“Baby, hey, I have an idea.”
Her eyes lit up. “Love ideas! Is this a hike and a swim? Iwould be so down for that, maybe even another little skinny dip.”
“No, well, yes to that.” I narrowed my eyes. “For your final item. I want to take you on a date. A nice date, just you and me. You can do the makeover thing to complete the list, but the date is allus.” My throat was clogged with unnamed emotions, and I had to clear it to get rid of the cobwebs. “If you want.”
She stared at me, her lips pressed together as her cheeks pinkened. “So, I get a makeover, and we go on a date.”
“If you want,” I added, stumbling over my words. God, had I ever asked anyone on a date before? Had it been fucking years? Annoyed at myself, I wish I would’ve thought this out more instead of blurting it out like a doof. “Can I try this again? I feel like I’m fucking this up, and I don’t want to. I need to get this right.”
“Well, we are naked in a tent together.” She grinned. “Stakes are pretty low.”
Snorting, I shook my head as I took her hand. “I’d love to take you on a nice date, thank you for this summer and celebrating you.” I swallowed, not saying my ulterior motive of asking her to do this for real with me. “Would you do me the honors?”
Something flashed across her face, but it was so fast I couldn’t decipher it. She nodded and gave me a sweet Mack smile. “I’d love it, Dean. It’d be the perfect way to end this summer.”
I turned her hand over, running my pointer over her palm. “Do you have plans tonight?”
“Tonight?” she choked. “Uh, I don’t know if I can get the makeover done.”
“Right.” I chewed my lip. I wanted to talk to her as soon as possible so this wasn’t hanging over my head. Going after something I wanted was a part of who I was. Waiting aroundwasn’t something I did, and I wanted Mackenzie. The plan formulated easily, without taking into consideration she might not be able toor want to.
I mean shit. I could drop her off, talk to Lo, then set up the dinner. Between the afternoon and dinner, I could write out my thoughts and chat with Luca on what to say to her. Him and Lo went through something like this with his obsession with football.
But she didn’t seem excited, and that deflated me. “That was a stupid idea—”
“I wish I had my phone so I could make the appointment!” She frowned. “Wait, it’s a stupid idea?”
“No! Damn it. I’m being weird about this. I just… want to take you on a date without a list being a reason. I want to take you because I like you and want to spend time with you.” My voice dropped low and serious, giving it an even more tense tone.
Any hesitation dancing in her eyes disappeared, and the same warm, glowy look I’d seen recently returned. “I’d love that. Spending time with you is becoming one of my favorite things honestly, so I could even bend the rules and have one of the girls give me a makeover. I mean, it doesn’t say it has to be somewhere.”
“So yes, tonight?”
“Definitely.” She beamed.
“Cool.” I ran a hand over my jaw, an absolutely chaotic energy bouncing through my veins. I wanted to kiss her, claim her, and run five miles to burn off this energy. “Want to hike still before we head out? Enjoy this morning?”
“We could even make it a race.”
“You’re a madwoman. Someone needs to stop you.” I pulled her toward me, gently cupping the back of her head. Ibrought her lips toward mine, gently kissing her before whispering, “Thanks for agreeing to the date.”
“Thanks for asking.”
All I had to do now was speak to Lo and set it all up.
We arrived back at Mack and Lo’s apartment a few hours later after hiking, swimming, and fucking again in the tent before heading home. My feelings only increased, and I doubled down on making this work between us. Even Mack seemed lighter… like the thought of a real date between us made her super happy.
Maybe she wants this to last too.
I walked her to the door, holding her hand as my adrenaline rushed through me. The plan was in place: step one, Lo. “I need to talk to my sister about something real quick. Could you send her out here?”
“Sure.” Mackenzie licked the side of her lip, her eyes darting to the door. “She knows about us, if you’re worried. She knows that we’ve been on the same page, so if you feel bad, don’t, and I’m sorry if I shared too much with her. I just—"
“Hey, you’re okay.” I grinned. The ball of worry exploded at her words. “Thank you, for sharing that, but she deserves to at least hear it from me.”
“Right, yeah. Even though it’s… toward the end?” The lines around her eyes pinched.
“Don’t worry about that now. What time should I pick you up?”
