headed the direction I thought it had come from, my eyes focused straight ahead in front of me. A hand reached out and grabbed my calf, and I almost screamed with the contact. Mac was sitting on the ground, between two cars. My heart pounded against my chest.
“Mac,” I breathed out and immediately sat down. I thought I might fall to the ground anyway; he’d scared me so bad.
“You were looking for me?” He sounded so wounded, so caught up in whatever was going on in his head that he couldn’t comprehend the idea.
“I thought about letting you leave. That maybe you needed space to work out whatever was going on in there.” I leaned forward and gently tapped his forehead with my finger. “But I couldn’t stand it.”
His eyes pulled together. “Couldn’t stand what?”
“Leaving you alone.” There were other things I couldn’t handle as well, like the thought of him feeling depressed or thinking that he was alone. “I didn’t want you to think that I didn’t care.”
“I know you care, Sunny. You care too much,” he said.
I interrupted him before he could say anything else, “There’s no such thing.”
He let out a gruff laugh. “Yeah, there actually is.”
“Oh, really? Give me an example then,” I pushed.
For as much as Mac liked to run away when things got too heavy, he also had a tendency to open up as well.
His body shifted as he pushed himself to sit up straighter. “You.”
“Me? I’m your example?”
“Yeah. You give way too much of yourself without getting anything in return.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” I felt myself getting a little defensive. “Being selfless isn’t a negative quality.”
“It can be. If you let people walk all over you or take advantage of your kindness.”
Shaking my head, I disagreed. Maybe Mac saw me that way, but I didn’t. “But I don’t.”
“But you would.” He reached out and put his hand on my bent knee. “You would give everything to me even if I never opened up and gave you any more than I did last summer. You’d still turn the world upside down in order to help me.”
I started feeling more than a little uncomfortable. Mac was seeing me in ways I wasn’t sure I’d ever even seen myself before. But in this particular scenario, he wasn’t wrong.
“You’re right. I would. But it’s not like I’d do that for just anyone. I don’t walk around, lighting myself on fire to keep everyone else warm.”
“Exactly,” he said, sounding satisfied as he pulled his hand away, and I was confused until he continued, “You care too much for me, and I haven’t done a damn thing to deserve it.”
Clearing my throat, I fought back, “Well, that’s your perspective, and you don’t get to decide.”
“Decide what?”
“Who I care for and how.” I was being stubborn. Arguing just for the sake of doing it.
“No, I guess not,” he agreed, and it surprised me. “I’m just saying, be careful who you go to bat for. Make sure they’re not only worth it, but that they’d also do the same thing for you.”
“You’re so frustrating,” I groaned before pushing myself up from the dirty street and brushing myself off. Pacing in small steps, I ground my teeth together as I searched for just the right words. Halting to a stop, I turned to face him. “Get up,” I demanded.
His mouth turned into a sexy little grin, and I snarled in return as he did what I’d asked, his body suddenly towering over mine. “I’m up.”
Poking a finger against his chest, I started in on him, “You care about me too. Whether you want to admit it or not, you do. You wouldn’t be here tonight if you didn’t.” I poked at him again. “And another thing”—poke—“you’re not the only person on this planet with issues, okay?” Poke. “I get it, Mac. For whatever reason, you don’t think you’re good enough. For me”—poke—“or for baseball.” Poke.
His body adjusted quickly away from my stabby finger. “Stop poking me. Damn, that shit hurts.”
“Come back inside. Don’t leave. Not like this. It’s stupid.” I expected him to disagree immediately, so when he didn’t, I kept explaining, “We don’t have to talk anymore. But we can if you want. We can watch Christmas movies. Or you can give me a hand massage,” I suggested while shaking out my fingers.
“Christmas movies? Now?”
“It’s scientifically proven that all things Christmas bring joy, no matter the time of year. The lights and magic give people hope, and