Love Her Right (2 page)

“Traitor!” Jase yelled and Jolie stuck her tongue out at him just as Mac was setting her back on her feet.

“Sorry, I got you wet with sweat.” He smiled down at her.

She loved how much taller he was than her. How much bigger. Laying down, he could cover her like a blanket of perfection. She bet she would be comfortable laying on top of him. It would be the best sleep she would ever have.

Jolie smiled back. “No worries. I’ll get you a towel.”

“Yeah, Jelly, get us all towels,” Jake said passing by them, his arm around his girlfriend’s waist.

James pulled at her pony tail. “Make mine warm and dump. Get me some lemonade too.”

“I’m not your maid, and it’s
my
birthday dick head!” she yelled at him, stomping her foot.

James turned and glared at her and she glared right back. Jase came to her side then and dropped his sweaty arm over her shoulder. “Yeah, James. It’s her birthday and she’s not your maid. Get your own dump towel and lemonade.”

This was why she loved her twin so much. He always had her back when she was up against their elder siblings.

Jake stopped at the door and yelled, “James, leave her alone. Jelly, it’s your birthday, so you do whatever you want.”

“Thanks, Jake,” she yelled back. “Let’s go in, I’ll get you those towels
and
lemonade.” She added staring pointedly at James.

He rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Jelly.”

“Push over.” Jase bumped her and walked away.

“No, you’re not. You’re just thoughtful,” Mac countered.

But five minutes later, arms full of dirty towels she was thinking over how thoughtful she would be from now on. She was dumping the icky rags in the washing machine when she noticed she wasn’t alone in the laundry room. Mac had joined her and the door was closed.

“Hey, Mac. Do you need anything?”

As nervous and giddy as she was, she decided to play it cool. Be mature. So when he grabbed her, pressed her against the wall and kissed her she was way past surprised, but it didn’t stop her from responding with the same passion, even though it was her first kiss. She tried to concentrate and make it perfect when he suddenly stopped kissing her.

“Jolie?” He breathed against her lips, his hands cupping her butt cheeks and molding them in his hands. It made her tingle inside.

“Yes, Mac?” Her voice was breathy and thick. She was completely dazed as she stared into his chocolate colored eyes.

His lips broke into a smile, showing the contrast she loved so much of his dark skin against his white teeth. “This isn’t a math quiz. Stop thinking and just feel.”

And then he kissed her again, and this time she did as he asked. Her mind went completely blank and she soaked in every sensation his body emitted in waves, until she felt her lower stomach grow so heavy it created a void in the rest of her. She felt an urge equal to a hunger pang but she wasn’t sure what it was, all she knew was that Mac was the only one who could end it. As soon as she got her leg wrapped around his waist, he’d broken away cursing. Jolie remained leaning against the wall, silently celebrating this new turn of events. He loved her and she was going to be Mrs. Mackenzie Masters before he shipped out because she would be too curious about that hunger pang to wait from him to come back from his first tour.

“Shit! This is bad, fucking hell!”

Jolie was confused by his continuous cursing and punching at the wall. What went wrong in the few seconds since the kiss ended? She moved to him and as soon as she placed her hand on his arm, he pulled away from her. Her heart sank at his rejection.

“Mac, what’s wrong?”

He shook his head, pacing. “I shouldn’t have done that. Hell, Jake is going to kill me! I shouldn’t have done that!”

“Done what? Kissed me?” she whispered.

“I shouldn’t have touched you or kissed you, but God, I’ve wanted to do that since you grew boobs and stopped being my best friend’s little sister who had a crush on me and became the sexiest girl I’ve ever seen. I tried to stay away from you, but...did you have to wear those jeans! And that top, they leave nothing to the imagination, damn it!” he yelled, making her jump.

Jolie was both annoyed and shocked. So he’d noticed her? But why did he sound like he wished he hadn’t? “Mac, I don’t understand what the problem is.”

He laughed, but there was no amusement in it. “Of course you don’t, why would you? It’s not like what I did was illegal, oh no. You’re just a kid and I’m an adult mauling you. Nothing wrong with that at all!” He was livid, fuming mad even his milk coffee complexion was flushed a pale pink.

“I’m not a kid. I’m eighteen years old!”

He snorted. “How many hours have you been eighteen? Two? Three...” He suddenly stopped pacing and turned on her, eyes narrowed. “Weren’t you born an hour to midnight?” He tossed his hands up. “Just great! She’s still seventeen!”

“Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous.” But he went on as if he didn’t hear her.

“That was your first kiss wasn’t it? You’re still a virgin, right? I’m not even sure what I feel more, disgust or relief. I need to get out of here before I do something really stupid...like fuck you on top of the washing machine because that’s what I’ve been thinking about since you walked in here. I’m so depraved!”

And with that he took off, literally ran away. Jolie stayed down there for a few minutes wondering how to take that little scene. Some of his words hurt, but it only reinforced her suspicion of his love for her. So what if she was younger than him? Her parents had a six year age difference, two more than Mac and she.

She would reason with him later, when he was calm. It was a good thing he lived across the street. She joined the rest of the party, which ended when she officially turned eighteen, an hour to midnight. That should make Mac feel better.

He wasn’t home the next day or the day after that. He’d run from her, but Jolie was patient. She would wait him out. She spent those two nights dreaming of her wedding, of a marriage, a home with three beautiful kids, two boys and one girl and of course a dog. She was so engrossed by her dreams even in her waking hours that she didn’t notice the squad car parked across the street that morning. She’d only noticed something was wrong when she went down to breakfast and her brothers and father weren’t there. Her mother was crying by the sink and she quickly tried to cover when she notice Jolie was in the room.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” She hoped that her father hadn’t been a douchebag to her again, but even at those times, she never cried so openly, she usually suddenly had an errand to do; run to the store for something they needed only to come back with nothing, but red eyes, wet eyelashes and tear stained cheeks. It had been like that for as long as Jolie could remember.

She moved to stand by her mother, taking her hands in hers. “Mom, please tell me what’s wrong!”

She sniffed, more tears escaping. “It’s the Masters... Mac’s parents died in a car crush last night.”

Her stomach dropped and for a moment she was sure she was going to be sick, so she covered her mouth with her hand. Pain, shock, sadness and every melancholy emotion passed through her at that moment and then she was hit with something else and she headed for the door. Her mother caught up with her, stopping her right before she opened it.

“You can’t go there, Jolie. Your brothers and father are there already.”

Jolie tagged at her hand but her mother had a vicious grip around her wrist. “Mom! Let go! I have to get to Mac; he needs me. Mom!”

She shook her head. “Your father doesn’t want you there...and besides you’re still in your pajamas.”

Jolie violently pulled her hand free. “I don’t care about what he wants, and I don’t care about what I’m dressed in. Mac needs me and if it means giving up my laptop, my phone and my freedom for the next three months I’ll gladly give it up! Hell, if I have to walk out of here naked just to get to him, I’ll do it. I’m not going to leave Mac alone at a time he needs me the most!” She breathed hard from the exertion her little speech had caused.

Her mother’s gaze softened. “You really do love him?”

She would have blushed, but she didn’t have time for that. She needed to get to Mac. “Is that why Dad won’t let me go to him?”

She nodded. “Go back to your room, wait, and once they’ve all left the house again go to him,” she grabbed Jolie’s shoulders, “but this isn’t permission to do something stupid Jolie. Mac is vulnerable and raw right now and he’ll want comfort, a distraction from the pain and loss and if you let him, he’ll make you his distraction. Do you hear me? I don’t want your father blaming that on me too.”

She would have argued until her mother mentioned that last part. Jolie didn’t know why, but everything she did wrong, her mother got the brunt of the blame with a ‘deal with your daughter Ana!’ or a ‘my sons wouldn’t do something so stupid!’ That last one she’d overheard after a grounding for a dent in his car bumper after a driving lesson from Jake. The thing was, it was Jase who’d done it, but her father wasn’t interested in any explanation. He saw her stepping out from behind the wheel, inspected the car and immediately chastised her. Her ever so loving brothers said nothing to the contrary, but after a week of the silent treatment—she to Jake and Jase, and her father to her—Jase suddenly got a conscious, but it stopped mattering anymore. She’d long decided not to let her father’s disappointment in her gender get her down.

So Jolie went back to her room, waited for everyone to leave, but no one left which was surprising considering it was a Saturday. So she crept out of the house in the middle of the night and ran across the street to Mac’s house. She got the spare key from the flower pot and let herself in. She followed the crying right up to Mac’s room. He was sitting on his bed, a beer in his hand and several empty bottles at his feet. He was drunk and in so much pain. She sat beside him, wrapped her arms around him and cried with him. It was a while before they were both cried out and lying on their backs.

She started to doze off when he whispered in her ear, “Please, Jolie, I need you.”

He startled her, made her nervous and she was about to say no when she saw the pain in his eyes and instead did what her mother forbad her to. And that was the second thing that made that day memorable. Their coupling had been wonderful, perfect and so raw with emotion. They made love so many times throughout the night she wasn’t sure it was normal. She slept in his arms once fully sated, but he stayed up to wake her before dawn to go home. It felt like it had been just a few minutes before he woke her. He escorted her to her door and with a quick kiss, he turned around, his hands in his pockets and his back hunched and briskly went back to his house. She went into her house, walking slowly and carefully so that she didn’t wake anyone and because she was so sore between her legs. Even her boobs hurt. There was no part of her body that didn’t hurt and yet still spark with the memory of the best night of her life.

She just closed her door when her mother’s voice made her jump, turning around. She was seated on Jolie’s bed in her nightgown, her disappointment quite clear in the look she gave her.

“You let him do it, didn’t you?”

Jolie shook her head. “I didn’t let him do anything. What I did was make love to the man I love.”

“Does he love you?” she returned angrily.

She wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t going to let her mother know that. “Yes, he does. And no matter what you say, you are not going to make me feel dirty for giving myself to him.”

She sat there, staring at Jolie with a blank expression. “Did he love you enough to use protection?”

O
h shit!
That was one thing they had forgotten. She did want to be the mother of his children, but not yet. She still had a lot to get done in her life before she took that step.

Her mother shook her head and stood up. “There is a pill on your dresser, take it. On Monday, we’re going to get you birth control.” She walked forward and stopped in front of Jolie. Not sure what to expect from her mother, she readied herself for a tirade like she did with her father, or a slap, but none came. Instead she cupped Jolie’s face in her hands and kissed her forehead. “My little girl...I hope this decision doesn’t come to bite us both in the ass. Soak in a bath. It will help with the aches.” Then she was gone.

Jolie refused to let her mother’s dark cloud drown her happiness, but she did do everything she was told then settled in bed. She dreamed, more like remembered every detail of the night she became a woman and woke up to Mac’s voice. At first she thought it was a dream until she was pulled up into a sitting position and her eyes fluttered open. She was humiliated at the state she was in. She never wanted him to see her first thing in the morning, but the look on his face told her he’d barely registered how terrible she looked.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

His leather clad shoulders bounced as he pocketed his hands in his jacket, sitting down on her desk chair that was moved to her bedside. “Your mom came to see me this morning. Did you tell her about...about what we did?”

Jolie vehemently shook her head. “Of course not! She was here waiting for me and I—”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, cutting her off, “get dressed. Nothing fancy that will take more than five minutes. Hurry up,” he ordered and stood up so fast the chair was pushed back to the desk, then marched out of her room.

Jolie jumped out of bed and quickly changed into jeans, loafers and a sweat shirt. She brushed her teeth, tied her brunette hair in a knot and chased after him. She was scared; he looked so angry, so resigned and yet angry about his resignation. What the hell did her mother say to him? By the time she got downstairs, the door was wide open. She ran outside and he was sitting in his car, revving the engine impatiently with the passenger door wide open. He didn’t look in her direction. He just sat there in the driver seat revving the engine. Jolie got in, quickly closing the door and fastening the seat belt. She didn’t say a word, just watched his hands as they clenched over the steering wheel and the shifter. They just sat their quietly, her looking anxiously at him and him...staring blankly forward, the muscle in his jaw working overtime.