Nothing Left to Lose (29 page)

“You think she
could beat me?” Peter asked, clearly shocked.

Ashton shook
his head in response. “I’ve seen her fight, she could
definitely
beat you, no thinking involved,” he replied
rather proudly, smiling over at me.

Peter just
burst out laughing and slapped Dean on the shoulder with the back
of his hand. “Can you believe this? As if she’d stand a
chance.”

Dean’s smile
was tight as he raised one eyebrow. “I’ve seen and felt her right
hook. I wouldn’t recommend you fight her.”

I grinned
happily and walked over to the treadmill. “I’m going to warm up for
a while and then if you want, we can spar or something?” I offered,
stepping on and turning it onto a slow walk.

Peter nodded in
agreement. “Five minutes and then I’ll wipe that smile off of your
face.”

Ashton didn’t
look too pleased as he walked over to the treadmill next to mine.
His gaze was firmly locked on the speed control dial on my machine
as I cranked it up a little faster. I would imagine he was waiting
for me to go full pelt again – that wouldn’t happen though, not if
I was going to be sparring.

After a few
minutes Peter called over to me from the weight bench he was at
with Dean. “You ready to get your ass kicked, Anna?” he challenged,
smirking at me confidently.

Trying to hide
my smugness, I turned off my machine as I nodded over to the mats.
“Sure, best of three?” I suggested.

“Anna, take it
easy, okay? No broken bones,” Ashton warned, following me over to
the mats too with an apprehensive look on his face.

“I won’t hurt
her!” Peter protested sternly.

Ashton chuckled
wickedly. “I wasn’t talking about
her
bones.”

Peter waved a
dismissive hand. “Whatever. Best of three. No hitting in the balls,
that’s the only rule on my end. Other than that, you can do what
you want.”

I nodded in
acknowledgment. “Okay. No taking it easy on me because I’m a girl,
that’s my only rule,” I teased. He looked so overconfident; clearly
he thought I was some little, delicate doll that couldn’t look
after herself. He was in for a shock; this was going to be fun.

“Right then,
first down to the mat,” Ashton said, blowing out a big breath. “No
pinning down,” he added seemingly as an afterthought.

I nodded and
waited for Peter to come at me, standing with my hands down at my
sides, not even bothering to defend myself. He wasn’t even going to
try and hit me, I could tell. He grinned and came towards me,
moving to grab me. Casually, I knocked his hand away and moved to
the side, smiling. His eyes widened a fraction before he came for
me again. This time I ducked out of his way and kicked him in the
leg – not too hard, but just hard enough so that he knew I wasn’t
playing around.

“Shit! You
actually know how to fight?” he asked, his mouth popping open in
shock.

I nodded,
grinning. “Kickboxing or karate?” I changed my stance to show him I
knew both.

His eyes
narrowed as his shoulders tensed. “Er, I don’t know that shit, I
know how to street fight,” he stated, coming for me again with his
fists up to hit me this time. Effortlessly, I moved to the side,
hitting him in the stomach and arm, spinning around low on the
floor and sweeping his legs out from under him so he landed flat on
his back. I smiled triumphantly as I offered my hand down to help
him up. “Ouch, damn it! What was that?” he whined, rubbing his
stomach.

“Karate. Want
to go for kickboxing now?” I asked hopefully. If he really wanted
to fight, that was undoubtedly my favourite.

“Er, I guess,”
he answered, looking a little uncomfortable as he glanced at Dean,
who was just watching with a grin on his face.

I nodded and
stood waiting for him to come at me. He seriously tried this time
and managed to get a couple of hits in that would have been good if
I hadn’t gotten my guard up, but again, I easily put him down on
his back.

“Enough,
enough, I believe you. Jeez, you’re a really good fighter,” he
admitted, shaking his head and rubbing his leg and arm where I’d
hit him.

“Thanks, want
to go again?” I asked hopefully. He shook his head quickly, so I
looked at Ashton hopefully. “What about you, Pretty Boy?”

“You know you
can’t beat me,” he replied, grinning cockily at me.

“I know, but I
managed to split your lip last time. You never know, I might be
able to get you on your back,” I said shrugging.

He walked up
close to me, encroaching in my personal space. “You could get me on
my back anytime, Anna. You only need to ask… Oh, and be sober, of
course,” he whispered.

Blushing
immediately, I laughed and pushed him away. A boyish grin broke out
on his face as he kicked his shoes off and stepped onto the mats.
He was watching me like a tiger stalking its prey. My insides
seemed to squirm as I realised that watching him watch me like that
was actually a turn-on. Plus, every time he looked at me, all I
could see was the little girl from my dream and the way he’d looked
at me when he’d walked up the path, and it was making it difficult
to concentrate.

He shifted his
weight to his other leg, ready to come for me, so I quickly ducked
to the left and tried to hit him in the side, but he blocked it
easily. I shifted to kick him, and he brought his leg up so I
kicked his leg instead of his side. I smiled in awe; he was an
incredible fighter. It was actually sexy to watch him in
action.

He came at me
again, and I threw a couple of punches and kicks that he deflected.
He didn’t once try to hit me, just defended and tried to grab me.
As I raised my leg for a well-timed kick, his arm looped around my
thigh. The air rushed out of my lungs as he swept my other leg from
under me and we both fell to the mats in a heap.

He chuckled.
“You’re getting better. You nearly caught me a few times there,” he
said, looking at me proudly, still hovering above me. Every inch of
his body was pressed against mine. My body started to react to how
close he was, my heart was thumping, and my skin was starting to
tingle.

“Are you gonna
get off me or not?” I asked breathlessly, actually hoping for the
second. He groaned before pushing himself off me, pulling me up off
the floor as he stood up. His eyes were tight with frustration, and
I couldn’t help but smile.
At least I’m not the only one that
feels this attraction!
“Wanna go again?” I asked, grinning.

“Yeah, if you
want,” he answered, instantly shifting into his sexy stance.

After an hour
in the gym, everyone was all exercised out, so we went back to our
respective apartments. I flopped down on the sofa, instantly
grabbing the TV remote to see if anything good was on. Ashton took
the seat next to mine, scooting down into the seat and watching as
I channel surfed until we settled on a movie.

Watching him
from the corner of my eye, I realised that I was actually getting
used to how relaxed he was and how easy he was to be around. Since
Carter, I’d never felt safe or normal in my own skin, but with
Ashton it was like I didn’t feel the need to be afraid or ashamed
of who I was or what I felt inside.

He laughed at
something, running a hand through his hair, making it stick up at
the front. Perfectly at ease, I twisted to the side and raised my
legs, stretching them out across Ashton’s lap. Without taking his
eyes from the movie, he placed an absentminded hand on top of my
shin, holding my legs in place as his thumb drew a small circle
around my kneecap. I sighed contentedly because it was extremely
comfortable. I suddenly wondered why everything with Ashton seemed
so effortless. It was weird because even with Jack there had been
some awkwardness at times. Maybe it was because we were young;
maybe things like comfort came with age. I could quite happily sit
with Ashton, not saying a word, but with Jack, sometimes it had
felt strained and uncomfortable. Sometimes we’d run out of things
to say to each other – that would usually have been about the time
that he would go home, or we’d just make out, or watch TV.

Discreetly
watching Ashton instead of the movie, I thought about him having a
girl of his own and sitting with her like this. He was going to
make some girl incredibly lucky when he finally settled out of his
player ways that he so vehemently denied.
Well, he’ll make her
incredibly happy until he’s killed on some stupid SWAT mission, and
then he’ll destroy her soul and shatter her heart,
I thought.
Everyone important left sooner or later. Nothing lasted forever.
I’d had first-hand experience at that heartbreak and wouldn’t wish
it on anyone.

He looked over
at me and smiled when he caught me watching him. “You okay?”

I nodded
quickly, hoping he’d brush off my looking at him as a coincidence
that we’d looked up at the same time. To help that excuse, I said
the first thing that came to my mind. “Why did you make Dean and
Peter come to the gym with us today? I would have been fine with
just you.” Suddenly I was slightly annoyed at his
overprotectiveness. The three of them were going to drive me
crazy.

He took a deep
breath before answering as if expecting a scolding about it. “It’s
standard practice and what your father wants.”

I frowned at
that. My father wanted a lot of things, not all of them were
possible. “Yeah, well I think you’re all taking this too far. It’s
ridiculous. And that new codename you were all using for me last
night… stupid.” I folded my arms across my chest.

A small smile
crept onto his face. “You would have preferred Rocky?” he inquired.
I scoffed, trying not to smile.

“I would have
preferred to be called by my given name, actually,” I retorted.

He sighed and
resumed drawing the little circle on my knee. “Look, one of us
needs to be watching you at all times. In order for me to be able
to look like your boyfriend and not some pervert stalker that
follows his girl everywhere, we made up a code word so I could call
if I needed one of them to watch you for a few minutes. It’s not a
big deal.”

I did
understand that. I’d had codenames before, but I still didn’t
really like them. With my father being who he was though, I should
probably just accept it as part of the norm now. “Jewel is just
pathetic. Who came up with that anyway?”

He shrugged,
picking up the TV remote and flicking through the channels because
the movie had finished. I hadn’t even noticed because I’d been too
busy staring at him and musing about things like his future
girlfriend’s broken heart. “We just went with Peter’s suggestion in
the end.”

My ears pricked
up, interested to know what the other suggestions were. “What were
the other suggestions? Maybe we could change it?”

“Well, Dean
wanted Regan.”

“Regan?” I
frowned at the randomness.

Ashton chuckled
wickedly as he nodded. “That’s what the little girl was called in
The Exorcist.”

I gasped in
outrage. “No! That asshole!” I cried, though laughed at the same
time.

“I thought it
was pretty good,” he countered. “But I figured that would be hard
to explain when we put in the paperwork with your dad.” He grinned
at me, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

I had to smile
at that too. My father would have been less than impressed. “What
about your suggestion, what was that?” I asked, still hopeful that
we could switch it to something less pretty and delicate.

His back
stiffened as his hand stilled on my leg. “I didn’t have one.”

I cocked my
head to the side, watching as his jaw tightened and untightened
unconsciously. He was hiding something from me. “You’re a terrible
liar,” I stated confidently. “I bet Regan was yours, wasn’t it.” I
narrowed my eyes, resisting the urge to pout.

He shook his
head in rejection; flicking through TV channels so quickly that you
couldn’t even see what was on. “I’m not. That wasn’t mine,
promise.”

I nudged his
leg with my foot to get his attention from the television. “Tell me
yours then,” I prompted.

He shook his
head, smirking in my direction teasingly. My mouth popped open in
dissatisfaction. I hated secrets. Pushing myself up onto my knees,
I poked him in the ribs. Instantly he chuckled, gripping my hand,
so I tried to poke him with my other hand instead.

“Tell me!” I
demanded, poking him again, watching as he squirmed. That was when
I came to the conclusion that my near guard was ticklish. A grin
spread across my face as I decided to use it to my advantage. I
launched forward, fighting my hands free from his as I started a
tickle war.

It was pretty
obvious within seconds though that I wasn’t going to win. In mere
moments, I was pinned to the sofa with him hovering above me,
laughing excitedly as he returned the tickling treatment, making me
giggle and squirm under him.

“Stop it!” I
cried, struggling to fight free as I gasped for breath from all the
laughing.

My wrists were
pinned to the sofa as he looked down at me with mischievous eyes.
He finally stopped, hovering above me, grinning happily. The smile
faded from his face slowly as his eyes met mine. The burning
passion was back inside me. I saw it cross his face too; and I
definitely
felt it stirring against my thigh. I didn’t move.
His restraining hold on my wrists loosened, but he didn’t let go or
get off me. I grinned, trying to slow my breathing and calm my
racing heart. I hadn’t laughed that much for years. It felt nice,
kind of liberating.

“Please tell me
yours,” I begged.

He sighed, and
his eyes tightened. “You don’t want to know mine.” I pouted, even
fluttered my eyelashes as I silently begged him. A long groan
escaped his lips as he looked down at me and frowned, clearly
uncomfortable. “Damn that face, that’s not fair!” he whined.
Finally, he sighed. “Pacey. I wanted Pacey.”