by Tabatha Kiss
“This is my girl, Eliza!” he announces. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done it for this girl right here!”
There’s a series of aww’s from the news crews and their voices echo through the foyer as cameras flash in our direction, instantly blinding me. I’d probably fall over if it weren’t for his arm wrapped around my shoulders.
The reporters fire off a series of questions at me but my father doesn’t give me a chance to reply to any of them. He answers for me with his loud voice, singing my praises but getting the details wrong.
I’m not a singer. I’m an actress.
I’m not a sophomore. I’m a junior.
But none of that really matters in the end, I guess. I just stand here and smile, tightening my hug around his waist as if he’s a giant, protective teddy bear because that’s what he wants me to do.
Finally, he drops his arm and waves for the camera crews to follow him. “Come on back and meet the team. There are some fantastic, young athletes here that I’m dying to introduce the world to.”
I grip the railing, staying put and smiling as I wave them goodbye like a fucking princess.
They all follow him through the house and I wonder how I photographed in the dress. Hopefully, they couldn’t notice that I’m not wearing underwear. The darn thing was too tight to wear them comfortably.
“You look great. Relax.”
Grant marches down from his hiding place upstairs. He leans against the stairs in his rented tuxedo, grinning at me. “He’s definitely going to cream his boxers.”
“Who?”
“Oh, don’t play dumb,” he snips. “I think we both know who you bought that dress for.”
I roll my eyes but I don’t bother trying to deny it. “I just want to have the last word, that’s all…”
“Honey, I think he’s going to be last wording to this dress three times a day for the next month…” Grant makes a subtle jerking motion with his fist and I laugh. “Consider your mission accomplished.”
“Okay, then.”
He hooks his arm at me. “Shall we? I just have to get my eyes on these fantastic, young athletes.”
I latch onto Grant’s arm and we walk through the house together into the backyard. My father has arranged several members of the football team, Junior included, in the center garden. Cameras surround them on all sides, lights flashing as reporters shout questions about these charming, young men.
“I think Ty looked at me,” Grant whispers in my ear, his voice full of excitement. I chuckle and find Ty in the center garden but there’s no real way to confirm Grant’s suspicions.
I lock eyes with Junior and I pause, realizing that he’s full-on staring at me.
“This one here—” my father shouts, shaking Junior’s shoulders, “is Junior Morgan. Now, you don’t have to write this one down because I guarantee after Saturday’s game, you’ll have no problems remembering it.”
Cameras flash even more, reporters shout questions at him, my father nudges his ribs, but Junior Morgan’s eyes never leave mine — or my body.
Mission accomplished, indeed…
Chapter 9
Junior
Holy shit.
Being not interested in Eliza Pierce is a hell of a lot harder than I thought it would be. Not quite as hard as my dick right now, though.
That dress. That body. Those eyes. There’s not a single part of her right now that I wouldn’t kill to touch or kiss or flat-out destroy.
“Hey— Junior?”
Coach shakes my shoulders again, snapping me out of the extreme sexual fantasy in my head starring his daughter.
I throw on a smile and wave, forcing myself to look away from that tight, black dress hugging every curve of her body.
I saw the way she looked at me. I saw that subtle twitch of her lips — like she’s starving for food and just saw a defenseless animal walk right into her trap. She wanted me to look at her, to notice her, to want her.
There’s a word for this and I’m more than happy to enlist.
War.
I field a few questions and take several more photos with the coach and the team, all the while glancing at her in the crowd. Her face lights up the more I make eye contact with her and I feel a little adrenaline rush with every bit of blush that races to her cheeks.
I must have struck a serious nerve this morning with what I said. Why else would she be going through the trouble to prove that I still want her in my bed? This is classic cat and mouse. She’s dangling herself in front of me again, toying with my hunter instincts just to whip it away at the last second and laugh at me.
She really needs to be taught a lesson.
The coach calls a few more players forward and I sneak off into the crowd, weaving through the cameras and microphones to get closer to Eliza. I can practically smell her as I draw near; every sense heightened to its full potential in preparation for battle.
I roll my fingers around her arm and lean in close to whisper in her ear. “Pool house. Now.”
She doesn’t even flinch as I slide away.
I slink to the back of the crowd, taking a smooth, quiet path across the lawn to the pool house on the other side.
The door is unlocked and I walk in to stand alone in the darkness, gripping the edge of a table behind me to hold myself steady. I wait for her, counting my breaths until I see her curvy shadow on the concrete outside.
Eliza closes the door softly behind her and she steps in, blinking as her eyes adjust to the darkness.
I prepare my tongue for a speech. I want to scold her. I want to tell her that I’m not the kind of man you mess with. I’m the kind that takes what he wants and she shouldn’t be teasing me like this.
“Ellie, I—”
Holy shit, she’s gorgeous…
My tongue turns to mush and I forget everything I planned to say to her as my eyes fall from her breasts to her toes.
“Oh, Junior.” She lets out a quick whistle. “I’m up here.”
I grab her arm and pull her closer to me. She inhales sharply, stunned by the sudden movement but she does nothing to distance herself from me. I cup her face in one hand, running my thumb over her bottom lip, and I feel her tremble at my touch. My tongue erupts, just begging to taste her again.
Our lips crush together and our tongues dance as I spin her around to set her onto the table behind me. She hikes up her tight skirt and wraps her legs around my waist, holding us together with her perfectly toned thighs.
“Admit it,” I groan, attacking her neck. “You wore that dress to get my attention.”
She chuckles. “I wore this dress because it makes me look good. Don’t be so self-centered.”
I bite her neck. She flinches at the sudden pain but melts even harder against me. Her skin tastes sugary sweet and my mouth waters, eager to know what she tastes like elsewhere.
I reach for my belt to free the throbbing monster inside and she grips my wrists to slow me down.
“Junior, stop,” she whispers.
“Ellie…”
“A quickie in the pool house might be enough for most girls,” she says, holding my eyes. “I’m an all night long kind of lady and if your fucking stamina is anything like your running stamina… you could use a little more training first.”
Her words crack like a damn whip but I tingle at the pleasure it brings. “I assure you, I’m quite capable of rocking you until dawn, Ellie.”
“I have my doubts,” she quips, lowering her legs. She presses against my chest, forcing me to take a very difficult step back. I growl with frustration and she chuckles. “You’re used to these girls just opening themselves to you anytime you want, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you have no idea what it’s like for them to stop you like I have, do you?”
“No.”
Her eyes shine a devious light and she holds out her palm. “Give me your hand.”
I hesitate, unsure what her touch on my skin will do to me but I do it anyw
ay, bewitched by her shining eyes.
Eliza’s warm fingers grip my hand and she sets it against her spread knee. I sigh, feeling her body heat against my palm. She trails it up her thigh, inching closer to her slit, and halts it just before it reaches her core.
“Stop,” she says, sensing my need to keep going. “You can just feel it, can’t you? My heat bleeding against your skin…”
I lick my lips. “Yes.”
She spreads her legs a little wider but keeps my hand still against her inner thigh.
“How wet do you think it is down there?” she asks, her voice seductive as fire. “How tight?” I can’t answer. I can barely even breathe. “What do you think it feels like? Smells like? Tastes like?”
“Heaven.”
She laughs. “Maybe you’re right.”
My breath catches in my throat as she slips her hand beneath the skirt of her dress. Her pink folds show in the darkness. She’s not even wearing panties.
A slow sigh escapes her lips as she burrows a single finger inside of her. I chew on my bottom lip, my palm shaking against her thigh as she pulls her hand away and I see her juices glistening off her knuckles.
I lick my lips, smelling her for the briefest of moments as her finger passes under my nose and my tongue erupts with saliva.
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 towards 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. Grants insists that’s a good thing. I have my doubts.
I round the corner towards 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 y
ou 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?”
“Because you’re Junior Morgan.”
He laughs. “Fair point.”
“Good morning, Ms. Pierce.”
I twitch at Mr. Young’s old, stern voice as he pops out of his office and I turn around to face him. “Good morning, Mr. Young.”
He slides out in front of his bulletin board and pins a paper to its center. “I think you’re going to be quite pleased,” he says, flashing me the first smile I’ve ever seen on him. “I certainly was.”
Without another word, Mr. Young ducks into his office and closes the door behind him.
I twist back around to Junior and he juts his chin towards the wall. “Well… go on,” he says, smiling.
Oh, crap. This is it.
All the butterflies. All the sleepless hours left waiting to know. It all ends now; either with blissful happiness or crushing disappointment.
I step over to the bulletin board and look for my name.
Nora … Eliza Pierce
“Holy shit,” I breathe. “I got the lead.” I spin around to look at Junior. “I got the lead!”
He nods his head, seemingly unsurprised by it all. “I knew you would.”
I grip my chest, feeling a surge of unyielding emotion tear me apart.
“Did he post it?!”
Grant comes charging around the corner towards us, out of breath and sweating. “Traffic sucks. Did I miss it?!”
I step back to give him room and he gasps so wide, his jaw practically detaches.
“I got the lead!” he gasps. I point to the next name down and Grant squeals at me. “You got the lead!”