Good Girl Complex (16 page)

“Are you saying it’s not true?” I challenge. “That you aren’t just like your buddy Sebastian, sleeping around with girls that aren’t ‘wife material’ while pledging his undying love to Chrissy? Chrissy, who doesn’t even care that he’s sleeping around.” I shake my head incredulously. “Look me in the eye and tell me you’re not like that.”

“I’m not like that.”

But he doesn’t look me in the eye.

I bark out a harsh laugh. “That’s why you weren’t at all disturbed by Seb’s actions, right, Preston? Because you’re exactly like him. And you know what’s funny? I’m not even mad. I should be,” I tell him, because there’s plenty of anger from all the ways he’s disrespected me tonight. “I should be pissed. But I realized tonight that I don’t care anymore.”

“You can’t break up with me,” he says sternly, as if he’s telling me I can’t have candy because it’ll rot my teeth.

“I am. I did.”

“Forget whatever it is you think I’ve done. That’s just extracurricular bullshit—”

There’s that word again.

“It has nothing to do with our relationship. I love you, Mackenzie. And you love me too.”

For years, I’ve confused what we had for love. I do love Preston. Or at least I did, at some point. It started that way. I’m sure of it. But we were never
in love
. I mistook boredom for comfort and comfort for romance. Because I didn’t know what true passion was. I didn’t know what I was missing, how it’s supposed to feel when you can’t contain yourself, when desire for another person consumes you so completely, when your appreciation and affection for them is total and unconditional.

“Stop it, Mackenzie.” Oops. Now he’s pissed. I might be sent to my room with no dessert. “You’re throwing a temper tantrum and it isn’t cute. Come back inside. Apologize to your parents. We’ll forget this whole thing ever happened.”

“You don’t get it. I’ve made up my mind. I’m done.”

“No, you’re not.”

I didn’t want to resort to the nuclear option, but he’s given me no choice. “There’s someone else.”

“What the fuck? Who?” he snaps, anger reddening his face.

My cab pulls up to the curb. Thank God.

“You don’t get to know,” I say coolly. “And now I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”

For the first time tonight, he listens.

MACKENZIE

Fifteen minutes later, I’m standing at Cooper’s front door. I think I knew when I left the dinner table where I was going to end up. I knew—when I walked away from Cooper yesterday, when I spent hours spinning his words over in my head, remembering our hungry kisses—that if I found my way back here again, it would be with a purpose.

When he opens the door, I almost lose my nerve. He’s wearing a T-shirt and ripped jeans. Hair damp as if he just showered. His looks, his body, his tattoos are pure temptation. I hate that he doesn’t have to do anything, say anything, to get me all sideways and messed up. It isn’t fair.

“Hey.” I swallow against the sudden onset of dry mouth.

He stares me down hard without a word. I expected anger. Maybe to be chased off with a warning not to show my face in these parts again.

This is worse.

“Look, I came to apologize.”

“That right?” Cooper takes up the whole doorway, strong arms braced on either side.

“I was out of line,” I say remorsefully. “I never should have insinuated
you have herpes. Perpetuating the stigma of STDs and slut-shaming is wrong, and I’m sorry.”

Though he tries his best to hide it, Cooper can’t entirely smother the smirk that pulls at the corner of his mouth. He drops his arms.

“Fine, come in.”

He leads me through the empty house to the lit back deck that looks out onto the bay. Neither of us is quite sure how to start, so we both lean against the railing, pretending to watch the waves through the darkness.

“I’ve never slapped anyone before,” I confess, because it’s my responsibility to break the ice, and for some reason this is harder than I expected.

“You’re pretty good at it,” he says dryly. “Fucking hurt.”

“If it makes you feel any better, my hand was still sore when I woke up today. You have a hard face.”

“It does make me feel better,” he says with a smile in his voice. “A little.”

“I am sorry. I way overreacted and totally lost it. I felt terrible about it. I still feel terrible.”

Cooper shrugs. “Don’t sweat it. I’ve had worse.”

Part of me wants him to lash out. Tell me I’m a brat and a spoiled bitch. But he’s so cool and calm. Unreadable, giving nothing away, which makes all of this nearly impossible. Because for everything I learn about Cooper, I don’t know him at all. Sometimes I think we have a connection, then I get to thinking about it until I convince myself I’ve concocted the entire thing in my head. As if every time we meet, I’m waking up from a dream and I don’t remember what’s real.

“Want to ask me where I was tonight?” I don’t know why I say it except that I want him to know and coming right out with it seems…presumptuous?

He cocks an eyebrow.

“Well, first off, I walked out on my parents.”

“Is the building still standing?” he asks, not even trying to hide his amusement.

“Uncertain. I sort of ran off in the middle of dinner.” I pause. “Know what else I did?”

“What’s that?”

“I broke up with my boyfriend.”

This gets his attention. He turns to put his back against the railing and folds his arms, attentive.

Cooper chuckles, shaking his head. “There, now it makes sense. You’re on the lam and you figured, where better to hide out? No chance anyone will come looking for you here. Am I right?”

“Something like that,” I answer sheepishly. That wasn’t the explicit thought in mind when I gave the cab driver Cooper’s address, but it was certainly an unconscious instinct.

“So how long do you plan on lying low? Not to be a dick about it, but I’m not running a hotel here, princess.”

“Touché.”

Silence engulfs us, louder than the crashing of the waves against the shore.

This morning, I woke up sweating. As I blinked against the sun, the final frames of Cooper holding me against the wall—my legs wrapped around his hips, his hands burning across my skin—evaporated with the morning dew on my windowsill. What do I do with that? These are new feelings for me. I’ve never been this wound up over a guy. And yeah, okay, he’s shown some interest too, but if he doesn’t make the next move, I don’t know what any of this means.

“Part of me wishes we never met,” he finally says, shadows playing across his face from the deck lights.

“Why’s that?” I mean, besides the obvious, I guess. I have been
a major pain in the ass to him and probably way more trouble than it’s worth.

“Because this is gonna get messy.” Arms at his sides, he closes the small space between us until he’s got me pinned against the railing with only his eyes.

Something in his expression shifts, and like a subliminal signal to my system, I’m suddenly alert.

“What’s going—”

Before I can finish the thought, his lips are on mine.

Caging me against the rail, Cooper kisses me deeply. Urgently. This whole time, for weeks, we’ve held our breath until this moment. Relief. As his hands find my hips and press me into the splintered wood, I forget myself, consumed by lust. I kiss him back like a starved woman, moaning when he parts my legs with his and I feel his erection.

“Tell me now,” he mutters, running his mouth down my neck. “Are you going to tell me to stop?”

I should consider the question. The future implications. All the ways I’m completely unprepared for what happens when I wake up tomorrow and survey the damage of tonight.

But I don’t.

“No,” I answer. “Don’t stop.”

Unleashed, Cooper doesn’t hesitate. He yanks down the front of my dress just enough to expose my breasts. When he wraps his lips around one budded nipple, the rush of excitement, the adrenaline syringe through my chest, is overwhelming. I’m a different person with him. Unbridled. I grab his hand and push it down until he finds his way under my dress. Then his fingers are pulling away my bikini underwear, sliding across my clit, entering me.

“Ah fuck,” he whispers against the feverish skin of my neck. “So wet.”

Two fingers move inside me, while his thumb tends to the bundle of nerves that’s pulsing with excitement. I hold on to his broad shoulders, biting my lip so hard I taste blood, until my legs are shaking through an orgasm.

“Mmm, that’s my girl.” A grin appears as he bends to kiss my lips, swallowing my gasped breaths.

His words send a thrill shooting through me. His girl. I know he doesn’t mean it that way, just a turn of phrase, but the idea of being his, being entirely owned by him tonight, triggers a fresh wave of desire.

I hurry to undo the front of his jeans and pull him out, stroking. His answering groan is music to my ears. His hands slide down to squeeze my ass, dark eyes glittering with heat.

“Let’s go inside,” I urge.

“I’ve got a condom in my pocket.” His voice is hoarse as I hold him throbbing in my hand.

“Really, why?”

“Let’s not ask those questions.”

Fair. Until an hour ago I had a boyfriend. Whatever Cooper was getting up to, or about to get up to, is none of my business.

He tears open the condom and slips it on, then hoists one of my legs up around his hip. Suddenly I’m sitting on the ledge of the railing, clinging to him as he slowly, achingly enters me. If he let me go right now, I’d topple over the rail. But I trust him. I submit completely, trusting his steady grip, welcoming the thick, hard length of him inside me.

“You feel so good, Mac.” He’s kissing me again. Thrusting deep, making me mindless with need.

A warm breeze sweeps through my hair. I don’t care that at any moment we could be caught. That I don’t even know if his brother is home. That someone might be watching us from among the silhouettes that circle the house. I don’t care about anything but the foreign
sensations coursing through my body, this feeling of fullness, rightness. When Cooper’s fingers tangle in my hair and tug my head back to kiss my throat, nothing distracts me from his long, deep thrusts and the wild, carnal need that drives us both.

“You gonna come again?” he whispers in my ear.

“Maybe.”

“Try.”

He withdraws until only his tip remains in me, then plunges back in. Hard, purposeful. Keeping one strong arm wrapped around me, he brings his other hand between my legs and swipes his fingers over my clit. I gasp with pleasure.

“Oh, keep doing that,” I plead.

His husky chuckle tickles my mouth as he bends his head to kiss me. His hips continue moving, but slower now, teasing, coaxing me back to the edge. Under his deliberate worshiping of my body, it doesn’t take long for the pleasure to rise again, to tighten and knot and then burst in a blinding rush.

“Yes,” he hisses, and his tempo speeds up. He thrusts into me with abandon until he’s groaning from his own release, shuddering, panting out unsteady breaths.

I swallow, inhaling deeply to try to regulate my erratic heartbeat. “That was …” I have no words.

He grunts unintelligibly, also at a loss. “It was …yeah.”

Laughing weakly, we disentangle from each other. I clumsily slide off the railing. Fix my dress. Cooper takes my hand, leading me inside.

After a shower, I borrow some clothes from him, and we take Daisy out on a walk along the moonlit beach. My fingers are still a little numb, my legs heavy. He was everything I expected and better. Raw, zealous.

Now, I’m struck by how not awkward it is. I’d never been with anyone except Preston, so I didn’t know what to expect after a …
I don’t know what this is. A hookup? A tryst? Something we won’t really talk about in the morning? Somehow, I don’t care. For now, we’re good.

Walking back toward the house, Cooper teases Daisy with a long reed.

“So you wanna spend the night?” he asks me.

“Yeah, okay.”

Starting now, I’m not overthinking it. Clean slate. Starting from scratch.

It’s time I get to enjoy myself.

COOPER

My head is wrecked. Waking up with Mac in my bed, my first thought is to make some bad decisions all over again. Then I remember that I’m in deep trouble. I was all about it last night when she practically jumped on my dick. But afterward, something really messed up happened. I didn’t want her to leave. I started thinking, well shit, what happens if she goes home and I get another goddamn text like,
Sorry, my bad, I made a mistake and I’m getting back together with my dipshit boyfriend
?

Which is about the point I realized that I’m fully screwed.

“Morning,” she mumbles, eyes closed.

When she rolls over and drapes her thigh over my leg, teasing my hard-on, I don’t stop myself from grabbing a handful of her ass.

“Morning,” I answer.

She responds by kissing my left pec before giving it a little bite.

This chick is something else. It’s always the good girls, right? All sweater sets and manners until you get them alone. Then they’re shoving your face between their legs and leaving with blood under their fingernails.

We cuddle there for a few minutes, warm and lazy in my bed. Then Mac lifts her head to peek at me. “Can I ask you something?” She’s apprehensive.

“Sure.”

“It’s kind of a nosy question.”

“Alright.”

“Like, totally none of my business.”

“You gonna ask it or should we keep discussing the question-asking process itself?”

She bites me again, a teasing nip at my shoulder. “Fine. Did you have sex with Sutton?”

“No. We took a walk on the pier and then she puked over the railing, so I put her in a cab.”

Mackenzie keeps prying. “If she hadn’t thrown up, would you have done anything? Kissed? Brought her back here?”

“Maybe. Probably.” When I feel her body stiffen beside me, I thread my fingers through her long hair. Other guys might have held back, but I’m not other guys. She asked. I answered. “You wanted to know.”

“Yeah, I did. And I’m the one who threw her at you. I guess I’m not allowed to be jealous.” Mac growls softly. “But I fucking am.”

“Welcome to the club,” I growl back. “The thought of anyone but me putting their hands on you makes me homicidal.”

She laughs. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a bit intense?”

I shrug. “Got a problem with that?”

“Not at all.”

I twist a chunk of her hair around my finger. “You know,” I say pensively, “as pissed as I was at you that night, I’d forgotten how fun it is to be Evan. It’d been ages since we pulled a twin switch.”

She tilts her head curiously. “You two would switch places a lot?”

“All the time. He used to take all my geography tests for me in high school—swear to God, that kid has a weirdly good memory when it comes to state capitals. Sometimes we’d break up with each other’s girlfriends.”

Mackenzie gasps. “That’s awful.”

“Not our finest moments,” I agree. “We also switched places to mess with our friends, although most of them can tell us apart, even when we make ourselves identical from head to toe. But yeah, sometimes it’s nice to take a break from myself and be Evan. Live life with zero regard for consequences. Do what you want, screw who you want, no regrets.”

“I don’t know … I like you just fine.” Her palm slowly trails down my bare chest. “More than fine, actually.”

“Wait. I want to make you breakfast,” I say, stopping her when her hand reaches into my boxers.

“Can’t we do this first?” Mac looks up and licks her lips.

Goddamn. Yes, princess, by all means I’d love to see how you look with my cock in your mouth, but I’m trying out this new being-a-gentleman thing, if you’ll let me.

Like I said, my head’s wrecked.

“You start that,” I warn, “and we aren’t leaving this bed.”

“I don’t mind.”

Groaning, I push her off me and slide out of bed. “Tempting. And trust me, I’d absolutely smash that, but Evan and I are getting a delivery today for the house renovations. We’ve gotta get an early start.”

Mac pouts, my T-shirt hanging off one tanned shoulder. Her bare legs are begging me to come back to bed. Fucking death of me, right there.

“Fine. I guess breakfast will do. Got any scones?”

“Fuck off,” I laugh, heading to the bathroom.

After I grab a spare toothbrush from the cabinet, Mac tears open the packaging. We brush our teeth side by side, but draw the line there. She shoos me out so she can pee, and I go and answer a text from Billy West about today’s lumber order. I’m still texting when Mac wanders out of my room toward the kitchen.

By the time I’m done, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee is wafting through the house.

“Sure, honey, help yourself,” I hear Evan drawl.

I round the corner to see Mac standing by the coffeemaker with a mug in her hand.

“I thought I’d get a pot going for whoever wants some,” she says, noting as I do the sarcasm in his voice. “I hope that’s alright.”

“Of course it is,” I say pointedly at Evan. Because I don’t get his sudden attitude. “Have a seat. I’m gonna get some eggs going. You want bacon?”

“Shall I have the maid fetch the good china, or would her majesty prefer to be hand fed?” Evan inquires, grabbing a box of cereal.

“Hey.” I shove him as he tries blocking me from the fridge. Fucking child. “Give it a rest, man.”

Mac is visibly uncomfortable. “Yeah, you know, I’ve actually got to get back to the dorm, so I’m going to head out.”

“Come on, stay,” I urge. “I’ll drive you back after breakfast.”

But it’s too late. Whatever bug’s crawled up Evan’s ass this morning, he’s already scared her off. Mac can’t get away from us fast enough, hurrying off to my bedroom, where she calls a cab while changing back into her dress from last night.

“I’m sorry about him,” I tell her, catching her around the waist before she walks out the front door. “He’s not much of a morning person.”

“It’s fine. Really.”

I study her face. Her makeup’s been washed off and her hair’s in a loose knot on top of her head. It’s the most beautiful she’s ever looked. And now I’m thinking we should have gone with her plan of staying in bed all day.

“I’m sure if I had siblings, they’d be a pain in the butt too.” Mac lifts up on her toes to kiss me. I take that to mean we’re still gonna be on speaking terms.

After she’s gone, I find Evan in the garage.

“Hey, what was all that about?” I ask tersely.

“Better ask yourself that question,” he retorts, brushing by me with his tool belt over his shoulder. “Since when are you playing butler to the princess? The plan was to get her to break up with Kincaid, not play house.”

“Yeah, and it worked.” I follow him across the yard and back toward the house, choosing to ignore the way the inflection of hatred in his voice pricks my nerves. “She dumped him last night.”

“Great,” he says, cracking open a beer from the cooler on the front porch—at seven in the morning. “Then it’s time to cut her loose. We get both of them in the same place, let him see you two together, then be done with the clones. End of.”

I snatch the beer from his hand and pour it out. “Would you quit it with this shit? I don’t want you wasted and shooting a nail gun at me.”

“Sure, Dad,” he says, flicking me off.

“Hey.” I point a stiff finger at his chest because he fucking knows what he just did. “You say that again, we’re gonna have problems.”

He smacks my hand away. “Yeah, whatever.”

Evan’s on one today, and I’m about sick of this crap. But I can’t worry about what’s got him all twisted up, because I need to figure out how the hell I’m going to handle this thing with Mackenzie. There’s no way my brother and our friends are going to let me off the hook. All four of them have been circling, waiting for the feeding frenzy. They want blood.

I stew about it all day, but no solutions come to me. By the time we all hit up Joe’s later while Steph’s there on her shift, I haven’t come up with anything better than stalling and hoping they don’t mention the plan.

We’re on good terms again, Joe and me. I’m still disappointed in how easily he caved in firing me, but I get why he did it. Hard to
hold a grudge against a guy who has a mortgage and his kid’s college loans to worry about. It wasn’t fair to expect him to go to the mat for me when he’s got his own family to protect.

We grab a booth near the bar, with Evan sliding next to me, and Heidi and Alana across from us. Steph wanders over with drink menus none of us need or glance at. The chicks order shots. Evan and I stick with beer. We took today off to rebuild our front porch, which means we’re pulling a double shift for Levi tomorrow. We’ve got to wake up at dawn, and I’d rather not do that with a hangover. Evan, I’m sure, doesn’t give a shit.

Of course, he wastes no time updating the girls on the latest Mackenzie developments.

“I’m so turned on right now,” Alana says, with an evil grin that is honestly disturbing. Chick is scary sometimes. “Look at me.” She holds out her arm to us. “I’ve got goose bumps.”

With her phone out, Heidi is scrolling through Kincaid’s Instagram. “All we have to do is keep an eye out for where he’s going to be one night. Somewhere public. Then you bring his ex, and we humiliate the hell out of him. Shit, we could probably sell tickets.”

“Make it soon.” Steph groans. “If he doesn’t stop coming around here, I’m going to poison his drink with laxatives. I want him afraid to show his face in public.”

“Why not this weekend?” Evan suggests, elbowing me as I concentrate on my beer, trying to ignore the rest of them. “Tomorrow. You ask the princess out on a date. Steph, you get Maddy or somebody to invite him out, and we corner him then.”

I finally contribute to the conversation. “No.”

Evan frowns. “What?”

Hearing him taking shots at Mac again does me in. I’m sick of this whole stupid plot, and I’m sick to death of pretending I’m still on board. I jumped off this train the moment I realized how
cool Mac was. How smart and sexy and intriguing. She’s unlike any woman I’ve ever been with.

“It’s over,” I tell my friends, eyeing them over the rim of my bottle. “Forget about it.”

“What do you mean forget about it?” Evan snatches the beer from my hand.

My shoulders stiffen. He’d better be real careful how he comes at me next.

“We had a deal,” he snaps.

“No, you have a vendetta, and I want no part of it anymore. I’m the one who got fired, not you. Which means I get the final say about this. And I’m calling it off.”

He shakes his head incredulously. “I knew it. She got to you, didn’t she? Fucking clone got you wrapped around her prissy little finger.”

“Enough.” I smack my hand down on the table, rattling our drinks. “That goes for all of you,” I tell the girls. “She’s off-limits. As far as you’re all concerned, she’s not to be messed with.”

“When did this happen?” Steph looks at me in confusion. I don’t blame her. Until this second, I’ve kept everyone out of the loop.

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” Alana says.

“I’m serious. Look, I like Mac.” I let out a breath. “Didn’t expect to, but here we are. I’m into her.”

Across the booth, Heidi’s lips twist into a scowl. “Men,” she mutters under her breath.

I ignore the jab. “I don’t know where this is going with us, but I expect you all to be nice to her. Forget we ever hatched this stupid plot. It’s not happening anymore. No more rude comments,” I say to my brother. To the girls, “And no scheming behind her back. For better or worse, you assholes are my family. I’m asking you to do this for me.”

In the silence that follows, each of them gives a curt nod.

Then Evan storms off, because of course he does. Steph shrugs as she goes to check on her tables. Heidi and Alana just stare at me like I’m the biggest dumbass they’ve ever met. It’s not the enthusiastic confirmation I want, but it’s honestly better than I hoped for. Still, I’m under no illusions that this’ll be painless for any of us.

Heidi shoves a hand through her short hair and continues to eye me. In her expression, I see a flicker of anger. A hint of pity. And a gleam of something else. Something vindictive, alarming.

“No one breathes a word of this to Mac,” I warn Heidi. “Ever.”