Page 21 of Bump and Run

Six

Eliza

We step outsideinto the quad. It’s highly populated tonight, full of people enjoying the warm evening, hanging out and having fun. I pull the hood of my sweater over my head and slide my sunglasses on. The sun is long gone but I can’t risk being seen out with Junior. I even slow down to keep at least two paces behind him on the sidewalk.

Junior spins around and walks backward with his eyes on me. “Ellie, what the hell are you doing?” he asks, smiling wide.

“Turn back around,” I snap.

“You look like you’re casing the place.”

“I’m not casing, I’m being cautious.” He stops suddenly and I collide with his thick chest, nearly knocking the sunglasses off my nose. “Junior—”

“Eliza Pierce!” he shouts. “Watch where you’re going, lady!”

I jump back, putting several feet of distance between us. “Knock it off!”

“See?” He gestures around. “Not a single person looked up.”

I hide under my hood, annoyance spiking inside.

This was a horrible idea from the start. I should have just spoken up in the locker room when Dad came in. Then I could have avoided this whole damn thing.

“Hey…” Junior takes a step back and tilts down to try and find my eyes. “I’m sorry, all right? That was kinda dickish.”

“Living up to your name, Big Dick Morgan.”

“There she is!” he laughs. “Look, I’m parked in G lot. We can split up and you can meet me there, if you want.”

I straighten up and slide my glasses off. “No, it’s okay. I’ll walk with you.”

He pauses, staring down at me with soft, concerned eyes. “You’re really freaked out by the idea of the coach finding out about this…”

“I just don’t want to get on his bad side.”

“He doesn’t…” Junior goes quiet, hesitating his words. “You know… hurt you on this bad side, does he?”

I shake my head. “No. God, no. Never. He can just be… difficult, I guess. He and I have been getting along pretty well lately. I just don’t want to…”

“Rock the boat,” he nods.

“Right.”

“Well…” He clears his throat and smiles at me. “Now I feel kinda bad about coercing you into going out with me tonight.”

I can’t tell whether or not he means it. His face still shines with that cocky confidence but his voice sounds sincere enough. “I could have told you to fuck off anytime, Junior.”

“You certainly could have…” he leans in a little, “but you didn’t.”

I flash back to him in that towel, remembering the pained lust in his voice when he leaned into me and how long it took for my fingers to stop vibrating after I touched him. “I suppose you’re about to enlighten me with what that tells you about me…”

His lips curl. “Oh, Ellie, I think you’re already well-aware of what that says about you.”

He’s so damn sure he’s getting laid tonight. It’s almost cute. “G lot, you said?”

We walk the rest of the way in silence and I keep a constant watch around us, darting around from face-to-face for anyone that might know my father.

Junior’s car sits in the corner of G lot and I start to relax more and more with each step we take from the high-populated campus hangouts.

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