Evan had also used that phrase. I wonder who else comprises this “gang.” Cooper and I haven’t done much in the getting-to-know-you realm this week. I mean, beyond anatomy.
Speaking of anatomy, an insanely attractive, anatomically perfect guy strides into the kitchen. Tall, fair, and armed with a pair of dimples, he flashes a smile at Steph. “Who’s your friend?” he asks, curious blue eyes landing on me.
“Mackenzie,” I say, holding out my hand.
“Tate.” He shakes my outstretched hand, his fingers lingering.
Steph snorts. “Keep it in your pants, babe. She’s with Coop.”
“Yeah?” Tate sounds impressed. His gaze rakes over me in slow, deliberate perusal. “Lucky Coop.” He grabs a few longnecks from the fridge. “You girls coming outside to the fire?”
“In a bit,” Steph answers.
“Cool.” He nods and leaves the kitchen.
Once he’s gone, Steph is quick to give me the skinny on Tate. Apparently he sleeps around, but his dimples and easygoing charm make it hard to view him as a douchebag. “He’s just so darn likeable, you know?” She sighs. “I hate people like that.”
“Those likeable pricks,” I agree, solemn.
We continue chatting as we drink our cocktails. The more we talk, the more I like her. Turns out we both have a thing for amusement parks and the one-hit wonders of early 2000s pop music.
“I saw them last year in Myrtle Beach. They were opening for …” Steph thinks about it then laughs to herself. “Yeah, I can’t remember. They’re in their fifties now.”
“Oh God, I can’t believe they’re still together.”
“It was weird,” she says, pouring us another couple of mixed cocktails.
“What was weird?” A girl with platinum hair and dressed in a black cropped T-shirt with the sleeves cut off slides in next to Steph.
“Nothing,” Steph says. She’s smiling until she clocks the hard glare on the blonde’s face. Then all the humor falls. “Heidi, this is Mackenzie.”
There’s too much emphasis on my name. I can’t help wondering what Cooper’s told them. It leaves me at a significant disadvantage.
“Nice to meet you,” I offer to cut the tension. I’m assuming Heidi is yet another member of this “gang.”
“Great,” she says, bored the minute she looked at me. “Can we talk, Steph?”
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.