Liar (Madison Kate #2)(72)
I snorted, looking at Steele over my shoulder. "Like Archer's ego?"
He just rolled his eyes, and I grinned.
We collected our coats from the pretty girl working the coat check, and I quickly huddled into mine as we stepped out into the freezing night air. It'd started snowing again while we were in the club, and I was woefully underdressed for the temperature.
"Fucking hell," I moaned, my teeth chattering as I hurried to button my cashmere coat closed. "Why did we park so far away, again?"
It was a rhetorical question, considering Club Twenty-Two was located down an alleyway that didn't permit any vehicle access. But Kody took pity on me and tucked me under his arm, burying his own hand into the pocket of my coat while we walked in sync.
We only needed to walk a couple of minutes to get back to the Range Rover, and Archer opened the passenger door for me with a pointed look. Like an... I'm not fucking driving while you blow one of my friends in the backseat, kind of a look. I rolled my eyes at him, but slipped out of Kody's embrace anyway.
"Spoilsport," I muttered, ducking under Archer's arm and into the car. If I was being honest, it was a selfish move on my part. As soon as the boys piled in and Archer hit the ignition, I flipped my seat warmer on and sighed at the almost instant warmth on my ass.
"Uh, babe?" Kody said from the backseat. "What's this? It was in your pocket."
I glanced over at him and found him holding up a piece of folded notepaper.
"Beats me. Why'd you take it out of my pocket, creeper?" I was teasing, seeing as it was probably just a receipt or something. But the serious look on Kody's face hinted at something more sinister.
He flipped the paper open, showing me what was on the inside, and my blood ran cold.
I know something you don't know. But do you want to know too? I can tell you everything... I know more than they do.
27
The note from my stalker—because it was almost definitely from my stalker—seriously put a dampener on the night, and the drive home was full of tense silence. Once home, the silence continued as we all dropped our coats and headed upstairs.
Regardless of the creepy fucking message from my stalker, I hadn't forgotten the totally unsubtle promises Kody had been making to me all night, or the heated way Steele had watched us while we danced. I wasn't going to let my stalker ruin another great night.
"Kody," Archer said as we all reached the top of the stairs. "Can I have five minutes?"
I scowled. Apparently, it wasn't only my stalker who was cunt-blocking tonight.
Kody sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, looking tortured, but he nodded. "Sure, bro. I'm sure it's something urgent that can't wait until the morning."
Archer just glared back at him, but Kody wasn't flinching. I bit back a laugh, thinking Archer might come out on the wrong end of Kody's fist again if he wasn't careful.
"It is," Archer growled in anger. "Urgent, that is." He nudged his own bedroom door open and indicated that Kody join him.
"Fucking cockblocker," Kody muttered under his breath, echoing my thoughts perfectly. He took a moment before following Archer, grabbing my face with one strong hand and kissing me hard and fast. When he broke away, I was panting. and Kody made a growl of frustration. "I'll try and keep this brief," he told me in a husky whisper before releasing me.
"Hey, can I get your help taking this T-shirt off, Hellcat?" Steele asked loudly, his voice heavy with suggestion and amusement.
Kody let out a loud curse as he stomped into Archer's room, slamming the door behind him, and Steele snickered a cruel laugh. I shook my head at him, but he just grinned and held his own bedroom door open further along the corridor.
"Please?" he asked, his pleading look more sincere than the way he'd just taunted Kody. "I don't want to get stuck again. It was so much easier when I had the bandages on." His slight pout was too freaking much, and I passed through his doorway with an indulgent smile.
"Kody will kill you, you know that, right?" I told him as he kicked the door shut and prowled toward me while I kicked my heels off beside his bed. Thankfully, the curtains were already closed. The thick material was blackout, just like the ones in my room. He reached me and threaded his fingers into my hair, tilting my head back for a long, lingering kiss.
He gave a small, satisfied noise when our kiss ended, and his smile was pure mischief. "A little competition is good for his inflated ego, gorgeous. Besides, I really do need help with this shirt."
"Mm-hmm, sure." I replied with a sarcastic nod, but weak excuses aside, I still slid my hands under his tight white T-shirt and peeled the fabric up his body. Except he still had the leather gun holster on, so I quickly unbuckled it and helped him ease it off his injured shoulder.
The groan he let out when he tossed it onto his dresser—gun and all—made me frown with concern, though. A feeling that was confirmed by the specks of blood marking his clothing.
"Dammit, Steele," I scolded him, pushing his T-shirt the rest of the way up and helping him to ease it over his still healing left side. For the most part, the road rash all down his arm and shoulder was healing well, but where the leather straps of the holster had sat, the fresh skin was red and inflamed with small splits that’d caused the spotting on his shirt.