I looked at Royal, who was texting on her phone and chewing on her lower lip not at all like a mere moment ago she had had her hand in my pants. She looked back up at me with a crooked grin.

“Saint just texted that Shaw’s in labor.” I nodded and then frowned when my phone buzzed in my hand with a text. I thought it was going to be Ayden, so I was surprised when the message was from Rome instead.

Another Archer is on the way. Get your ass to the hospital.

It took me a minute to understand that I was actually wanted there for this big event. I looked up at Royal in confusion. “Rome wants me there.”

“Of course he does.”

I frowned at her. “What do you mean, ‘of course he does’?”

She made a face at me and moved to climb into the driver’s seat of the 4Runner. “You’re friends and practically business partners. Rule has Nash, Jet has Rowdy, and Rome has you. Everyone needs someone to lean on, and bringing a new life into the world is most definitely a big deal. Now come on, I’ll give you a lift down there.”

I was stunned speechless, so I just moved around the car and climbed in the passenger side. I slumped down once I was situated and stared straight ahead.

I liked Rome. I respected the hell out of him. He was also on my newly formed list of people I never wanted to disappoint. He had given me a shot when everyone else in the world seemed like they were just waiting for me to fuck everything up. I owed him a lot, but it had never occurred to me that somewhere along the line that had morphed into him relying on me and respecting me as well. It was kind of a foreign concept to me and I wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“One of these days you’re going to let me finish what I’m always trying to start with you, Asa.”

Royal’s voice was low and there was a needy thread in it that twisted and twined around my heart. That couldn’t happen. I couldn’t let her get to me; that would be bad news for both of us. It was time to stop pretending and let her see my true colors.

I leered at her and told her flatly, “Any guy that gets your hands around his dick is gonna finish, Red.” It was crude and unnecessary, but it made her be quiet for the rest of the ride to the hospital and I spent that time convincing myself it was for the best …

… Wasn’t it?

CHAPTER 4

Royal

My adrenaline was crashing. Partly from the lack of sleep and the excessive workout in the gym, but mostly from being burned alive from the inside out by Asa. I knew that once he let me get close enough to touch, I wasn’t going to be able to stop. There was just something about him, some kind of lure that pulled at me when I was around him that was too hard to fight against.

I wasn’t exactly shy, but I also wasn’t the type to just stick my hand in a guy’s pants and go for the gold either. Asa pushed me against all of my boundaries, made me forget that there were consequences to my actions, and I loved every single thing about it. I loved that when I was close enough to breathe him in, he was all I could feel, and I loved the way his glimmering amber eyes seemed to see everything I was trying so hard to hide. They were hot enough to melt the hardest metal and I was far from being forged out of steel and iron at the moment. I felt like I was made of paper and fluff.

I had every intention of just dropping him off at the hospital and going home to try and pretend to sleep. The ride to the hospital passed in absolute silence and I could see the way the muscles in his chiseled jaw were clenching and unclenching as we got closer. I wasn’t sure if it had to do with me or with the impending new addition, but it was clear he was lost in his own head and I wasn’t allowed inside. Whatever he was musing on it wasn’t making him too happy. I could tell even in the dark of the car as his eyes shifted from their normally burnished gold color to a much darker and heavier brown.

I pulled to a stop in front of the massive medical building and waited for him to climb out. I wasn’t going to say anything, figuring I had gotten myself into enough trouble for one night, but he cocked his head to the side and turned in his seat a little to look at me questioningly.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

My hands curled around the steering wheel involuntarily and I blinked at him in confusion.

“Why would I?”

I was tight with Saint and I really liked Nash, he was pretty much the nicest guy ever, but I hardly knew Shaw, and Rome’s wife, Cora, kind of scared the crap out of me. I got along fine with Salem, her no-bullshit attitude was awesome, and I liked that she always spoke her mind. Plus, when her sister had been abducted, I was the first person she turned to and that created a lasting bond between the two of us. But I was pretty sure Ayden was going to show up in no time flat, and I really didn’t want to be around when she did. Yes, she had apologized for losing her shit and being a stone-cold bitch to me when she found out I was the one that had arrested Asa, and I believe she meant it, but I had no plans on hanging out and making a happy situation awkward. I hadn’t seen Ayden since the day she bailed Asa out of jail, and I was in no hurry to have a reunion. Especially if I couldn’t manage to keep the way I felt about her troublesome brother on lockdown.