She shakes her head and holds her hand out. "Excuse me, what?"
"Right, yeah, I forgot that part. He went to his dresser to get clothes and dropped his towel right in front of me."
"Did you see it?"
"No. But he has a nice ass." I take another drink of my coffee and hide my smile from watching Grace lose her mind. "He changed into boxers, then we fought. Yeah, that's the order. But get this, afterward he put on gray sweatpants."
"No," is all Grace says.
"Yep. Like, come on, man, you're already a six-foot-something tattooed, chiseled god, you don't need the sweatpants, too."
Grace chuckles and leans back. "Wow. And I mean, wow." But then she bends at the hip and moves closer. "What does this mean? Are you two going to become something? Hook up? Date? Get married and live happily ever after?"
"Immediately no," I say the same words that she said to Seven when he tried hitting on her. "Archer and I couldn't be further from alike. I'm not kidding when I say I can't stand him.He's hot, there's no denying that, but he's an asshole. Plus, I'm still not over him saying all that shit about me. He didn't even apologize." And now that I think about it, he confirmed the comments when we were fighting.
Grace smiles politely at an older man who walks by and returns her attention to me. "Yeah, that was kind of fucked up. Maybe he was heated from his fight with Seven." She shrugs. "Maybe give him the benefit of the doubt."
"No, absolutely no way. Plus, we both agreed it was a mistake. That can't happen ever again. I don't want to complicate things anyway."
"I guess that makes sense."
"What about you, though? Are you going to entertain Seven?"
Grace laughs abruptly. "Immediately no." She reaches into her purse and pulls out her phone, poking a few buttons and showing me the screen. "Look at this."
It's a text thread with Seven, except he's the only one talking.
Seven: Did you hit me with a chair?
Seven: That was fucked up.
Seven: It really hurt.
Seven: You could kiss it better.
Seven: Do you want to fuck about it?
Seven: I'll let you hit me with a chair again…
Seven: If that's what you're into.
I scroll to the bottom. "Wow, he's down bad."
"He's going to have to get over it." Grace drops her phone into her bag. "He's vile."
"He's kind of hot, though," I admit. "In a psychotic way."
"He's not terrible-looking, but you think you and Archer are opposites?" Grace motions to her body. "Miss Prim and Proper, a senator's daughter who spends her time planning charity events, and him, doing God only knows. He's the textbook definition of trouble."
"Could be fun," I say over the top of my mug. "You could use a little danger in your life."
"No. I refuse to deal with another shitty man."
"I respect that," I tell her and recall the events of that night. Seven was a drunken idiot making passes at Grace every chance he got. Archer was tense and withdrawn, typical. Ivy was guarded but curious, her every response toying with the truth she was willing to give. August was polished and put together and it felt like he didn't want to be there, something that seemed to bother Ivy even though she tried to not show it. But Leo…
"Leo was kind of cute," Grace says at the same time I'm thinking about him.
"He was, wasn't he?" It just wasn't as glaringly obvious as the rest of the guys. Leo was calmer, more even-tempered, and a bit unbothered by everything going on. He was wearing designer clothes from head to toe, his appearance well-thought-out and put together, but not like August was. August had a dapper vibe about him, and Leo was giving a more casual, sophisticated look.