Page 19 of Before Eve

West snaps his fingers. “Dang. I thought I had it with the welder.” His mischievousness slowly fades as he studies me again. What does he see when he does that? I try picturing myself as this flirty girl, giving it right back, joking and touching. Or if not that, just a normal conversation.

And so I try. “How about—”

Anne comes up. “Yo, sexy,” she says to West, then hands me a card key. “We’re in room 302, let’s go.”

“How about?” West prompts.

Anne looks between us, and I swallow a sudden flare ofnerves. “How about we all get a coffee before you go out with your friends.” I nod to the lobby coffee shop and its little clump of tables.

West brightens. “That sounds good.”

Anne shoots me a playful smirk. “I’ve got plans. But you two have fun.”

Plans? She doesn’t have any plans. But before I have a chance to say that, she beelines into the elevator, leaving me and West alonefor our “coffee date” that I just invited him on.

I slide my card key into my back pocket, and we pile our stuff in the corner of the coffee shop before heading over to the counter. “What do you want?” West asks

“Just a medium light roast, please.”

As he places our order, I take a seat at a table and run my clammy palms along my jeans. I can do this. I can be normal. I can sit with West and have some coffee and conversation. I like West, I do, but I need him to know whatever this is between us has to be friendship and nothing else.

I need that boundary. Plus, what about that gorgeous Asian girl I’ve seen a couple of times now? Isn’t she his girlfriend?

Simon wanders in and gives me a little wave before sitting at his own table and pulling out his phone.

West brings our drinks over and busies himself with cream and sugar. As he does, he glances down to the Charlie Brown screen printed on my tee. “Wile E. Coyote, Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry, and now Charlie Brown. You must really love cartoons.”

He kept track? “I do.” It’s the one pleasure I held tightly to growing up. “I was in a thrift store with Anne and they had a whole rack of tees. I bought nearly all of them.”

“Do you have a favorite?”

“Oh, I’m a big fan of the Muppets. Do you like cartoons?”

“I do. I’m wearing Daffy Duck boxers right now. Actually, I have a whole collection that feature Daffy.”

“Why Daffy?”

“Because he’s got an overblown ego but a screwball personality. Kind of like me.” West imitates a duck’s voice, “Oooh boyyyy.”

I laugh. “That’s good.”

West sips his coffee. “What are you looking forward to the most on our tour?”

“The music. Seeing new stuff. Shadowing Ford.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“I did.”

“He’s cool?”

“Yeah, I think it’s going to be great.”

West takes a sip of his coffee. “What else are you looking forward to?”

“Making friends. Speaking of…” Instead of being nervous about the conversation, I mimic how West always makes things lighthearted. “As you’ve probably picked up on, I’m not very good with boy-girl stuff. The flirting.” I make a face, and he grins. “I want to be friends. Is that okay? I get the impression you’re used to a lot more with girls. Plus, don’t you maybe have a girlfriend? Are you even allowedto be flirting?”

He offers a friendly look. “Eve, I do not have a girlfriend.”