“Fuck, that’s a lot to take in.” Mack looks down at his palms like he’s trying to read them. If I trace his love line, will I be there? Or is my place always going to be in his past?
“I know. Just so you know, when Joel passed, I did start looking you up again to tell you. I was tracking down old high school friends to see if they knew what happened to you. Then I was watching the eleven o’clock news one night and I saw the footage of you over there. It was crazy. I’d been trying so hard to track you down and then, there you were on my television.” I remember how I sobbed uncontrollably as I watched Mack covered in blood. The news had pixelated the lower half of his leg missing, but it was clear as day what had happened to him.
“Shit. You saw that, huh?” He looks over at me and moves closer to me, gently placing his large hand on my foot.
“Everyone in America saw that, Mack. The president saw it. So, yeah, I saw it too. It just felt like, since I knew what you were going to be up against with rehab and everything, like it was a sign to leave it alone. You were going to have enough on your plate, you know? It didn’t feel like a good time to fire off an e-mail about Chris, that’s for damned sure.” I place my hand on top of his and the warmth of his skin soothes me.
“I can see that. That makes sense.” He looks over at me, into me. “Does he know?”
“That you’re his father? No. He doesn’t. Chris knows that Joel wasn’t his biological Dad, and that he was adopted. I mean the kid is smart, he figured it out the same way you did.” I sweep my hand out toward the photographs. “I’ve never told him who his real father is though.”
Silence grows between us and fills the air like a scream. A scream would be better actually. My skin begins to prickle as I wait for Mack to say something. Anything. Does he hate me? Does he want to be in our lives?
“I’m sorry,” Mack’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
“What? Why are you sorry?”
“I’m sorry that I never looked back. I was young too, I was hurt that you wouldn’t even try to stay together when I left, so I tried to erase you from my memory. I didn’t realize that it was impossible, you were more than a memory. You were etched on my soul. When I lost my leg, and … my men …” his voice wavers as his emotions battle on his face. He clears his throat and his eyes focus back on mine, “You were there.”
“You mean you thought of me?” I try to make sense of his words.
“No, you were there. I could see you. Smell you. Taste you. I felt your hand on mine. I knew that if I died then, it would be with a heart full of regret for ever letting you leave. I knew I could never die happy until I found you again.”
Tears prick the corners of my eyes and the rock in my throat feels even heavier as I struggle not to cry. “I never thought I’d see you again,” I confess. “I already felt like a piece of me had died the day you went to West Point.”
He scoots over on the couch and puts his arm around me, I lie my head against his chest and let his heartbeat sing me a lullaby. “Were back together now,” he soothes me, running his hand over my hair. “All three of us. We’re gonna make this work. Ok?” He grabs my shoulders and holds me inches from his face. I’m lost in his eyes, transfixed by them.
“Yes.”
28
Mack
2014
“Hey, sexy.” I sneak up behind Lauren and wrap my arms around her, pulling her plump ass back against my cock. I watched her come into the building this morning, her hair perfectly in place and her uniform trim and pressed. Miles away from the naked wild cat I was gagging with my cock only hours before.
“Mack, you can’t sneak up on me like this,” she pushes my hands down from her hips and twists around. Her lips are pressed into a solid line and she’s got her cute little nose scrunched up at me.
“Aww, c’mon, you don’t want to have a quickie in the supply closet? Where’s that naughty girl I was flipping around all weekend, huh?” I pull her tight against me and I can see her pulse quicken in her neck. I let my hands slide down over her perfect ass and cup it, pulling her against my stiffening cock. Maybe she just needs a little inspiration.
Lauren quickly looks over my shoulder toward the closet door, she doesn’t need to worry though, I closed it behind me.
“A quickie? Are you crazy? This is where I work, Mack. It’s bad enough that you spent the weekend at my house,” she presses her hands firmly against my chest and steps back, “you’re gonna get me fired.”