"Hands off my girl," Archer snapped back like a bear with a sore head. "It's too early for that shit."
I snickered a laugh, shaking my head. "Don't be salty just because you're on ice for a week, Sunshine."
The glare he shot me when I met his eyes was equal parts annoyance and sex. He wanted to strangle me, but he also wanted to fuck me raw. Nothing wrong with both, in my opinion.
"Whoa, what?" Steele asked, coming into the kitchen on the tail end of my comment. "Arch is on ice?"
Archer glowered, saying nothing.
"Until he wins this charity fight, yep." I efficiently went about making my coffee, grinding fresh beans and steaming the milk. I hesitated only a moment before using the larger milk jug to make coffee for everyone.
Kody let out a low whistle at my announcement, clapping Archer on the shoulder. "Guess I better put my money on you to win, then. With incentive like that, it's a sure thing."
Archer looked offended. "You wanna tell me you were betting on the other guy? Fuck you, dickhead."
Steele's arms snaked around my waist as I worked my machine to extract beautiful, dark espresso with perfect, golden crema. "You look gorgeous this morning, Hellcat." His lips pressed to my neck, and I leaned back into his embrace. I could definitely get used to this newfound peace between the four of us.
"I love this T-shirt," I replied, craning my neck to kiss him on the lips. "Thanks for tucking me in last night."
"It was purely selfish," he told me with a smirk. "I totally felt you up while I was changing your clothes. Then I needed to force myself not to wake you up."
I chuckled, turning back to finish our coffee off with silky steamed milk. "Well, I doubt I would have complained if you had." I handed him one of the mugs, and our fingers interlinked on the cup.
"Thanks," he said softly, pressing another gentle kiss to my lips. "As for the T-shirt, maybe we could go see them in concert sometime. I've met Blaise Morrison a couple of times; he's a cool guy."
My internal fangirl squealed, but I kept it calm on the outside. "Cool." I nodded, mentally high-fiving myself for that composure. "It's a date."
"Damn right, it is," Steele murmured, letting me slip out of his embrace to deliver coffee to Kody and Archer.
Kody thanked me with a way too intense kiss, which ended in Archer elbowing him in the ribs. Archer just eyed the coffee like I'd handed him a cup of spit.
"Don't be such a snob, Sunshine," I teased him. "Drink the damn coffee. It might improve that surly temperament this morning."
Kody scoffed. "Unlikely."
Archer grabbed my wrist before I could walk away, though, hauling me into his lap and kissing me like I was all the stimulant he needed to start the day right.
"There's only one thing that's going to improve my temperament, Princess," he muttered in my ear, nipping my lobe with his teeth and making me moan. His hips pressed up, showing me exactly what he meant, as if there could be any misunderstanding there.
I clasped his face with both my hands, kissing him back just as hard as he'd claimed my lips. When I released him, we were both breathing heavily and his cock was rock hard beneath me.
"Well then, I guess you’d better win that fight this weekend, huh?" With a grin, I hopped off his lap and circled around the island counter away from his reach. "Until then, I recommend lots of cold showers, okay?"
Kody and Steele snickered and tossed teasing insults at Archer, but the man himself just locked eyes with me across the kitchen, silently promising retribution.
Good. That was what I was banking on.
"Actually, babe," Kody said after a moment, "there is something we need to discuss with you, on the subject of your many admirers."
A chill of dread ran through me. That couldn't be a good subject... could it? Then again, the three of them seemed okay with the new reality this morning.
"Okay..." I kept my expression carefully neutral, letting them take the lead. "What's up?"
Kody shot a pointed look at Steele, who sighed and scrubbed a hand over his buzzed hair.
"Scott," Steele said, grimacing.
I sighed. "Look, I know he's been a bit clingy and shit, but he met me when I was in a really negative headspace. I'd just had my heart broken"—all three of them winced at that—"and I was pretty