Page 8 of The Operators

She looks hurt, and fuck, I hate that. I’m not exactly sure why though.

“Can we go get those tacos now?” she asks before I have a chance to say anything.

“Sure,” I say without hesitation, nodding and grabbing her hand. I interlock my fingers with hers, pulling her out of the nightclub in the opposite direction of dipshit, but I make sure he sees me taking her out of here, staring him down as we head toward the exit.

“I’m going home with Mack,” Thea calls out to Amanda as we pass by the couch all her friends are at.

“Okay? Bye?” Amanda questions with a confused wave.

“Love you!” Thea calls out, not giving her friend a full explanation.

“Love you too,” Amanda says, letting it slide as we leave.

Chapter 3

Mack

“Wait!” Thea complains as we walk down the steps out of the nightclub. “You’re going too fucking fast.”

I stop, rolling my eyes more dramatically than necessary so that she knows I’m annoyed even though I’m not even. It’s just our thing. Always will be.

She wobbles in her heels down the few remaining steps, grabbing onto the railing for dear life. She’s not really a high-heel kind of girl, but the amount of alcohol she’s had is compounding the issue.

Not that it’s an issue for me. No, this is pure entertainment.

She stumbles again on the last step, grabbing onto the railing with both hands and leaning against it. Her eyes flash up at my laugh, and she gives me a death glare.

“You good?” I tease.

“No,” she spits out. “My feet are killing me.” She reaches down, grabbing the strap of her left shoe and slipping it off. “Fuck…” she exhales, her eyes hitting the sky in relief.

She reaches down again to take the other shoe off, and I move behind her to block the most fantastic view of her ass from the public. God, I’m gonna make her throw this dress away. Itrises even higher up her thighs as she pulls the second heel off, and I hate myself for taking in every new inch of exposed skin.

I clear my throat and step back. I can’t very well let her walk barefoot downtown, so I squat down, motioning for her to get on my back. Her stupid, giddy smile makes it worth it, but I’m still going to moan and groan the whole way there. “You know, this was a whole lot easier when you were still in braces,” I grunt out as she hops on my back.

She flicks my ear. “Yeah, well, deal with it. You’re always going to be my horsey bitch.”

“Wow,” I say, dragging out the word. “That’s all I am to you?” I ask with fake hurt in voice.

“Giddy up,” she giggles, clinking her feet against my legs.

Her body goes slack against me, and she’s going to slip off if she doesn’t hang on tighter. “You getting sleepy back there?”

“You know what would be so good right now?” she asks, ignoring my question.

I lift her up, readjusting her legs so she doesn’t fall down. “Hm?”

“Pizza.”

I sigh. “And you waited until we were halfway to the taco truck to tell me this?” I ask, plopping her down to her feet without warning as I pull my phone out and order a car.

She giggles, not sorry at all. “You know you want something extra cheesy and greasy right now.”

I roll my eyes, handing her my phone. “Order it now, so it will be delivered by the time we get home.”

Home?Is that what I just said?Home?Is that what’s happening here? Am I taking Thea home with me?

I scratch the back of my head, trying to figure out what I’m doing here. I know I didn’t want to be alone tonight, but is it really a good idea to be taking my drunk, best friend’s little sister home with me? I don’t want to call Trevor though, and I can’tjust leave her alone at her place. I don’t have a choice. She has to come home with me.

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