I ran my fingertip over my swollen lips. "Me too, girl. But I'm pleasantly surprised that hasn’t been the case. Kody and Steele seem to be serious about winning my trust back."
Bree hummed a sound of amusement. "Like they haven't already."
I grinned. "Yeah, well, they don't need to know that. Gotta make them work a bit harder, you know?"
"Oh, I wasn't disagreeing. Just laughing. Anyway, are you working out with Cass again this afternoon?"
Hitting the gym in the afternoons with the big, tattooed, scary motherfucker had turned into a routine, so I nodded.
"Cool, I have my therapy session today, so I can't hang out," Bree told me, "but call me when you get home so I know you're still alive, okay?"
I grinned. "You sound like Steele now."
She batted her lashes at me. "Oh, I sound like I'm totally head-over-heels in love with you and willing to burn down the whole city to find who's trying to kill you?" She snickered a laugh. "Not totally wrong. I do love you, bitch. But I don't wanna fuck you. Big difference."
"Uh-huh, sure you don't," I teased. "I'd totally give Dallas some competition in bed."
She snickered again, shaking her head as she pulled up in front of my apartment building. Cass was already standing out front, chatting to a couple of younger Reapers, and I knew I needed to hurry the fuck up. Grumpy Cass was funny, but pissed off Cass was scary, and he hated waiting for me.
"Hey, does Kody know you've been working out with Cass?" Bree asked as I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed my bag.
Guilt washed through me. "Um... it hasn't really come up. He's been training Archer every day anyway, so..."
Bree arched her brows at me. "So... what? That's totally not an excuse for not telling him. You know he's gonna be hurt that you're training with the Reapers instead."
She was right, obviously. "I know, but there's something very soothing about training with tall, dark, and scary over there. It's just boxing and nothing sexual, you know?"
She nodded. "I get it. But considering everything you guys are doing to work on trust and honesty, I feel like you need to come to the party yourself. You can't just expect them to tell you all their secrets and become open books when you're keeping shit from them. Even something innocent like this."
I sighed. "I know. It's just weird going from wanting to feed them all to sharks to whatever the fuck we are now."
Bree shot me a smirk. "You mean now that your feelings are involved rather than just your genitals?"
"I fucking wish our genitals were being involved more," I grumbled. "This whole respecting my space thing is slowly driving me insane. Other than those few quick make-out sessions between classes, it's—"
A sharp knock on the window interrupted what I was saying, and I was startled to find Cass scowling through the glass at me.
"Sorry," I yelped, popping my door open. "Catch you later, Bree!"
"Move it, kid. I've got places to be tonight." Cass rumbled the words after me as I hurried inside the building and stabbed at the elevator call button. I just needed to dump my bag and change; I could be back downstairs in five minutes, max. Still, I held two fingers up to Cass as I ducked into the elevator. Better to be optimistic.
Cass hadn't been kidding about needing to be elsewhere. He kept our session short—but intense—then briskly escorted me back to my apartment afterward.
"You know, everyone at the gym seems to know me now," I commented as I dug for my keys to unlock my door. "I would probably be fine going without you."
The big guy just gave me a flat stare. "No."
He waited, arms folded over his sweaty shirt while I unlocked my door and stepped inside. "I'm heading out for a meeting at Club 22," he told me in a low rumble. "You've got my number if you need me, but I've also got a couple of the new recruits on security downstairs."
I gave him a smile and wave, thanking him for the work-out session before closing my door and locking it. In the last few days, Cass had taken to advising me when he was going to be out of the building. It made me suspicious that something had happened, maybe some stalker mail, but the inked-up Reaper had been tight-lipped when I'd asked.
Shrugging off the worry, I stripped down and showered, washing the sweat of my workout off and shampooing my hair.
As I stepped out of the bathroom, toweling my hair dry, I spotted my phone flashing with an incoming call on the bed where I'd left it.
There was a missed call from Archer—weird—but the incoming one was a whole lot more welcome.
"Hey," I answered, bringing the phone to my ear and tucking my towel tighter around my body. "If you're with my bad-tempered husband right now, do me a favor and punch him in the dick?"
Steele laughed. "I'm not, but I'll make sure to do that when I head back downstairs."
I bit back a sigh. The sound of his voice in my ear was doing all kinds of things to my body. Maybe it was because I'd just been talking to Bree about the lack of sex in my week or maybe it was because I was currently naked... but fucking hell.
"So, what are you doing then?" I asked, tossing my hair towel onto a chair and climbing onto my bed. I hadn't intended for the question to sound so suggestive, but it definitely came out that way.
Steele must’ve heard it too, as he let out a soft chuckle. "Well I was going to ask if you wanted to hear a new piece I'd been working on. But I get the feeling you have something else in mind."
I got comfy on my pillows, grinning up at the ceiling. "Maybe. But I want to hear what you're working on first. I haven't heard you play in way too long, Max Steele. I miss it." I miss you...
We'd made up, but things were far from back to normal. I wanted normal again... just without the lies and secrets. Was that so much to ask for?
He hummed a sound, like he was thinking. "Alright, but first you have to tell me something." I heard the soft, slow chime of piano keys and knew he was running his fingers over the keys gently, thinking about what he was going to play.
"Anything," I replied, "no secrets anymore, right?"
He made another humming sound, then lightly depressed a couple more keys. "What are you wearing right now, Hellcat?" His voice was pure sex, and my nipples hardened against the rough towel.
"Why do you want to know? I thought you were going to play something for me," I replied with a soft laugh.
"I am," he answered, his tone edged with wickedness, "but I want to be able to picture you while you listen."
Excitement flipped my stomach over, and I tugged my towel loose. I wasn't worried about anyone telephoto-spying on me; I hadn't opened my heavy blackout curtains once since moving in.
"Right now?" I asked, licking my lips. "Absolutely nothing. You caught me just as I was getting out of the shower."
Silence. Then a rough inhalation, and I chuckled.
"I changed my mind," Steele said after a moment, and the soft chime of his piano keys slowly formed into a tune.
"You're not going to play for me?" I asked, somewhat disappointed.