Page 18 of Bump and Run

I tell myself not to look at Eliza as I make my way for the exit but my eyes get drawn to her anyway like a damn moth to a flame. Apparently, she has the same problem. She watches me walk away and I’m pretty sure her eyes flick downward at least once to check me out.

I smile. Tonight, I’ll have her pinned again. Tonight, I’ll feel her body quiver against—

“Hey—”

I walk right into some guy and he drops his textbook to the floor.

“Watch it, dick,” he spits at me, quickly bending over to grab his stuff.

“Sorry,” I say. I keep my head down and bolt out the exit, just knowing that Eliza’s piercing blues caught the entire thing.

First that tackle at practice and now this…

If I could stop embarrassing myself in front of Eliza Pierce… that’d be great.

* * *

I openthe door to Talon Hall and quickly realize that I’ve never actually been in here before.

Talon is exclusively for the more artsy majors like theatre and music, so I’ve never had a reason to go in. Meeting up, and possibly hooking up, with Eliza Pierce is more than a good enough reason to go in now so I’ll risk the embarrassment of being seen. Although, I doubt I’ll be seen by anyone important in this crowd.

After a few minutes of wandering the huge lobby, I make it to the double doors of the auditorium. My ears perk up to the sound of echoing voices inside and I instantly recognize Eliza’s deep, yet wickedly feminine, tone.

Then the voices get louder and I pause, realizing that she’s arguing with some guy.

I pull open the auditorium doors. She’s up on the stage, her face contorted with anger and sadness as this punk screams at her. He’s tall, nearly as fit as I am, and perfectly capable of hurting her if he wants to.

“Do you see what you did, eh?! You made a fool outta me.”

“I’m sorry!” she cries. “I don’t know how many times I can say it…”

I step faster, bounding up towards the stage.

“Say it again,” he challenges. “Say it like you mean it this time or so help me—” He grabs her arm and she winces with pain.

“You’re hurting me!”

“Good!”

“Hey!”I launch up onto the stage and step between them, forcing the guy away from Eliza with a hard push with my palm. “Leave her alone.”

He looks at Eliza and they both burst into laughter.

“It’s okay, Junior…” Eliza guides me away from him. “We’re just rehearsing a scene.”

“And I guess we nailed it,” the guy nods, his tone suddenly soft as clouds. “Finally.”

“I told you we needed to make it more aggressive,” she says to him.

“Wait…” My eyes bounce between them. “That wasn’t real?”

“No,” he says, “but that sudden burst of powerful masculinity certainly was…” He rubs my shoulders and his hand lingers for a second too long.

I pause, trapped between extreme embarrassment and awful confusion.

Eliza clears her throat. “Junior, this is Grant. I doubt you’ve met before.”

“Not officially,” Grant confirms. He glances me up and down once before looking back at Eliza. “Anyway, I’m going to call it a night. You two have fun — but not too much. That’s my job.” He winks as he bends over to grab his backpack off the floor.

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