Chapter Text
1.
THURSDAY MORNING, LOS ANGELES… RILEY AND CO HAVE THE DAY OFF…
After spending most of her morning working out and exercising, Riley had felt a little fired up and somewhat in a good mood today as she leaves her usual gym.
Why somewhat and not completely 100% in a good mood ?
Well; the good part of today was that she, Mac and the others had been given a day off by Matty and the weather was nice and sunny, with no chance of rain or dark clouds, according to the weather app on her phone.
The bad part ?
There was this new guy that had recently shown up at her gym a few weeks ago and whenever Riley had went there to work out, he was unfortunately there too. And much to her annoyance; he would try to chat up her.
Very badly, in her opinion.
Keith was his name and he always had this smile that he thought was charming whenever he tried talking to her.
It absolutely wasn’t.
Riley had made it clear multiple times from the beginning she wasn’t interested but he still persisted.
“When will this douche bag take the hint ?” She thought every time she tried to avoid contact with him.
But besides that; she was still in a good mood… 90% give or take.
With her backpack and sports water bottle in hand; Riley was set to head home and take a shower to wash off the sweat she was covered in but just as started moving, her phone buzzed and she got a text from her apartment supervisor.
Apartment Supervisor:
To all apartment tenants; we regret to inform you, that we have turned off the hot water for the whole building due to some maintenance work need doing on the building’s pipes. Should be done in about 5 to 6 hours tops. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
“Oh, come on !” Riley mumbled to herself in annoyance.
Her good mood had now officially dropped down to 80% after reading this.
Riley knew she couldn’t stay being covered in sweat and wearing her workout clothes for several hours.
She always showered after going to the gym. It was always felt relaxing after spending the morning working out.
“Great, no hot water. I swear my apartment keeps getting worse and worse. Noisy neighbours ? Check. Rent continuing to go up every few months ? Check. God; sometimes I wish I never moved out of Mac’s… wait, Mac’s place ! I still have my spare key and since it’s Thursday, he would still be out on his morning run like he always does. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I showered at his place.” Riley thought.
She immediately started to text Mac and let’s him know that she’s heading to his place while he’s out.
Riley:
Hey, hope you don’t mind me asking but can I come over and take a quick shower at your place ? The hot water at my building has been turned for a few hours and I desperately need a shower after going to the gym. Would really appreciate it 👍.
Riley then walked home - which wasn’t too far from her gym - to gather what she needed before getting in her car and drove to Mac’s house.
A FEW MINUTES LATER… MAC’S HOUSE…
Turning her key, Riley opened the front door and headed inside. She still hadn’t heard back from Mac yet, so calls out to him to see if by any chance he’s come home early from his run.
“Mac ? You home ?” She called out but got no answer.
“Huh, must be still out on his run. Oh well, at least I have the place to myself.” Riley thought, before closing and locking the front door and then proceeds to her old room to change out of her sweaty clothes and grab one of Mac’s guest bathroom towels.
Opening up her backpack; she brings out her shower essentials and a spare change of clothes, leaving them on the bed, before heading to the guest bathroom to turn on the shower.
Unfortunately to her dismay; the shower head made a gurgling sound and no water came out.
“Ugh, seriously ? Something is blocking the water from the inside ? Mac should get this fixed. I hope the shower from his bathroom is working.” Riley says.
Taking her shower essentials with her; Riley leaves the guest bathroom and her old room and walks across the hallway to Mac’s room.
Once inside Mac’s bathroom, she turns on the shower and feels relieved to see water coming out.
At least his still worked.
Taking off her towel, hanging it up on the hook and closing the bathroom door; Riley steps inside the shower, closes the door and immediately lets out a sigh of relief as the warm water pours all over body, relaxing her.
She opens her shampoo bottle and proceeds to wash her hair and using her own body wash she had brought with her, before eventually stopping and stands still.
Leaning her head back slightly - closing her eyes and hums in relief.
“Hmm… I almost forgot how good Mac’s showers were when I was living here… when they weren’t clogged up like the guest one is right now, of course. Still; my one at the apartment pales in comparison to this one.” Riley thought as she got lost in her shower.
It felt so good and relaxing.
The only thing that would make this better was that a certain genius was in here with her.
But Riley obviously kept that thought to herself, of course.
She used to feel that way last year but also a bit guilty as well as Mac was dating Desi at the time, but now, they had broken up six months ago.
Desi was back with her thought to be dead fiancé and Mac was single.
So there wasn’t much guilt as there used to be.
But she didn’t want to think about all of that right now.
And for the next half an hour; Riley stood in silence and let the warm water completely relax her.
30 MINUTES LATER…
Coming up the road to his house; Mac stopped in his tracks and catching his breath - his grey tv shirt filled with sweat.
He had been running for ages and spent all morning doing his run; that he hadn’t realised his phone was out of battery before it was too late.
He didn’t think it was a problem since he had the day off and wouldn’t expect any calls to come to the Phoenix but as finished getting his breath back, he instantly spotted Riley’s GTO near his house.
“That’s Riley’s car… is she here ?” Mac said to himself before walking the rest of the short distance to his home.
Using his keys; he opens the front door and heads inside - closing it behind him.
“Riley… you here ?” He called out to her but got no answer.
He soon heard running water coming from his room and walked towards it, hearing the water getting louder as he did.
He opened his bedroom door and noticed his bathroom door was closed.
“Riley, are you in there ?” Mac called out again, standing near the bathroom door - this time she heard him, opening her eyes and turning her head in the direction of the door.
“Mac ?” She said loudly enough, so the two could hear each other due to the running water from the shower.
“Yeah, it’s me. Are you taking a shower in there ? I can hear running water.” Mac replied.
“Yeah, yeah… sorry. Just give me a second.” She said before turning off the shower, stepped out from it and grabs her towel to wrap around her body and borrows another one of Mac’s clean towels for her hair.
Mac meanwhile backed away from the door and waited for her.
A minute later; Riley stepped out and upon seeing her - Mac’s eyebrows started to shoot up.
He tried to act normally but his mind couldn’t stop thinking about seeing her wearing nothing but a towel.
“Hey.” She says, getting his attention.
“Hey.” He replied, awkwardly - which she noticed.
The two stared in silence for a few seconds before Mac spoke up.
“So, uh… mind me telling me why you’re showering at my place ? Not complaining, just curious.” Mac asks.
“Right, sorry. The hot water at my building has off gone for several hours and I needed one after going to the gym. I sent you a text asking you if I could come over but you never responded. Did you not get it ?” Riley asks, drying her hair as she looked at Mac in slight confusion.
“Oh… sorry, my phone ran out of battery while I was out on my morning run. Didn’t realise until it was too late. Must have missed your text.” Mac tells her, getting his phone out of his pocket and showing her.
“That’s alright. I hope you don’t mind me using your’s. I was gonna use the guest one but it made a gurgling sound and no water was coming out.” Riley says.
“Right ! Yeah… I’ve been meaning to fix that, just hadn’t got around to it yet. And yeah; of course I don’t mind you using my shower. You’re always welcome here, Riles.” Mac replies, earning a smile from Riley.
“Thanks, Mac. Um… do you mind if I also use your washing machine to wash my gym clothes ? Brought a fresh pair to change into but I wouldn’t want to put sweaty clothes inside my backpack.” Riley asks.
“Yeah, yeah. Of course. You can use my washing machine and hang out here as you wait for as long you want.” He tells her.
The two continued to smile in silence - nodding slightly at each other as Riley noticed Mac’s eyes starting to stare at her skin.
He couldn’t help himself.
Her bare arms, shoulders and legs - still wet from her body wash.
And he could smell her jasmine shampoo, with a slight hint of coconut.
God, she was beautiful.
Always had been.
“So… you gonna let me pass or continue staring at me, while I’m wet and wearing nothing but a towel ?” Riley said with a smirk.
Mac immediately looked right back into her eyes - acting all defensively.
“I… I wasn’t staring… I mean… I was but I also wasn’t… um…” Mac said, starting to panic.
Riley simply giggled in response.
“I’m messing with ya. Relax.” She told him.
“Right… yeah. I’m gonna charge my phone and take a shower myself.” Mac says.
Riley then starts walking past him, noticing Mac’s eyes taking another quick peek before looking forward again.
She didn’t mind though.
“It’s a good thing I noticed your car parked outside and called out to you when I came back, huh ? Wouldn’t like to think what would have happened if I didn’t.” Mac joked, as Riley stood still - just outside his bedroom and turned her head slightly to see his back facing her.
“Eh, what’s the worse that could have happened ? You ending up joining me in there ? Doesn’t sound like a bad thing to me.” She teased, before leaving.
Mac felt the hairs on the back of his neck shoot up - as did his eyes as he quickly turned around and leaned against the edge of his door - watching Riley walk down the hallway to her old room.
“She… she didn’t just say that, right ? I mean she did… but she was obviously joking, right ? It’s Riley. She teases sometimes. It’s what she does. Yeah, yeah… she was joking. Of course she was… right ?…” Mac’s mind wondered, unsure what to think.
As for Riley; she knew exactly what she just said to him and didn’t care. She could feel Mac’s eyes watching as she walked - practically teasing him with the way she was walking.
She had a huge grin on her face, imagining Mac what must be thinking as he watched her in awe.
And just like that; Riley’s good mood went back up to 100%.
Continued in the next chapter…