crowd roared to deafening levels, and at some stage Archer caught my eye through the cage.
I licked my lips.
Fists flew, blood sprayed, the crowd went mental, and all of a sudden his opponent was tapping out from a vicious arm-triangle choke hold.
Just like that, Archer D'Ath won.
Steele and Kody whooped with excitement, Kody crashing into the cage to grab his friend in one of those manly bro hugs and slap him on the back repeatedly while the crowd went nuts cheering and screaming for their victor.
"Well, now you've got me curious," Steele yelled to me over all the noise.
I just shook my head. It had all been fun and games when I was just taunting him over his insane level of sexual frustration, but now? Now, I was so screwed.
Maybe literally.
31
After the fight was over, Archer—as the victor—was pulled into a series of interviews with sports reporters, so Steele and I sat on the hood of the Impala to wait for them to get out. The after party was in a shitty sports bar across town, but after so long cooped up in the house with just the three guys, I was more than ready for any party.
Of course, this one would be celebrating Archer's win, so I'd have to suffer through his ginormous ego all night. But so long as there was booze we should be good.
"Fucking finally," Steele shouted out, seeing Kody and Archer emerge from the sports center. "We thought you'd gotten lost or something." He hopped off the hood and popped his driver’s side door open as the boys approached with wide grins pasted across their faces.
That in itself was enough to give me pause. Archer smiling... genuinely smiling... it wasn't something I saw often. Not when it was so free of malice and discontentment.
Kody went for the backseat but Archer stopped directly in front of where I sat frozen on the hood of the car, his smile wide and his blue eyes dancing with excitement. Like he'd been fucking body-snatched or something.
"Congrats," I told him, sliding down the hood to get off, but he didn't move. Instead, his hands fell to my bare thighs—thanks to my short dress—and he pulled me an inch closer to him.
His head bent down, his lips brushing my ear as he spoke. "I won. So now what do I get, Kate?"
Fuck me. The husky way those words rolled off his tongue went straight to my pussy and exploded like fireworks.
I tilted my head back, meeting his eyes with a sassy challenge in mine. "How about the sense of achievement you're currently riding like a high? Nothing quite like the pride of showing the haters you're the best, right, sunshine?"
He laughed, a quick, surprised sound like he hadn't even expected that response from me. Then the humor faded back to dark mischief, and his lips brushed mine in a ghost of a kiss. "Try again, Kate. I believe there was mention of dick sucking earlier? Work along that train of thought." He slapped my bare thigh, making me squeak, then winked and left me to take his seat in the passenger side of Steele's car.
I slid the rest of the way off the hood and made my way back to my seat with shaking legs, and when both Kody and Steele shot me curious, knowing glances, I dodged their eyes. I was all too aware I was playing a dangerous fucking game with Archer—with all of them—but I couldn't seem to stop myself. The rush of adrenaline I got from those brief encounters was too addictive.
Archer leaned over and turned the stereo on loud, and I breathed a sigh of relief that there wouldn't be any awkward conversation or tense silence the whole way to the after party. It was an official party, so it would be packed full of VIP ticket holders and any annual pass holders who were willing to travel to this corner of the country to attend. But I'd managed to get Bree and Dallas some passes, and I was looking forward to seeing them both.
When Steele parked in the jammed parking lot in front of the venue, I leapt out like my seat was on fire. I wasn't one to ever renege on a bet, but damn, I needed a few drinks in me first. And I needed to find my friends and reassure them that I was cool with them being... whatever the fuck they were. Friends with benefits, by the sound of things.