Page 106 of Bump and Run

Their faces drop cold.

“Your father is Cary Pierce?” my mother asks.

Eliza nods. “Yes, ma’am.”

If she was a leper before, then right now, she’s a leper with three heads and each one of them has a pierced nose.

My father says nothing. He just flashes a quick nod of approval at me, so I guess Eliza passed with him.

My mother, on the other hand, shifts between an expression of seasickness and abject terror.

Cary Pierce’s daughter is in her house and she didn’t clean it first.

Her fiery stare falls on me. This is my fault, obviously.

“So, who’s playing today?” Eliza asks my father.

I furrow my brow, knowing that Eliza doesn’t give two shits about football but her face feigns great interest.

“New York and Dallas,” he answers.

“Oh, what’s the score?”

“You know…” my mother says, “if you’d all like to watch the game for a while, lunch won’t be ready for another twenty minutes.”

“I’d love to,” Eliza says.

And then I realize… Eliza baited my mother, giving her the perfect excuse to isolate her location while she worked like a damn bee to get the rest of the house in top condition for her guest.

A fucking champion.

Eliza follows my father into the living room and Mom grabs my jacket before I can pass by her.

“Kitchen. Now.”

I sigh and fire another hateful glance at Maggie’s amused mug before dragging my feet into the kitchen.

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