Page 18 of Keep Your Guard Up
I yanked the container from the microwave, ignoring the burn on my fingertips. The anger I felt in the pit of my stomach was much hotter.
I ignored both of them, until my ego got the best of me and I flipped them both off.
Sighing when my ass hit my desk chair, I stabbed a piece of chicken and forced some egg, bacon, and potato onto my fork.
“That pig still alive? Or are you pretending that it’s my eyeball?”
I heard the smirk on Chance’s face before I saw it. His blue eyes studied me, an ocean-worth of depth swirling in a mixture of boredom and …concern?
“Depends, are you here to berate me about this morning’s class?”
A flicker of surprise lashed through his eyes. He blinked and it was gone. “Not at all.”
I barely swallowed before I shoved another forkful into my mouth. The simmering pit of rage in my stomach started to fade.
Note to self, hunger and assface ex-boyfriend do not mix well. Add Chance Riordan into the mix—straight up shitshow.
“Surprised you’re not berating me for it though.”
“And why would I do that?” I said with a disgustingly full mouthful. Heat moved into my cheeks when I realised just how un-ladylike I was currently being.
“You tell me.” He cocked his head to the side and studied me.
My chest felt a kilometre deep when the gentle thudding of my heart turned into a brash sledge-hammering.
“It’s your class, Riordan.” I swallowed and clenched the fork in my fist to stop from taking another mouthful. I ran my tongue over my lips, and I could have sworn he tracked the movement. “You’re the coach here now, not me. If I’m not meeting expectations, I expect you to tell me, just as I would expect you to tellothers.” Like that asshole who got the blame pinned on me earlier.
“Anyone in particular I should keep in mind?” He folded his arms over his chest. Any trace of boredom on his face was gone, replaced with an intensity of something I couldn’t read.
I shrugged, giving in and eating the last of the food in my container.
“Interesting.”
I flicked my eyebrows up at him.
“Figured you would have told me about the little rat I just found you in the kitchen with.” Something even darker than before crossed his face.
The vein bulging on his bicep screamed at me to stare—to run my eyes up, down, andallaround him. I stared at the empty container in my hands to take the slack off my eyes.
“I’m a big girl. I’m not weak. I can handle myself.” I scowled at the fact that Jayden had made me feel this way again. He’d mademe feel like I needed to justify myself, physically announce that I was strong and capable and not fuckingsoft.
“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should have to.” Chance unfolded his arms and bumped his fist against the wall. “Let me know if you ever feel likenothaving to.” With a wink and a flick of that cocky smirk, he left.
~
“Let me know if you ever feel likenothaving to.”
Chance’s words ran through my head all afternoon. Surely, he was just being polite? He wasn’t offering to be my own goddamn security detail …was he? How could a professional UFL fighter possibly care about people giving me a hard time?
Questions upon questions spun around and around in my head, all as I watched him from the side of his evening class. I couldn’t even tell if what Chance was teaching was any good. Why? Because he was teaching in a scrap of material you could call a singlet. The evening was unusually warmer than the last few, meaning his singlet wassaturatedwith sweat, along with his delicious frame. He looked like every twenty-something-year-old girl’s pin-up man.
Was I still intent on maintaining my zero-fighters rule? Absolutely. But a girl can window shop without buying anything.
Chance picked JJ up and threw him to the ground. He casually stood, continuing his explanation of how to perform the throw and why it was useful in MMA. As if I’d screamed his name myself, his gaze whipped to mine. When the corners of his mouth tugged upwards, I realised my jaw was slack.
Yup, caught with a slack jaw.
I was almost positive, from the way he was looking at me, he couldseethe patch of wetness that was forming under my spat shorts.
