used. "I could show you what else is hard..." he murmured in my ear, and the suggestion was more difficult to turn down than I really wanted to admit.
"Go," I ordered them both in a firm voice before I could change my mind and strip them both naked. "I'll see you tomorrow before class, right?"
"You bet," Kody replied, kissing my neck before letting me go. "I'll text you later."
He headed out the door first, then Steele grabbed my face for a fast but bruising kiss. When he let me go, he gave me a wink.
"Lock the door, Hellcat," he murmured, then pulled it shut behind him.
I knew he'd wait to hear me close the bolts, so I quickly flipped them over. For a moment, I just leaned my forehead against the door while I caught my breath and let my racing pulse return to normal.
Fucking Steele, he knew I wouldn't be able to get that kiss out of my head for the rest of the night. Good thing I was plenty experienced with handling my own needs.
25
The next few days passed with relative calm. No one tried to kill me, no one delivered creepy packages, and Scott was back to the guy I'd met in Aspen—normal, a little flirtatious, but thoroughly un-creepy. I appreciated the breathing space.
Kody and Steele had made it their mission to win me over—more than they already had—and were helping run interference with Archer for me.
Interference sometimes resulted in Archer taking a rough elbow or knee to the body, but that only endeared the guys to me further. It wasn't like Archer was any stranger to taking a hit, and for everything he'd put me through? Yeah, he could take a couple of friendly knocks.
After his snide comment about keeping me alive for a payout, I decided to quit pandering to his bullshit. I was sick of putting myself in a position where he could tear me down in a few callous words, so I was simply not risking it. All week, whenever he'd tried to corner me alone or asked the guys to fuck off so we could talk, I'd completely iced him out.
Fuck that noise. Until I heard back from Demi on how to end our sham marriage, I intended to pretend Archer D'Ath simply didn't exist.
Surprisingly, both Kody and Steele were giving me space. They met me every morning with coffee and snacks and we spent lunch together, along with Bree and Scott, but they didn't insist on shadowing me home after classes were over.
On Thursday afternoon, after Kody had dragged me around the corner of the human sciences building and kissed me until my knees went weak, I slid into Bree's car with a dazed smile.
"So, as much as I love having time with you again," she commented, giving me a knowing look as I ran my fingers through my tousled hair, "I'm surprised they aren't glued to your side twenty-four seven. I'd have thought the moment you gave them an inch, they'd take a mile."
I ran my fingertip over my swollen lips. "Me too, girl. But I'm pleasantly surprised that hasn’t been the case. Kody and Steele seem to be serious about winning my trust back."
Bree hummed a sound of amusement. "Like they haven't already."
I grinned. "Yeah, well, they don't need to know that. Gotta make them work a bit harder, you know?"
"Oh, I wasn't disagreeing. Just laughing. Anyway, are you working out with Cass again this afternoon?"
Hitting the gym in the afternoons with the big, tattooed, scary motherfucker had turned into a routine, so I nodded.
"Cool, I have my therapy session today, so I can't hang out," Bree told me, "but call me when you get home so I know you're still alive, okay?"
I grinned. "You sound like Steele now."
She batted her lashes at me. "Oh, I sound like I'm totally head-over-heels in love with you and willing to burn down the whole city to find who's trying to kill you?" She snickered a laugh. "Not totally wrong. I do love you, bitch. But I don't wanna fuck you. Big difference."
"Uh-huh, sure you don't," I teased. "I'd totally give Dallas some competition in bed."
She snickered again, shaking her head as she pulled up in front of my apartment building. Cass was already standing out front, chatting to a couple of younger Reapers, and I knew I needed to hurry the fuck up. Grumpy Cass was funny, but pissed off Cass was scary, and he hated waiting for me.