“Good idea.” Abbie shoves hers inside her formfitting top that shows more cleavage than I will ever have the guts to reveal.
We step out into the hallway, and I point at the moldings. “The detail is stunning.”
“I feel like royalty,” Abbie mentions.
A man comes walking toward us, dressed in the same black combat attire the guards wear.
Abbie’s one eyebrow darts up, and as we pass him, she mutters, “If all the guards look like that, my ovaries are going to explode.”
“Shhh…” Laughing, I grab her arm and force her to walk faster. When we’re out of earshot, I give her a wide-eyed look. “He heard you.”
“That was the idea,” she chuckles, then turning around, she shouts, “Room one o’ three!”
“Oh, my God, you’ll be the death of me.”
She nudges her shoulder against mine. “Just having some fun at your expense. Your facial expressions are priceless.”
“Booo.”
Happy that it will be Abbie and me for the next four years in this beautiful place, we take the stairs down and start to explore every hallway and room.
I check the time, and noting we still have four hours until we have to join Director Koslov and his wife for dinner, I relax.
“Hey, I think this is the training wing,” Abbie says. “Do you hear the gunshots?”
“Yeah, but seeing as we’ll be spending most of our days here, I’d rather avoid this wing. There’s still so much to see.”
Instead of listening, Abbie has other ideas as she grips my hand, and I’m tugged to the first door on our right. Without knocking, she opens it, and we peek inside.
“Just a gym,” she mutters. “No sweaty men fighting.”
I shake my head at my friend. “Do you ever not think of men?”
“Nope.” She lets the ‘P’ pop with a grin forming on her face. “You know this about me.”
“Yeah.” I give her a playful shove to walk to the next door.
I hear footsteps, and glancing over my shoulder, I see it’s the guard from earlier – the one Abbie flirted with.
“Shit. Hot guard alert. The one you were flirting with is right behind us,” I whisper.
Abbie’s head turns fast, and it’s in time to see the man walk into the gym.
Suddenly I’m yanked backward and find myself having to jog to keep up with Abbie as she hightails it toward the gym.
“I shouldn’t have told you,” I complain.
“Just ten minutes.” She clasps her hands together, giving me a pleading look. “For the sake of my starved vagina.”
“Jesus,” I laugh, shaking my head. I gesture to the doorway. “Let's do this.”
I’m dragged inside, and typical Abbie-style, she gives the man a bright smile.
Now that we’re closer, I can see the gray hairs at his temples. Honestly, he’s attractive, but I like my men younger and closer to my own age.
The fact that the man is clearly in his late thirties, or even forties, doesn’t deter Abbie but instead has her letting go of my arm.
She walks closer, a curious look in her usually mischievous eyes. “Are you a guard?” Before the man can answer, she waves a hand over herself while her teeth seductively tug at her bottom lip. “Because this body needs some guarding.”