Too Close for Comfort

Summer: Day 9

Summer: Day 9

Mack's POV:

I stir a little in my sleep before I realize that I'm not going anywhere any time soon. I'm laying on my stomach with Zachariah on top of me, crushing his chest against my back. My cheeks flush at the intimate position, but I oblige to it so he can sleep more. I let myself slowly inhale his intoxicating scent, a smell I've gotten particularly familiar with far too fast.

I fall deeper into the pillow before someone busts through the door, announcing, "Hey, I'm going to work—" And then the voice pauses, his face visibly dropping through the sleep in my eyes. "Okay, what the cheesecake?"

Oh no.

I rub my eyes and attempt to sit up, but Zachariah pulls me back down. "Stay," he mumbles.

"Mackenzie," Kylar says, looking upset, uneasy, betrayed, all while displaying anger through his voice.

"Kylar," I say, frowning at my best friend. "It's not what it looks like."

"Sure it isn't," he scoffs, flattening out the pink shirt he's wearing with his hands.

"I needed someone last night." Zachariah starts to wake up and I smile at his groggy head. "But you decided to be a jerk and tell me things to make me cry yesterday, so I didn't go to you."

He looks at me with regret and shakes his head at himself in disappointment. "I want to be there for you when that kinda stuff happens."

Zachariah was fully awake now, sitting up in bed with the blanket falling loosely at his hips, his bare chest exposed to the air. "But you weren't there," he says, glaring at him. Geez, Zach sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed. "And how did you get in here? The door was locked."

"This doesn't involve you," Kylar hisses, sending a dirty look to his brother.

"I think it does," Zachariah replies, looking at me with soft eyes. "But this doesn't involve you because it isn't any of your business." He keeps his voice low, yet firm, knowing how much I hate the sound of arguing.

"Like hell it isn't," Kylar says, walking towards us on the bed. "Mackenzie is my best friend, I was here first, you can't try to take her from me."

"I'm not in any way interfering with what you guys have," he explains, continuing to glance at me. "You keep digging yourself a deeper hole, Ky. You might not want to accept it, but Mackenzie trusts me—apparently enough to call me when she's crying. When she has nowhere else to go."

"Everything was going okay until you decided to ruin everything," Kylar responds, gritting his teeth towards his brother and frowning at me. "Mackenzie was mine first, and you just took her."

I find this is my opportunity to close the court case that had opened up in the room. "He didn't take me away from you, Ky. I made a choice to call him yesterday, so don't put this on him. You did this to yourself. Everything was okay until your anger issues and hatred towards your brother got the best of you—when you made me cry. Sure, he retaliates the conversation," I say, giving Zachariah a hard stare. "And I know there's a lot of bad blood between you guys, but I just—I wish you both could see past your differences and enjoy the summer."

"Well, we're already a week in and you thought it was funny to sleep with him," Kylar observes, scratching his chin. "Twice."

I take a deep breath. "Are all my clothes still on?"

"Well, yes."

"See, he's fully clothed too. Well, kind of." I wave my hand in the air, gesturing towards the model next to me who smirks when my eyes stare at his abs a second too long. "What I'm getting at is, I think it's legal to sleep in the same bed as Zachariah if it makes me feel better. Especially when I'm crying and vulnerable. And as my best friend, I'm sure you'd support my mental health over suffering in a hellhole."