Good Girl Complex(Avalon Bay #1)(89)

“Please.” My voice is low. Urgent. “Don’t mention money or what your dad does. Anything that suggests they’re well off. Or you, for that matter.”

“I’d never try to make your mom uncomfortable, if that’s what you mean.”

Mac’s good about not rubbing her fortune in everyone’s face, but that’s not what I’m getting at.

“It’s not that, babe. I don’t care what you have to say. Lie. Trust me on this.” Then, remembering her bracelet, I hold her wrist and undo the latch, sticking it in the pocket of her jeans.

“What are you doing?” She looks alarmed.

“Please. Until she’s gone. Don’t wear it in front of her.”

I have no idea how long Shelley’s planning to stick around or where she intends to stay. Her room is exactly how she left it. We don’t go in there. If past experience is any indication, however, she’ll be out trawling for a new man before midnight.

We’re all painfully well-behaved during dinner. Evan, poor guy, even seems happy to have Shelley home. They chat about what she’s been up to. Turns out she’s living in Atlanta with some guy she met at a casino.

“We fought over a slot machine,” she gushes with a giggle, “and ended up falling right in love!”

Uh-huh. I’m sure they’ll live happily ever after. Given that she’s here, they’ve probably already broken up.

“How long are you staying?” I interrupt her love story, my brusque tone causing Mac to find my hand under the table. She gives it a comforting squeeze.

Shelley looks offended that I would dare ask her that question.

Evan shoots me a dark look. “Dude. Chill. She just got here.”

Yes, and I want to know when she’s leaving, I want to snap. It takes superhuman effort to keep my mouth shut.

“So, Mackenzie,” Shelley says after the strained, prolonged silence that falls over the dinner table. “How did you end up dating my son? How did you two meet? Tell me everything.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Mac dodges dozens of prying questions where she can and spits some Grade-A bullshit for the rest.

I get a surreptitious what the fuck glance from Evan, who manages to keep his damn mouth shut and go with it. My brother might be a pushover where Shelley’s concerned, but he’s not an idiot. For my part, I speak as little as possible. Afraid at any moment my filter will malfunction, and I’ll be unable to stop the tirade that will inevitably follow. Few people get me worked up like Shelley Hartley.

After dinner, I’m at the sink rinsing plates when she corners me alone.

“You were awfully quiet,” she says, taking a plate from me to put in the dishwasher.

“Tired,” I grunt.

“Oh, my sweet boy. You work too hard. You need to get more rest.”

I make a noncommittal noise. My skin crawls every time she tries playing the maternal role. It doesn’t suit her.

“Mackenzie seems sweet.” There are all sorts of euphemisms in that statement, none of them nice.

I do my best to ignore her as I rinse and pass, keeping my head down. “Yeah. She’s cool.”

“Noticed that bracelet. And the purse in the living room.”

My shoulders tense.

“Very pricey. Nice job, baby.”

I taste blood from the inside of my cheek when she flashes a knowing smile. It’s blatantly obvious what she thinks—that I’ve found myself a meal ticket. She’s been running the same con so long, I’m not sure she remembers any other way to live.

“So, listen, baby …”

Here it comes. Of fucking course. There’s always an ask. An angle.

“You know, I almost didn’t make it here in one piece,” she continues, oblivious to the anger bubbling up in my gut. “That old car of mine started spewing smoke on the highway. Had to get it towed from a truck stop. Turns out some little plastic box in the engine went and blew up.” She laughs sheepishly. “Now I talked the guy down, but I’m gonna come up a little short on the repair cost.”

“What’s up?” Evan enters the kitchen in time to overhear the end of her bullshit story. Fucking perfect. “Your car broke down?”

“It’s always something with that piece of junk, wouldn’t you know?” she says, playing the damsel because Evan can never resist a chance to be a hero. “Anyway, I was working this job, but I got laid off after the holidays. It’s been tough finding something new. This’ll wipe out everything I had saved up.”

“We’re tapped out,” I inform her, glancing at Evan. “We’ve been putting everything into fixing the house.”

“And the place looks great.” She won’t meet my eyes. Not when she’s got such an easy target with Evan. “I need a couple hundred to get the car back. Then I can get around to look for a new job around here. I’ll pay you back.”

“You’re staying?” Evan says.

Poor, dumb bastard. The hopefulness in his voice is pitiful. I want to slap him upside the head.

Shelley goes to him, hugging his side as she buries her head under his chin. “If you’ll let me. I miss my boys.”

Evan reaches right into his pocket and pulls out several twenties. Probably everything that was left from his last paycheck. “Here’s one-fifty.” He shrugs. “I’ll hit up the ATM for the rest.” Meaning his savings account.