I was confused. No doubt about it. "Fake girlfriend?" I corrected... or queried.
He shrugged again. "Sure, if that's what you want to call it."
I bit my lip, thinking over his suggestion. Except, it was exactly what I'd planned to do anyway, wasn't it? So why was I suddenly flooded with nervous tension and excitement?
"Alright," I replied, my voice a bit breathier than I'd intended. "Deal. But you're dealing with his shitty attitude when he realizes you're not dropping me like sour milk."
Kody grinned. "Fuck off, you love his shitty attitude."
Before I could protest, his lips were on mine.
Bang.
Sparks flew and light bulbs exploded all through the kitchen while every electrical appliance in the house short-circuited.
Or, at least, that was how Kody kissing me made me feel. Every touch, every nip, and every sigh was pure electricity, and I was melting under his hands, in the best possible way.
"You have no idea," he whispered to me in a husky, serious voice as our kiss ended, "how badly I needed that."
His hands had found my waist, his fingers digging into my flesh like he was reassuring himself that I was, in fact, physically there.
"So did I," I replied, my voice so soft I barely even heard my own words. I hadn't even known how badly I'd needed that kiss from him. He'd grounded me and reassured me that nothing had changed where he was concerned... like that whole grisly mess on Halloween hadn't happened. We were right back on that dance floor at the warehouse, ready to rip each other's clothes off.
Kody combed his fingers through my loose tresses, gripping tight to the lengths and tipping my head back for another searing kiss.
"As badly as I want to take this further," he told me in a low voice, kissing my jaw, then my neck. "I need a favor."
I snorted a laugh. "Kodiak Jones, we've only been fake dating for five minutes, and you're already asking favors? The audacity."
His smile curved against the skin of my throat, and I filed it away as one of my favourite sensations. "I know. But this is an important one, and I'll owe you."
"You already owe me," I reminded him, "for scaring off Drew at Bree's party."
He moved back a couple of inches, wrinkling his nose at the reminder. "I'll double owe you?"
I rolled my eyes. "What's the favor? The last one wasn't all so terrible." I dragged my tongue across my lower lip, remembering the way he'd used me to get rid of his ex-girlfriend. His gaze was glued on my mouth, but he wrenched it away and back to my eyes.
"I need you to go and talk with Steele," he said with a hopeful tilt to his brows. "He's... he needs you."
My eyes narrowed. "He didn't exactly seem overcome with joy to see me back just now." Yeah, I was bitter.
Kody's intuitive green eyes held me captive, peering way too deeply into my soul and stripping back the layers of my tough exterior. "Babe, come on. Steele just deals with his shit a bit differently. You know that." The pointed look he gave me reminded me of the night I'd fallen asleep to Steele's piano music. Was that how he dealt with his baggage? "Please?"
Ugh. Puppy dog eyes. How was such a pathetic facial expression so fucking effective on a gorgeous guy like Kody?
"Fine," I groaned. "So eager to throw your fake girlfriend into another man's arms already? This relationship is doomed."
A wide grin spread across Kody's lips, and he ducked down to kiss me again. "Or is it just about to get all kinds of interesting? It's just a matter of perspective, baby."
I'd be lying if I tried to tell anyone my internal voice didn't scream "reverse harem" at the top of its lungs. Except there were two problems there. One, my mental voice sounded a whole lot like Bree. And two, reverse harems required three or more love interests.
Archer was not an option.
5
I checked the time on my phone as I headed up to Steele's room. If I wanted to make it to my first lecture of the day, I needed to leave the house in about half an hour. There was no way in hell I could drive myself—not after crashing so recently—but maybe Kody would drive me.
Or Steele, if he didn't hate me like it'd sort of seemed in that brief interaction in the kitchen. Worse, if he was indifferent.