Page 30 of Necessary Roughness

Harrison looped his arm around Jordan’s shoulders again. Tanner’s eyes narrowed.

“Don’t you have to work in the morning?” Tanner asked him.

“I’ve got all the time in the world,” Harrison said. “I know I asked you out for a drink. We could still go if you feel like it.” He squeezed Jordan’s upper arm. “The old man must be tired.”

“I’m not fucking tired,” Tanner snapped in response. Harrison ignored him.

“Want to go sit on the dock for a while?” Harrison said to Jordan.

“That sounds great, but I have to work tomorrow too,” she said. “Maybe another time?”

“Of course,” Harrison said. “Want to walk me to the door?”

Tanner let out a snort. “I think you know the way.”

Harrison got to his feet and held out one hand to Jordan. Tanner’s expression had gone from fairly irritated to fiery as color surged over his face. She wished someone would fill her in on what the hell was going on. If she didn’t know better, she’d say that Tanner was acting like he was jealous, which was the most ridiculous thing ever.

It didn’t matter if he was beyond hot, had every physical feature that made her want to throw herself in his lap, or he was nice to a little girl. She wasn’t going to think about the fact she was living in his house rent-free for the rest of the summer. He was really bugging her in the last hour or so. In the meantime, Harrison was holding her hand as they strolled to Tanner’s front door.

“I think I can get my hands on some Sounders tickets for next week. Would you like to go with me? I’ll buy you a beer.”

“I—I—well, uh,” she stammered. She didn’t want to lead him on. He was making moves. She was out of her mind for friend-zoning him. She wished she knew why he didn’t do it for her. Actually, she knew why.

She liked the bad boys—guys who were rough and tumble, guys who didn’t graduate from an Ivy League school and look like they just walked out of a Fortune 500 boardroom, like Harrison did. Guys who weren’t Mr. Romance but could generate plenty of heat when they wanted to. Every guy who put a twist in her knickers was like Tanner, who didn’t seem to know she was alive but she was kind of into him anyway.

Harrison dropped her hand and patted her shoulder. “How about I text you when I get the tickets?”

Her breath came out in a rush. “Sure. That would be great.” She could come up with a reason why she wouldn’t be able to go then.

He kissed her forehead and said, “See you later.” He leaned back to call out, “I should have kissed you good night too, honey.”

“I’ll pass,” Tanner snapped in return.

A few minutes later, Jordan stepped onto the deck to pick up the empty bottles so the housekeeper didn’t have to clean them up. Tanner was leaning against the deck railing, bracing himself as he stared out over the water. Twilight was minutes away as the first stars twinkled above.

“What are you doing?” Tanner said.

“Picking up the empties.”

“Leave them.” He rubbed one hand over his face. “We should go to bed.” Seconds later, he slapped one palm on the railing. “No. You should go to bed. I’ll go to bed later.” He looked up at the sky, glanced at the water, looked at anywhere else but at her. “Jesus. What the fuck is wrong with me?” he muttered.

An invisible string seemed to pull her over to the deck railing too. “It’s been a long day,” she said.

She looked up at him. He wasn’t looking at her as the intruding darkness curled around them. The sound of waves lapping against his dock was soothing. Maybe she’d cool off a little if she jumped into the lake for a swim. “Are you mad at Harrison?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you always answer a question with a question?” she said.

“No. Fuck. I don’t know.” He sent one hand through his already tousled hair. “He asked you out again?”

“Why do you care?” came out before she could stop it.

“Look who’s answering a question with a question now.” His voice was mocking. He turned toward her and scooted forward a bit on his crutches; he was inches away and pointing one finger at her. His voice dropped. “This is working out pretty well for you. You’re spending the summer here, you’ve already found a guy—perfect,” he said.

“I haven’t ‘found a guy.’ We’re friends,” she said.

“Sure. ‘Friends.’ That’s so special.” He grabbed both crutches and leaned them against the deck chair closest to him. He moved closer. He stared into her eyes. She couldn’t look away. He loomed over her, but she wasn’t scared.

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