Just Say The Word

Chapter 27

"No, stop. I just cheated on Liam with you..again. I haven't made my decision yet, Lance. I'm leading you both on and I don't want to hurt you again. I'm tired of being the bad guy but I have no one to blame but myself."

He looked like he wanted to say more, to relieve some of the blame from me, but I gave him a look that silenced him. "I'll be here when you decide."

I nodded before hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Lancy."

He wrapped me up in his arms again. "Anything for you, Mack."

Macey's P.O.V.

I was walking Riley's little brother back to my car after a visit to his cousin's house and I was pissed. This was supposed to be Riley's job, His mom asked him to do it, but of course, he had to disobey everything she said so he sent me instead. I know I shouldn't be complaining because at least he's talking to me after the whole love triangle fiasco, but I know it wont last long; it never does.

"Macey, can we go to the playground?"

I shook my head before looking down at Bryce. "No, Bry. We can't go to the playground because i have to get you home before your brother freaks out and thinks I've finally gone cannibal and ate you up."

The seven-year-old made a face. "Why is he always mad at you if you're his girlfriend?"

I smiled slightly. "I'm not his girlfriend, Bry. We're just friends."

His face crinkled up a bit. "Then why does he buy you gifts?"

What? "He buys me gifts?"

Bryce nodded. "Yeah. He keeps them in a box in his room."

Wait, was Riley buying another girl gifts? That bastard! "How do you know they're mine?"

"Because it says Macey on it," he said matter-of-factly.

I pondered this as I unlocked my car door. Was Riley really buying me gifts, writing me love poems, and all that other corny shit? I wouldn't put it past him. He's sweet. Even though he's a complete ass and a tough jerk, he always had a soft side. I guess that's what attracted me to him in the first place. The tough sweet guy from across the street. I smiled to myself before opening the door.

"Okay chump, in you go." I turned around to find that Bryce wasn't where he was supposed to be. "Bryce! Bryce!" Oh GOD. I spun around in a full circle before something told me to look towards the playground. Sure enough, Bryce was already across the street and climbing the small hill that would take him over to the Tot Lot. "Damn you, you twin devil," I growled before taking off across the street.

Luckily for me, I caught up with him before he could descend the hill. Of course, that included tackling him to the ground, but once again, I got lucky.

"No, stop. I just cheated on Liam with you..again. I haven't made my decision yet, Lance. I'm leading you both on and I don't want to hurt you again. I'm tired of being the bad guy but I have no one to blame but myself."

Unluckily for that nerd Mackenzie, I witnessed her little affair.

"Come on, Bryce. Lets get you back home." I stood up and dusted myself off before tugging Bryce up by his arm.

When I dropped Bryce off at home, Danny opened the door.

"Hey, Danny," I greeted him.

He blushed a bit. "Uh, hi Macey."

Danny was adorable with dimples and brown hair. It was no secret that he'd had a crush on me since he started liking girls in the fifth grade. I smiled at him. "Is Riley here?"

"Ah..no."

Plan equals officialy in action. I took a step closer to Danny. "Well where is he?"

His cheeks reddened at my close proximity. "He uh..went out with Liam a few..minutes ago."

I smiled flirtily at him. "That's actually a good thing, Danny."

He was staring at my boobs. Gosh they start young.

"Eyes up here, babe."

His eyes shot up to mine as he turned a brighter shade of red.

"Can I come in?"

He looked uneasy. "Riley won't like that," he droned out.

I inwardly rolled my eyes. "Good thing he's not here then, huh?" As I said this, I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Er..y-yeah." His voice went kind of high.

I sent him an award-winning smile. "Great." Then I pushed past him and into the house.

I always liked Riley's house. It was homey. It felt lived in unlike my own. Although it was  kind of cramped with the six of them living there, it felt like that's how it was supposed to be. My house was a tad bit bigger than his but only me and my dad lived there and he was at work most of the time so my house didn't feel like a home. I ventured up the stairs and passed the twins' room to get to Riley's room. The inside was plain enough. The walls were a pale blue, the carpet a stormy gray. He had a twin bed against the wall , a night stand next to it with a blue lamp on it, a dresser against the opposite wall as the bed, and a small closet. His sports trophies and plaques were up on display all over the room. All together the room was pretty tidy besides a few articles of clothing strewn across the floor, probably from picking out something to wear today.

If I were Riley, where would I hide a secret box full of gifts? Obviously not in the open. Maybe under the bed..? No. The twins intrude his room; they'd find it. In my underwear drawer? Ew, no. I would never want a gift that had been anywhere near his underwear, clean or not and he knows that so obviously not there. Lets see.. Some place the twins can't reach and I wouldn't find completely disgusting, yet not in plain sight.

My eyes wandered over to the closet. Bingo. I stood on my tiptoes to reach the top shelf in his closet. Sure enough, my hands touched a box. I pulled it down. It was just a shoe box with the name Macey neatly written across it. Did I really want to open it? I decided yes.

Inside the box were three things. The first was the plastic ring he got for me from a machine the night before we had sex for the first time. I had told him he needed to put a ring on it before he could get any. He bought that and I cussed him out for it not being real. But I still slept with him. The second was a charm bracelet. On it were five charms: a purse (I'm guessing to signify my shopping addiction), a baby (probably to represent my "pedophilia"), a football (for his favorite sport, I presume), an R, and a half heart. I was almost teary-eyed. Almost. The third was a letter dated back a few weeks ago. In it, he proclaimed his love for me and expressed how much he hated that I was with Kace instead of him. He told how much it hurt him and strangely enough, that hurt me.

Silently, I returned everything to back the way it was before I entered the room and headed down to the living room where Danny sat watching t.v.. "Hey Danny?"

He looked up at me.

"I was never here."