but I didn't get a chance to put him in his place. Archer shot out of his seat and grabbed Jase by the collar of his shirt, dragging him out of the den with Kody tight on his heels.
I arched a brow at Steele, but he placed a finger against his lips. He tilted his head as if to indicate we listen, so I pinched my lips closed and strained my ears.
"Get the fuck out, Jase," Archer told him in a voice like ice and death. "Sort out that fucking attitude before the shoot tomorrow or don't come." He stomped back into the den and flopped his ass back down on the couch without even glancing at me.
Kody wasn't done with their manager yet, though.
"Talk about our girl—or any girl—like that again and you'll find yourself right back where we found you, a penniless con artist working the streets for scraps and charity. Now fuck off."
The sound of the front door slamming echoed through the house, and Kody returned to us in the den with a deep scowl marring his handsome face. He didn't immediately sit back down, though, first coming over to me where I sat on Steele's lap and grabbing my face for a bruising kiss.
"Sorry about him, babe," he told me, brushing his thumb over my lower lip and staring into my eyes with sincerity. "He's always been a socially awkward son of a bitch, but that was way over the line."
I snorted a dry laugh. "Don't sweat it, Kodiak. I put up with bigger assholes on a daily basis. I've got a pretty good handle on not taking shit personally." I shot a pointed look past him to Archer, who just glared back at me with an unreadable expression.
"We know you're capable of handling yourself, gorgeous," Steele told me, stroking his fingers through my hair, "but you shouldn't have to. Not if we can take care of it."
Archer made an exaggerated gagging sound and stood up from the couch. "The air in here just got sickeningly sweet. Kody, I'll meet you in the gym." He clapped his friend on the shoulder, then exited the room, taking his thundercloud of shitty attitude with him.
Kody sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "So much for winter break. You guys coming? MK needs to keep working on her self-defense training, Steele. Maybe you can help while I train Arch?"
"You bet," Steele replied, even while I made a sound of protest. The last thing I wanted to do was share a gym with Archer. Actually... having met Jase I could think of worse things.
"But why?" I complained as Kody helped me up out of Steele's lap, "Didn't Archer spend all morning in the gym already? That boy needs a hobby."
Kody laughed, cleaning up the empty beer cans. Actually, I was wrong, only a few were beer cans and the rest were sparkling water. "Jase secured a comeback fight for him in a few weeks. The original fighter fell sick with a virus, and the other guy asked for a replacement instead of a forfeit. So now it's back into hardcore training mode again."
"Come on, Hellcat," Steele teased, looping his arm around my waist and directing me back upstairs. "Let's get changed, and you can show me these moves Kody taught you last week."
I gave him a sly smile and winked. "Oh yeah? We probably don't need clothes for that."
Steele laughed. "Funny girl, but you're not getting out of this so easily. We all agree you need to know how to fight—how to defend yourself in case anyone catches you off guard again." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Although I could probably be persuaded to go easy on you."
Grinning, I picked up my pace and tossed my borrowed hoodie off before my bedroom door was even fully open. If any persuading was going down, I was willing to bet it wouldn't need clothes.
Sadly, Steele's idea of "going easy" on me in the gym still left me bruised and grumpy as shit, but even I had to admit that I needed to learn these things. Some small tricks up my sleeve or correct techniques could mean the difference between life and death if my attackers stepped up their efforts again.
The next day we drove out to a warehouse studio in Rainybanks for the photo shoot, and I quickly worked out why it was a closed shoot.
"You guys are doing a nude photo shoot?" I gaped as I looked around the set and