When he released my lips, he held me there, our foreheads pressed together. "I'm sorry I freaked you out before, babe," he murmured, his tongue swiping across his lower lip in a teasing way.
My heart thudded. "You didn't," I replied, then cringed when I heard the lie pass my lips. "Okay, maybe a little bit. Things are just moving at a really weird pace for us, aren't they? I mean, for all of us." I sat back in his lap slightly, my knees either side of his hips.
One of the many things I loved about Kodiak Jones was that he didn't dismiss my concerns as unimportant, even when he didn't agree. He genuinely listened to what I needed to say and considered my point of view before replying.
"Are they?" he asked after a moment, a small line creasing his brow. "I mean, yes, things are a bit unconventional with you and Arch being legally married. But it's been almost six months since you came back into our lives. Steele's been secretly harboring that crush on you since he was fifteen. Arch too, which he’d realize if he could pull his head out of his ass and see it for what it was."
I bit my lip, desperately holding all the big, scary emotions at bay. "And you?"
An easy smile curved his lips, and he gently brushed a lock of my pink hair away from my face. "Madison Kate, I fell in love the second you tried to kick me in the balls on Riot Night. Some people need years to know, but I only needed those few minutes in the dark."
My heart thumped faster, and my chest tightened. I wasn't used to... any of this. As a Danvers, I’d grown accustomed to the fact that we didn't share our feelings. Ever. So it was giving me sweats.
"I know this stresses you out, babe," Kody continued, letting me off the hook. "I won't keep going on. But I wanted you to know that if things were different, and if Arch hadn’t already had the paperwork filed eighteen months ago..." He shrugged, his eyes glittering as his hands slid to my waist and clasped my body. "I'd have happily—"
"Taken one for the team?" Steele interrupted with a snort of laughter as he came back into the room with a clean T-shirt on. "I fucking bet you would have, asshole. Get out of my seat; Hellcat is all mine tonight."
Kody glared over my shoulder. "Screw you. Finders, keepers." His fingers tightened on my waist, and I bit back a laugh.
"Kody, I don't remember you being shot with a hunting rifle two weeks ago," Steele pointed out. "Now fucking move. My doctor told me I need to relax, and I can't think of anything more relaxing than having my girl in my lap."
"Our girl," Kody growled back, but reluctantly released my waist and slid out from under me. "That excuse won't fly forever, bro."
Steele grinned, full of victory as he took his seat on the sofa once more. When he reached for me, I swatted his hands away.
"Think again, hot stuff. I'm not sitting on you this soon after life-saving surgery. I'll sit beside you, and that's the best you'll get." I gave him my very best no-nonsense glare, which was virtually impossible to maintain when he sent me back a pair of puppy-dog eyes. "Stop it," I scolded him. "You know I'm right."
Thankfully—because my resolve would have cracked in a second—he sighed and nodded. "Fine, I'll take it."
Satisfied with our negotiation, I got comfy snuggled under his arm and accepted my game controller from Kody. I was nowhere near as bad as I used to be, but my gaming skills still had a long way to go yet.
Steele shifted his grip on me, pulling me flush against his side while his lips found my ear. "But I want you in my bed tonight," he added in a whisper.
A thrill of excitement shot through me, and I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back my feral grin. Tipping my head back, I gave him a narrow-eyed look of warning instead.
"To sleep?"
His answering smirk was all mischief. "We can discuss the finer details later. But sure, sleeping can happen... at some point."
I should have argued, but I didn't. I just cuddled him tighter because he was finally home and he was alive.
The second we were properly alone, I needed to tell him those three words that I'd only ever managed to say while he was dying or unconscious.
4
After Steele fell asleep on the couch shortly after consuming a whole pizza, I decided we should call it a night. The sun had barely even gone down, but there was no harm in getting extra sleep—especially when Steele was still recovering from a gunshot to the chest.
Fuck me. He’d almost died. I still couldn't wrap my head around how lucky we were that he'd survived. That night we'd rushed him to the hospital, when there had been so much blood...
I shuddered, pushing the memory aside. He wasn't dead. That was all that mattered.
"Hey," I murmured, gently stroking a hand over his freshly buzzed hair. "Wake up, sleepyhead. You don't want to sleep here on the couch all night."
He mumbled a protest, his brow furrowing, but blinked his dark lashes a couple of times. When he focused on my face, he nodded, yawned, and let me help him up from the couch.
"You need me to carry his heavy ass, babe?" Kody asked, clearing up the pizza boxes and empty bottles.
I grinned but shook my head. "Nah, I got this."
Steele was only leaning a small amount of weight on me, and there was nothing wrong with his legs. He was just drained, which was understandable considering the stressful events of the day.
"Just don't collapse on the stairs, okay?" I murmured to him with a grin. "I can't help you if you do something dumb like that."
He gave me a small smile back. "I'll do my best."
Once he was awake, though, he didn't need all that much help getting up to his bedroom. He sat down on the edge of his bed with a groan, and I stripped his T-shirt off to check the dressing he'd applied earlier.
Not that I knew what to check for—other than bleeding—but it made me feel better to do something.
"Do you have painkillers?" I asked, gently running my fingers over the edges of his dressing.
Steele let out an exhausted sigh. "Yeah. Over there on my dresser. I don't need them, though."
"Bullshit," I muttered, heading over to grab his pills. After checking the directions on the printed label, I shook two tablets out into my hand, then screwed the cap back on and returned to where Steele waited. "Here."
He rolled his eyes, but took the pills from me anyway, swallowing them both dry like some kind of psychopath. Who dry-swallows pills? Gag.
"Lie down," I ordered him, fluffing his pillows up. "I'm going to get changed out of these jeans, then I'll come back, okay?"
"Or you could just wear my clothes," he suggested with a dark look as he lay back against the pillows and let me tug the blankets over him.
I grinned because that's what I'd intended to do all along. A quick hunt through his drawers and I found one of my favorite T-shirts, then I slipped it over my head. I didn't bother stealing his sweats, just took my jeans off and climbed into the other side of the bed.
Steele reached out his arm, bringing me closer even as he yawned heavily again. "Okay, talk to me. You guys haven't been telling me shit while I was in the hospital, so you need to get me up to speed."