I Have Lived and I Have Loved - Willow Winters Page 0,78

now.”

“Bet he hasn’t seen you yet.” I flashed her a grin and hollered, “Kirk! Up here.”

“Mackenzie!” she hissed under her breath.

Too late.

Kirk lifted his head, saw us, and a broad smile lit up his face. His arm dropped from Erin’s shoulders. She shot me a scathing look as Kirk left her side and came darting up the bleachers to where we sat.

He dropped down next to Cora, straddling the bench like she was. She could’ve leaned back into him, and he eyed her backside like that was what he wanted.

“I didn’t see you guys up here,” he drawled. “What are you doing?”

Cora stiffened, pointing to me. “She’s waiting for Rya—”

“I’m talking to you. I know what Malcolm’s doing here.” His eyes were steady on her.

I saw her blush; it traveled up her neck to her cheeks.

“I’m talking to Mackenzie,” she said quietly.

“Interested in going somewhere and talking to me?”

Cora’s eyes were glued to mine, and they widened. I watched as she sucked in her breath.

“What?” It came out as a strangled squeak.

Kirk snorted, moving up behind her so there was no point in her not leaning against him. If she didn’t want to be touching him, she would have to move forward. She didn’t.

He ducked his head so his lips could find her shoulder. “You heard me.”

Another strangled sound came from her. She still didn’t look at him, but she wasn’t moving.

Kirk’s eyes flicked up to mine in confusion.

The buzzer sounded, ending the scrimmage game. I nodded to Ryan, who was walking over to his bench. “I’ll be taking off with him in a minute,” I told them. “Go. Hang out. Have fun.”

Kirk’s grin widened. “Yeah. What she said. Let’s hang out and have fun.”

Cora was so stiff that when she nodded, it came out looking like a robot. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s hang out.”

“Great.” Kirk was up on his feet, pulling her with him. “Tell your boy I’ll call him later,” he told me. He tugged Cora behind him, though she couldn’t seem to stop looking at me. Her mouth hung open.

I waved at her, and when Kirk turned around, I gave her two thumbs-up instead. Have fun, I mouthed.

She flipped me the bird, but she was grinning.

I chuckled to myself.

The bleachers moved underneath me, and I looked up again. Ryan was loping up the seats, but he stopped and turned in the direction Kirk and Cora had disappeared.

“Did I see what I think I saw?” he asked.

“You think he’ll hurt her?”

He looked at me, his eyebrows shooting up. “They leaving to mess around or something?”

I frowned. Was he clueless? “They’re holding hands.”

“Kirk holds hands with every girl.” He thought about that and growled, “Except you. He better never touch you.”

That made me feel good. “If she likes him, you think that’s a bad thing?”

He sat next to me, straddling so one knee was touching mine and his other knee was behind me. He was sweaty and smelly, but neither mattered. I felt myself calming, just having him this close, and I was startled to realize I hadn’t even known I wasn’t calm until he touched me.

I relaxed into him, and he pulled me close. “I don’t know. Kirk always had a thing for Cora growing up.”

“He did? When did that stop?”

He didn’t answer right away, and I turned to look at him more fully. He was suppressing a grin.

“When she started liking me.”

I swatted his knee. “And you pretended to play dumb, didn’t you?”

He shrugged, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “I never liked Cora like that, but she never said anything. I would have been an asshole if I’d told her straight up not to like me.”

“There were little ways you could’ve set her straight.”

“I did. I dated other girls. I emphasized that she and I were friends, but that’s all over.” He hugged me close. His chin rested on my shoulder, and I felt his voice through his chest to me as he spoke, “Who knows? Maybe that’ll be a good thing. I think Kirk actually does like her.”

I was starting not to care, being in his arms.

“Ryan!”

And I was back to caring.

I looked down. Erin was waving at us—at him—wildly enough that her shirt rode up, showing off her midriff. I felt a growl forming, and Ryan bit back a laugh.

He nipped my shoulder. “Easy now.”

“Right.” I locked eyes with him. “Imagine me saying that to you about Wachowitz two hours ago.”

He winced. “Sorry.” Lifting his head, he called out, “What, Erin?”

She stiffened. That hadn’t been