Page 48 of Forged By Sacrifice

He didn’t deny that he’d run away from Rockport because of me. That newfound bitterness crept into my heart, but I didn’t know who I was directing it at. Him. My family. Me. I stepped around him, and this time, he let me go, but his words halted me as I started across the living space.

“Do I make you uncomfortable?”

Yes, I thought again. “No, Mac-Macauley. If you’re good, I’m good.”

I got to the stairs, and his voice halted me one more time. “Goodnight, Georgie-Girl.”

I smiled and kept going. We’d both lied. We both made each other uncomfortable. But I loved the apartment and my loft with the view of the Hill. I loved how close it was to campus. I liked Dani and the camaraderie we’d built in just the few weeks I’d been here. I didn’t want to lose any of that. If Mac and I stayed out of each other’s hair, there wouldn’t be a problem. We were adults, not teenagers in the throes of first lust.

I got upstairs and texted Ava.

ME: You awake?

It took her a few minutes to respond.

AVA: Of course, at the bar. What’s up?

ME: My roommate’s brother showed up.

AVA: This sounds ominous. Is he a wackadoodle?

I chuckled.

ME: Depends. Do you think Mac is a wackadoodle?

AVA: Wait. Your roommate is Dani? As in, Mac’s sister, Dani? As in, you are now roommates with Mac?

ME: Bingo.

AVA: **laughing emoji**

ME: This is hardly funny.

AVA: OMG. I can’t breathe. This is hilarious.

ME: No. It’s not. How can it possibly be that, in a city this large, I’d find a room with Mac?

AVA: Look at Eli and me. We found each other in a city of eight million. Fate has a funny way of playing its cards.

ME: Not you too.

AVA: Not me too, what?

ME: Talking about fate. There isn’t such a thing.

AVA: Did Mac say that? That you were fated to find each other again? It doesn’t sound like Mac. It sounds more like Eli. Or Truck.

ME: Maybe they’ve rubbed off on him.

AVA: Maybe you’ve rubbed off on him. **eggplant emoji**

ME: Gross. No.

AVA: Says the woman who rated him a ten.

ME: This is just…weird.

AVA: Eli is going to smile so hard it will break his face when I tell him.