"You heard her, prof," he snarled, "go now, before she changes her mind."
It was safe to say I don't think my criminology professor could have escaped our house faster if he'd tried. I was surprised not to see a trail of piss following him, as petrified as he looked. How in the hell he'd stayed alive this long was a mystery.
"Should have killed him," Steele murmured when the front door slammed. Kody had followed to ensure the professor actually left our property, but Archer, Steele, and I remained.
I sighed, dropping my head onto Archer's shoulder, and leaned into him when his arm wrapped around me. "I know," I mumbled, "but I get the feeling we're going to be doing a lot of killing in the next few weeks. Maybe sparing professor Barker will balance the karma a little."
Archer scoffed. "Doubtful. But he definitely struck me as more annoying than dangerous. We'll pay him a visit later when he's not expecting it. You know, really make sure he understands the importance of keeping his mouth shut."
I shivered at the violence in his voice. "Damn it, Sunshine, you're getting me all turned on with that kind of dirty talk."
Archer and Steele both laughed at that, but fuck... I wasn't joking.
"Come on," Steele said, pushing off the wall, "it smells like Anna has dinner almost ready."
My stomach rumbled at that comment, and I happily got out of my chair to follow him. Now that we'd gotten used to Anna cooking proper meals, it was a bit embarrassing how dependent on takeout we had been before. Not to mention how limited our diet had been.
Now, though? Anna was turning us all into actual foodies, and she was openly proud of that fact.
Steele had been right. Anna was just putting out the last of the plates of food when we entered the kitchen, and she happily talked us through what she'd made for us: spinach and ricotta cannelloni with a side of freshly made garlic bread. Yum. So much yum.
After we all ate, I packed up the plates, then went hunting in the freezer for ice cream. Just because Archer needed to eat well to make weight for his fight didn't mean the rest of us had to deprive ourselves.
Except we were all out.
"Who ate all the ice cream?" I demanded, turning around to scowl at the three boys. All of them gave me innocent "who me?" faces, but I narrowed my gaze on Archer. He thought he was so sneaky with his late-night fridge visits, but I was onto him.
"You. Go. Buy more ice cream." I pointed at him, then at the door. "Now."
He shook his head. "Can't, sorry Princess. For one thing, Kody is the ice cream thief. For another, I need to get back to the gym. Big fight coming up, you know?" He hurried out of the room before I could argue with him, so I switched my glare to Kody instead.
"Way to throw me under the bus, asshole," Kody grumbled, his cheeks pink. "But... I should really go and oversee his training."
I rolled my eyes. "You both suck."
Steele snickered a laugh. "I'll go, Hellcat. But only if you let me pick the movie when I get back, okay?"
"Deal," I told him quickly.
His eyes narrowed, thoughtfully. "And you watch it with no pants on."
I grinned. "Deal."
"Dammit," Kody grumbled, "well played, Max Steele. Well fucking played."
I laughed, then followed Steele as he headed for the garage. "Wait up, I'll come with you."
He paused, arching a brow at me in question, so I just shrugged and slipped my feet into a pair of ballet flats at the front door.
"Safety in numbers, Max," I told him quietly. "Even on a trip to the store for ice cream."
His lips tugged up in a smile, and when I came closer he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into a long kiss. "You're adorable, Hellcat," he murmured, then handed me a gun. "Take this. I've got a spare in the car." I gave him a wide-eyed look, and he shrugged back. "Better safe than sorry, gorgeous. And I have confidence in your gun-handling skills these days."
"Aw, you guys are going to give me heart failure with all these sweet comments," I teased as we continued into the garage and climbed into one of Archer's black Porsches. Steele had probably chosen it for the bulletproof glass, and for that I was thankful.
We drove to the closest store, and Steele carefully checked our surroundings before