Seven Days in June(62)

Chapter 19





Heterosexual Men Love Me




EVA TOOK FOREVER TO BUZZ SHANE UP.

She’d been locked in a debate with the most overimaginative, stubborn, dramatic girl that Brooklyn had ever produced. (Outside of Barbra Streisand, maybe.)

Audre was convinced that Eva had whored herself out for her. And with Shane waiting downstairs, Eva had no time to convince her otherwise. She was throwing on random clothes from her bedroom floor, rushing to get cute, while trying to talk Audre off the ledge. Not to mention that she was unprepared for Shane to meet Audre and had no idea what to say to him after their Dream House tryst.

When they heard the knock on the door, both Audre and Eva raced down the hallway, but Audre got there first. She threw open the door and stood there, fists on her hips, squinting up at Shane with a thunderous frown.

He jumped at least six inches off the ground. “Jesus fuck!”

“Shane! Language!” Eva skidded into the doorway in her fuzzy house socks and knocked Audre out of the way with her hip.

“But that’s…She’s…”

“Unexpectedly home, yes,” Eva blurted out, breathless. She couldn’t imagine how absurd they both looked. Eva in her Bad Boy Family Reunion tee and hastily thrown-on denim short overalls, with her hair piled atop her head like a perky pineapple—and Audre in her sweats and Hogwarts Sorting Hat. They were both breathing hard, unfinished business shimmering in the air between them.

“Shane, this is Audre. Audre, this is Shane. Um, we need a sec alone.” Grabbing a stunned Shane by the biceps, she used all her strength to push him back out into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.

“I’m giving you five minutes!” hollered Audre, her voice muffled behind the door.

Gesturing for Shane to follow her, Eva scurried up the stairs to the second-floor landing, outside of the apartment above her. She needed to be out of earshot.

With a dramatic exhale, Eva collapsed against the two-hundred-year-old wall as Shane did the same. She wondered how many other illicit lovers these walls had seen.

Panting, she said, “I haven’t breathed since you buzzed.”

“You didn’t tell me your daughter was here!” Shane was caught between panic and excitement. “Jesus, she’s the cutest person I’ve ever seen. You gave birth to her. A whole human. And you’re letting me meet her?”

“Only ’cause I forgot she had today off from school!” Eva was reeling, in flustered disbelief that Shane was here, in her building, right now.

“Oh. Ohhh.” His heart sank. “Listen, I’ll go. I don’t want to make anything weird for you. Or her.”

“Don’t go.”

“Really?” He beamed.

“You need to help with my alibi.”

“Oh.” His heart dropped again. “What alibi?”

“Audre saw fan pics of us online—ice cream, cuddling on a stoop—and I guess we looked…you know.” She made a dreamy face at him. “Like this.”

“What, goofy?”

“Smitten.”

Shane nodded, his fingers slowly plucking his bottom lip. Lazily, his gaze drifted down from her eyes to her mouth to her bralessness and back up again.

Eva’s mouth parted. He smirked at her, all cocky swagger.

“I can imagine,” he said.

“Anyway,” she continued, cheeks blazing, “she has decided that I seduced you into saving her academic career.”

“Seduced me? She used those words?” Shane put his face in his hands, muffling a chuckle. “Oh no.”

“I’ve never met anyone more dramatic.” Eva threw up her hands and rolled her eyes theatrically.

“I have,” he said, grinning.

“This week is too much for me.” Eva’s head felt too heavy for her body, and she dropped her forehead on Shane’s chest. She let it stay there, rubbing her head into him, relieving the pressure, just wanting to be soothed.

Shane froze momentarily, taken aback by the intimacy. Even after yesterday, he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions about where they stood.

“It’s okay,” he said softly, not touching her. “Can I hug you?”

“Please,” she breathed into his shirt.

Bending down slightly, he slid his arms around her waist and scooped her up, pulling her against him. On tippy-toes, she clung to his shirt and buried her face in his neck.

“Tighter,” she moaned, and he squeezed her. He wanted to live there. Pressing his fingers into her hair, he gently massaged her scalp.

“You’re here,” whispered Eva, feeling dizzy, “’cause I want you here.”

Shane made a small noise in the back of his throat that would embarrass him later. “Are we gonna talk about what we did?”

“There’s no time—my daughter thinks I’m a hooker. I have to fix this.”

“I’ll help.” He ran the backs of his fingers along her cheek tenderly, needing to feel her skin. She let out the faintest sigh. “Audre has a healthy imagination, which isn’t a stretch, considering who her mom is. I’m great with kids.”

“But she’s my kid.” Eva lifted up her face to look at him. “And this isn’t how I wanted you to meet her. I mean…not that I even thought about you meeting her.”