“No, I mean, you’re not what I expected. You’re chill. Real.” He continues to study me, all the playfulness and pretense forgotten. On his face I see only sincerity. The real Cooper. “Not one of those stuck-up jackasses who has their head up their ass because they love the smell of their own shit so much.”
There’s something in his voice, and it’s more than the surface annoyance with yuppie tourists and rich jerks. It sounds like real pain.
I give him an elbow jab to lighten the mood. “I get it. I’ve grown up with those people. You’d think it gets to a point where you hardly notice it, but nope. Still, they’re not all bad.”
“This boyfriend of yours? What’s his story?”
“Preston,” I supply. “He’s from the area, actually—his family lives down the coast. He goes to Garnet, obviously. Business major.”
“You don’t say.” Cooper dons a sarcastic look.
“He’s not that bad. I don’t think he’s ever even played squash,” I say for a laugh, but the joke doesn’t land. “He’s a good guy. Not the type who’s a dick to the waiter or that kind of thing.”
Cooper chuckles softly. “You don’t think it’s telling that your answer is basically, he’s nice to the help?”
I sigh. I suppose I don’t know how to talk to a guy I just met about my boyfriend. Especially when Cooper is clearly hostile to our entire upbringing.
“You know, this might shock you, but if you gave him a chance, you might actually get along. We’re not all jackasses,” I point out.
“Nah.” Some light returns to his expression, and I take that as a good sign. “I’m pretty sure you’re the one exception I’ve met, and I’ve lived in the Bay my whole life.”
“Then I’m glad I could demonstrate some redeeming qualities of my people.”
He smiles, shrugging. “We’ll see.”
“Oh, yeah? That sounds suspiciously like an invitation. But you wouldn’t be caught dead making friends with”—I gasp for effect—“a clone, now would you?”
“Not a chance. Call it an experiment. You can be my test subject.”
“And what hypothesis are we testing?”
“Whether a clone can be deprogrammed into a real person.”
I can’t help but laugh. I’ve been doing that a lot tonight. Cooper might have those brooding bad boy looks, but he’s funnier than I expected. I like him.
“So are we really doing this?” I ask.
His tongue drags over his bottom lip in a positively lewd way. “Going down on each other? Hell yeah. Let’s do it.”
More laughter sputters out. “Being friends! I’m asking if we’re going to be friends! Jeez, Hartley, you are way too focused on oral sex, anyone ever tell you that?”
“Firstly, have you looked in the mirror? Jeez—” He halts, looking over at me. “What’s your last name?”
“Cabot,” I say helpfully.
“Jeez, Cabot,” he mimics. “How can I not think about oral sex when I’m sitting next to the hottest woman on the planet?”
A flush rises in my cheeks. Damn it. That rough honesty is wildly sexy.
Gulping, I force my body not to respond to his crudeness or the compliment. You have a boyfriend, Mackenzie. I spell it out for my brain. B-O-Y-F-R-I-E-N-D.
Is it bad that I’ve had to remind myself an alarming number of times tonight?
“Secondly,” Cooper continues, “are you sure we’re not gonna hook up?”
“Positive.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Fine, then thirdly—yes, I guess I’ll settle for friendship.”
“How kind of you.”
“Right?”
“Oh God. I’m already reconsidering. I feel like you’re going to be a high-maintenance friend.”
“Bullshit,” he argues. “I’ll be the best friend you’ve ever had. I always go above and beyond what’s expected of me. I mean, I’ve liberated goats for my friends. Can you say the same?”
I snicker. “Goats, plural? You mean it wasn’t just the one?”
“Nah, it was only one goat. But one time, I did steal a goldfish for my friend Alana.”
“Awesome. I’m friends with a thief.” I poke him in the side. “I need to hear the goldfish story, please.”
He winks. “Oh, it’s a good one.”
We talk for so long, the two of us around the dwindling fire, that I don’t notice the black night turn to gray early morning until Evan and Bonnie come strolling toward us looking rather pleased with themselves. By then I realize I have a dozen texts from Preston wondering what the hell happened to me. Oops.