“Did you see that?” She’s running toward me, combat boots squeaking on the polished floor. “Did youseethat?! I got a spare!”
She doesn’t wait for an answer before she throws herself in my lap. She straddles me right there in the middle of the bowling alley with Zeke and Yasmin and approximately thirty strangers as witnesses. Her hands frame my face and she kisses me hard.
I freeze for half a second. Old instincts about propriety and professional boundaries and keeping things private are screaming hellaciously in my head. But then her tongue sweeps against mine and those instincts die a quick and silent death.
My hands find her hips automatically and drag her closer. She’s grinning against my mouth, pulsating with glee.
When she finally pulls back, her eyes are bright. “I’m a bowlinggoddess.”
“You got one spare,” I point out.
“That’s one more than you, asshole.”
Zeke wolf-whistles from somewhere behind us. I flip him off without looking.
Eliana laughs and kisses me again, softer this time. Like she has all the time in the world. Like we both do.
Zeke clears his throat. “Alright, alright, save it for the bedroom, please.”
“You’re one to talk,” Eliana retorts, scowling at him over my shoulder. “Do you not remember that I caught you trying to put your hand up Yas’s skirt at the concert in the park last weekend? Did you justMen-in-Black neuralyzerthat from your brain?”
“Shooters shoot,” he replies unrepentantly. He reaches out and pinches Yasmin’s butt and she squeals and slaps him on the chest.
“Hands to self, Zeke,” she snaps. “We’ve discussed this.”
“Unfortunately, I’m a terrible listener. Too distracted by your effervescent beauty.” He grins and winks. Then he turns hisattention back to Eliana. “Say, El, the big man here and I were just talking. Do you have a dress for the gala?”
I cringe as Eliana’s smile falters. “The what?” she asks, the exact same way I did.
He rolls his eyes. “Maybe I’m not the terrible listener after all. You and Basti here are exactly the same. Thegala,”he says with extra emphasis. “G-A-L-A. Sort of a big deal. Kind of your whole job, really.”
“Oh,” she mumbles. “That.”
“Bastian needs a date,” Zeke continues, ignoring my death glare. “I was just asking if he’s taking you.”
Eliana laughs, but I know her well enough by now to see the excruciating effort that goes into making it seem natural. “Oh, no. That’s not— I mean, there’s no need for that.”
Something in my chest suddenly stings like a motherfucker. I turn my face so no one sees me wince.
“It’s a work thing,” she continues breezily. “Bastian should take someone more appropriate. Someone from the industry, maybe. I can’t work a room. Heck, I can barely see the person I’m talking to.”
“Eliana—” I start, feeling guilty as sin.
But she’s already standing. “I’m gonna grab another beer. Anyone want anything?”
Yasmin raises her hand. “I’ll come with you.”
They head toward the bar together, leaving me alone with Zeke’s knowing stare. “Well,” he says after a moment, “that went well.”
“Shut up.”
“I’m just saying, if you want her there, you should probably, I don’t know,ask her.”
“She just said she doesn’t want to go.”
“No, she said there’s ‘no need’ for it. Which is girl speak for ‘I want to go more than life itself.’” Zeke leans forward and grabs my shoulder. “Look, man. I know you’re scared. This whole thing with Eliana is fucked up and complicated and probably gonna end badly. But if you keep pretending like it doesn’t matter—or worse, likeshedoesn’t matter—you’re gonna lose her before you ever really had her.”
I shake him off. “Thanks for the advice, Confucius.”
