Page 37 of Dirty Shots

Chapter Thirteen

Eric

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Though Eric had tried to stop himself going after her, he’d only managed a matter of ten minutes before he’d given in. He’d run out onto the street, but not seen her anywhere. He had a Lexus he rarely used, kept in the parking garage beneath his building, and so he took the car to try to catch up with her.

He hoped Anya was all right. She’d been pretty upset when she’d left. He hoped she’d have money for a cab, and wouldn’t be attempting to walk home. It was already getting dark, and she shouldn’t be walking the streets when she was so upset, and with her clothes torn. She would be asking for trouble.

Their fight had his stomach in knots. Could he have an exhibition without her blessing, or bring himself to cancel and keep his work to himself? Either option didn’t seem like an option at all.

How was this going to be reconcilable? He felt mad at her for not telling him about her parents, but at the same time he was glad she hadn’t. If she’d told him, they would never have created the images they had, and he couldn’t go back on his work. Ever.

But a voice in his head spoke up. Even if it means losing her?

He sighed. That, he didn’t know.

Something else occurred to him. Despite the heavy workout, the long walk, and then the fuck with Anya followed by their fight, he’d completely forgotten to eat. Shit. He’d not eaten all day. He had to be careful. It was too easy to slip back into bad habits, and forgetting to eat, sometimes for days at a time when he was working on an all encompassing project, was one of them.

He drove slowly along the route to Anya’s college, knowing she was staying in one of the dorms on campus. He kept his head twisted to watch the sidewalk, his eyes locking onto any small, blonde women walking down the street. None of them were Anya.

Perhaps she had caught a cab? He hoped so. He didn’t like to worry about her, and right now all he could do was think about her, the argument they’d had sitting like lead in his heart.

He reached the campus and pulled up outside. There were no parking spots, so he double parked, figuring he wouldn’t be too long. He couldn’t go walking into her dorm, but he could slip one of the other female students some money in order for them to go and find out if Anya had made it home safely. Of course, she might lie to get him off her back, but at least he’d feel like he’d done his best.

He climbed out of the car and froze, his heart hammering.

Anya was standing with someone, a guy, on the path in front of the main college building. Who the hell is that? He couldn’t tell for sure at this distance, but they appeared to be arguing. Anya held her shirt together between her breasts with one hand, while she gestured with the other. The young man stood with his hands on his hips, shaking his head.

A pang of guilt for upsetting her so much she’d felt the necessity to run home half-dressed wracked through him.

Damn it. That was his fault. She deserved to be treated like a princess, not a whore.

Still, the sight of her standing, half-dressed, with another man, made his blood boil. Without thinking about what he planned to do when he got there, Eric marched across the grass toward Anya. The person she argued with was a stocky man in his early twenties. He had the punch-drunk look of someone who liked to play sports and get in fights, completely the opposite of the type of person Eric had been at college. As he got closer he could tell the man was saying something to Anya, his mouth curled in a sneer of disgust. Anya’s nose was wrinkled in her own display of loathing, and she glanced away and shook her head, obviously disagreeing with whatever was being said. The man reached out and tried to tug at the hand Anya was holding her shirt together with. She slapped his hand away with her other hand, but he didn’t take any notice. Instead, he laughed and moved closer. Anya stepped back and stumbled, falling over her own feet, to land on her backside on the ground. Automatically, she put down both hands to break her fall, and her shirt fell open, exposing her bra.

The young man laughed.

Fury burst inside of Eric, a red haze descending over his vision. Before he could control himself, he’d broken into a run, pushing past other students, some of whom had noticed what was going on and stood, staring, talking behind their hands and giggling. Eric didn’t have a moment to take in the yells of annoyance as he shoved past them to get to Anya.

He stormed in front of the man and swung his fist, catching him on the jaw.

His punch knocked the guy’s head back.

The stocky man clutched his jaw in surprise, staring at Eric. “What the hell?”

“Don’t you ever lay a finger on her again, do you hear me?”

“Fuck you, man! Who the fuck are you?”

“I mean it, don’t you ever even look in her direction again.”

He turned to help Anya from the ground. She was staring at him as though seeing a figment of her imagination. He held his hand out to her, but before she had the chance to take it, something collided with his back. Anya only just managed to roll out of the way before Eric hit the ground, his chest slamming against the concrete, the breath exploding from his lungs. He forced himself to move, twisting around moments before the young man straddled his chest, taking swings at him.

A fist smacked Eric in the mouth. Pain exploded in his lip, and he tasted the iron tang of blood. Before he could retaliate, the guy swung again and this time connected with Eric’s nose. Fresh pain bloomed behind his eyes, spreading out to encompass his whole face. Eric roared in anger and placed two hands against the other man’s barrel chest, shoving with every ounce of strength he had, pushing him off. Anya’s attacker fell to one side, and in an instant, Eric was on top of him, repaying the blows. His fist connected with his cheekbone, pain bursting up through his knuckles, but he was too furious to care. The other man might have been ten years younger than Eric, but Eric was taller by six inches, and had the advantage of years of regular gym trips.

Hands were pulling on his shoulders, then her voice broke through his anger.

“Eric, stop it! Get off him!”

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