Page 40 of And Then There's You

“Wait, really?” His eyes go wide with surprise.

I nod as he pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head.

The band is good, but I keep finding my thoughts wandering between what it’ll be like to see Mack play and slightly freaking out about how I agreed to go to California in a couple weeks. I’m broken out of my trance when Mack’s phone dings with a text. A moment later he stands, reaching out his hand for mine. “Let’s go! We have somewhere to be!”

“We do?”

“No questions, Mace, just trust me.”

We pull into the driveway of a house I’ve never seen, in a part of town I haven’t been through. It’s nice, there are a lot of gated communities and beautiful trees that arch over the roads. Where are we? A rope swing hangs from the oak tree in the front yard. The surrounding grass is mostly brown, but sprinkled with green now that it’s almost April and the sun has been making an appearance lately. The one story house is freshly painted light blue with white trim. We get out of the car, and I follow Mack to the door, which he opens without knocking.

I stand frozen in the doorway, trying to put together what is happening. The house is completely empty, but I didn’t see a “For Sale” sign in the yard, at least not that I can remember. Sensing my hesitation, Mack turns around and smiles, grabbing my hand and tugging me into the entryway. “Maci, come on.”

I follow him down a hallway until it opens into a kitchen on the right. When my eyes scan to the left, I panic. Avery is standing there, collapsed into Miller’s arms as he holds her. It sounds like she’s crying. She looks up at my gasp.

“Maci,” her voice cracks. She pulls away from Miller and starts running toward me. She flings her arms around my neck. I sigh in relief when I realize her tears aren’t sad ones. “It was perfect. I didn't want to jinx it in case something happened but we found this house last week and we fell in love with it. Our offer got accepted today. We came back to walk through it again.” She’s talking fast and crying so much I can hardly understand her. “He said, ‘Avery, the only thing that would be more perfect than this house is if you would be my wife.’ And look!” she shrieks, pulling away from me so she can shove her hand in my face.

After fully examining the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen, I glance up to see that Mack has made his way to Miller. He’s looking at his sister with the biggest grin on his face, and I can see how genuinely happy he is for her. Earlier today he told me how grateful he is Avery is part of such a healthy relationship. Since their dad is an alcoholic and their mom left the year before I met Avery, they haven’t had the best role models for relationships. From what Avery has told me, her parents used to fight so much, it was a relief when her mom ran away. As much as my heart breaks for them, and I can't wrap my head around how parents could abandon their kids–especially kids like Avery and Mack–it makes me melt a little on the inside watching how proud Mack is of Avery for choosing a different path. I’m thankful they have each other.

Avery pulls her hand away from me to run back toward the boys. She slaps Mack on the shoulder. “You knew about this, didn't you! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

Mack laughs as Avery leans into Miller, holding her hand out in front of her face to examine her ring again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Afteracelebratorydinnerwith Taylor, Alexis, Kylie and a few of Miller’s friends from high school, we agree to meet everyone at the bar. We arrive first, at Jameson’s. The location was Mack’s suggestion. Apparently, this is one of his favorite bars too. He walks in first, and I’m surprised when Jace greets him by name. “Oh hey, Mack, haven’t seen you in a while. How ya been?”

“Hey, Jace, I’m great. Just visiting from Cali for the weekend. This is Maci.” He steps forward, giving me room to stand next to him.

“Maci! Hi, haven’t seen you in a while either.”

At the same moment Mack looks to me to get confirmation I already know the bouncer, I watch Jace’s eyes flash between Mack and me, confused, as if he forgot Dean was gone.

“Oh, I didn't know you two knew each other! Small world,” Mack exclaims, unbothered.

“Yeah, I’ve come here before.” I respond to neither of them in particular.

“Yes, you have.” Jace winks at me, and thankfully Mack doesn’t catch it.

Eye roll.

“I’m going to the bathroom real quick, get us drinks?”

“Deal.” He smiles at me and makes a beeline to Jess, who is behind the bar.

I leave the bathroom and head straight to the bar. It’s busy, so I doubt Mack has gotten our drinks. I spot him right away, but he’s not alone. The guy next to him stands there in his go-to gray jeans and black v-neck.Oh shit.That can’t be good.

Marcus must sense someone standing behind him because he turns toward me as I make it to the bar. “Maci, hi!” He immediately leans into a side hug. He’s got his hair pulled back like the last time I saw him, and I can smell his sandalwood scented beard balm with his face so close to mine.

“Do you know everyone here?” Mack laughs.

“Do you know Marcus too?” I question, pulling out of the hug.

“Oh yeah, we go way back to two minutes ago. How do you two know each other?” He’s more curious than threatened.

I glance at Marcus for a moment before deciding which truth to go with. “He’s Dean’s friend.” I look over at Mack to gauge his reaction, which is total confusion, seeing as I’ve never said Dean’s name, and he hasn’t put it together.

Marcus cuts in. “Hey, I already told you we are friends too.”

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