Harder by Blue Ashcroft Page B

chair out. She leans back, facing me. She’s Knight’s chick, badass in her own way. Not in looks, just in guts.
    “You say I’m nice, even though I kissed your boyfriend?”
    “That wasn’t a kiss.”
    I crumple my eyebrows. What does that mean? I don’t care. “Anyway, I’mma take the guard shift. My polo looks like shiz.”
    She gives me a disapproving glance. “I’ll lend you one.”
    “No one will care if I’m on the-“
    “Ryan’s already on the guard shift.”
    “Damn, always on the guard shift.”
    “You know, that kind of works in your favor. I mean, look at him. Does it really look like he wants to be a sup? To me, and I’m guessing to Knight, he looks like he just wants to guard.”
    Ryan’s out with Amy, pointing out across the water at something I can’t see. Probably something to watch for. He’s good at reading that stuff. He can spot a bad swimmer before they become a drowning swimmer. We need to do another training on what to watch for.
    I watch the muscles of his arms play in the afternoon light streaming through the glass wall to the east. They bunch and relax as he gestures. His skin looks so smooth. I move down, following his chest, huge pecs visible in his shirt. Large, defined and square, toned abs, narrow hips. Firm quads, nice, long calves. He’s like a sculpture. A damn sculpture.
    I swallow and wipe my forehead.
    “Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?” Knight’s voice makes me jump, but he just squeezes my shoulder and moves past me to Rain. They kiss, and I turn away. Gross.
    “It’s a bit hot,” Rain says. “Mostly because Ally’s checking Ryan out like she wants to order him off the man menu.”
    “Am not,” I say, pushing myself off the desk to stomp away.
    “Wait up, Ally,” Knight says, grabbing my arm.
    “What?” I swing around to face him. “I gotta go on shift.”
    “It’s slow as hell out there. Ryan can handle it.”
    “Fine. What?” I straddle a chair from another desk. The one Ryan and I and the lesser sups share.
    Knight folds his arms. He intimidates the hell out of most of the other guards, but not me. He’s like a male version of me. Except he’s tan with dark hair, and I’m blond with pale skin. But we’re both hard, inside and outside. Both used to attention. Both hard to get along with.
    He’s a gorgeous dude. I can still remember slamming my lips down onto his, the way I had been wanting to do to Ryan ever since I met him.
    But Ryan intimidated me more than Knight, with his quiet, sexy green eyes and serious face.
    Knight frowns. “You aren’t just playing with Ryan, are you?”
    “No. I’m not planning anything with him. Why? Why does everyone think he’s so nice?”
    “Because he is. Don’t you think so?”
    “No. Okay, yeah. But I’m not stupid. I know I don’t deserve a guy like that.”
    “Ally, come on…” Knight bites his lip. “It’s not like that.”
    “ You come on. It’s totally like that. We all get it.” I walk to the window and see Ryan looking over at us. Shocks shoot straight down to my toes. I’m not used to the way he makes me feel. Somehow being farther from him makes it even more overwhelming. If I’m not pushing back against his pressure, what is there to push against?
    “Just, in the past, he’s attracted some weird chicks.”
    “Weird like me?”
    “No. Like, weird weird. I don’t know. We swam together in high school. I don’t know if it’s cause he’s quiet, but the girls that just get off on teasing shy guys loved to mess with him. Maybe they really did like him, I don’t know. But I just…”
    “Wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again,” I say. I look at Rain. She looks away. So he’s told her this too. They’re a freakin’ team.
    “I’m not messing with him. I’m trying to do what’s best for me. That’s my job. Not taking care of him,” I say. “Besides, I already told him he’s not my type. I think he finally got it.” I shrug, an odd achiness