Chapter ten
"What?" she mumbled through the pillow that her face was pressed against, all she could feel was a warm hand on her left bum cheek. She had been sleeping over at Dick's house for the past three nights "Dick" she forced one eye open to look up at him, a focused look was poised on his face and he didn't even register her voice "Dick" she shoved him
"Huh?" he was pulled out of his haze
"Are you okay?" she asked lifting her head off the pillow slightly "You look pretty zoned out"
"Sorry" he smiled down at her, then realised where his hand was positioned and smiled wider "Was just thinking?"
"About what?" Mac let her head fall back onto the pillow and closed her eyes as keeping them open became more difficult
"Thongs" he answered quickly and her eyes popped back open
"As in?"
"The underwear"
"Fantasizing are we?" she laughed
"Nope! I don't understand them" he felt her watching him, feeling the confusion as she waited for him to fill the silence "I've been with a lot of girls, and I mean a lot – blondes, brunettes, red heads…."
"Move this story along," she mumbled again, forcing a smirk on Dick's face
"Alright, sorry" he laughed "Despite all the experience, I've never liked them – why in the world would a lady want to have a permanent wedgie"
"It astounds me how intellectual our pillow talk is" she rolled over
"Surely it would be cheaper to just not wear any underwear at all" she moved out of the bed and his hand fell onto the bare mattress "Where are you going?" he asked as his eyes followed her as she got up, threw on a t-shirt "You are still welcome to parade your thong collection for me"
"Shut up" she affectionately said as she turned around to face him "I'm going to get some water, you idiot," she laughed
"I still know how to turn you on," he said as she picked up a wayward pillow off the floor and threw it will full force at his face. From the way that she glided towards the steps it was clear that she was getting the layout of the house down, she headed down the stairs slowly in the dark – allowing for her hand to drape down the bannister – she was unaware of the reasons why but for the past couple of days there had been a seemingly permanent grin plastered across her face, maybe it had something to do with the fact that almost everything in her life at the current moment was peachy – business was picking up, she was surrounded constantly by people who she loved and who loved her back, Logan was back safe and sound from his deployment which not only lifted a cloud from her mind but meant that Veronica was incredibly happy and incredibly engaged, she was having glorious sex, her family had stopped having health scares and despite the fact that he wasn't at all impressed by her choice of sex partner, Mac had gone over for lunch to clear the air one afternoon and while he made it very clear that he stood by his arguments they had a grown up discussion about it being Mac's decision and that at the end of the day he would inevitably support her decisions – even if they were crazy, she felt more connected to her family than she had in a long time. She made her last step into the bottom level of Dick's beach house, while she anticipated that her next steps would be to the right and in the direction of the kitchen, a large object stopped her in her tracks, a large object that grabbed her arms, causing a loud survival instinct scream to come out of her, her father had always said that if she ran into a bear on one of their trips to the woods and they had made eye contact with it that she should scream – so that he could come and find her – and then to make all efforts to get away from it. This was a philosophy she lived by to this day, so within mere seconds of being captured by this unidentifiable object, Mac –realising that moving her arms was going to be a significant challenge – threw her foot down hard – knowing she hit her target when a large gasp of pain and a string of expletives came from her attackers mouth, she turned to run back up the stairs "Shit, Mac" she stopped in her tracks, recognising the voice
"Logan?" she questioned into the dark as thudding came from upstairs, clearly Dick wasn't taking his sweet time in springing into action
"Freeze scumbag," Dick said with a baseball bat in his hand, fulfilling all fantasies about being a cheesy detective in one of the crime shows that he and Logan binge watched together, Mac could hear him but couldn't quite place him in the dark
"180 days of active duty and not a scratch, a week in Neptune and I think I have a broken toe," he said as he searched for the light switch – soon finding it and illuminating the room
"It was Logan?" Dick turned to Mac and looked at her with a mixture of bemusement and confusion "You screamed like a banshee and it was just my roommate?" she swore that there was a hint of adoration behind those big blue eyes
"It was dark and I wasn't expecting him. I assumed that you," she turned her attention to Logan "Would be spending every minute with Veronica" a moment of horror overtook her
"She is at home," he responded as though he already knew what the panic was about, she felt bad that her instant reaction had been to determine that Veronica was no where near the beach house so that she didn't find out about her little tryst with Dick "It's a little weird being there when Keith is home – feels like high school all over again. It was fine when he was sleeping at Mrs Fennel's, but I'd much rather get a good night sleep here then be wide awake at Veronica's picturing Keith sharpening the knives. At least I thought it would be easier to get to sleep here" he eyed them both off as though he was a scolding parent who had told their child to go to sleep hours ago, however despite the instruction the child had kept making noise.
"Sorry man" Dick said with a smirk on his face that said in itself that he really wasn't sorry "Want to go for a surf in the morning?"
"Sure thing" Logan smiled as the two headed back up the stairs "Oh Mac" she turned to face him "Might be a good idea to wear pants now that I'm back" she could here the joke in his tone but took the moment to realise how ridiculous this picture would look to someone who left over 180 days ago when the interactions between Dick and Mac had been minimal and usually accompanied by an eye roll of some form – now she was standing on his stair case in nothing more than her underwear and a t-shirt that barely covered past her underwear, whilst Dick stood next to her in nothing but his black cotton briefs
"Don't even think about it" Dick said in response to Logan's comment as he linked hands with her and dragged her back up towards his bedroom as she tried to pull the t-shirt down to cover her more.
X-x-x-x-x-x
It had been a long time since Logan and Dick had been surfing, over 180 days, and there was no hiding Dick's excitement as he waited at the back door for Logan to wetsuit up. Logan had realistically been the only constant presence and support in his life for a long time and those 180 days without him had been hard. Now they sat paddling in the brisk water as the summer sun rose and created beautiful glaring patterns in the water that surrounded them, he had been back for a week now, so the two had caught up on all the events that had occurred for them separately in the time that they had been apart, however they were yet to discuss one of the most massive things to have happened in Neptune while Logan had been away – Dick and Mac. He had guessed that if Logan didn't ask then he would have more deniability when it came to Veronica and when she inevitably found out about this pairing – because he was well and truly keen for this to last longer than a summer and he would need nothing more than the confirmation from Mac to make it happen, her confession of growing feelings at her parents house had been a step in the right direction. However, now that Logan had come face to face with the pair – half naked and heading back towards his bedroom – it was clear that they were going to have to have this conversation.
"Tell me about Mac" Logan gritted, not because he didn't approve, he just didn't understand the logistics of it
"Yes we are having sex"
"Thank you captain obvious" he laughed, "Tell me how it happened?"
"Well you have Ronnie to blame for that one" Logan's ears perked up at her name – just as they always did – regardless of story content. "Apparently Mac was going through a bit of a dry spell, so your lady love signed her up to some dating site and we ended up on a half-blind date"
"What are YOU doing on a dating website?"
"Hello? A place with a vast body of women? I think the real question would be why didn't Dick Casablancas get on dating websites sooner" Logan laughed
"So is it serious?" Dick faced the beach and focused on the specks of people running across the beach, he had to force his head to not look over in the direction of his house – more accurately his bedroom window to see if she had turned the light on yet "I'll take that as a yes" he forgot that Logan could read him like a poorly written book
"Her dad hates me" he paddled "Not that I blame him, I'm hard to love" Logan was silent for a moment as though he was contemplating how to go about his next sentence "The correct response" Dick prompted "Is 'Dick you are a puppy, how could anyone not love you'" he joked
"Dick" Logan said as he turned to face him "You are a puppy, how could anyone not love you?" they both laughed "But seriously, I know you Dick and lets face it your reputation isn't exactly stellar, and don't take this the wrong way because I know how bad ass you really are, when you love something, there is nothing more precious in the world"
"Awe" Dick said after a moment to contemplate "You are such a marshmallow"
"If it makes you feel better, sometimes I still get the feeling that Keith resents me"
"Well you did drag his one and only daughter all the way back to Neptune and away from her spiffy career as a Lawyer in New York"
Logan glared at him "What? Are you working for him now?" Dick laughed and threw his hands up to feign surrender "It'll take years and years for you to realise that it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the fact that you are never going to be good enough for their little girls"
"Helpful advice"
"One of the only things you can do is stick it out and show him that you are in it for the long run and you will support her as long as she breathes. If you can do that, he'll never admit it but there will be some respect lying just below the surface and if not Sam Mackenzie and Keith Mars can start their own bowling league"
X-x-x-x-x-x
"Hey" she said as she threw the door to the apartment open – her face glowing – the summer sun was doing wonders for her skin and her attitude
"Hey gorgeous" he said pulling her towards him and kissing her with an intense passion, he pulled away from her and watched as she opened her eyes – the smile never leaving her face. "Are you alone?" she crinkles her nose
"Not exactly" she bites her bottom lip, anticipating his disappointment
"Hi" like clockwork his little head pops around the corner, a grin that mimics his sisters – little does he know that he recognises it from a different sister
"I thought you moved home," he said with a smile as Mac pulled him into the threshold of her apartment "I can deal with hanging out with your brother"
"What's going on?" another voice came from beyond the hallway that they stood in
"Cindy and Dick are making out in the hallway" Ryan answered matter of fact-ly as he walked back up the hallway towards the other voice
"Subtle" the other male voice pipped up
"Wallace is here as well," Mac said turning from the voices back to Dick "We are having a board games night"
"Do you want me to go?" they were sex friends so if she told him that she did want him to go he would understand that it wasn't a reflection of his performance but more a separation of the two worlds
"Stay" she said with a delicate smile as she shut the door behind him, he hadn't realised until the moment the words left her lips that he had been holding his breath.
X-x-x-x-x-x
"Are you a woman?" Mac asked perched behind the red "guess who" board at her kitchen table across from Dick behind the blue board
"Go fish" it had been funny the first three games but now he was maintaining the joke just to watch the look of exasperation cover her face – Ryan wasn't joking when he said that his sister had a mean competitive nature "Are you part of an 80's pop cover-band?" she gave him the most serious look that he had ever seen cross her face "What? Look at Basil and tell me that that doesn't fit his description perfectly" he bit back before taking a swig of his beer
"No" she said as he exaggeratedly put down the 'Basil' face tile to continue on with the game as Wallace and Ryan smirked from a safe distance "Do you have glasses?"
"Yes" she looked satisfied as she put down the tiles that didn't correlate with the description "Are you particularly sexy?"
"DICK" her exasperation had hit a new level
"What?" he feigned innocence
"Can you please take the game seriously?"
"It's 'Guess who' I'm taking it as seriously as you are supposed to take it" he smirked
"Be careful man, 'Guess who' was her favourite game when we were growing up"
"I think that if you really wanted to take the game seriously Cindy Mackenzie you would answer the question, Are you particularly sexy?" he stated the question slower
"It's a stupid question, it's subjective, and it needs to be a yes/no question"
"It's really simple Babe, I know your taste in men"
"Diseased?" Wallace added from the corner
"Just tell me if your picture takes your fancy like Jett McCleary does?" at that point Mac cracked and broke into hysterical bouts of laughter
"Is nothing sacred?" she turned to Wallace
"Jett McCleary as in the used car salesman?" a confused Ryan pipped up
"The one and only" Wallace said with a laugh
"You think he is hot?" Ryan asked his sister as all the boys turned their attention to her "he is older than dad"
"It was a brief lapse in judgement" she laughed "are you James?"
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT? You've got five options there and you pick the exact one that I have"
"What can I say? I can ALWAYS guess who, it's my superpower"
X-x-x-x-x-x
"Mac" he warningly spoke, not sure if she was asleep on his lap or just eerily quiet "Are you awake?"
"Yeah" she mumbled back and he knew that she was on the verge of not being "Tonight was fun"
"It seemed more like a date than a sex friend evening together" his line of questioning involved a lot of dancing around the subjects that he truly wanted to talk about because he was so scared that he was going to mess it up – the way that he usually did.
"Is that okay?" he could hear the hesitance in her voice
"Not really"
"Oh" she could hear the disappointment in her own tone "If you feel like this is the end of the summer, just let me know. I'll understand you really don't have to spare my feelings"
"No" he added quickly realising what his previous statement implied "It's just that I was hoping our first date would be a little more intimate and involve significantly less men – in fact it would just involve this one man" she turned around in his lap so that she was facing him, her eyes – finally opened – rested upon him as a smile crept up her rose tinted cheeks
"Technically" she smiled up at him "We've already had our first date" he quirked an eyebrow "When we met at the coffee shop"
"Does it count as a date if one of the participants runs like a chicken after five minutes?"
" I did not run like a chicken"
"Ah yes you did, don't even try to deny it" he said moving a wayward hair from her face
"Okay fine, I ran away like a chicken. But I did also make the first move"
"And I'm very glad you did" he gulped at his own admission "Can we try again?" she nodded – trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach and the voice in her head that sent up warning signals, spitting back at her that this was only supposed to be a summer fling.
X-x-x-x-x-x
Veronica walked into the small café, she looked around and upon realising that Mac hadn't arrived yet, headed towards an empty table and took a seat facing the door, rubbing her engagement ring against her top lip her eyes sparkled to match the ring – there was nothing that was more exciting or happiness eliciting than the fact that the love of her life was back in town and that – despite it's clichéd nature – she was going to spend the rest of her life with him. Right now she was happy in her Love bubble and nothing in the world could possibly burst it. A waitress bustled over to the table, a smile on her face as she made eye contact with Veronica and pulled out her pad
"Can I help you Ma'am?" a southern drawl left her lips
"Just waiting for a friend, but I'm happy to take some of that coffee off your hands" she beamed and then dimmed her enthusiasm, that response in the past would have caused a massive cringe on her behalf.
"That I can do for you" as the waitress craned her head to pour the coffee into Veronica's cup rather than her lap, Veronica became mesmerised with her face – or more accurately a certain facet of this ladies face – there was slight bruising around the peak of her nose and a distinct makeup line that Veronica assumed was covering up a scar
"Are you Pam?"
"Sure am," she said pointing to her nametag with her free hand – something that Veronica had clearly overlooked in her gleeful enthusiasm
"Can I ask you a random question?" she took a sip of her coffee to prepare herself
"Shoot"
"A couple of months back I set my friend up on a blind date, she met the guy here, I talked to Mandy and she said that you were working that table" she knew that Mac had tried to clear up any curiosities and was supposably "friends with benefitting" with some guy called Drew, but nothing quiet killed the Mars curios nature, especially Mac's reluctance to talk about anything related to the date from the moment that it happened.
"Lot's of blind dates and lots of tables served" she shrugged "Do you happen to have a photo of your friend?" Veronica pulled out her phone at the speed of lightening and pulled up the group photo that she had made the waiter take as he walked past "Oh yeah, those two"
"Those two?" Veronica pulled the phone back to herself to make sure that the photo hadn't accidently disappeared and brought up a new one "Oh, no. I don't mean these two" with the phone, pointed back at Pam, Veronica pointed to Mac with one finger and Wallace with the other "We do come in a lot, I just mean her"
"I don't mean him," she said pointing to Wallace again "I mean these two" she pointed towards Mac and Dick, Veronica started perplexed at the photo on her phone, was this Mac's secret? Had Dick been her mystery date?
To Be Continued