Fearing The Worst

Mackenzie sits on the couch, thumb flicking her screen, when Carter slips in through the door. Her shoulders drop like she's finally home. Mackenzie looks up and grins. “Hey, babe.” She pops to her feet and their mouths meet, soft at first, then hungrier. Mackenzie pulls back just enough to ask how college went. Carter sighs, says it dragged and there's still more to do tonight. She has to run over to another student’s place to finish a project. Mackenzie’s face slips. Her fingers trail Carter’s forearms, touching more than soothing. She tries for light when she asks who’s on the project. Janet, Carter says. Mackenzie knows the name, says she hasn’t seen her in ages. Quietly she adds she was hoping they’d spend tonight together, just the two of them. Carter’s days are crammed lately. Carter looks stuck between two currents and offers a thin apology. Mackenzie goes blunt then: it feels like she’s being pushed aside. Carter promises she’s not, insists more free time is coming soon. Carter leaves, and Mackenzie phones Janet right away. When Janet answers, confused, Mackenzie's stomach flips. Janet isn't expecting any help and never said Carter should come over. Mackenzie mutters something about a misunderstanding and hangs up, gut heavy, the fear she’s been biting back now thick in her mouth. Hours later Carter walks in wearing a cheap pizza-delivery shirt. She explains the job—she's been saving for an engagement ring. She wants Mackenzie forever, nobody else. The words hit fast and hard. Mackenzie snatches Carter's hands, eyes bright, says yes before any ring appears. She doesn’t care how flashy it is. A gumball-machine ring will do, she jokes. Carter teases her for quarters in her pocket, they laugh, and the sound steams away the leftover tension. They’re still smiling when Carter presses Mackenzie into the mattress, tugging her shirt up. Her tongue circles each stiff, pink nipple, draws a long moan out of Mackenzie’s throat, and the night finally feels like the one Mackenzie wanted all along.