts at the thought of what they had done to one another in that shower.
Shit, shit, shit. He had to get a grip. It was a one-time thing. He could do this. He could push it out of his mind. He repeated this to himself as he knocked on her back porch door. He felt something that felt a lot like nervousness as he waited for her to answer.
No, he reprimanded himself, it wasn’t nervousness. He was just thrown off by the lack of sleep lately.
Raine opened the door and seemed surprised to see him. He suddenly felt unsure of himself, of showing up unannounced.
“Hey,” he said.
Wow. That was profound. Dumbass.
“Hey,” she gave him a small, tired smile.
“I have dinner for you,” he held up her sandwich.
“Oh, I . . . thanks, Mac,” she looked down to the small container of sushi she held in her hands and then back up at him. “I stopped by the grocery store and picked this up real quick. I didn’t expect . . .” she trailed off.
“No worries,” he told her.
Good God, this conversation couldn’t possibly get any more awkward.
They stood there for a moment watching each other warily. Finally, Raine spoke. “You want to come in?”
“Sure,” he said quickly, closing the door behind him, following her inside as he had many times before.
Those other times, however, didn’t have him checking out her ass in the running shorts she had thrown on or admiring the toned shoulders left bare by her tank top. He trailed her into the kitchen as she set her sushi in the refrigerator.
Turning to him, she asked, “Water?”
“Please,” was his reply that he swore came out sounding hoarse. If she noticed, she didn’t mention it.
He laid his sub on the counter and watched as she filled up two glasses of water from the filtered pitcher. Raine picked up his water and turned to hand it to him but froze when she saw him watching her. There must have been something in his eyes, in the way he was looking at her to give her pause, but he wasn’t sure what it was exactly.
“I’ve been doing some thinking, Raine,” his voice was low and deep.
“About what?” She watched him closely, setting his water glass back down on the counter.
He took a step closer to her. “I read somewhere that it’s bad luck to start off the New Year with amazing sex and stop abruptly,” he snapped his fingers, “just like that.”
Her eyebrows raised at him, suspiciously. “You read this somewhere?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I did.”
She tilted her head to the side as if she were trying to figure him out.
Good luck with that. He couldn’t even figure himself out these days.
“So, what did this article -I’m assuming it was an article- advise?” she asked him, amusement in her eyes.
“The article -and you’re right, it was an article- said that we should resume activity once again. Just to be sure we brought in the New Year properly.” He finished with a nod as if to affirm the crap coming out of his mouth.
Mac mentally rolled his eyes at himself. This was, by far, the biggest bunch of bullshit he had spewed since he tried to get out of a missing homework assignment in the sixth grade.
“Huh. So how exactly does this work? We bump uglies tonight and that’s it?”
Mac closed the distance between them, trapping her against the kitchen counter.
“Now, now, Raine. There’s nothing ugly about either one of our parts bumping,” his voice was husky as he lowered his lips to brush lightly over hers. Raine leaned back a few inches.
“So after tonight, we go back to normal?” Mac watched as she searched his face for something. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for. He simply nodded and held her gaze, startled to find himself bracing for rejection. Which would most definitely be a first.
Please say yes, please say yes.
She moistened her lips and he nearly groaned, watching the action. Looking into her eyes, he felt like he could get lost in her mossy green gaze. Hell, he nearly did until his body jerked in surprise at the feel of a hand coming to cup him, beginning to stroke him through his shorts.
His eyes fell closed and he gripped each side of counter beside her tightly. Mac couldn’t help but push into her touch and nearly groaned aloud when her lips touched the base of his throat, a tiny flick of her tongue sending him over
the edge. He gripped her hips and lifted her onto the counter to kiss her once, twice, before breaking away.
“Is that a yes?” he asked in a voice more breathless than he’d ever admit to.
With a slight raise of one shoulder she said, casually, “I guess I can take one for the team in the name of starting off the year with good luck.”
He felt a laugh break loose and shook his head at her. “You and that mouth are going to be punished.”
She leaned in, brushing her lips against his and whispered, “Promise?”
With a growl, Mac took her mouth in a hot kiss that left them both breathless. It was only after they had christened her kitchen, couch and finally the shower that he forced himself to leave. The entire time, Mac couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever get his fill of her.
And that thought alone scared the hell out of him.
SOME DAYS WERE just hardwired to suck and this was one of them. Raine felt like the day would never end and it was only Monday.
She had three parent notes complaining about their children “not knowing” about the project due that day when Raine had sent home the requirements for it exactly one month ago. After using her lunch period, brief as it was to begin with, to call parents and inform them of the project guidelines and offer to send home proof of the dated project information sheet, she was utterly frazzled.
The day ended with her having car pool duty she had nearly forgotten about. And, of course, there were ten students whose parents were late picking them up. Finally, fifteen minutes past the cutoff time for students to be picked up, her assistant principal relieved her. She’d told Raine to go home as she took the kids inside the school to start making calls to their parents. Luckily, they didn’t have a faculty meeting so Raine was looking forward to heading straight home and going for a run to relieve the stress from the day.
Walking up the last few steps to the second floor and heading to her classroom, she saw Mac’s light was still on, but she bypassed his room since she knew she still had to clean up her desk from the chaos of the day.
Raine entered her classroom and let the door close behind her, turning on the CD player, letting the mellow sound of Jack Johnson fill the air. She was organizing her plans and materials for the following day when she heard the brief knock on her door. Looking up, she saw the door open and Mac’s head popped in.
“Hey, you okay?” He looked concerned.
Sighing loudly, she gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, just a crappy day, that’s all.”
He made a face. “That sucks. Anything I can do?”
“You have an IV of tequila?” she joked. Or partially joked.
He moved inside and let the door close behind him, leaning back onto it. Crossing his arms, he looked at her with a grin, that damn dimple making an appearance. “You know what helps you get over a crappy day?”
“Well, I’m heading out to go for a run after I get home. That should do the job, right?” She collected her planner and put it in her bag, sliding off her heels and slipping into the flip flops she kept under her desk.
“Not exactly what I was thinking, Raine.” His rough voice caught her attention. She tilted her head to the side and looked at him questioningly.
Mac shook his head with a chuckle. “You’re really going to make me spell it out for you.” He made his way over to where she was standing by her desk. Just as he got close enough to touch her, her classroom door swung open with force.
“Hey! There you are! What in the freaking h-e-double hockey sticks is with those parents? For the love of everything that’s holy in this world, even the legally blind could read the highlighted and bold printed distribution date for the project along with the ‘No late projects will be accepted’!” Laney exclaimed, tossing her hands in the air, entering the room with flourish. “Oh, hey, Mac,” she added before turning her attention back to Raine. “You okay, sweetie?”
Raine tossed a weary smile at her friend. “Yeah, just ready to head out and put this day behind me.”
“I’ll run and get my stuff and walk out with you. Be right back.” Laney left in the same style whirlwind she had entered in.
As if just realizing Mac was still there, Raine looked at him apologetically. “Sorry, Mac. You were saying something?”
“I, uh, was just going to say you probably need a good solo run tonight so just let me know if you need anything.” He backed away almost nervously. But Mac was never nervous so she knew she must be mistaken.
“Thanks, Mac. I appreciate it,” she told him sincerely.
He gave a little wave and left, nearly running into Laney.
“Bye, Mac,” she called to him before entering the room again. “Ready, girl?”
“So ready,” Raine answered with a relieved sigh. The only thing on her mind right now was putting this day behind her.
It wouldn’t register until much later that night that Mac had been trying to tell her something earlier in her classroom but she couldn’t for the life of her recall what that had been.
HE WAS A fucking moron.
That was the only explanation as to why he had been about to suggest he and Raine resume their . . . activity once again. Not only had he been completely insensitive to the shitty day she’d been having, but he had been about to commit another felony in the rulebook of the “No More Sex With Raine” game. Mac felt himself wince at the word ‘game.’ No, it wasn’t a game at all. That sounded too harsh and just wrong, especially where Raine was involved. He already had a black mark on his record from his whole “We need to do it again for good luck” bullshit he’d pulled the other night. It had been a whole week since his relapse that Sunday.
Okay, so maybe it was more like seven days, twenty-two hours and -he checked his watch- fifteen minutes.
Not that he was counting or anything.
Mac rubbed his hands over his eyes in disgust. What the hell was his problem? He had never been like this over any woman. Ever. What made Raine so different? So she was his best friend. Big deal. He needed to get over it. And what was the best way to do that? With another woman.
Yeah, that’s what he needed to do. He grabbed his phone and thumbed through his contacts, skimming through the list of names of women he knew would easily invite him over in a heartbeat.
As he scrolled down the list, a sick feeling started in the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t feeling that great. Probably something he ate. He should hold off until another day when he felt better.
As he went to set his phone back down, he saw Raine’s listing. Unable to stop himself, he sent her a text to let her know he was hoping she had a good run and was feeling better. Then he forced himself to turn off his phone.
Mac sat there on his deck staring out at the waves of the ocean with the nagging reminder that his stomach had ceased to feel sick as soon as his thoughts had turned to Raine.
RAINE’S WEEK HAD been a whirlwind of putting out fires with aggravated parents. It also included meetings with her principal, Mr. Pratt, regarding funding to continue keeping her as the Science Lab teacher, receiving the extra stipend for the supplies and materials necessary to perform experiments and activities with three grade levels worth of students.
She had to provide documentation to give to the Board in hopes that they would not take away the necessary funding. Mr. Pratt had, again, promised to do whatever it took to keep things the way they were.
She was organizing her file folders and setting all the glass bottles and pieces of newspaper for the following Monday morning’s experiment on air pressure. She had to cook the eggs at home and bring the matches but, otherwise, she had everything else set up. Her head jerked up in surprise at the sound of her door opening. Most teachers raced out of there on a Friday, making the school like a ghost town.
“Hey, you thinking about living here or what?” Mac gave her a questioning smile. “It’s about time for the custodians to kick us out and lock up. You ready to head home?”
Raine glanced up at the clock on the wall
, shocked to find it nearly five o’clock. She turned to him in surprise. “What are you still doing here?”
“I was just trying to get the last few things ready for our in-class project. We’re building more complex geometric figures using gumdrops and toothpicks,” he told her, sliding his hands in his pockets to lean against the door jam.
“That sounds really cool. The kids will absolutely love that,” she remarked enthusiastically as she placed her planner and purse in her large bag. “Okay, I think that’s it.”
Raine looked over at Mac. “You heading out, now?”
“Yeah, I’ll walk out with you. Let me grab my keys and lock my door.” He turned to head across the hall to his classroom and Raine slid her bag onto her shoulder, watching as he left.
She gave an inward sigh. That man’s ass was something to admire, that was for certain. Shaking off the inappropriate thought, she turned off her lights and locked her door behind her.
She and Mac fell into step beside one another as they walked down the hall and down the stairs to the first floor. He held the door for her as they exited the building, walking out to the parking lot in silence.
“So, what are your plans for the weekend?” he finally spoke.
She hit the button on her key fob to unlock her car. Opening her door, she tossed her bag onto the passenger seat.
“I really haven’t even gotten that far, yet,” she answered. “This week has kicked my ass so I just really want to go home and do a whole lot of nothing,” Raine said wearily.
Mac nodded. “Got it.” The smile he gave her looked almost . . . forced.
“I guess I’ll see you in the morning for our run? It’s our long run day,” he reminded her of the Saturday they were scheduled to run the full 13.1 miles in preparation for the half-marathon they were running in early February to benefit breast cancer research. The race was fast approaching in two weeks.
The cause was near and dear to her heart for obvious reasons as her mother had fallen victim to the disease and she herself had dealt with it.