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“Of course I want to hear it!” Eva wrinkled her nose. Unless her sister was about to say she was marrying Gus.
“So, Gus—you remember Gus.”
Eva barely stopped herself from groaning, calculating how fast she could fly out and stage an intervention. “Ye-e-e-s?”
“Well, he has this friend. A kind of mentor, really. Surfing and all that.”
“Oh?” Eva propped herself up on one elbow, pleased that even in her pitiful-me state, she could still be excited for her sister. “That totally gorgeous guy, a little older than we are, what’s his name?”
“Bodie?”
“Yes!” Eva’s eyes shot wide. That was some serious piece of man. “You landed Bodie?”
“No, no, nothing that exciting. I just met him. But I’m going to see him again.”
“Wow.” Bodie was like... He was...well, he was a complete zero compared to Ames, of course, but whoa. Hot. “You’re going to have to hurry to start something. That sucks that you met him so late in the month!”
“Oh. Yeah. So...”
Eva frowned. Something was making her sister very uncomfortable. “So?”
“I was so sure this was a good idea, something you’d jump at. But if Ames has his heart crushed, that means things aren’t going well between you two.”
“What does Bodie have to do with Ames? You are confusing me.”
“Yes. Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I just have to say it. Eva, I was wondering...”
Silence.
“Oh, Chri-i-i-s, I’m still he-e-e-re.”
“I thought maybe you’d want to stay in New York longer. I mean, keep the switch going for a while longer. Like a month. Or...sort of indefinite. Maybe month by month. Or maybe...” She paused for breath after the rush of words. “Well, what do you think?”
Eva got off the bed and stood with her mouth wide open until she caught sight of herself in Chris’s mirror on the wall and realized she looked like an idiot. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Oh, honey. I didn’t think it would upset you that much. I’m sorry. Forget it. I’ll put on my big-girl pants and come home as planned.”
“No, no.” Eva started to pace the tiny room, hand to her temple. “It’s not that. It’s that...Ames asked me the same thing last night. To stay longer.”
Predictable gasp. “No way. But then, if his heart is crushed, that means you—”
“Shot him down.”
“For my sake? Because if that’s the case, there’s no problem anymore since—”
“Not because of you.”
“Oh, Eva, why?” Her sister was clearly distressed. “I thought you were really into him.”
“I am!” She lifted her hand, let it fall, spun around and hit her knee on the dresser, then collapsed onto the bed, rubbing it. Ow, ow, ow. “I just, I don’t know, panicked or something.”
“How do you feel this morning?”
She groaned. “Horrible.”
“Because you see now that you made the wrong decision shooting him down?” Chris sounded ridiculously hopeful, which made Eva feel ridiculously worse.
“I didn’t exactly jump at the idea when you brought it up, either.”
“Right. I’m so sorry, Eva.”
“No, I’m sorry.” A siren sounded outside. Eva pressed the phone harder to her ear so she could hear. “I’m letting you down, too, because you want to stay.”
“No, no. Look. We had a deal, you’re honoring it, and I will, too. This was a pipe dream for me because I thought you’d want to stay with Ames. It was just a chance to have wild insane sex with a guy whose body could start its own religion.”
“Argh! Can’t you just have a crazed affair for the next week?”
“Bodie’s out of town. Competing. Back the day after I leave.”
“Oh.” Miserable silence. Miserable Meyerses. Eva had now disappointed her two favorite people in the world. Maybe she should call Zac to see how she could disappoint him, too. Then her parents. Kindergarten teacher after that? “Let me think about it for a while, Chris.”
“No. Seriously. This was a completely ridiculous idea. I miss New York and I’ll be fine. I’ll change my hair or something.”
