Mac:I love you.
Rachel's vision blurred. She read them all twice, then a third time.
He was sorry. He got it now.
But did that change anything? He'd still doubted her. When it mattered, when Derek had planted that seed of suspicion, Mac had believed it. Even for a moment.
How many more times would this happen?
She deleted the messages one by one, watching them disappear.
Her phone rang immediately. Mac calling again.
Rachel stared at his name on the screen, her thumb hovering over the answer button.
She let it go to voicemail.
Two minutes later, it rang again. Sophie this time.
Rachel almost didn't answer. But Sophie would just show up if she didn't, and right now Rachel couldn't handle another person in her space telling her what to do or how to feel.
She answered, her voice barely above a whisper. "Hey."
"Oh honey." Sophie's voice was soft, concerned. "What happened? Mac just called sounding like someone died. He won't tell me anything, just asked if I'd check on you."
That broke something in Rachel. The fact that even after their fight, even after she'd kicked him out, he was worried about her. Making sure someone was checking on her.
"We had a fight," Rachel managed through fresh tears. "Derek showed him a photo, said I met with him for coffee. I didn't. I was alone. But Mac—" The words caught in her throat. "He didn't believe me, Sophie. Not completely. I could see the doubt in his eyes."
"I'm coming over. Right now. Don't move."
"Sophie, you don't have to—"
"I'm already grabbing my keys. Twenty minutes."
Sophie hung up.
Rachel sat in her empty apartment, phone still pressed to her ear even though the line was dead, crying into Mr. Darcy's fur.
The phone buzzed again. Another text from Mac.
She didn't look at it.
Mac
Mac stared at the closed door for a full minute before his legs gave out and he dropped onto the hallway floor.
What had he done?
Rachel hadn't defended herself. Hadn't begged him to believe her. Hadn't spiraled into tears and explanations.
She'd just... asked him to leave. Why?
Because she'd already done this before. With Brad. Trying to prove herself against Derek's lies, and it hadn't mattered. Brad had believed Derek anyway.
And now Mac had done the same thing.
"Shit," Mac whispered. "Shit, shit, shit. I screwed up."
