Caught in the Crossfire

“It’s that lad again,” Harry said, as he pushed Ashton’s door open.

She looked back at him with puckered lips, tousling her hair with her fingers. A smile fell to his lips, as his eyes roved over her small frame, which was clad with only running shorts and a tight tee.

Noticing his gaze, she batted her eyelashes. “The handsome one?”

Harry’d had another girl over just a few hours before, and Ashton’s body was still raging over it, though she couldn’t let him know. If that wasn’t enough, he’d asked her to make them a pot of coffee and she quickly responded by tossing the glass at his head. They’d had a while to cool down, but she was still pissed off and would do anything to get back at him, even if it was just a sad attempt at making him jealous.

He glared at her, before chuckling. “Yes, the one with the gorgeous bird.”

Of course, he had to retort her attempt at making him angry with a comment that only made her more angry than he was. He didn’t get jealous as easily as she did and she hated him for that.

“What do they want?”

Harry shrugged. “It’s just the lad, so I’m not answering. You have at it.”

Ashton’s teeth tugged at her bottom lip, as she made the split second decision to use the boy to get Harry riled up. It only seemed fair that she use someone to make him jealous the way he’d done to her.

Lifting her shirt up to reveal her toned stomach, Ashton bounded to the door, opening it quickly. The boy stood behind it, his hand rubbing against the top of his head.

“Ashton,” he said, paying her a soft smile. “Do you and Harry have a moment?”

Her fingers tapped against the wooden door, as she pretended to ponder the thought. After she had given it a few moments, she opened the door wider.

“I think I can spare a minute for you.”

She spoke loudly enough for Harry to her, with her voice an octave higher than usual. She could have sworn she heard him chuckle from the kitchen, but she ignored it.

“So, Liam,” Ashton said, guiding him to the sofa past the foyer. “What is it that you need?”

He sat down on one end, while she sat as close to him as she could without making it uncomfortable. She wanted to be close enough to touch him, but no so close that she creeped him out.

Liam’s eyes flew to her, before flashing to the small space between them.

“Harry’s coming, yeah?”

She shook her head. “He’s busy, but I’ll be happy to chat with you.”

His hand moved to his head, his fingers rubbing against it. “I was actually hoping to talk to the both of you.”

Ashton pulled her gaze away, taking a deep breath before looking back at him with her biggest smile.
“Whatever you needed him for, I’m sure it wasn’t important.”

Her hand reached towards his lap, moving for his calloused fingers. The second their skin made contact, he stood up, moving away from her. Her advance had clearly startled him, and she wondered briefly if she should have taken it slower. Or maybe shown more cleavage.

A thud in the kitchen alerted the boy to where Harry was, and he was heading towards the noise before she could stop him.

“Harry?”

Liam was shouting across the room, determined to get the curly haired boy’s attention.

“Liam, mate.” Harry was smiling, as he held a mug of tea in his hand. Ashton knew Harry well enough to know that he was only being nice to Liam to piss her off. As long as Harry was talking to Liam, his attention would be nowhere near her, effectively ruining her plan to bed him. “What brings you to my lair?”

Liam’s brow raised, clearly shocked by Harry’s sudden personality switch.

“I need your help,” he said, his feet planted firmly on the ground. “Both of you.”

Harry chuckled, stirred his mug with a spoon. “I thought I already told you, mate. We’re not interested.”

“Trust me, I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here.” Liam had a sudden authority to his tone, which led Ashton to thinking terrible things about what he could do to her. That would surely piss Harry off. “The only reason I’m doing this is because Penny needs me to.”

“Ah,” Harry said, laughing lightly. “Bird’s got you whipped, yeah?”

Liam’s fist clenched, while his eyes tightened. Now Harry was just egging him on, but the boy was smart enough to see right through that. He let out a deep breath, before speaking slowly and calmly.

“Yeah, I guess she does.” He took a step closer to Harry, while shoving his fists in his pockets for safe keeping. His eyes matched Harry’s, as he attempted to reason with him. “Now, I know you don’t want money. You’ve got plenty of that. You’re too much of an arse to care about saving anyone but yourself, so that’s out of the question too, but I can offer you something better.”

He stopped speaking, while he gave Harry time to process what he was saying. He knew the billionaire was too curious to leave a proposition unopened. He would have to find out what it was, at the very least.

“Now tell me, Liam.” Harry leaned against the countertop, giving off that casual allure he loved to give before he shot someone down. “What could a white collar worker like yourself possibly have to offer me?”

A smirk fell to Liam’s lips, as his eyes met Harry’s.

“Fame.”

And just like that, Harry was hooked. Liam was right; Ashton knew that. Saving thousands of people would bring him more fame than his money could buy. The number of girls that flocked to him was going to increase tenfold, and Ashton hated that.

Harry was going to bask in the glory of being London’s greatest superhero, while she sat on the sidelines, waiting for him to get his head out of his ass long enough to notice her.