KATE: MADISON KATE #4

by James Tate

  His smile was knowing. "I figured it was obvious, babe. I'm just pissed I didn't think of it first."

  My cheeks heated, and panic swarmed my body. Kody was treading dangerously close to saying he wanted to marry me. For real. That was way too much, too soon, too fast. Yep, I was officially freaking right the fuck out, and yet I couldn't seem to smother the rush of oxytocin flooding through me at that idea.

  "He's just joking, Hellcat," Steele reassured me, coming around the counter to loop his arms around my waist from behind. "Aren't you, Kody?"

  Kody still held my gaze, and the way his brow twitched totally contradicted his words as he agreed. "Uh-huh, just joking."

  Steele leaned his face down to kiss the spot on my neck where my pulse seemed to be trying to climb out of my skin. "Let's go sit down, and you guys can explain the rest of the plan. And for the love of all that's holy, can we please order pizzas? That hospital food has been slowly killing my soul."

  I drew a deep breath, letting his change of subject ease the panic in my chest. "I'm always okay with pizza. You guys wanna try and teach me how to play that shooting game?"

  Kody rolled his eyes skyward. "That shooting game. Ugh, you hurt my soul. Yes, babe, we will happily teach you to play Call of Duty. I won't even tattle to Archer if Steele wants to play too."

  Steele huffed a laugh against my neck. "Thanks bro, you’re a star."

  Kody shrugged, magnanimous. "You earned it." He circled around to the fridge to grab us all more drinks, then paused to clap Steele on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're not dead, dude."

  He took the fresh drinks out of the kitchen, making his way to the den and leaving me alone with Steele once more. I turned around in his embrace, raising my arms to rest on his shoulders.

  "I'm glad you're not dead, too," I whispered. I'd never get tired of looking into his eyes. The brief moment when I’d thought his light had gone out was easily one of the worst I'd ever experienced, so I'd take every opportunity to remind myself that he was still here. Still alive.

  His lips tugged into a smile. "I know. You've told me that every day since I woke up."

  Rising up on my toes, I pressed my lips to his in a quick kiss. "Because it's true. But I'm also glad you're home."

  His eyes flashed with lust, and he captured my lips in another kiss. "I have something I want to talk to you about. But it can wait until you and Kody fill me in on this plan for a wedding." He smacked me playfully on the ass. "Come on. Convince me this isn't just Archer's elaborate way to lay public claim to you."

  I groaned but walked with him to the den, where Kody was on the phone with our usual pizza place.

  "That's not... I'm sure that didn't even factor in," I grumbled, taking a seat on the sofa and tugging Steele down to sit beside me.

  He snorted a laugh. "That definitely factored in. But I don't blame him." He hooked his arm around my shoulders, but I pulled back a couple of inches.

  "Do you need to patch that up?" I reminded him, pointing to the dots of blood decorating the chest of his T-shirt. "Should you get a medic to look at it or something?"

  Steele looked down and grimaced. "Nah, it'll be fine. I'll just put a silver dressing on it. I think there's some in the medical kit upstairs." He kissed me again, then stood. "Back in five."

  Kody took the spot beside me the second Steele was out of the room, then hauled me into his lap without warning.

  "Kody!" I exclaimed, but he cut any further protests short by grabbing my face and kissing me dizzy.

  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."

  I nodded, getting comfy on his pillows so we were face to face. "Right. So, you're already caught up on the wedding plan now." Kody and I had explained it all over pizza.

  “Yep, all up to speed and on board there. It’s a good plan, even if Arch is getting the best part in it.” He rolled his eyes, but his lazy smile told me he wasn’t totally serious.

  My cheeks still heated anyway, though. “Okay, so,” I quickly changed the subject, “we’re working on the assumption that Scott was framed. At least a little bit. He knew that I was being stalked, but instead of being, you know, a decent human being and helping me stay sane, he used it to try and further his own agenda.”

  “Ugh, I knew I hated that guy,” Steele muttered, wrinkling his nose.

  I gave him a tight smile. “I know. Anyway, some of the stuff we found at Scott’s place had his fingerprints on it but lots didn’t, which suggests it was planted there. There was one pair of my panties, which proves he did touch my underwear drawer.”

  Steele nodded, understanding. “But not that he took the rest and left the creepy stalker note. Got it. Sounds like your stalker was also watching Scott and saw an opportunity there.”

  I sighed. “Yep. I mean, Scott was still a creep. He still tried to force himself on me that day; no one made him go off the rails like that. But… yeah, he definitely wasn’t the one stalking me. I doubt he even knew who was.”

  Steele gave me a teasing smile as his fingers played with my hair. “Not to say I told you so, gorgeous, but what were you even thinking making friends with a random dude while you had a stalker on your ass?”

  I cringed, rubbing my hands over my face. “I know, I know. Trust me, I’ve asked myself the same damn thing a hundred times. My only excuse is that after everything went down… after I found out you’d all been lying to me… I was just a bit broken. I wanted so badly to have a normal life with normal friends that I blocked out the warning signs.” I heaved a sigh, mentally kicking myself for being so stupid again. “At least Bree and Dallas are real friends. I shouldn’t need anyone else, right?”

  “I get it,” he told me in a soft voice. “I understand where your head was at. Right now, though, you just need to be second-guessing everyone. Except Bree, because I can safely say that after two straight weeks of watching reality TV with her? She really just wants to make things up to you for Riot Night. She’s a good egg.”

  I grinned at his approval of my friend. “Well, other than the Scott stuff, we don't know a whole lot more. Between visiting you and Bree in the hospital, it hasn't left us a lot of time to play Veronica Mars, you know?"

  Steele groaned and wrinkled his nose. "Please don't compare yourself to Veronica. I really don't want to end up like Logan did."

  I pouted, agreeing. "That was such bullshit. They were so in love too."

  Steele's brows rose. "Speaking of..."

  My heart beat double time. "Speaking of... what?"

  He gave me a slow smile. "Hellcat, I've been wanting to get you alone since the moment I woke up in the hospital."

  "But those nurses seemed to be everywhere all the time? Pretty sure the blonde just had the serious hots for you," I grumbled, but he was right. I'd also been wanting to get him alone, and if I was totally honest, I could have made it happen if I wasn't being such a wuss.

  Steele's grin spread wider. "I actually think she had the hots for you, gorgeous. I don't blame her, either." He reached out a hand and stroked a gentle finger down the side of my face. "Hellcat, after I was shot—"

  "I'm in love with you," I blurted out, cutting him off. Mainly because I had a pretty good feeling I knew what he was about to say.

  His brows hitched, and his eyes lit with interest. "Sorry, what was that? I think I need to hear you repeat that."

  I huffed at his sarcasm and squashed all my anxiety over voicing my feelings. He’d damn near died before I’d had the lady balls to tell him to his face, and I needed to rectify that. "You fucking heard me," I muttered. "I love you, Max Steele. I'm sorry it took me so long to make the words come out of my mouth, but when I thought you were dying, I just..." I trailed off with an awkward shrug.

  He gave me a curious look. "I thought I heard you say something along those lines on the way to the hospital, but I wasn't sure if that was just panic talking. Was it?"

  I frowned. "What? No. I'm not just saying this because you nearly died, Max. I'm saying it because I mean it. I've meant it for ages and just struggled to say it out loud because—"

  "Because the last person you said it to died?" His words were quiet, but they struck a nerve as sure as a sharp blade. He was right. The last person I'd loved had died—brutally and just six feet away as I cowered in a closet and cried silently.

  I jerked a nod, not trusting my voice.

  Steele trailed the back of his fingertips over my cheek again, following the line of my neck down. "Hellcat, we know. We all know where your head is at, and we don't need you to push past these boundaries any faster than you feel comfortable doing. If it takes you ten years to feel at ease saying that you love me—or them—then so be it. Those words spoken out loud don't change what is in our hearts, right?"

  My brow tightened, and that familiar feeling of panic swept through me, just like it had when I’d thought he was slipping away without ever hearing me reciprocate his feelings. "No. You don't get it. You nearly died, Max Steele. You nearly died because my stalker shot you,
and I was still too hung up on my dead mommy to tell you I loved you. That's not okay; don't let me get away with that self-centered bullshit."

  A small smile touched his lips, and his thumb brushed my lower lip. "Hellcat," he murmured. "They're just words. I know you love me."

  I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, now you do 'cause I just said it." I drew a deep breath, my resolve firm. "I love you, Max Steele. Don't fucking die on me again, okay?"

  His smile widened, and he hooked his fingers around the back of my head, pulling my face closer. "I probably can't promise ever, but I'll do my fucking best. Okay?" He sealed the deal with a tender kiss, one that made my toes curl and my heart race.

  "Fine," I muttered when our lips parted ways. "I guess I'll take that."

  I trailed my fingernails over his buzzed hair, then down his neck until finally resting my palm over his chest. Over his wicked scar from the bullet intended to take his life.

  "At least we know something more about your stalker now," he commented, covering my hand with one of his own. His heart beat steadily under my fingers, and it was the most soothing rhythm in the entire world.

  "What's that?" I asked, licking my lips and trying really damn hard not to let all my big emotions drown me. It wasn't often I let them all out of their cages, because I was shitty at handling them. But I wanted to get better... for him. For all of them.

  Steele arched a brow, a playful smile pulling his lips. "He was wrong. He does miss, or I wouldn't still be here."

  I never miss.

  Motherfucker.

  Regardless of his hubris, he was still going to pay dearly when we got our hands on his fucking crazy ass. I wanted revenge for every single crime. Luckily, I knew of the perfect soundproof torture room in the woods where we could make that happen... provided we could find him before his aim hit true. I had a sick feeling he wouldn’t miss again.

  "How many people know about the wedding?" Steele asked, changing the subject.

  "Uh, not many right now. But pretty soon it'll be everywhere. Archer sent it in to the Shadow Grove Gazette for the engagements section." I cringed as I said that. Not that I had a problem with being fake-engaged to Archer D'Ath, but because it was going to put us all under the public magnifying glass. I'd been pretty publicly involved with both Kody and Steele in recent months, and now I was announcing my "engagement" to Archer? Yeah, there would be questions. Lots of questions.