Liar (Madison Kate #2)(10)

"Hey!" I shouted. "That one was for Bree."

"She doesn't need one," he told me, downing the rest of the coffee in three quick gulps. "I told her we'd be driving you to SGU from now on."

"What? Why?" Anger was making me trip over my words and get tongue-tied, which Archer used to his advantage.

He dropped his empty cup in the sink and clapped Kody on the shoulder as he left the kitchen. "Use protection, bro. No one likes an STD."

I was fucking fuming by the time he was gone from the room, my hands balled into fists at my sides like I wanted to hit him. Again. My knee was feeling the itch of needing to nail some balls.

"What," Kody drawled, casually sipping his coffee and actually savouring it, "was that all about?"

I turned my scowl on him, then gave a defeated sigh. I wanted to maintain that anger, that burning hatred that had fueled me for the first six weeks I'd lived with the three of them. But all that was left was fumes. At least when it came to Kody, anyway.

"He told me that Steele..." I trailed off, feeling stupid as hell saying it out loud—especially to Kody, who I was still attracted to. I cleared my throat and took a sip of my coffee. "He said that I just need to fuck you once so you can get me out of your system... like Steele has."

Kody's brows rose, and I held my breath while waiting for his reaction.

Then he started laughing.

"I'm sorry, MK," he finally said when his laughter died down. "It's just funny 'cause Arch is a bigger moron than I'd given him credit for."

I frowned. "How so?"

Kody shook his head, still chuckling as he drank more coffee. "For one thing, Steele is nowhere near 'over' you. He's been a fucking mess since Halloween. He's blaming himself for not stopping you before you drove away that night."

I frowned harder.

"And for another..." Kody snickered again, giving me a broad smile. "Have I ever told you how much we love to play games around here?"

I nodded slowly, my eyes narrowed with suspicion. "It's been mentioned once or twice. Why?"

His smile turned evil. "What would you say to calling Archer's bluff?"

I froze. "Um. Is that how you proposition a girl for sex, Kody? I thought you had more game than that."

He sighed like I was being deliberately obtuse. "I wasn't asking you to fuck me, MK. I mean, I'm all for that, don't read me wrong. But I meant..." He trailed off, running a hand through that platinum hair of his. "Will you go out with me? On an actual date, not a forced one where you get slapped by my crazy ex?"

I smiled at the memory, then gave Kody a cautious look. "I know why it'll piss Archer off—he hates being proven wrong. But what's in this for you? Sex?"

Kody shrugged, rolling those hard muscles of his shoulders in the most delicious way. "Hopefully. But I'll also just do it to spend time with you, MK. In case you have missed all the really obvious signals, I like you. I want to date you." He came around the island to where I stood and placed his hands to either side of me on the counter top, boxing me in. "So, how about it? Wanna be my girlfriend?"

I was confused. No doubt about it. "Fake girlfriend?" I corrected... or queried.

He shrugged again. "Sure, if that's what you want to call it."

I bit my lip, thinking over his suggestion. Except, it was exactly what I'd planned to do anyway, wasn't it? So why was I suddenly flooded with nervous tension and excitement?

"Alright," I replied, my voice a bit breathier than I'd intended. "Deal. But you're dealing with his shitty attitude when he realizes you're not dropping me like sour milk."

Kody grinned. "Fuck off, you love his shitty attitude."

Before I could protest, his lips were on mine.

Bang.

Sparks flew and light bulbs exploded all through the kitchen while every electrical appliance in the house short-circuited.

Or, at least, that was how Kody kissing me made me feel. Every touch, every nip, and every sigh was pure electricity, and I was melting under his hands, in the best possible way.

"You have no idea," he whispered to me in a husky, serious voice as our kiss ended, "how badly I needed that."

His hands had found my waist, his fingers digging into my flesh like he was reassuring himself that I was, in fact, physically there.

"So did I," I replied, my voice so soft I barely even heard my own words. I hadn't even known how badly I'd needed that kiss from him. He'd grounded me and reassured me that nothing had changed where he was concerned... like that whole grisly mess on Halloween hadn't happened. We were right back on that dance floor at the warehouse, ready to rip each other's clothes off.

Kody combed his fingers through my loose tresses, gripping tight to the lengths and tipping my head back for another searing kiss.

"As badly as I want to take this further," he told me in a low voice, kissing my jaw, then my neck. "I need a favor."

I snorted a laugh. "Kodiak Jones, we've only been fake dating for five minutes, and you're already asking favors? The audacity."

His smile curved against the skin of my throat, and I filed it away as one of my favourite sensations. "I know. But this is an important one, and I'll owe you."