RUSH

Ch. 27: Sidetrack

-Mason-

"Did you scare him off again?" Eric asked while pacing beside the main entrance of the gym, loudly scoffing when I just walked right past him. "Did he reject you, then?"

I turned back and flipped him off before heading towards my car, contemplating just leaving him here before remembering that he'd been the one to encourage me to drive over and ask Bennett for his number in the first place.

Besides, if I truly did abandon Eric here, he'd just barge into the gym and bother Bennett instead, which was the last thing I needed. If a typical Eric was already prone to embarrassing me, there was no way I was leaving an unsupervised, scorned Eric anywhere near the gym I frequented.

So, I politely unlocked both sides of the car, rolling my eyes when Eric shot me a sheepish grin before getting in.

If anything, I was surprised that he'd managed to coerce me into following his advice in the first place, especially on a night that I was genuinely busy. To be fair, I spent the better half of the night trying to ignore him while glancing through my notes and study guide.

But then he'd spewed some 'it's now or never' bullshit rhetoric about how waiting until next week might cause Bennett to change his mind... And, of course, the fearmongering had worked like a charm; I'd hastily driven over and caught Bennett right after class, begging for his number like a total loser.

In all honesty, I was still reeling from when it seemed like Bennett was actually going to turn down my suggestion to exchange numbers, my stomach still viciously in knots at the thought. But really, all I could do now was wait.

"I'm still trying to understand how you went into this wanting to be his boyfriend and ended up being his personal trainer," Eric chuckled, shaking his head. "Just... how did we get here?"

"I told you already; I panicked."

"Clearly," he retorted, pondering to himself. "But no, this is good. Like I explained to you last night, any step forward is progress; at least you'll be able to get closer to him now, right?"

I sighed. Well, perhaps... if I hadn't weirded him out. "If he doesn't bail on me."

Eric frowned. "So, he didn't give you his number?"

"Kind of? He actually said he doesn't have a phone right now," I explained, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. "So, I gave him my number instead. And now we wait, I suppose?"

Eric tilted his head, giving me a conflicted look. "Who doesn't have a phone?"

"Bennett."

"No, I mean... who just doesn't have a phone nowadays?"

I shrugged, snorting at a memory that popped into my brain. "Remember last year when you threw your phone off the Golden Gate bridge and had to wait until we came back from our trip to get a new one?"

Eric narrowed his eyes. "When I threw it?"

I snorted, stifling a laugh while nudging him. "Put on your seatbelt."

"When I threw it, huh?" he yelled while attempting to force me into a headlock. "I dropped it when you tried to throw me off the goddamn bridge!"

"I wasn't actually going to do it!" I burst out laughing while leaning away from him, signaling towards the front. "I'm going to drive now! Let go, Dirk!"