Page 70 of That First Flight
Besides some pain she was experiencing, she was given one hundred percent clearance for us to take her home.
I’ve learned through Mackenzie that children are resilient. It’s almost like the whole thing didn’t happen now that the time has passed. She’s back to feeling like herself with only a small scar.
I missed the blogger conference, but I couldn’t give two shits about it at this point. I stayed back for what’s important and that’s all that matters to me.
On the other side of things, every single interaction with Macey has me falling for her more than I ever thought I could for a woman…this overwhelming need to claim her, this desire to make her mine.
I can’t quite pinpoint when it was that I tipped over the edge and completely fell for her.
Was it when I decided I needed to kiss her? Was it a few days ago when we went to her new favorite bagel shop again for breakfast and did nothing but laugh at the dumbest things? Or was it this morning when I walked in on her making scrambled eggs in a pair of silk pajama shorts and a matching tank top?
I feel like it was long before today, but my hands itched to run my fingertips across every inch of exposed skin this morning.
I want to devour her.
I want to worship her.
I want to give her everything.
As if my thoughts brought her to me, she walks out of the hallway and into the living room, pulling me from staring out into space.
“Next time, Peyton,” Macey says through the phone. “I’ll see if Mackenzie can have a playdate next Tuesday with one of her friends from school and then I can come.”
“What’s going on?” I leap off the couch in an effort to interrupt her conversation.
She covers the speaker on the phone. “Peyton’s begging me to go to girls’ night.”
“Go,” I tell her.
“I promise. Next time,” she tells Peyton, completely ignoring me.
I swipe the phone from her hands, smirking as I do when I bring the phone to my ear.
“Peyton?”
“Hi, Ollie,” she says on the other end.
“She’s going. She’ll meet you there.”
I hear Peyton squeal in excitement before I press end on the call.
“What the hell?” Macey laughs.
“You made some really good friends here. I think you should spend time with them. I think youdeserveto spend time with them after the last week you had.”
“But… Mackenzie.”
“I don’t have plans to go anywhere tonight.” I throw myself back on the couch, kicking my feet up on the ottoman. “I was planning to kick back and watch a movie anyway. She’s fine here with me.”
“I can’t ask you to babysit.”
I scoff. “Babysit? There will be no babysitting. She’s a grown girl, not an infant.”
“She’s eight,” Macey fires back.
“Semantics.” I shrug. “Regardless, she’s not a baby. And if you haven’t figured it out by now, I actually like hanging out with her.”
A beat passes where Macey no longer has anything to come back at me with for why this is a bad idea.