Liar (Madison Kate #2)(66)

I sighed. "You try convincing my jailers of that."

She scowled, and a pang of guilt hit me. I hadn't told her what I'd found out about who was really behind my loss of freedom, so she still believed it was all my father. There was no reason for me to keep Kody's involvement a secret, except for the fact that I didn't want her hating on one of the dudes I was falling for—despite my better judgment.

"Alright, challenge accepted," she announced, standing up and grabbing her bag. "You coming?"

I blinked up at her a couple of times. "Uh, what?"

She shrugged and tossed me my bag. "You told me to convince your jailers to let you come party with me tonight. So that's exactly what I'm going to do. Kody drove you again today, didn't he?"

I nodded, still confused as fuck but willing to follow along. "Yeah. He should be getting out of his biology exam about now."

Bree grinned like she'd already won. Poor thing. I didn't want to dash her hopes when she looked so excited, but there was absolutely no way in hell Kody would agree to her idea. No freaking way. The guys hadn't said anything to me directly, but they'd been subtly ramping up the protectiveness since Monday's bird-in-a-box incident. Security guards in black uniforms now monitored the front gate and patrolled the property perimeter at nighttime. I hadn't mentioned it to the guys because I was quietly glad for the extra protection.

She had a bounce to her step as she headed back outside and over to Kody's Maserati parked outside the admin building. He’d probably just got out of his exam and was now leaning against the driver’s side door while he texted someone with his head down.

"Kody, gorgeous!" Bree called out, skipping over to him. I tried to ignore the small tendril of jealous possessiveness that curled through me, but it was hard. Bree was a total babe and a huge flirt to boot.

He looked up from his phone, frowning when he saw Bree, then his gaze slipped past her to me. The smile that curved his lips was all mine, and it eradicated any anxiety I had around Bree being a flirt. Kody only had eyes for one girl right now, and that was me.

"Hey Bree," he replied to my friend as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "What's up?"

She turned up her megawatt smile, but Kody wasn't even looking at her. He faced her, sure, but his line of sight was locked on me. It was making me all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside, and I was already planning out that Netflix date for later.

"Kody, sweetheart, you know how hard MK has been studying for these exams, right?" she started, really amping up her car-salesman persona. It made me grin. "Don't you think she deserves a bit of a celebration tonight? A chance to let loose and forget about all that other... crap... going on?" She was batting her lashes, but Kody was still watching me. I just met his gaze and gave a small shrug and head shake as if to say, It's Bree; go with it.

"Um, yes?" he replied to my friend, and he clearly wasn't concentrating on what she was saying. Rookie error.

"Great!" Bree exclaimed. "So you have no objections to me taking her out dancing tonight. I'm so glad we're on the same page."

Kody's gaze snapped away from mine, and he frowned at Bree. "Wait, what?"

Bree sighed, and I could tell she was annoyed that she hadn't just slipped through as easily as she often got permission from her father on shit like that. "I'm taking MK out clubbing tonight," she told him, her tone losing a bit of the sugary sweetness. "And you're not going to be a dick about it and stop her, okay?"

Kody's sharp gaze turned amused, and his lips pulled in a sly half smile. "Okay, sure."

"Huh?" I blurted out, stunned at his response.

Clearly, so was Bree. "Say what?" she replied, frowning in confusion.

Kody just shrugged, pushing off the car and reaching out to pull me into a half hug. "I said sure. If MK wants to go out clubbing, then we can go."

"Really?" Bree exclaimed, then scowled. "Wait. We?"

Kody's grin spread wider. "Yeah, it's been ages since me and the boys have hit a real nightclub. I'm assuming you girls have fake IDs already? I'll call Arch now and let him know." He pulled his phone from his pocket, and Bree shot me a panicked look.

"Wait, wait, wait," she hurried to say, putting a hand out like she was physically stopping him from texting Archer. "I meant just MK and me. Girls’ night, you know?"

Kody snorted a short laugh. "I know that's what you meant, Bree. But this is what you're getting. We all go or no one does. What's it to be?"

My friend made a pained noise, shooting me an apologetic look, but I just raised a brow back at her. If she wanted to go out that badly, then she'd have to put up with my shadows tagging along. I actually preferred that they did, too. I doubted my level of paranoia would have let me enjoy a night out while constantly watching my back. At least with Kody, Steele, and Archer glowering over me all night, I'd feel safe.

"Ugh, fine," Bree relented, sounding annoyed as all hell. "But I'm driving MK there; you all can come in another car."

Kody just shook his head and tightened his possessive hold on my waist. "Nope. We'll meet you there. Club Twenty-Two around nine, sound good?"

Damn, he was speaking her language now. Bree's brows shot up. "You can get us into Club Twenty-Two?"