Liar (Madison Kate #2)(38)

Talking to Bree helped, though. Even if her best suggestion was to sneak into Archer's room and superglue his nuts to his leg.

We ended our call as the deep red sun rose over the snow-covered grounds, and Bree promised to do some research and come up with more creative payback for Archer's shitty attitude.

A soft knock on my door pulled my attention as I was finishing my makeup, and I unlocked it to answer.

"Hey," Steele greeted me with a relaxed smile, "I figured you'd be up. Want to come for a walk?" He was already dressed in dark jeans and a charcoal-gray woolen coat and held a pair of black leather gloves in his hand. He looked incredible, and I was sorely tempted to drag him into my bed.

"Sure," I replied instead, pulling my door open further. "I'll just find my coat."

Steele stepped into my room, waiting while I grabbed my warm winter jacket out of my overnight bag, then pulled on my over-the-knee flat boots. A little extra height would have been nice around the guys, but I was more concerned with not falling on my ass in the snow.

"Ready," I announced, tucking my hands into my pockets and turning back to Steele.

He was staring at me with a strange, confused sort of expression, his head tilted to the side and a small smile on his lips.

"What?" I asked, frowning.

His smile widened, and he shook his head. "Nothing," he lied. "Come here." He held out his hand, and I pulled one of mine from my warm pocket to take it. Steele pulled me closer to him, then threaded his long fingers into my hair. He tilted my head back and claimed my lips in a sensual kiss full of dark promises and desire.

"What was that for?" I whispered when he released me.

His pierced brow rose, and his smirk was all satisfaction. "Do I need a reason to kiss you, Hellcat?"

A pointed and very fake throat clearing interrupted our private moment, and my glare speared Kody to the spot.

"There's this thing called knocking," I told him in a growl, not bothering to pull away from Steele. Why bother? Kody already knew we'd fucked and he'd just seen us kissing. It'd seem a bit silly trying to cover it up at this late stage of the game.

Kody smirked back at me. "There's this thing called sharing, MK," he retorted, and I laughed despite myself. "You guys heading down for breakfast? I smell bacon."

"Uh, we were going to take a quick walk," Steele told him. He released his grip on my hair but wove our fingers together instead, making a clear point of who the we in that scenario was.

Kody screwed up his nose at us. "Before MK has coffee? Are you insane or just suicidal?" He shook his head, dismissing the idea. "Come on, you know Ana gets upset if her food gets cold."

Steele gave me an exasperated look, and I just smiled. "He's not wrong," I said in a quiet voice. "You probably want to feed and caffeinate me before I need to deal with Archer's hormonal bullshit."

He wrinkled his nose but sighed. "Yeah, fair point."

Kody took the opportunity to pull me out of Steele's grip and sling his arm over my shoulders as we headed down to the dining room.

"So, what happened to you and Arch last night?" Kody asked as the three of us took our seats at the table and started loading up our plates as Ana dropped off more food. It was already more impressive than a country club buffet, but she clucked something about waffles still to come.

The mood-swinging, douchebag prick was nowhere to be seen, nor was his grandmother, so I just shrugged.

"Usual Archer D'Ath mind games," I replied vaguely. "Making sure I didn't go forgetting how much I hate him, despite how things are changing with you two."

Kody grinned at me across the table. "So things are changing for us. Excellent."

I gave him a flat stare back. "I didn't say changing for the better, jerk."

He winked one of those flirtatious green eyes. "But you meant it."

Damn him. I did.

"So, he told you about Phillip's butterfly knives?" Steele asked, forking some fluffy pancakes onto his plate.

I cringed at the memory of the night before, how he'd kissed me and I'd kissed him back... then he'd blown it all up in my face. "Uh, not really. He showed me the secret weapons room and the drawer full of knives, but then..." I trailed off with a shrug. "You know how it is. He went all Archer, and I didn't stick around to put up with any more of it."

The surprised look that passed between Kody and Steele didn't go unnoticed by me, but I didn't push the issue.

Kody smoothly changed the subject to talk of exam prep, and I quietly learned that he was studying sports therapy at SGU. Which made sense considering his side business as a fitness trainer.

"How many clients do you have, anyway?" I asked when he complained about how busy his winter break was already lining up to be. "I never see you training anyone except Archer."

Kody flashed me a grin. "Well, you should watch me more often, babe. But also, I usually go to my clients’ houses to train them. It's the kind of service big bucks demands."

Archer chose that moment to stomp into the dining room. His hair, longer on top than the shaved sides, was in disarray like he'd just woken up, and his scowl was like a bear with a sore head.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Steele drawled, eyeing his friend up. "Sleep well?"