Page 46 of That First Flight
Mackenzie shrugs. “Probably not.”
“Noted. Now let’s get you home, smarty pants.”
“Yes! Let’s go home.”
The way Kenzie says the word home has warmth filling my chest, something I am just not used to. The way she says it makes me want to make my place their permanent home and not a temporary one until they get their feet on the ground.
I swore I would never settle down.
But Macey bulldozed into my life and is making me want things I’ve never wanted before.
The elevator to my apartment dings as we enter with grocery bags filled with different kinds of taco shells, fresh lettuce and blocks of cheese. I absolutely snuck in a package of chocolate chip cookies that Mackenzie clearly wanted but was too afraid to ask for.
Mackenzie runs ahead of me to go get her puzzles ready for James to play with as well as various things she thinks he would love.
I immediately find Macey moving freely around the kitchen.
There’s many ways I like Macey. But this right here, her in the kitchen doing what she loves, takes the cake. Watching her doing what I know she is meant to be doing, she looks the happiest. It makes me want to give her every hope and dream she has if it means her looking the way she does right now.
My heart pounds wildly in my chest as my eyes scan her up and down. It has to be about thirty degrees outside and she’s wearing cut off jean shorts and a tank top, exposing the curve of her breasts for the first time to me.
But that’s not all I’m seeing for the first time. The rest of her tattooed sleeve is on full display now. Cherry blossom branches cover her entire upper arm, shades of black, gray, and pink cover every inch above her elbow.
“Hey, you,” Macey murmurs softly when she notices me.
A grin spreads across my face as I drink her in.
“Hey, dragonfly.”
“Come here. I need some help before everyone gets here.”
I round the island with a little pep in my step because I’ll do anything at this point to be near her.
“Can you take the cheese block you just got and use the shredder to shred it up?”
“Do we have a shredder?”
She tilts her head and smirks at the same time her fists land on her hips. “This is your kitchen and you don’t even know you have a shredder?”
“I don’t need to shred Pop-Tarts. They’re perfect just the way they are.”
Macey laughs and moves to a random drawer on the other side of the kitchen. My eyes wander to her ass without thinking. I would give anything to have my hands on her right now.
Except I shouldnotbe looking at my roommate this way. So I snap my eyes up just in time for her to turn around.
“Here. I had to wipe the dust off it the other night, but it works just fine,” she jokes.
“Huh.” I nod. “Didn’t know I had this fancy contraption.”
She shakes her head as she laughs harder. “You’re something else.”
“One shredded block of cheese coming right up, chef!”
She beams… she fuckingbeamswhen I call her that. And damn, do I love it.
Just as I’m halfway through the block of cheese, she makes herself comfortable next to me as she chops the head of lettuce into fine pieces.
“So I made enough ground meat to feed at least ten people,” she says. “I know your brothers are coming, and if they eat the way you do, I should have more than enough.”