Page 37 of For Eva

He rolled his eyes and sighed, dropping the towel from his hand and flopping on the end of the bed. “I’m just saying he’s fine. And it’s not your job to worry about what he’s doing.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Well, I mean, it kinda is.”

“It’s not, Eva,” he said, pulling me on top of him. “You’re only here for two more weeks to get Bryan his lunch or whatever, and then you’ll be home. We’ll get back out on the road, and you won’t have to deal with any of this.”

I raised my head and studied his face. “You think that’s all I do?”

“What?”

“You think all I do is get Bryan his lunch?”

“No, I just meant—”

“Whatever, Danny.” I pressed my hands into the mattress and pushed myself off him, but he gripped my shoulders.

“No, babe, I know you do other shit. Stuff.” He paused and sucked in a breath. “Work, I mean. I was just trying to say you don’t need to worry about him. You need to focus on yourworkuntil you get back home. And then you can focus on picking out a place for us to live.” He smiled and trailed his fingertips along my arms.

“Say you’re sorry,” I demanded, sliding my hands along the sheets so my face was within inches of his.

He reached around and grabbed my ass, pressing me against him. “I’m obviously very, very sorry.” And like the lovesick teenager I still was on the inside, I covered his grin with my mouth, forgetting what he’d said, until later that night when I lay in bed wondering why I’d let him off the hook so easily.

Black Widow Rising’s homecoming party was ramping up by the time we arrived around eleven thirty. Counting Backward were greeted with a modest amount of fanfare as newly anointed members of the rock ‘n’ roll aristocracy before the crowd went back to sipping their cocktails, awaiting the appearance of bona fide royalty.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the view from the penthouse, the city lights guiding me like stars to the floor-to-ceiling windows encasing the room. I glanced behind me to make sure no one was watching and placed my hand on the cool glass, my eyes caught between my watery reflection and the buildings which bobbed inthe sea below me. My short, strapless leather dress, kohl-lined eyes, and burgundy lips gave me the appearance of belonging, but I felt like the girl on the other side of the window, wondering if I really did.

“Champagne?”

“Huh?” My hand slid down the glass, and I gasped as another image melted into my own. “Oh, yes, thanks.”

I turned to the woman behind me dressed in a black bandeau and miniskirt and lifted one of the delicate flutes off the tray perched on her lace-gloved hand. She nodded and drifted past me as a woman who could’ve been her twin approached, smiling and offering me a silver platter full of neatly cut white powder.

“Interested?”

I took a long sip of my drink and let out a nervous laugh. Maybe I reallywasoutside the window looking in on someone else’s life. “I’d better not. Last time I did coke, I got it in my head that I wanted to go to Amsterdam, like,right then, and ended up trying to hail a cab to O’Hare at midnight. I didn’t go, of course, but my best friend always reminds me of that every time I—”

“Okay,” the woman said, her tone turning flat before she sauntered off.

I blew out a long breath, wishing I’d opted for ano thanksrather than a silly explanation. Surely, I wasn’t the only person at the party turning down free drugs.

“Holy shit, Eva. Did you know they’re serving cocaine off silver fucking platters?” I teetered on my spiked heels as Matt bounced up to me, nearly knocking me over.

“And I see you’ve had some.” I chuckled at the childlike excitement dancing across his face.

“Like anyone’s gonna turn down freedrugs?”

Okay, maybe Iamthe only person.

Danny slid beside me and snaked his arm around my waist. “Babe, did you know they’ve got coke on fucking plat—”

“Yeah, uh-huh.” I cut him off as the crowd erupted at the arrival of the guests of honor. My eyes were needles threading through leather and leopard print, and my pulse picked up as they landed on Jesse Trainor, Black Widow Rising’s lead singer.

He was dressed in black jeans and a silky white shirt, unbuttoned to reveal his smooth, tanned chest. Long dark-blond waves fell over his shoulders, and my teenage heart fluttered. I’d occasionally seen him backstage but had always averted my eyes, not wanting to bother him or humiliate myself. But now that he was off the clock, could I say hello? Could I tell him I’d hoped and prayed my first time would be with him on a waterbed in Tahiti, but instead it had ended up being with Danny in his twin bed while his mom was at work?

“Dude, I think Eva’s got a crush.” Matt jabbed his elbow into my arm.

“Oh my God, I do not,” I insisted, shoving my own elbow into his ribs. I flicked my eyes to the ivory carpet, forcing myself to stop staring at Jesse.

“She’s been in love with him since she was fourteen,” Danny said. “Do you know how weird it was trying to make out with her while that dude was looking at me from all angles on her bedroom walls?”

---