My ears ring so badly that I don’t even hear it when the clock hits zero.
Ty hops up onto the bench and waves his hands around the locker room to get our attention. He’s still clutching the football, but the man deserves to hold onto that for as long as he fucking wants.
“Party at our place tonight!” he announces, igniting a wave of shouts and hoo-rahs from the team. “Bring your booze! Bring your women and friends! Leave your inhibitions at the door!”
He hops off the bench and pats my shoulder, quickly realizing that I didn’t actually approve a giant post-game party at our shared residence.
“That cool?” he asks.
I laugh. “Of course.”
“John and I are hitting the liquor store on the way home. Want to follow us? We might need help physically unearthing the store from the ground and dropping it into our backyard.”
I lick my lips, tasting what remains of Eliza’s cherry flavor. “Actually, there’s something I have to take care of real quick but I’ll meet you at the house after.”
Ty stares at me with suspicion but he says nothing of it. “All right. I’ll see you there.”
I close my locker and bolt outside into the quad.
“It’s Junior!”
My feet barely hit the sidewalk before the screaming starts. Fellow students rush at me, their faces painted with school colors.
I pause, immersed in the strange glory of it all. I accept the high-fives and the selfies with various girls that can’t keep their hands off me.
Holy shit.
We won one game. One game.
The crowd chants my name and my face turns red. I push through them, grinning like a madman and listening to them scream my name over and over again.
I could stand here and take this all night but there’s only one voice I really want to hear screaming my name right now.
Luckily, the crowd doesn’t follow me very far. They’re all too eager to get a piece of every player that walks out of the athletic center, collecting selfies with them like novelty shot glasses.
I pause outside of Talon Hall and rush around to the back entrance instead to avoid suspicion.
It’s quiet inside. I guess the celebration hasn’t reached this place yet. Or they just don’t care. Neither would surprise me given how nonchalant Eliza is about the whole thing.
Voices touch my ears, a sudden uproar of laughter echoing from the auditorium. I pull the doors open and step inside. It’s a small group hanging out by the stage, Eliza Pierce herself among them. I sit down in the back row, deciding to watch her from afar just like I did at her audition.
There’s something about the way she is around other people that’s different than the way she is around me, but I can’t put my finger on what. She’s always beautiful and confident and well-spoken but… maybe it’s her eyes; those shimmering blue pools of light that almost seem to twinkle when she looks at me.
“Bye, Eliza. Bye, Grant.”
My lips twitch as the others excuse themselves, leaving her and Grant alone on the stage. I stand up as they leave and walk down the aisle toward them as Grant rattles off about the upcoming theatre showcase.
Finally, Eliza notices me. Her teeth instantly clutch her bottom lip and her cheeks take on a rosy tint.
Grant’s eyes shift toward me and he grins. “Hello there.”
“Hey,” I greet.
“Grant, I’ll text you later tonight, okay?” Eliza says to him, her eyes just barely leaving mine.
He flashes a slow, knowing grin and grabs his backpack. “All right.” He clears his throat. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Eliza continues to stare at me as Grant hops off the stage. He passes me with quick strides and pats my shoulder on the way, but it’s less a friendly gesture than it is one of warning — kind of like a big brother sizing up his little sister’s date.
I wait for him to leave and we linger in the silence together.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, already knowing the answer.
I smile. “We won.”
She rolls her eyes. “Is that what all that screaming out there was about?”
“It was a good game.”
“Was it down-to-the-wire exciting?”
“It was, actually.”
“Bottom of the ninth?” she asks. “Bases loaded?”
“That’s baseball.”
“I know. I’m just fucking with you, Junior.” She sits down on the edge of the stage, her bare legs dangling down beneath the hem of her skirt. “So, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out celebrating with the other jocks?”
“You know why I’m here.”
She raises a quick brow, playing up the innocent coyness in her tone. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
I stop in front of her, just barely easing between her legs. “I’m here to fill that smart, little mouth of yours and you’re going to swallow every drop of me.”
“I never agreed to that part.”
“You will. You will because you’ll want to… because you’ll like the taste.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and speaking of taste…” I lay my hands on her thighs. “Tonight, I’m finally going to find out what you taste like.” She exhales softly, her breath warm with lust. “I’m going to eat you like no one ever has, like no one ever will, and by the end of it, you’ll be mine.”
“You sound very confident about that,” she whispers.
“I told you I’d make you scream my name, Ellie,” I whisper back. “I meant it.”
I raise a hand to the nape of her neck. She leans into my touch as I pull her forward to claim her lips. She shudders with the kiss, parting her mouth to massage my probing tongue with hers.
She lays her palms against my chest and adds pressure to push me away as my other hand travels beneath her skirt. I pull back and we both take a deep breath.
“Stop pretending you don’t want this…” I hook my thumb into her panties, “and spread your legs—”
“Not here,” she warns, guiding me back again. “This room has really good acoustics.”
“Then, where?”
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this…” She heaves a thick, reluctant sigh as she slides off the stage.
“Where’s your van?”
Chapter 12
Eliza
Junior grabs my hand and pulls me down the sidewalk, not caring at all who might see him do it.
Luckily, the campus is so full of life that no one seems to notice or care as we bound toward the parking lot across the quad. His fingers are wrapped so tightly around mine that I feel my blood pounding in my fingertips. It’s almost as if he’s scared I’ll back out at the last moment and I feel a twinge of satisfaction knowing how badly he wants this.
I don’t hesitate for a second after he slides his van door open. I step inside and he follows me in. The door isn’t even closed all the way before I feel his hands on my body, lying me down onto my back. He kisses me; hard and fast, sucking and nibbling at my lips until I feel pain while he pushes my sweater off my shoulders.