Page 77 of Forgotten Pieces

He raises a brow at me. “Nothing? That is not what nothing looks like. Not to mention the fact you begged me to come out tonight. My guess is you needed to see her and now that I have seen you two it must be ‘cause you fucked somethin’ up.”

Why did I ask Mac to meet me here? I should have come alone. Fucking nosy bastard.

I pinch the bridge of my nose as Tacoma comes back with our drinks. I keep my head down as Mac thanks her. I feel her walk away and I look back at my cousin. “I kissed her.”

“What?” he yells.

I look around to make sure she is still at a distance and to double check the biggest gossipers aren’t around.

“I made her dinner because she helped unpack my house.”

Mac chugs down half his beer. “Why the hell was she helping unpack your house?”

“Because I hadn’t done it.”

“You told me everything was fine.”

I sigh and take a sip of my whiskey. “It’s not.”

“I get it, man. I do. I know this past year has been hard for you.”

“I don’t like to talk about it.”

He lets out a short laugh. “I know. But how the hell did Tacoma get involved in this?”

I don’t know if I should tell him. But he is the only friend I have here. “I’ve been meeting with her. Like we used to.”

Mac runs his hands over his face. “Fuck dude. This is not a good idea.”

“I know.”

“You were in love with her back then.”

“Is that a question or a statement?”

“I never really knew what was going on between you two. But I figured it out. If you asked me that eight years ago I would have said it’s a question. But I can tell now just by looking at both of you, it’s a statement.”

I just nod. Don’t know what to say to him.

“It was wrong then to most people because of the age difference. But now it’s wrong to you because you’re engaged.”

“When did you become so profound?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “People keep askin’ me that. Maybe I just give good advice.”

I laugh. “Says the guy who thought it would be a good idea to steal liquor from the 7-Eleven and then run from the cops.”

“I was eighteen and stupid.”

“You still are.”

“But I never got caught.”

I shake my head and laugh. “I still don’t know how.”

“Makes two of us.”

We laugh together but it doesn’t take long for Mac to refocus the conversation. “What are you going to do?”