Page 79 of Bump and Run

He keeps his head down. “They wanted to borrow you and I got a little defensive.”

My lips twitch at the red in his cheeks. “You…” I push the chuckle down. “You defended me?”

“Yes.”

“Like…” I exhale a quick laugh and his head jerks up. “You defended my honor?”

He narrows his eyes to hide the embarrassment in them. “Yes.”

“Wow, that’s…” I bite my lip. “That’s new. No one’s ever defended my honor before…”

“They were out of line,” he says. “Coach, too. He said you weren’t worth starting fights over.”

My smile drops. “He said that?”

“Yeah, but…” Junior shifts on his feet. “I’m sure if he knew I was defending you, he wouldn’t have said it.”

“Right…” I nod but I don’t believe a word of it. “So, they still don’t know about us?”

He shakes his head. “No one knows anything… except Ty, obviously, but he’s not saying anything.”

“Are you sure?”

“If he was going to tell somebody, he would have by now. Trust me.”

I take a deep breath, feeling better but still annoyed — especially at my father’s dismissive remarks. Daughter or not, he obviously doesn’t give a shit about treating women with respect. Never has.

“Ellie…” Junior takes a step forward and lays his hands on my arms. “Are we cool?”

Small blooms of comfort travel up my body, reacting to his touch. “Of course, we’re cool,” I say, rolling my eyes. “You defended my freakin’ honor.”

He laughs and reaches across the table for his phone. “Good. Now that that nonsense is settled, I wanted to show you this.”

I try to sneak a peek while he taps and swipes but he quickly tilts the screen away from me. “What is it?”

“The TA posted our test grades this morning,” he answers, smirking.

I step closer. “Already?”

“Yup, and…”

I fidget with anticipation. “And?”

He finally turns the phone to show me and my jaw drops.

“Ninety-two?!” I snatch the phone from his hand. “Junior, that’s awesome!”

“Best damn math grade I’ve ever gotten in my life,” he laughs. “All thanks to my lovely tutor.”

“I had nothing to do with it…”

“Bullshit.”

“This was all you, Junior.”

“And you,” he says. “I never would have had it in me without you… well… letting me in you.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Wait…” I pinch the webpage, zooming in and out to prove its authenticity.

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