<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fd0%2F33%2F62%2Fd033621970a8e07f7c21b753fdc61d52.jpg&amp;hash=5d3244513de751a9796c207b8e149973" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d0/33/62/d033621970a8e07f7c21b753fdc61d52.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Macayla James</a>had grown up with a keyboard at her fingertips. Both of her parents were techies, with both working for rival companies. Her father had been nearly devastated when she announced she’d be going to work for her mother’s company instead of his. She had had a relatively normal childhood, if knowing basic coding by eight and nearly being arrested for hacking at sixteen was considered normal. For her, normal was being grounded from the internet for being caught slipping past firewalls (and secretly being praised by her father when she wasn’t). Her parents had even been accepting when she brought Destiny home to meet them after never mentioning her sexuality to them. She would need to speak to them again soon. She was ready to take her relationship up a notch and as she was the only child, she often wanted to discuss major decisions with both parents before acting.<br/><br/>They liked Destiny well enough and thought her job was exciting. A production manager had its perks after all, and to try to get on her girlfriend’s mother’s good side, Destiny had been able to get them backstage to visit a taping of her mother’s favorite soap opera. It was then Destiny, a tall, slender black woman, had introduced Mac to Genevieve Macias. Standing beside the darker-skinned and eyed women had made her feel woefully pale, but Mac had quickly learned she enjoyed Genevieve’s company. At the time, Gen had been friendly, light-hearted, and focused. They had hung out a few more times after that, had even gone on a double date where they had met Genevieve’s fiancé, and then the accident had happened. Mac had not seen or heard from Gen since she had attended Nathan’s funeral per Destiny’s asking.<br/><br/>So she had been more than surprised to pick up her phone while she lounged in her office to see it announcing Genevieve Macias was calling. A swipe of her thumb and a phone to her ears had brought not only a voice she had not heard in a while, but a challenge. A mystery. There were few things in the world that tempted Mac more than walls of code and encryptions that were hiding a prize behind them. It had taken little more than half an hour to pack up to leave and announce she would be working from home the rest of the day. Top down on her little Volkswagen convertible, she had enjoyed the sunny day while making her way through LA with her phone guiding her to the location Genevieve had sent her.<br/><br/>Her friend’s car was not at the house when she pulled up, but Mac didn’t think much on it. Instead she climbed out of the car while tucking her keys in the sling of a purse she carried. Dressed casually in a pair of jeans and green sweater, her vibrant blue eyes were curious while she made her way up to the front door. Just where was she? What did Gen need her for? A hand rose to fluff and smooth her baby pink hair up and across her forehead. Then it lowered to adjust her glasses while she knocked on the front door. Something was smudged on them, so with a sigh, Mac pulled them down from her youthful round face. She was wiping them clean when the front door opened.<br/><br/>Mac looked up while pushing her glasses back on her face and the man at the door came into clearer view. Before she could get a grip, Mac’s face fell into one of awe, her hand lingering at her glasses while she took in the specimen of a man standing before her. “Oh….<i>Jesus</i>,” she gasped blankly, staring up at the man who must have been near a foot taller than her. She might have been madly in love with another woman, but she could still appreciate male beauty when she saw it…and it floored her into silence.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Dunkin had run around Oliver’s backyard at least a dozen times. It baffled Gen that he could have so much energy after the traumatic morning they had had. She was exhausted and so stressed. On top of that, no thanks to Oliver, she was all wound up with tension she did not want to admit. Hoping it would dissipate if she also expelled some energy, she had found a ball Dunkin must have left in the past and spent some time throwing it for Dunkin. When that had gotten boring to him, she played ‘keep away’ with it….until he outsmarted her and climbed onto one of Oliver’s chairs to snatch the ball from Genevieve’s hands.<br/><br/>“You’re a cheater,” Genevieve grumbled after watching Dunkin prance off with the ball, squeaking it tauntingly at her, “A big German-knowing cheater.” She was still irked about that. Deciding to allow Dunkin to remain bouncing around the backyard gleefully, Genevieve mustered up the nerve to return inside the house where she would be near the one person she wanted to be close to, but knew she should be far from. Luckily for her, she caught sight of Oliver opening the front door. Pink-haired little Mac stood on the other side, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head at the sight of Oliver standing before her.<i>Girl, I know,</i>Gen thought to herself ruefully while approaching them and catching Mac’s stuttered gasp.<br/><br/>Genevieve came up behind Oliver, close enough to lean the front of her body against his back, but did not touch him. It was too dangerous. “Hey Mac,” she greeted her friend with a smile, “Come on in.” Her dark eyes lifted then, eyebrows doing so as well, and she silently challenged Oliver to deny her invitation before she stepped back from him and gestured toward him, “This is Nathan’s best friend, Oliver Damsdale. Oliver, meet Mac James.”