Anna beamed. “Yay.”
They talked for a few more minutes, and then Eden’s phone buzzed with a text. “My car’s here. Thanks so much for having me tonight, Anna.”
“Anytime,” Anna said. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Okay,” Eden agreed. She didn’t need an escort, but she was glad for the chance to spend another moment with Anna. “Night, everyone.”
They said their goodbyes, and Eden went out the front door. Anna stood on the porch behind her, watching as Eden walked to the car waiting at the curb.
“Good night,” Eden said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Can’t wait. Good night.”
Eden waved before she opened the door and slipped into the back seat of the sedan, relieved to see Lawrence’s friendly face in the driver’s seat. “Hi, Lawrence.”
“Good evening, Ms.Sands.”
As the car pulled away from the curb, Eden realized she was still wearing Anna’s hoodie.
“Are we going to talk about that moment I walked in on between you and Eden earlier?” Zoe stretched out in her chair, beer in hand. Everyonehad gone home, and she and Anna were having one last beer together on the patio before they shut off the firepit and called it a night.
“It wasn’t a moment,” Anna said. “She was bonding with Nelle, and I was watching.”
“That’s not what I saw. You were leaned across the counter looking at her like you wanted to kiss her.”
“I wasn’t going to kiss her,” Anna protested, and that part was true, at least. She wouldn’t kiss Eden—no matter how much she wanted to—even if theyhadshared a moment in her kitchen. Their arms had touched, and Eden had looked at her in a way that made Anna forget how to breathe.
It didn’t change anything. Eden wasn’t interested in her that way. Anna wasn’t naive.
“Sweetie, you were making heart eyes at her all night,” Zoe said. “Don’t worry, I don’t think anyone but me noticed. I know she’s always been your celebrity crush, but you look at her the way you used to look at Camille, and that scared me a little bit.”
Anna looked down at the beer in her hands. “I know. It scares me too.”
“Gorgeous older women in a position of authority have always been your catnip.”
That was an understatement. Anna suspected it came down to the age-old dilemma:Do I want to be her or bewithher?In this case, it was a little of both but mostly the latter. Anna lifted her beer and took a hearty drink. “Eden’s not exactly in a position of authority.”
“No, but she did hire you to open for her on tour.”
Anna took another drink as she absorbed Zoe’s words. She’d known this already, but hearing Zoe voice it out loud made it sound a lot more real. “I hear you. I do.”
“Good.” Zoe reached over and clinked her beer bottle against Anna’s. “Because I don’t want to sound like an asshole. I’m just tryingto be a good friend. I don’t want to see you get hurt again, especially not before you’re fully healed from all the damage Camille inflicted.”
Anna winced. Years of Camille’s emotional abuse had taken their toll, especially on her self-esteem. She hadn’t been in a serious relationship since. “You’re right. I knew this already, but if you could see me fawning over Eden tonight, then I’m obviously more infatuated than I thought, and I’ve got to stop.”
“She’s hot. I get it,” Zoe said. “And I say that as a woman who couldn’t be any more straight. I certainly see why Eden has turned your head.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure she’s as straight as you are, so ...”
“All the more reason to keep that big heart of yours under lock and key.”
Anna mimed turning a lock over her heart. “Promise.”
“That’s my girl. In the meantime, maybe you and I should go out one night and try to find ourselves dates?”
“For sure,” Anna agreed. “We can do one of our fifty-fifty nights where we hit a queer bar and a straight one.”
“You got it.”