Rock Prodigy

Chapter 18

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Chapter 18

“Is he here?” I asked when Mac opened the door to the house, letting me into the hallway crowded with people’s shoes and jackets.

“Yeah,” he replied gruffly. “I think he went upstairs.” I winced at the sound of Rihanna pumping over a powerful stereo system. Troy had somehow convinced us to come to a party that he knew about in celebration of getting a record deal and we’d agreed mostly because we were still on a high from landing the contract. As Rihanna switched to Kesha, I gritted my teeth, wishing that I’d used my brain for a second and hadn’t promised Troy that I would show up.

I sighed in defeat as I took off my shoes and moved past Mac, intent on finding Dan when Mac gripped my arm, making my eyes connect with his. “You should’ve told me it was him.”

“I was sort of hoping that it would never come up.” He scowled at me and I sighed, running a hand through my hair and turning to face him. I cleared my throat keeping my eyes locked on his. I couldn’t let myself get distracted by the black t-shirt he was wearing that was pulled tight across his chest and shoulders or the faded jeans that were clearly an older pair that fit him snugly in the right places. As it was, his messy hair was falling over his eyes and my hands itched to push it back for him.

“Rose?” Mac asked and I blinked realizing I’d been staring at him in silence.

I cleared my throat, glad that the hallway was a little dark because my cheeks were definitely red. “Sorry, I’m a little out of it.” No, I wasn’t. I was horribly distracted by his good looks that made my heart beat fast and my palms sweat. Oh god, focus, Rose. “Basically, I was hoping it would never come up because I was worried that you would freak out and I know the two of you are really close, Mac. I don’t want to be the reason for you to fight. Besides, he was just a kid.”

“So were you,” he said but his scowl had turned into a slight frown and there was no anger in the set of his shoulders.

“I know,” I said quietly, moving closer to him as a couple guys rushed past us, heading out the door. I leaned my shoulder against the wall as they fumbled around, looking for their shoes and Mac took up the same position, facing me. I moved slightly closer to him so I didn’t have to shout to be heard and something in his eyes flickered as he looked down at me. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was glad it happened, Mac. Today would’ve never happened if Dan hadn’t spray painted that building. I wouldn’t be standing here with you at this crappy party celebrating our record contract if I hadn’t been taken to reform school because of Dan’s mistake. I don’t blame him and I don’t want you to either.”

He smirked down at me, crossing his arms over his chest, still leaning against the wall. “You forgot the most important part.”

I frowned. “What?”

“You never would’ve met me,” he said quietly, leaning his face in closer to mine, until our noses nearly touched.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring my racing heart and pushed on his chest, straightening from the wall and stepping back. “You are so conceited,” I said and he just raised an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder. “I’m going to find, Dan now.” I spun on my heel and this time, Mac didn’t stop me which was probably a good thing because if he brought his face that close to mine again, I didn’t think I could stop myself from closing the distance and finding out what it was like to really kiss Mac Parker.