She was less inclined to aim her smart mouth at men she didn’t know or trust. Being nice to one had already resulted in the second worst day of her life—there was no telling what mouthing off would cause.
“I know you can,” he responded. “But you never need to when you’re with me.”
Eri took a drink instead of responding because the pitiful butterflies in her stomach took flight. The blue drink was sweet, but she wouldn’t be fooled. She was sure there was alcohol in it, and she would not let it sneak up on her.
“Come on. I’ll introduce you to Koa, and you can get your picture,” he teased with a smile. “And then, Amate, I’m requesting a dance.”
Eri followed him through the crowd. While he was joking, shewouldtry to get a picture with Koa and then give him his dance.
After midnight, Elias walked her to her front door, and Eri would be lying if she said she hadn’t had a good night. He’d danced with her whenever she wanted to, and they’d played several games together with Avian and Marco, but forthe most part, the couple wandered off and left them alone. Avian’s doing, Eri was sure, and her friend was not slick.
“Thanks for the invite,” she said, turning to him after unlocking her door. “It wasn’t terrible.”
He chuckled. “Can’t just say you had fun, huh?”
Eri tilted her head at him. “I had fun. Thank you.”
She knew she had caught him off guard, as he hadn’t been expecting her to admit it, but even when she was giving him a hard time, she was typically honest with him.
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad we enjoyed each other’s company. Next time, I’ll take you on a proper date.”
“This wasn’t a real date?”
“Far from it, Amate.”
She was curious about what he would call one if he didn’t consider their night a date. She supposed there wouldn’t be any harm in finding out. After all, she’d had fun, and he’d done his usual flirting but hadn’t pushed her boundaries.
He caressed her cheek with his thumb as those perfect mixtures of blue and green stared down at her. He leaned in, and the butterflies became pathetic, flapping excessively until he stopped a hair’s breadth away.
“As nice as this would be. I think I’ll wait until you ask me,” Elias stated, pulling back, and Eri blinked up at him, his words registering. “And before you say you won’t.” He ran his thumb over her lower lip. “You will.” He reached around her and opened the door. “Goodnight, Amate.”
She blinked at him several times before backing up over the threshold, and it took everything in her not to slam the door in his face because he was teasing her. Instead, she gripped the door handle a little tighter, debating with herself.
“Elias,” she called when he took a step back. “Ki…good night.”
He smiled at her, conveying that he knew what she wanted to say. Eri closed the door, locking it before leaning against it with her forehead. She let out a groan and placed her hand over her stomach.
“Pipe down, stupid insects,” she muttered.
She needed to get it together. She refused to respond this way every time, especially since she realized she no longer wanted to keep him at arm’s length. But she still wasn’t sure what she wanted from him. If she was ready to open herself up to what could be a clusterfuck. Eri supposed that was something she could discuss at her next therapy session.
7
“What are you doing, Avi?” Eri asked as she placed their drinks on her coffee table. It was Thursday afternoon, and they’d come to Eri’s apartment to do some homework together and hang out after classes. They’d finished their assignments half an hour ago, but her friend had been on her laptop researching something.
“Do you remember the tattoo competition we discussed at the Halloween party?” Avian inquired.
Eri nodded. It had been a few months ago, but she remembered. She’d volunteered to make media content for them. She remembered Marco agreeing to it but not wanting to do it until the middle of the year.
“I’m looking up spaces to have it and what vendors might want to participate. Marco hasn’t set a definitive date, but it’ll be between June and the beginning of July.”
“Getting a jump start on it is a good idea,” Eri said, grabbing her lemonade. “Once you’ve chosen the location to have it, I can create a site page for the competition. You can have vendors fill out interest forms and contestants fill out entry forms there. I can also link a payment option so they can pay whatever fees Marco charges.”
“I know the price of the chosen space will determine the vendor fee. I’m not sure what the entry fee for contestants will be since there will be cash prizes for the top three.”
“Are our favorite tattoo artists participating? Because it might not be much of a competition if they are.”
Avian shook her head. “No. They’ll do a few tattoos during the event since a major reason is to get people to come and pay for the services, but they’re judging the competition.”
