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“Hey, Mace.” Cici walks around the corner and tugs me into a hug.
When Cord and I first started dating, Cici and I thought it was the best thing in the world. We got to see each other all the time and we dreamed of what it would be like if Cord and I got married in the future.
Most guys would get annoyed having to share their girlfriend with their sister, but Cord loves Cici so much. He didn’t care one bit. Sometimes he would just lay on Cici’s bed and enjoy being with us. He didn’t complain when we’d force him to go to the mall with us, or make him listen to us complain about the girls at school. He was a good sport for all of it.
“Hey!” I hug her back tightly and breathe out a sigh of relief.
I don’t know how I didn’t lose Cici as a friend when Cord and I broke up, but I'm so happy I still have her in my life.
“Dinner’s almost ready. I just need to make a salad and take everything out of the oven.” Carrie smiles at me.
I swear she might be the greatest mom in the world. Actually, she and Owen are the greatest parents. They care so much about their kids and would do almost anything to make them happy. Cici and Cord are lucky to have them, but they know it. They’ve never taken their parents for granted.
“Alright, Cord, I have a new toy to show you.” Owen grins from ear to ear and slaps a hand on Cord’s back, quickly steering him away from the rest of us.
They’re murmuring something back and forth to each other and look like they’re up to no good, but I don’t know what they’re discussing.
“Cici, can you go with them and make sure they don’t kill themselves?” Carrie rolls her eyes.
“Yeah. Though I don’t know why it’s always my job to keep them alive,” Cici groans and disappears down the hallway to find the boys.
“Do you want me to go after them?”
“Absolutely not.” Carrie shakes her head and skillfully leads me towards the kitchen.
“Why not?” I frown up at her, making her chuckle.
“Because I know you all too well, sweetheart. You’d encourage Owen to do something stupid and if he didn’t, you’d tell him he was being a pussy. Then to prove you wrong, he’d do it.” She pats the stool at the island, silently telling me to take a seat. “It’s safer for everyone if you’re in the kitchen with me.”
“Why do I feel like there’s an ulterior motive here?” I watch her carefully. I’ve spent a lot of time around the Powell family and I know when Carrie’s being sneaky.
“Because there is.” She gathers an arm full of vegetables out of the fridge and dumps them on the island. After she’s washed them and she begins cutting them into smaller pieces, she glances back at me. “I want to know what’s going on with you and my son.”
Her tone leaves no room for arguing, but she’s somehow still loving and caring. I know at the end of the day, she doesn’t just care about Cord. She cares about me too.
“Well, we were fake dating so the guys on the team would leave me alone.” I snatch a slice of zucchini off the cutting board and pop it into my mouth.
“Yeah, I heard about that. Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to work though.” She keeps her attention on her hands. I'm not sure if she’s doing it so she doesn’t cut herself, or if it’s so I’m more likely to open up to her.
“Nope! It definitely won't work…” I trail off, unsure of how much I want to tell her.
“Keep talking, sweetheart.” She arches a brow, never taking her eyes off of the thin slices she’s putting into the fresh vegetables.
“It’s all Charlie’s fault. She started asking me a bunch of questions I didn’t want to answer, but in true Charlie fashion, she sucker punched me and made me face my demons.”
“And what are your demons?”
“Man, sometimes I forget what a nosey mama you are.” I chuckle when she lifts her gaze to glare at me. “She told me I had to either give Cord another chance, or let him go for good. She said if I let him go, I had to be willing to watch him find his happily ever after with another woman. I wouldn’t be able to handle that.”
“No, I don’t think you would,” she says softly. “So, then what happened?”
“Well, Cord glanced into the stands during practice and mouthed ‘what’s wrong’. Even from that far away, he could tell something was bothering me.”
“That boy has been obsessed with you since the two of you met. He can read you like a book, Macy. I have no doubt he knows what you’re thinking most of the time without you even opening your mouth.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I kinda kissed him. And he asked me to give him one month of real dating. He wants to prove we belong together and if at the end of the month I don’t want to date him, he says he’ll walk away for good.”
“Wow.” She freezes and stares at me in shock.
