The Day He Kissed Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 3)

Cain got to his feet and offered Mac his hand. He shook it and stood to clap his buddy on the shoulders, in the way that guys did.

“Thanks for coming out, Cain.”

“Just don’t do anything rash, alright? Don’t make a life-changing decision until you’ve talked to Lily again.”

He nodded but thought of how he’d left things, and he knew that it was easier said than done.

Jake jumped to his feet. “I should go to. You want a ride home? You must be tired as hell.”

“Nah,” Mac said, sliding back into his chair. “I think I’m going to stick around for a bit. It’s been a while since I saw a sunrise.”

“Okay,” Jake said. He paused. “You’ve never been alone, you know that, Mac. Even back in the day…” Jake halted and ran his hands ov

er his chin. “Back then, you knew that you could count on us, right?”

Mackenzie tried to smile, but he knew it was lame-ass attempt and gave up. “Sure,” he answered. “I knew.”

He watched Jake slowly walk up the dock and settled back in the chair, cold and wet and uncaring.

Sure, he knew that he could count on his buddies, but the problem was, at the end of the day, they all went home to houses that were free of violence and hatred.

And Mac? Well, Mac wasn’t so sure he’d ever really left that place.

He wasn’t so sure that he ever would.

Chapter 29

He must have fallen asleep because when Mackenzie opened his eyes, the sun was shining and the smell of fresh-brewed coffee filled his nostrils.

“Sorry, hon. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Mac stretched, wincing as muscles cramped and protested. He shoved his Detroit Tigers cap back and looked up into the gentle eyes of Marnie Edwards.

“I figured you could use a cup.”

He took the mug and moved over a bit when she settled into the chair her son had vacated a few hours earlier. Wrapped in a large, purple blanket, with slippers on her feet and her hair pulled back in a clip, she looked…safe. And nice. And caring.

Everything that a mother should be.

“It’s going to rain today,” she murmured, eyes on the horizon. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

“I know,” Mackenzie said. “I can feel it.”

She took a sip of coffee. “That’s good. Rain is good. It changes things. Cleans things.”

Mackenzie wasn’t sure where she was headed so he remained silent, and the two of them slowly sipped their coffee and watched the lake slowly come alive. They were getting into the dog days of summer; Labor Day was less than a week away, and pretty soon the vacationers would leave and both the lake and the town would go into hibernation.

He used to love this time of the year. A time when he and the rest of the Bad Boys would reclaim their lake.

God, he used to love a lot of things.

“I know you’re having a hard time right now, Mackenzie. And I know you’ve got some big decisions to make. But what you do right now will determine the fate of three people. Yourself, Lily, and this unborn child.”

Mac’s mouth tightened—obviously Jake had told her everything—but he remained silent. He wasn’t in the mood to discuss his personal life with Jake’s mom, but he knew the woman well enough to know that if she wanted to discuss this stuff, then they were going to discuss this stuff.

“Lily is a strong woman,” Marnie said softly. “And if you abandon her, she’ll be fine. She might not be happy, but she’ll be fine.”

Abandon? Suddenly angry, he turned to Marnie. “I’m not abandoning her.” He wasn’t. Abandoning inferred that he didn’t care, and he cared. Hell, he cared a lot. It was because he cared for her…because he loved her that he was letting her go.