RUSH

Ch. 20: Easy

-Bennett-

Eric. The cheerful stranger had introduced himself by that name after suddenly barging in halfway through my class, calling out my name like we were dear, longtime friends. I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows in response, a bit taken aback by the sudden fervor with which he grinned before explaining that he was Mason's friend.

Mason, huh? I looked towards the door, half-expecting him to be here as well. But to no avail.

Eric appeared to be here on his own, which surprisingly made sense based solely on his pleasant demeanor; he was so eagerly overflowing with enthusiasm despite the lateness of the fading afternoon.

And then the name clicked in my head all of a sudden, falling into place like a missing puzzle piece; I'd definitely heard Mason bring up someone by that name at one point or another, despite how scarcely we'd interacted.

"Oh, you're Eric," I stated aloud, watching as the taller man sheepishly scratched the back of his head. My expression must've shifted with some form of faint recognition, for he immediately lit up.

Eric's brown eyes were surprisingly warm and inviting, which was not at all what I'd expected. Perhaps I'd been foolishly naive to expect all of Mason's friends to be as intimidatingly broody as him at first, so out of reach that I'd hesitate to ever approach them myself.

But no, Eric was decidedly easy to talk to, even if I felt like I was being rude by not matching his level of excitement.

However, there was no doubt that they knew each other; Eric was just as suffocatingly attractive in his own right, with his beautiful, deep brown skin and striking, sharp features. It made sense that anyone in Mason's cohort would also possess such an unbearably enticing appearance. Ugh, it was troublesome... really.

He wasn't quite as physically imposing as Mason, but Eric still towered over me so that I had to glance up at him to meet his dark, brown eyes.

And the more I looked at him, the harder it was to meet his gaze.

"Mason told you about me?" Eric asked excitedly, playfully reaching over to nudge me. "I think that technically means we're friends now!"

I chuckled awkwardly, unsure of how I even remembered his name in the first place. "Uhm, I think it was just in passing, really."

Eric didn't seem deterred by that, though, even if he sarcastically scoffed at the implication. Still, the corners of his eyes wrinkled with sincerity, and I could feel myself relaxing... if only a little. "You work here, right?"

I nodded my head, flashing a polite smile. "Yeah, I—I'm an instructor here," I explained while glancing back and signaling towards the children, who were all busily engaging in a range of exercise activities that I'd assigned for today. My foot wasn't hurting as much anymore, but I was still trying to take it easy and avoid any activities that required me to participate directly.

When I looked back at Eric, I noticed him curiously glancing around. And honestly, I couldn't help but wonder why he'd even approached me in the first place. Or how he knew to approach me at all. Unless... huh?

"Your face is all red," Eric pointed out, just as I asked, "Mason told you about me?"

Eric burst out laughing at that, nodding his head in agreement. "Oh, yeah. I guess this is a bit weird, huh?"