Kody gave a short laugh. "Nah, fuck them. Archer is more of a sea lion, anyway. But I know what you're saying, even if you're being too stubborn to fucking say it. I love you too, babe."
He sealed his lips to mine, kissing me slowly and letting all that emotion pour into me, warming me from the soul up. Fuck me, Kodiak Jones was too damn perfect sometimes.
"Mmm," I mumbled when our kiss ended, "I'd love you more if you let me go back to sleep right now."
He scoffed a laugh, then kissed me again, harder. "Nice try. Now, are you going to get up, or do I have to carry you into the gym wearing that?"
I glanced down at my oversized T-shirt and panties, then sighed. "I guess I'll change. Give me half an hour."
With a bark of amusement, Kody climbed off the bed and headed for the door. "Not a damn chance, babe. Five minutes or I'm dragging you down there no matter what you're wearing... or not wearing."
He left my bedroom laughing, and I flopped back onto my bed with a groan. But I couldn't be mad at him, despite how much I wanted to stay asleep. He was training me because he loved me. He wanted me to have the best possible chance of protecting myself rather than sitting in my ivory tower and waiting for my knights in shining armor to save the day.
I loved that. I loved that my guys wanted to empower me, not weaken me. They believed in my abilities... but in return I needed to play fair and show up when Kody had time to train me.
Dammit.
Groaning way too much, I rolled out of bed and changed into a crop top and yoga pants. That'd have to do.
I scraped my hair up into a high ponytail as I made my sleepy way down to the gym, yawning every three steps, then damn near swallowing my tongue as I entered the gym.
"Come on!" I exclaimed with my hands on my hips. "This isn't fair."
Archer just laughed from where he was doing pull-ups in nothing but a tiny pair of tight boxer shorts. Prick.
"Sorry, babe," Kody called out over the thumping music, "can't hear you over all that hypocrisy. Hey, nice work-out outfit." He strolled over to me with a smug grin, his hands on his hips. He wore a pair of loose basketball shorts and nothing else. Seriously. I could see his dick swing when he walked. How the fuck was I meant to concentrate with him like that?
My frustrated gaze shifted back to Archer, but he just shot me a wink and an air-kiss as he flexed harder.
Pop.
My ovaries just exploded.
"Kody..." I whined. "You're being mean."
He just grinned. "Payback's a bitch, babe. The number of times I've suffered through a session with you while dealing with a hard-on..." He shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Now, let's get started. I wanna work on your actual combat skills today."
I pouted, but he was making good points. I did tend to wear minimal, skintight clothes to work out in, knowing full damn well I was driving him nuts. Apparently, it was time for me to take a bit of my own medicine.
"Isn't that what we've been doing for weeks?" I asked, following him over to the cardio machines where he always started me for a warm-up.
He nodded. "We have, in theory. But I want to see you put some of those skills into action. Arch has kindly offered to be your sparring partner."
My jaw dropped. "You want me to fight Archer?" My voice was a shocked squeak, and I jerked my head to glare at the big asshole. "I can't fight you!"
His smile was pure evil. "Why not, Princess? I'll go easy on you."
"Why not?" I exclaimed. "Are you kidding? You'll annihilate me!"
"Only if you ask me really nicely," he replied with a hungry look, and my cheeks instantly heated. They seriously wanted to kill me this morning.
Kody chuckled to himself like he was enjoying his sick little idea. Bastard. "Come on, ten-minute warm-up while I sort through some shit with Arch, then you can have at it. I won't even call foul if you throw some dirty fists."
Now, I could have been wrong, but that sounded a whole lot like Kody suggesting I punch Archer in the junk, which left me with a conundrum to ponder the whole time I was warming up on the