Good Girl Complex(Avalon Bay #1)(63)

Beside her, a redhead is sporting a smirk that signals I’m not in on the joke, whatever it is.

I get the distinct impression I’m no longer welcome here.

“You know, I should go find Cooper,” I tell Steph. “Nice meeting you all.”

I don’t wait for a reply before shuffling off, leaving my drink behind.

Cooper’s still in the backyard, only now he’s standing around the bonfire next to a very cute brunette whose ass is trying to climb out of her shorts. When her hand touches Cooper’s chest I want to charge her like a bull. Instead, I keep my cool and saunter up to him, grabbing him by his belt loops. That gets his attention. The corner of his mouth lifts wryly.

“Come on,” I say, ignoring the irritated look from the brunette. “I want to grope you in the dark.”

Cooper doesn’t miss a beat. He sets his bottle on the cement blocks lining the bonfire pit. “Yeah, okay.”

Together we round the side of the house to the street out front, where Cooper’s truck is parked. He lifts me up to sit on the open tailgate. With a dirty grin, he steps between my legs.

“Came to piss on my leg, huh?” He runs his callused fingertips up and down the tops of my exposed thighs. My teeny yellow dress has ridden up almost to my waist, but Cooper’s big body shields me from view.

“In not so many words, yeah, I guess so.”

“I’m into it,” he says, smirking. “You were gone awhile. Everything cool?”

“All good. Just mingling. I met your friend Tate.” I wink. “He’s cute.”

Dark eyes narrow at me. “Did he hit on you?”

“For about a second. Backed off when he learned I came here with you.”

“Good. I don’t have to kill him. Meet anyone else?”

“A few others,” I say vaguely, because I don’t want to talk about it.

Truth is, tonight has been a bust and I’m feeling anxious about the prospects of how Cooper and I are going to fit into each other’s lives. The longer I’m left to think on the subject, the more the doubt digs its roots into my brain. I don’t want to think. I want Cooper to make it all go away. So I tangle my hands in his hair and pull him toward me, kissing him with purpose until I feel the slightest groan from his chest, and he wraps his arms around me, deepening the kiss.

“What’s the matter, you two?” I jump when Evan sneaks up behind us, shining the flashlight from his phone in our eyes. “Party run out of Dom Pérignon already?”

“Fuck off,” Cooper grumbles, swatting the phone away. “Can’t you find someone else to entertain you?”

“I’m good. Came to check on you crazy kids.”

Evan flashes a grin and waves at me with a bottle of beer in his hand. The first night we met on the beach, I thought Evan was all right. Since then, I’ve found him rude and pointedly unfriendly. It isn’t enough to be a dick to me; he wants me to know he’s trying to be a dick. It’s the commitment to effort that’s been getting to me.

“Now you have.” Cooper levels his brother with a look. A whole silent conversation is happening that I can’t translate. “Bye.”

“Tell me something, Mac.”

“Give it a rest, dude.” Cooper backs away from me, trying to escort his obviously drunk brother toward the house.

Evan eyes me over the top of his beer. He takes another gulp while pushing his brother away. “I’ve been dying to ask. Do rich chicks do anal?”

“That’s enough, asshole. Leave her alone.”

“Or do you pay someone else to do it for you?”

It happens in a blink.

One second Evan is laughing at his own unfunny joke.

Then he’s flat on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE


COOPER

I put him on the ground with one punch. Evan was already well on his way to wasted, or else he might have taken the hit better. I feel a small pang of regret when I see the blood leaking onto the asphalt, but all remorse fades when Evan lumbers to his feet and charges at me.

He drives his shoulder into my gut, grabbing me around the waist as we stumble backward against my truck. Somewhere I hear Mac screaming at us, but it’s no use. Evan is on one now. And when he lands a couple of hard jabs to my ribs, I don’t give a shit who he is anymore. Something in me snaps and my entire world reduces to the sole task of kicking my brother’s ass. We trade blows until we’re rolling around in the middle of the street, picking up road rash. Suddenly my arms are locked up and people are pulling Evan and me apart.

“Fuck you, man,” Evan shouts at me.

“You came asking for it,” I growl.

He lunges again.

My fists swing up.

Bodies crowd the space between us as we’re forcibly separated.

“What is wrong with you two?” Heidi shouts. She and Jay West cage Evan, stepping between us as I shove away the hands of at least three other guys from the party.

“I’m fine,” Evan grumbles. “Back off.” He wrestles out of their grips and storms down the street on foot.

“I’ll get him,” Steph offers, sighing softly.

Seeing the fight’s over, everyone but my closest friends drifts back to the house.