Liar (Madison Kate #2)(90)

Dallas's eyes widened and he whispered a curse.

"Well, that sounds like a bad time," Bree muttered, swiping a hand through her hair. She was still drunk as hell, her cheeks pink and her eyes glazed. "Let's just hope tonight doesn't end up with my bestie locked up in a cell again, huh?"

I scowled. "Gee, thanks, Bree."

She gave me a drunken shrug. "What? It's true."

Kody just let out a frustrated sigh and sat back in his chair, his hand resting on my bare thigh. This time, though, it was a gesture of protection and safety rather than a teasing touch that might turn into more if I let him.

Dallas let out a groaning sound of frustration, his eyes going to a table not far from us where a group of people played a game of pool. One of them was Drew, which gave me a solid clue Dallas was groaning at the fact that she was accompanied by several other tattooed-up Reapers. How the fuck all these punks had gotten into the party, I didn't know. Probably paid someone off.

Still, there were cops stationed near the exits—looking bored, but present nonetheless—so I didn't think anyone was going to be dumb enough to start shit.

A couple of the guys playing pool with Drew, guys with prominent Reaper tattoos on the sides of their necks, spotted Dallas sitting with us, and Kody let out a sigh.

"Great, here we fucking go," he muttered under his breath, his grip on my thigh tightening and his chair subtly shifting closer to me. Possessive fucker.

"Yo, Kody," one of the guys called out, swaggering over, his sagging jeans barely covering his ass, with one of his buddies close behind. "The fuck are you doing sitting here with a Wraith?" He spat the rival gang name out like it was a curse.

Kody slouched in his chair, his elbow crooked up on the back like he was totally relaxed. "I'll sit with whoever the fuck I want, Guard Rail. You gonna question me?" His brow arched at the punk-ass kid, who was rapidly second-guessing his decision to walk over here in the first place. His eyes darted between Kody and Dallas nervously, and his tongue flicked over his lips.

What kind of stupid-ass name was Guard Rail, anyway? Who named these idiots?

"Nah, bro, I was just joking around," he replied with a forced, terrified kind of laugh. "You guys wanna play a game of pool?" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to the pool table where one of his other friends was racking up the balls.

Kody and Dallas exchanged a look. I knew neither of them cared for each other, but this seemed like one of those “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” sort of situations, and Kody gave the Reaper a nod. "Sure, why not."

We got up to relocate to the pool table, and Kody held me back with an arm around my waist, his face dipping to my ear. "Are you going to be okay with Drew around, or do you want me to toss her ass out of here?"

Knowing that he’d do that for me, I couldn’t help the cruel smile pulling at my lips. "I'll be fine so long as she stops putting her dirty paws all over you. And if she spits at me again, I'm personally going to punch her so hard that her implants pop. Clear?"

Kody laughed, his breath feathering my skin. "Clear. But I kinda think you kicking her ass would be all kinds of sexy. I need to have a chat with Steele about that self-defense training, though."

I snickered an evil sort of sound and walked with him over to the pool table. The Reaper boys suggested we play teams, but Bree was swaying on her heels so I declined. I was happy to just watch until Archer and Steele returned from their top secret meeting.

For the most part, I just ignored Drew and chatted with Bree while the boys started their game. But it didn't take long for her to slide around the pool table and give me a false-as-fuck smile.

"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot," she said to me in a sickly sweet voice. "We should start over."

I arched a brow at her, and Bree did a totally unsubtle bitch-cough that almost made me crack up laughing. "I mean, should we, though?"

A familiar face caught my attention in the crowd, and I touched Kody on the elbow. "Hey, Jase just got here. Is it me or was he supposed to be at the fight fucking hours ago?"

Kody glared in the direction I pointed. "Yeah. He should have been."

His manager was making his way over to us with a cagey, paranoid look on his face. What the fuck had he been up to that was more important than Archer's fight?

"I'll get us some drinks," Drew offered, her tone all kinds of fake bright. "It's the least I can do after what happened earlier."

I scowled after her as she sashayed off toward the bar, but she was the least of my concerns. Some desperate chick who couldn't take no for an answer? She wasn't even factoring into my top five problems.

"She seems like a fucking bitch," Bree slurred, leaning her ass against the pool table while one of the Reapers lined up his shot.

One of the other girls who had been hanging around sent Bree a poisonous glare, but we both ignored her. The Reaper girls and their jealousy were like getting mosquito bites while swimming in crocodile-infested waters.

"Fucking hell, he's drunk," Kody murmured as Jase reached us and the potent stench of alcohol rolled off him. "Are you okay a minute? I need to have words with him." He paused, frowning. "I'll be right there." He pointed to a free table just a short distance away. "Dallas, you'll keep an eye on her?"