Eliza parts her lips and sticks her finger in her mouth. “Mmm,” she hums, tasting herself. She slides the finger out, sucking it clean. “Like warm milk and honey—”
I reach for her slit, but she snatches my twitching hand, stopping me from going further.
“This is torture,” I growl.
“It’s incentive,” she snaps, pushing my hand off her thigh and laying her skirt down. “My pussy is loser-free zone, Junior. Win the game on Saturday and you just might qualify for admission.”
She hops off the dresser and weaves around me toward the door.
My hands roll into fists as my sexual frustration comes to a head. “I’m going to bury my face in that pussy until you’re screaming my name, Eliza Pierce.”
She gazes over her shoulder at me and licks her lips one more time to taste what’s left of herself on them. “Won’t that be fun?” She smiles. “Bye, Junior.”
“Bye, Ellie.”
I drop my head and stare at my bulging junk as she opens the door and leaves me behind.
Chapter 10
Eliza
I take a long, deep breath. Then, another one. And another one.
Grant and I are up next to audition. Nervous butterflies have rarely ever been a part of my pre-stage routine but this time, I can’t seem to shake them. It might have something to do with Mr. Young’s endless supply of doubt and misery that he’s always so insistent on bludgeoning me with. Or I’m just hungry because I haven’t been able to eat anything all day because of how nervous I am.
But most likely, it has something to do with Junior Morgan.
I’ve been with men before but never in my life have I been pursued like this. Junior obviously desires me and I can’t say that’s something that happens often. I’ve been wanted, I’ve been liked, I maybe have even been loved, but none of that compares to what I feel when Junior’s hands are on me.
Around him, I feel like a glass of water out in the desert or a blanket on a snowy mountain. I’m not just something he needs for convenience or luxury. No, if he doesn’t get me, he’ll die. That’s how badly he wants me, and I can’t go a single minute without thinking about how much that excites me.
Grant nudges my elbow from the seat beside me. “So, you gonna tell me about it?”
“Tell you about what?” I whisper, keeping my voice down to avoid interrupting the other act on stage in front of us. Oh, and they’re also really freakin’ good. Not that I wasn’t nervous enough already…
“About the two minutes and forty-three seconds you spent alone with Junior Morgan in the pool house last night,” he answers.
I stare at him. “Okay, you have got to stop being so creepy.”
“Come on. What happened in there?”
My lips curl on their own. “We talked.”
“With your genitals?”
I smack his arm. “No.” His eyes burrow into mine, reading me for every lie. “In a way…”
Grant twitches with excitement. “I knew it.”
“Let’s just say that the player and I have come to an understanding.”
“Like…?”
“Like if the team wins the game tomorrow, then… he and I can talk some more.”
“With your genitals?”
I hesitate. “Yes.”
“Well, well, well…” He chuckles. “Sounds like your dad isn’t the only new coach around here. I’m impressed.”
“I just don’t want to be another girl he bangs and forgets about,” I explain. “I have more self-respect than that and if wants to bang me, then he’ll show me that same respect and earn it on my terms.”
“Oh, you don’t have to justify it to me,” he says. “I’m all for it. You just have to worry about what daddy thinks of it.”
“What daddy doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“That’s always been my motto,” he jokes.
“Which is why I trust you to keep this quiet.”
Grant holds up his hands in surrender. “I swear on my life, Eliza. If this gets out, it won’t come from me.”
“Thank you.”
“Next!”
Mr. Young calls us out and my heart stops.
Grant grips my hand. “Let’s go kick some ass, Pierce. You with me?”
I nod quickly, forcing every butterfly to wither and die in my stomach before standing up. “Let’s do this.”
I step into Talon Hall and the butterflies return.
Mr. Young said the cast list would be posted outside of his office at eight o’clock this morning. It’s seven-thirty now but I’ve been up since five.
I’ve spent the last several hours replaying the audition in my head, picking it apart into little pieces, wondering if I said this word wrong or didn’t put enough emotion into that phrase. Every little piece of it has been dissected and studied at least a dozen times but I’m not anywhere closer to being as confident as Grant seems to be.
He told me not to worry about it; we have it in the bag. Mr. Young didn’t say a word after our scene. He just nodded with that hard expression of his and waved us off. Grant insists that’s a good thing. I have my doubts.
I round the corner toward Young’s office and halt in my tracks so fast, my shoes screech like tires.
“Hey, Ellie.”
I blink, convinced it’s just a mirage but no, Junior Morgan is standing there, leaning against the wall outside of Young’s office with two cups of coffee in his hands.
“Hey.” I step forward with suspicion. “What are you doing here?”
He holds out one of the coffees. “Black, as you like it.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask again. “You shouldn’t keep coming back here. If someone sees you and tells my father—”
“Relax,” he says. “This is the theatre department. No jocks would be caught dead in here. We’re safe.”
“Then, why are you here?”
“I figured you could use some moral support.” He holds the coffee out a little further, forcing me to take it from him. “Cast list gets posted at eight, right?”
“Who told you that?”
“The Internet.”
“Why are you looking up audition schedules on the Internet?”
“So I could surprise you with coffee.”
“Why?”
He chuckles. “You’re very cranky in the morning. I’ll have to remember that—”
“Junior.”
“I just wanted to see your face when you got the role,” he says, pushing off the wall. “I saw part one yesterday and I didn’t want to miss part two.”
I furrow my brow. “What do you mean you saw part one yesterday?”
He grins. “How did you guys make that slap look so real? Did you actually slap him?”
All of my blood drains from my face. “You watched the audition?”
“I was on the balcony. You had no idea?”
“No…” I blink. “Why were you there?”
“Because the audition was important to you and I wanted to support you.” He takes a sip of his coffee, filling the silence while I stare at him, completely dumbfounded. “Why are you always so surprised when I do something thoughtful?”