Page 44 of For Eva

My brow creased, and I opened my mouth to tell him none of those things had to fall by the wayside—which was the truth, but not the whole truth. So, I rubbed my lips together and stared past him as I thought. “But I’m not doing this for you or the band,” I said, finally, shifting my eyes to his. “I’m doing it for me.”

He took a long drag off his cigarette. “Oh.”

I held out one hand, the other clutched to my chest. “I mean, it’s great that I get to help you guys. But this is so much more than that. It’s a wholecareerfor me. One that involves using my degree for something I really enjoy doing. Something I never imagined as a possibility, but here it is in front of me.”

He cleared his throat and rubbed his hand along his jaw. “Well, then, I guess you gotta do it. If it means that much to you.”

A cautious smile crept across my face. “So you’re happy for me?”

He nodded and flicked his cigarette into the amber ashtray on the nightstand. “Sure.”

He looked sexy—his lean frame relaxed against the chair, messy black hair grazing his shoulders, smoke streaming fromhis lips—and for the first time since the incident with Jesse, I wanted him.Reallywanted him.

I sank my teeth into my bottom lip and cocked my head. “So…how happy are you, exactly?”

He raised an eyebrow, and his lips twisted into a tiny smirk. “Is that an invitation to show you?”

I hadn’t deliberately tried to punish him by not having sex with him. It was just that whenever he touched me, all I could feel was Jesse’s rough hands against my skin, and all I could see was Danny’s back turned to me. I’d let those feelings construct a wall between us, but as he looked at me, the bricks fell away one by one.

“What do you think?”

He stubbed his cigarette out before standing and moving to the edge of the bed. I ran my hand along the front of his jeans and unfastened his belt. I gazed up at him, the gold shining in his hazel eyes, and he gently brushed my hair away from my face, making me feel like I mattered.

“They’re good, Eva. They’re really fucking good.” Keith tipped his beer bottle toward the stage where Eric was running from one end to the other, a streak of hair, leather, and sweat glistening in the pulsing white lights. Danny stood stage left, head down, deep in concentration, making the crowd feel every single note he played. He’d occasionally glance over at us to gauge the sound, and we’d give him a quick nod or thumbs up.

“They’re gonna be huge…boss,” I said with a wink.

“They alreadyarehuge. Did you see the latest charts? The single is—”

“Number three, album is number five. It’ll be certified gold within the week, and once they’re on the road with Hott Blood, it’s going platinum, no question.”

“Wow. I should hire you.” He looked at me from the side of his eye and gave me a knowing smile.

I laughed and nudged his shoulder.

“All right, Phoenix! We are Counting Backward from Hollywood! Good fucking night!”

Eric’s voice echoed throughout the arena, and with one last crash of Will’s cymbals, the stage went dark and dueling spotlights followed the loud roar of the crowd as they chanted the band’s name, begging for an encore—an impossibility for an opening band but something that was becoming a nightly occurrence, nonetheless. Eric swiped his bottle of Jack off the drum riser, and the band filed offstage.

“That was amazing,” Matt said, running a towel over his face. “Fucking amazing.”

“I swear, half the crowd was here just for us,” Will chimed in, shaking his head in disbelief.

“More than half, and I hope those fuckers in Black Widow Rising know it,” Eric added, taking a long pull of the Jack before handing it to Matt.

Danny rolled his eyes, grabbing the beer I’d opened for him. “Dude, that’s over and done. Let’s move the fuck on.”

Eric shrugged and pushed through us to head backstage. We all followed, the rest of the guys clapping each other on the back and congratulating one another on a job well done. The revelry came to an abrupt halt as Jesse Trainor rounded the corner.

Fuck.

My pulse quickened, but time slowed as I realized he and Eric were about to directly cross each other’s paths for the first time since the party. Jesse looked straight ahead, his face pinchedas if he’d swallowed something sour. But he didn’t acknowledge anyone, so I assumed the crisis was averted.

Until Eric acknowledgedhim.

“What’s up, cocksucker?”

Oh my God.

---