Good Girl Complex(Avalon Bay #1)(85)

For a split second, I worry their new platonic romance might end me.

“He had a summer job at Steph’s bar.” With a shrug, Evan even has me convinced. Guess we’re still on the same side when it counts. “It was temporary.”

She looks past Evan to where Steph has resettled in her chair and picked up her book. “Steph?” Mac says. “Is that true?”

Without looking up from her book, Steph nods behind her thick black sunglasses. “It was a summer gig.”

Relief trickles into me, then dissolves when I notice Heidi edging closer to the group. There’s indecision in her expression.

Fuck.

I know that look. Mischief for mischief’s sake. Heidi’s the girl who’s never missed an opportunity to set a fire just to hear the screams. Add to this the fact that she’s been mad at me more often than not lately, and that she’s not a fan of this arrangement or Mac. But when our gazes briefly meet, I silently plead with her to give me this one thing.

“Seriously, guys, I’m starved,” she says with a bored whine. “Can we get the hell out of here already?”

By the skin of my teeth, I make it out alive.

Every day after that, I’m holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Looking over my shoulder for Kincaid to sneak up on us again. Mac seems to let the matter go, and Evan and I have been avoiding the subject by miles. But it was a close call. Too close. A reminder how fragile our relationship is and how easily it can all be ripped from my hands. That realization hits me harder than I thought possible. She’s under my skin and getting deeper.

The night of our run-in with Kincaid, after Mac had gone to bed, I ended up in my workshop sucking on a cigarette like a madman, hoping the nicotine would ease the guilt, the stress, the fear. Usually, I only smoke when I’m drinking, and even that isn’t a hard and fast rule. But lying to Mackenzie had wrecked me.

Evan found me there at one in the morning, nearly half a pack’s worth of cigarette butts in the ashtray on my worktable.

“I need to tell her the truth,” I’d said miserably.

He’d balked. “Are you fucked? What’s that gonna achieve, man? The plan was aborted. You’re with her because you like her.”

“But it started as a way to get back at Kincaid. Me and her, this whole relationship, was founded on bad intentions.”

In the end, Evan convinced me to stay quiet. Though who am I kidding, it didn’t take much convincing. The thought of losing Mackenzie rips my insides to shreds. I can’t lose her. And Evan was wrong—I’m not with her because I like her.

I’m in love with her.

And so I banish the guilt to the furthest recesses of my mind. I work hard to be the kind of man Mac needs, deserves. And then, one morning, we’re lying in bed and I take my first deep breath in almost a month. She’s barely awake when she rolls over and drapes her leg over my hip. An overwhelming sense of calm I’ve never known before envelopes me as she cuddles into my chest.

“Morning,” she whispers. “What time is it?”

“Dunno. Ten, maybe?”

“Ten?” She sits abruptly. “Shoot. Your uncle will be here soon. We gotta clean this place up.”

It’s cute she thinks Levi gives a shit.

She leaves me alone in bed to take a shower, reappearing ten minutes later with wet hair and a flushed face.

“Ugh. I can’t find my blue dress,” she grumbles from the closet, half of which now contains her clothes.

It’s been weeks since she came to stay with us, and yet nobody’s brought up the prospect of her moving out. I’m happy to ignore the subject. Sure, having another person in the house has been an adjustment. And maybe we’re still learning how to respect each other’s quirks. But she makes the place feel warm again, like a home rather than a house. She gives the place some life after years of bad memories and empty rooms.

She just fits.

“So wear something else. Or don’t and come back to bed.”

“It’s my take me seriously dress,” she calls from under what sounds like a mountain of hangers.

She’s got no reason to be nervous about meeting with Levi. He might look intimidating, but he’s the friendliest guy you’d ever meet. And yes, there’s a lot to be said for not mixing business with pleasure, but I’m choosing to look at this possible endeavor of them working on the hotel together from an optimistic perspective.

“How about this one?” She comes out modeling a green top that matches her eyes and a pair of navy pants that hug her ass in a way that is not helping my semi.

“You look great.”

Her answering smile. The way her head tilts and eyes shine. Those looks that are only for me. They get me right in the fucking chest.

I’ve absolutely lost my head over this chick.

“What?” she asks, lingering at the foot of the bed and wrapping her hair in a knot atop her head.

“Nothing.” All I can do is smile at her and hope I don’t screw this up. “I think I’m happy, is all.”

Mac comes over and plants a kiss on my cheek. “Me too.”

“Yeah? Even with, you know, your parents basically disowning you?”

Shrugging, she walks into the bathroom. I get dressed and watch her in the mirror as she puts on her makeup.