Liar (Madison Kate #2)(67)

He smirked. "I can. Can't you?"

I bit back a laugh, covering my face with my hand like I was scratching an itch and Bree scowled.

"Fine. I'll meet you there," she relented with gritted teeth. "But you'd better dress to theme."

She’d lost me with that comment. Club Twenty-Two meant nothing to me, except that it was the hottest new nightclub in Shadow Grove and had opened in the months following Riot Night. I'd never been there and had no clue what "theme" Bree was talking about.

"Please, Bree," Kody scoffed, "don't underestimate us. See you at nine!"

Without waiting for her to reply, he escorted me around the car and held the door open for me to slide inside. Apparently, we had a themed nightclub to prepare for.





25





Club Twenty-Two, it turned out, didn't require a genius to work out what the theme was. Seeing as I didn't have any flapper dresses in my closet, though, Kody made a call on our way home. Sure enough, two hours later I was trying on a gorgeous, deep red, glass-beaded dress with flirtatious fringing around the short hem.

"Wow," Steele remarked, leaning against my open doorframe and running his gaze all over me. "You look incredible, Hellcat. You sure you don't want to just stay home instead?" His heated gaze said it all, and I was sorely tempted to accept. But... it would be such a shame to waste all the time I'd put into my hair and makeup.

"Nice try, asshole," Kody remarked, whacking Steele playfully around the head as he pushed past him into my bedroom. "If anyone gets to take that dress off her tonight, it's me."

Steele glared at his friend, and there was an edge of danger in his eyes that made me suck in a sharp breath.

"Okay, cool it, both of you." I eyed them both with suspicion. "You guys are dressing up too, right?" Kody was shirtless—again—and in just an unbuttoned pair of gray slacks. Steele was still in a hoodie and jeans.

"Of course we are, MK," Kody replied with a grin. "I just came to see if you needed help zipping up or... something."

I shook my head at him, not believing his flimsy excuse for even a second. "Fuck off and get changed, both of you. I'll wait downstairs."

They disappeared back out of my room again, and I went into my huge closet to locate some shoes to match my dress. Once I was ready, I started down the hall toward the stairs, only to pause when I heard Steele call my name.

"What's up?" I asked, pushing his slightly ajar door open the rest of the way and raising a brow at him. He was still in his jeans but had a white T-shirt halfway on and had clearly just gotten stuck with his injured arm. I bit back a laugh at his tortured expression. "Need help?" I offered.

"Could you?" he replied with a grimace.

I crossed the room, carefully peeled the tangled fabric away from his raw, scabbed-over skin, and helped him thread his arm through the sleeve. Steele winced as his muscles shifted under all that healing skin, but that sound quickly shifted to a groan as I smoothed his T-shirt down his body.

"Hellcat," he growled with warning, "you're being a tease."

I smirked. "Yeah, so?"

"So," he replied, catching my fingers before they ventured to his open waistband, "don't make me call your bluff before the week is up. My doctor was very pleased with how well my road rash is healing, after all."

I bit back a smile and tried to fix him with a stern look. "Max Steele, you just got stuck halfway into your T-shirt." He pouted a bit, and I kissed him to soften the teasing. I'd intended it to be just a light peck, but his fingers flexed on my waist, pulling me in close as he took charge and deepened our kiss to a whole other realm—like he was trying to prove he was perfectly capable of fucking me without hurting himself.

"Steele," I groaned as I peeled myself away from him with way more effort than it should have taken. "Did you need help with anything else?" His gray eyes flashed, and my cheeks heated. "To get dressed," I clarified, determinedly prying my hands away from his body and taking a step back.

Steele's grin was all mischief, but he nodded. "Actually, yes. Hang on a sec; I need to change these pants." He started stripping his jeans off, and I had to turn my back on him with a tortured whimper.

"Now who's fucking teasing?" I muttered under my breath, and he gave a dark chuckle.

"Okay, I'm decent," he announced a second later. "You can turn around without jumping my bones now."

I folded my arms over my chest—for something to do—and turned slowly back to face him. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," I murmured, running my gaze over his body. He wore similar gray slacks to Kody and that tight white T-shirt, with his right arm’s tattoo sleeve showing in contrast to the fabric. In his hands, he held a jumble of black leather straps.

"Help me with this?" he asked, holding the straps out.

I took it curiously, thinking at first that it was some kind of bondage accessory. Maybe I'd totally misjudged Club Twenty-Two and it was really a BDSM bar?

Steele snickered a laugh. "Oh god, your face right now, Hellcat. It's not what you're thinking... but if you're into that I can definitely oblige." He turned around, presenting his back to me, so I only just caught his muttered addition. "Or Arch would."