“There you are!” her cousin Bryce called out, raising his beer in appreciation.
“There I am,” Josie repeated as she watched herself mixing drinks behind the old bar. She didn’t mind seeing herself on camera. She had a YouTube channel, after all, but it was strange to see herself on national television, wearing all that makeup.
Kaia—sitting at a table in back with several of her friends—squealed when she and Adam appeared on screen, being interviewed by Eve about their friendship with Josie. She rushed over to the bar, and Adam joined them for a group hug.
The show cut to commercial, and the noise level in the bar exploded as everyone began to discuss what they’d seen so far. She and Adam mixed and poured drinks as quickly as they could, and before they knew it,Do Overwas back.
Eve and Josie were seated across from each other in that staged scene where Eve told her about her plans for the new bar, and Josie felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs. Eve looked so impossibly beautiful, so confident, so poised. Josie looked away, stacking glasses to keep herself busy. Just a few weeks ago, she’d imagined this night going so differently. She’d thought Eve would be here with her, drinking and celebrating, sharing her bed later tonight.
It had been two weeks since they filmed the follow-up segment, and she hadn’t heard a word from Eve, not even to remind her about the show tonight. At first, Josie had checked her phone obsessively, hoping against hope she might call or text. She’d spent weeks looking expectantly at Dragonfly’s door every time it opened, hoping Eve might walk through it.
Now, she was just tired. And sad. But mostly tired. As the show continued, Josie found herself focusing more on her customers than the television, because seeing herself on screen with Eve was…hard.
And then, there was Eve in that zipper-front dress on opening night. God, she’d driven Josie mad in that dress. She could still hear the hiss of the metal as she’d unzipped it later that night. She’d probably never look at another zipper-front dress without thinking of her. There were a lot of things she’d never see without thinking of Eve.
Suppressing a sigh, she poured beer for her cousins as footage from opening night aired onDo Over. Aunt Cecily appeared on screen, drawing a round of cheers from the crowd in Dragonfly. She slid off her stool to bow dramatically, grinning from ear to ear.
“Bucket list item achieved!” she called out, pointing to herself on the television.
After another commercial break, the final scene began to air. This was the follow-up segment where Eve revisited the bar to see how Dragonfly was doing after its first month in business. There was Eve, as calm and collected as ever. The intensity that had shimmered between her and Josie during their earlier scenes was missing here. They barely looked at each other, keeping their interactions to a bare minimum. Josie didn’t think anyone else would notice the difference, but it was all she could see.
When the show ended, the whole bar burst into applause. Uncle George bought everyone a round of drinks, and the party kept going for hours. Her relatives headed home around midnight, but she had a steady stream of regular customers until closing. Everyone congratulated her on the show, and she thanked them all for coming. She and Adam closed up together, exchanging a lengthy hug before he headed out.
“Congrats, lady. You really did it,” he said, his hand rubbing up and down her back.
“We did it,” she told him. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“It’s been a good change for both of us.”
She was exhausted as she climbed the stairs to her apartment, relieved that the episode had been well received—by her customers and family, at least—but overwhelmingly sad at the same time. Seeing herself on screen with Eve had stirred up so many emotions. She had a strong feeling she was going to burst into tears the moment she stepped into her apartment.
Halfway up the steps, she jolted to a stop. Someone was sitting at the top of the stairs, leaned against the door to her apartment. Adrenaline flooded her veins, but she’d barely registered alarm before she recognized the sleeping figure.
Eve.
Josie blinked hard, wondering if she was hallucinating. Dreaming? Because there was no way the real-life Eve Marlow was slumped in the doorway to her apartment in the middle of the night, fast asleep. It was past five now. Morning, basically.
Josie crouched in front of her. Eve had on jeans and a pink sleeveless top, hair covering her face as her head rested against the doorframe. Josie reached out and touched her arm. “Eve?”
She tipped forward, almost toppling Josie down the stairs in her surprise. Josie braced one hand against the wall, the other on Eve’s chest, steadying them. Her heart thumped beneath Josie’s palm the way it had that day in her apartment, the day they broke up. Eve stared at her now, faces inches apart. Her eyes were wide and unfocused from sleep.
“What are you doing here?” Josie whispered.
Eve blinked several times, her gaze dropping to Josie’s lips. “The show.”
“Yeah, we watched it downstairs. My whole family was here.” Josie smiled softly.
“Did they like it?” Eve asked in a hushed voice.
“Yes. Did you, um, want to come in?”
Eve nodded, still looking disoriented, but there was something else about her, something Josie couldn’t quite put her finger on. Maybe it was just that she’d fallen asleep, but she seemed more subdued than she had the last time Josie saw her, like she’d left her armor at home.
Josie stood, opening the door and motioning Eve in ahead of her. “It wasn’t locked, you know.”
“I know.” Eve’s lips curved slightly. “I told you to change the code downstairs. You shouldn’t let crazy ex-girlfriends have access to your apartment.”
“Only one does, and while she may be a lot of things, she isn’t crazy,” Josie told her. They stood facing each other just inside the door, awkward despite the lingering familiarity between them.
