"Damn, good? Or damn, bad?" I squinted at him but flopped down onto the couch beside Archer. It was the only free space, seeing as Kody and Steele were fully kicked back in the matching recliner chairs.
Kody's grin was sly, and his mischievous green-eyed gaze ran all over me before he replied. "Both. You're going to cause trouble tonight, I can tell."
I smirked back at him, quietly pleased by his reaction. My dusky-rose hair was pin straight, falling around my bare shoulders like a silken cape, and my mascara was heavy. My black dress wasn't anything too fancy, but it fitted my curves to perfection and had a fun fringe around the short hem, which tickled my thighs as I walked.
"A girl can hope," I replied, biting the inside of my cheek when I heard the clear flirtation in my tone. Apparently I needed to have a stern word with myself because last I’d seen, Kody had a girlfriend. Or at least a girl he felt comfortable kissing in public.
Archer paused his game, turning his head to take in my party appearance, then tightened his jaw. "This is a bad idea," he muttered.
I tucked my feet up on the couch and reached for a slice of pizza. "You don't have to come, sunshine. You can stay here and glower at yourself in the mirror while lifting weights or some shit."
Archer just glared at me, then continued playing his game, leaving a bloody trail of bodies on the screen as he picked enemies off with practiced ease. His temper had been getting steadily shorter by the day—with every protein shake he drank—and I was starting to feel more than a bit guilty. But it was only a few weeks until his UFC debut now, so the damage was already done.
Fuck it. He still deserved it.
"This is going to be all kinds of fun tonight," Steele commented, then drained the rest of his drink and stood up. "I'll grab you a drink, Hellcat. Then we can take bets on which one of these dickheads will piss you off enough to get slapped first tonight."
Kody snorted a laugh. "No bet, bro. We all know Arch is coming home with MK's palm print on him somewhere."
Now was it just me, or did that have a dangerously sexual hint to it?
A girl could dream.
28
Some things never changed. The sun rising each day. The rotation of the earth. Gravity. And of course, Bree's ability to throw one hell of a party.
"How does she even know this many people?" Steele muttered as we parked down the street and walked the rest of the way.
I snickered. "Bree's a social butterfly. You just haven't seen this side of her... yet."
She really was, too. When we’d been at Shadow Prep, it had always been her dragging me out to parties and daring me into pushing boundaries. With the exception of Riot Night, of course. That one had been all me, desperate to see that mysterious up-and-coming MMA fighter.
Glancing over at him now, I could hardly reconcile the two versions of Archer.
This one seemed determined to rule my life like he had some kind of ownership over my actions and choices. Deluded prick. He'd already tried to give me a lecture on the drive over about being "responsible" and "safe" while we were at Bree's.
Such a downer.
"Madison Kate, for the love of god, don't get drunk tonight," he ordered me as I opened Bree's front door, and I gave him an eye roll.
"Okay, Dad," I scoffed, then immediately ditched all three of them.
It wasn't as reckless as it sounded. I'd spotted Bree across the room chatting to some girls we used to go to school with, and I knew perfectly well at least one of them followed me like a bad smell.
"You made it!" Bree squealed, throwing her arms around my neck and damn near knocking me on my ass with the strength of her alcohol breath. "I'm so happy you made it," she cooed, oblivious to the fumes rolling off her. "Your stupid guard dog can suck it. He can't keep us apart forever."
I laughed at her drunkenness, but shot a dark look over my shoulder at the guard dog I had no doubt she was talking about. He just stared back at me, impassive as he sipped a bottle of water.
Ugh. Straitlaced prick. Of course he wasn't drinking tonight. Wouldn't want to risk some innocent booze showing up on any random drug screening between now and his big fight.
The girls Bree had been talking to greeted me and made small talk. But their smiles were forced and I could tell they were uncomfortable. As soon as I could, I made some weak excuse and walked away. On my way through the kitchen, I snagged a still sealed premix-vodka drink, then made my way out to the pool area.
It was cold out—way too cold for the skimpy dress and heels I wore, but I preferred the freezing temperature to the whispers and side-eyes I was getting inside. Why the fuck Bree had thought this was a good idea for me, I had no idea.
I'd just hang out long enough to piss Archer off and be done with it.
"Kate," a familiar voice called out from the house, and I spun around with a smile for Dallas. "I was starting to think you were avoiding me, gorgeous."
He was teasing, I could tell. He knew full well I was avoiding him, but he didn't know why.
"Never," I lied, twisting the top off my bottle, then taking a sip. It was some sugary, watermelon-flavored crap, but it'd do. "You here officially?" I nodded to his white bandanna, tied loosely around his tattooed neck. It was printed all over with the black symbol of the Shadow Grove Wraiths, and it was the first time I'd seen him wearing it since I was fourteen, the night we'd argued about him joining the gang in the first place.
He gave a half shrug. "Sort of. Couple of the boys heard about a party in rich-ville, so I figured I should come along and keep an eye on things."
I nodded my understanding, knowing he really meant he'd come to make sure his friends didn't destroy Bree's parents’ house. If he could help it.
"You coming back in?" he asked me, pointing back to the party humming inside. I was the only one dumb enough to be out in the cold near the pool, so far. Once people got a bit more liquor in their bloodstreams, the frosty air wouldn't bother them so much.
I shook my head. "Nah, just hanging here for a bit. I have exactly zero desire to reconnect with my old Shadow Prep friends. You know, some of them actually go to SGU and I never noticed?"
Dallas laughed. "Real observant, Katie. I guess your attention has been a bit dominated by your new friends."
He followed me as I wandered over to one of the lounge chairs beside the pool and sat down. Dallas perched on the next one over, pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one up.
"Hardly my friends," I muttered, but couldn't deny that Archer, Kody, and Steele had taken up a serious amount of real estate in my brain. I held my hand out, and he passed me his cigarette. I took a drag, my pink lipstick leaving a smear on the paper, then handed it back. "But yeah." I blew out the smoke with a long exhale. "There's... so much shit going on."
We sat there in silence for a while, passing the same cigarette back and forth. I didn't smoke and wouldn't have one of my own, but I wasn't adverse to a few puffs on Dallas's. Like I said, some things never changed.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked me eventually, and I shook my head.
"Nah. Ignorance is bliss, babe." I winked at him, teasing, and he grinned.