Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

“Well, that’s definitely a nice view to wake up to in the morning,” a male voice purred behind me.

I grinned as I turned, knowing this would be the famous Nate Peters, Ashton’s best friend. As I expected him to be, Nate was gorgeous. All blond, spiky hair and blue eyes, tall and toned. The cocky, confident smile that was stretched across his face made him look just the right amount of cheeky. He was currently only wearing boxer shorts and a white vest. I could see why the girls apparently went crazy for him. In my opinion though, as hot as Nate looked, he had nothing on Ashton.

“Well thanks. I presume you’re talking about the fact that I’m currently making coffee, and not the fact that I’m not wearing very many clothes at the moment,” I stated, raising my eyebrows innocently.

He was smirking at me. “Of course I was,” he replied, just as innocently.

“Good.” I turned and grabbed another mug from the cupboard so I could make him one too.

“You must be Ashton’s girlfriend, Anna.” He moved so he was leaning against the counter next to me and folded his arms over his chest as he looked me over.

“And you must be Ashton’s best friend, Nate,” I answered, giving him a cocky smile.

“Yep,” he confirmed, popping the p. I rolled my eyes and went back to the coffee. “You know, Ashton said you were hot, but damn, that’s the understatement of the century,” he continued.

“Well, he told me you were a flirt who would try and get me into bed, but damn, I didn’t realise you’d start before nine in the morning.” I smirked back at him, chuckling. I liked this guy already; it was probably the fact that he was Ashton’s best friend. Ashton loved this guy, and anyone that got Ashton’s respect, got mine.

He laughed and shook his head. “That’s what he told you about me? I’m a womaniser?” he asked, faking hurt.

“Big time,” I confirmed, laughing.

“Maybe I’m just waiting for the right girl to set me on the right track, make me want to settle down,” he purred suggestively.

“Right, you know what? I can help you with that,” I answered, looking at him through my eyelashes.

He raised his eyebrows and smirked at me. “Oh really?” he asked, obviously interested, leaning in closer to me.

“Yeah,” I breathed, nodding and leaning in closer to him too, watching as his eyes widened and he flinched back slightly. I smiled. Clearly he was regretting flirting with his best friend’s girl now that I was playing along too. “I’ll help you find a girl tonight when we go out,” I added, winking at him and laughing as relief washed over his face.

He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re funny, no wonder he likes you. Mind you, I can think of a few other reasons too,” he muttered as his eyes skimmed my body again.

“Well at the moment, Nate, I’m struggling to find anything that he’d like about you,” I teased.

“Ouch, Anna, you wound me.” He put his hand over his heart, faking hurt.

The kettle boiled, so I spooned the cheap instant coffee granules into the mugs, plucking the milk from the fridge. “So how do you take it?” I asked, putting sugar in my coffee and extra milk in Ashton’s.

“I’ll take it and give it any way you want, baby,” he flirted again.

He’s an even bigger flirt than Ashton! Can he just not help himself? I wondered. “Right, well how about I give it to you strong and straight?” I offered, putting a strong black coffee down in front of him. He laughed in response. “I’m gonna go take this into my man, and start his birthday off right for him,” I winked at him and picked up the two coffees.

“Well, I will definitely see you later, Anna.”

I rolled my eyes as I stepped back into Ashton’s bedroom and kicked the door closed behind me. “Hey, Nate’s here,” I chirped, as I plopped back on the bed.

Ashton’s body seemed to stiffen as he frowned. “He’s up already? He was working until twelve.”

“He’s up; I just met him in the kitchen. He’s a funny guy,” I shrugged.

Ashton’s eyes tightened. “He hit on you, didn’t he?”

I smiled at his question. He was so overprotective of me, sometimes he seemed to forget that I wasn’t actually his girlfriend, although most of the time lately, I wished I was. “Yep, but don’t worry, I told him I wasn’t interested,” I promised, scooting to his side, setting the coffees on the bedside unit.

“I think you’re the first girl I’ve met that wasn’t interested in him,” he smiled, wrapping his arms around me, pulling my body closer to his.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Nah, I told you, I already have an extremely hot boyfriend,” I stated, smiling before continuing, “even if he is an old man now.”

He scowled jokingly. “Hey, don’t start with the age jokes; I’m a little sensitive about it.”

“Well, we could always say you’re twenty-one and three hundred and sixty-six days,” I offered, shrugging.

He laughed again. “Yeah, that definitely sounds better than being an old man,” he answered, trailing his fingers up my arm, making me ache all over. He grabbed his new camera off the bedside unit and held it out in front of us, snapping a photo before I could even protest.

“Hey! I haven’t even brushed my hair,” I whined.

“You look beautiful, Baby Girl. I love your messy bed hair.”