Page 22 of Seven Days in June

Squinting a little, Shane peered at the name tag on Rich’s shirt. An impish look spread across his face, and he smoothly changed the subject. “I do, however, feel like discussing carrot tagliatelle.”

Rich gasped. “You…you read my…”

“You’reRich Morgan, right? You cover food onSlatesometimes? That piece was revelatory. I didn’t know you could make noodles out of vegetables.”

“I suggest the five-blade spiralizer from Amazon Prime,” enthused Belinda.

“I got mine at alovelykitchen-and-home shop in Lake Como,” said Cece.

Eva shut her eyes, wondering if someone had slipped acid in her seltzer. This conversation was ridiculous. Shane had single-handedly changed the mood in a room, in milliseconds. When had he become so unguarded? So chatty? She’d never heard him say more than a grunt to anyone but her.

“I’m ordering that shit,” said Shane. “I’m new to eating healthy. Like, I’m still on avocado toast. Rich, thanks for your service.”

Rich beamed and floated down to his seat.

Khalil was disgusted. “Help me understand this. Youwon’ttalk about racism, but youwillopen a discourse on hipster pasta?”

Shane shrugged. “Health is wealth.”

Cece waved her arm across the stage with a flourish. “Shane Hall, ladies and gentlemen!”

And then Shane handed Cece his mic, wiped his damp palms on his jeans, didnotlook in Eva’s direction, and returned to the wildly applauding audience.

There was twenty minutes left of the discussion, but the panel was effectively over. Shane had stolen it out from under them.

And Eva was a wreck.

Chapter 7

You First

THIRTY MINUTES LATER, THE ATTENDEES WERE STILL CROWDING AROUND THEpanelists—chatting them up, asking Belinda and Khalil to sign the beat-up paperbacks they’d carried in their bags. No one had brought anyCursedbooks for Eva to sign, but she was suddenly hit with an influx of people itching to hear more about her “feminist fantasy” series. Meanwhile, the delightfulCursedfan in the hat was acting as Eva’s one-man street team, hopping from group to group, spreading the gospel according to Sebastian and Gia.

It was everything Eva had hoped would happen. She was suddenly on the radar of a whole new demo of the book-buying population.Literary types.And they would tweet and Snap and Instagram about her, and buzz would grow, and (fingers crossed) she’d ascend from popular niche author to a major voice in the book world. A thought leader! Someone whose interspecies sex movie you’d pay to see!

But at that moment, she couldn’t feel it.

Both Belinda and Cece had tried several times to corner her, with a ravenous, gossipy gleam in their eyes. But Eva had conveniently found herself entangled in a new conversation each time. She couldn’t face them. Not yet. Where would she even start?

Heart pounding, she glanced over at Shane from across the room. Visibly uncomfortable with the crowd of fans surrounding him, he’d somehow escaped to a back corner. (The Shane of 2019 was more comfortable around people than the Shane of 2004, but still no social butterfly.) He was pretending to talk on his phone. Eva knew he was pretending, because he had the phone to his ear but wasn’t saying anything. And she knew this because she was staring.

And he’d been stealing glances at her, too. Here and there, and then as though he couldn’t help himself…a lot. It was making her dizzy. Everything was making her dizzy. The dull throb in her temples. The impossible heels. The sexpot dress. It had gotten tighter somehow, sucking at her like Saran Wrap. She kept shifting it around her hips. It was a sample-size 2, which was really a 0, and Eva was a size 4 but a PMS 6. Between all of that and her past so rudely colliding with her present, she hadn’t breathed in hours.

Her phone dinged with an incoming flurry of texts from Audre, berating her for forgetting to shop for her “feminist icon” art final:

Today, 7:35 PM

My Baby

mommy u forgot to get me the supplies for my portrait of grandma lizette! It’s due friday! I can’t finish till i have feathers for her hair but no its cool keep compromising my artistic creativity ttyl xoxo

For once, she chose to ignore her daughter. She was also pushing aside the shame she felt about raising Audre to believe that her grandmother was a feminist icon. Revisionist history at best. Outright lie at worst.

Her phone dinged again, a new post notification from the topCursedFacebook fan group. The moderator was a high-energy Vermont housewife whose wealthy Christmas-tree-distributor husband had funded her visits to every tour stop Eva had ever had. @GagaForGia was her biggest fan. And the most resourceful.

TheCursedCrew Group

Gossip incoming from some author thing at the Brooklyn Museum. Our own Eva (plus randos) spoke on a panel about racism or something. Sources say that ONE OF US was on stage! He’s a Famous Author™named Shane Hall? And he RAVED aboutCursed. Also, you know how Eva has Sebastian’s signature branded on her wrist? The zig-zag “S”?

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