Page 53 of Rain Delay

“Just finish your session, Mitchell.” I tell him before walking away.

After the session, I can’t help but smile to myself as I look back at the videos I took on my phone. These were going to be gold to use in new videos.

“You’re walking kind of fast,” Wyatt says as we walk down the hallway out of the studio.

I didn’t turn around. “I have shit to do.”

“Like what?”

“Get away from you.”

He let out a quiet laugh and I hated it made my stomach do flips. “You didn’t seem to mind being close to me about ten minutes ago.”

I tightened my grip on my water bottle, stepping into the hallway that led into the parking lot. “That was different.”

“Yeah?” His footsteps picked up, closing the distance. “And how was that different?”

I wasn’t going to answer him. I kept walking, ignoring the fact he definitely was getting closer to me. The hallway was quieter than the main area, almost too quiet.

I barely made it three steps before his hand wrapped around my wrist, holding me back.

“Wyatt –”

My back hit the wall before I even registered him pulling me back, his body blocking me in without fully touching me. One arm was braced beside my head, and my heart immediately started sprinting inside of my chest.

“You keep running away every time feelings hit you,” he said, low and steady.

I could see his eyes change. They were dark now. Full of a changed expression. A darker, different expression I couldn’t quite read.

His eyes dropped briefly to my lips and then back up at me.

“What do you want, Wyatt?” I asked.

He exhaled slowly, his gaze flicking over my face. “What was that little stunt you pulled in there?”

“I was helping you with Pilates and getting good content for social media. I don’t recall a stunt happening.”

“So now we’re lying?” he asks, my chest suddenly feeling like my heart was going to burst through. “I don’t like when you lie, Ellie.”

I shake my head. “I’m not lying, I was just doing my job.”

He shook his head slightly, stepping in just a fraction closer, and I could feel the heat radiating off him. This was too dangerous.

“You weren’t…You were looking at me like,” he cut himself off.

“Like what, Wyatt?”

“Like you forgot we aren’t exactly us anymore.” he finally says, the words hitting me hard.

“Wyatt.”

“Eliana.”

“You haven’t exactly been the most honest either, you like to pretend too.” I say, meeting his eyes, but not before my eyes drop to his mouth for a second too long.

“You do this thing where you’re trying to hate me, but your eyes tell a different story.”

My stomach flipped hard, my back pressing further into the wall. “You don’t just get to decide my feelings for me.”