Chapter 6
Elias knocked on the front door at seven o’clock.
The party started at eight-thirty, but he had told her he’d pick her up at seven when she accepted his invitation.
He didn’t consider his invitation to the party a date, and while he planned to take her to dinner beforehand, he still didn’t think of it as one.
He wanted them to hang out again in an environment where she was comfortable before he took her out.
The door opened, and Eri stood on the other side in a form-fitted maroon sweater tucked into high-waisted black skinny jeans and matching boots. He couldn’t think of a time when he’d seen her and she hadn’t looked beautiful, and tonight was no exception.
“Hey,” she greeted, stepping aside to let him in. “I’m almost ready. You can have a seat.”
“I’m not in a hurry,” he told her, sitting on the couch.
While she finished getting ready, Elias looked around the living room.
There were pictures of her with Avian, her with other friends, and of who he assumed were her parents.
A large photo collage on one wall, the images spanning from high school to the present.
She liked to capture her memories, to preserve them.
Elias understood that. Most of the pictures in his own house were of his bikes, but he kept others in photo albums, a habit he’d gotten from his mother.
When she returned a few minutes later, purse on the crook of her elbow, a soft red painting her lips, they left. He opened the car door for her, and when he pulled out, he clued her in on the plan for the night.
“Since the party doesn’t start for another hour and a half, I thought we could get dinner together.”
“Where are we going?” He had a place in mind, but if she had a taste for something else, he didn’t mind going there instead.
“Where do you want to go?”
“There’s this food truck, Medina’s. They have delicious food, and they aren’t far tonight. Usually, they’re on the other side of town. I know it’s cold, but they put out heat lamps, and—”
“You don’t have to convince me, Amate. If that’s where you want to go, we can.”
“Okay. They’re off Broadway Boulevard tonight.”
“For the record, we could have gone even if they were across town,” he told her.
The truck was easily spotted ten minutes later when they pulled onto the street.
It was parked in the parking lot of a building long since closed.
Elias found a parking spot, and he followed Eri to the line of people waiting.
She was right. There were heat lamps around the tables set out and near the queue.
The heat coming off them combated the January chill well.
He looked over the posted menu. It was his first time visiting the truck; Albuquerque was abundant with them, but unless he passed one while he was out, he didn’t normally seek them out.
“Why don’t you order for me, Amate.”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “Are you allergic to or dislike any foods?”
“No, to both.”
When it was their turn, Eri ordered for them. When she reached into her purse, Elias pulled her back against him and handed the cashier money over her shoulder, telling them to keep the change. They took their drinks and moved to the end of the truck, where pick-up for the food was.
“You do know you paid for lunch the last time we were out,” she reminded him as if he’d forgotten.
“And I paid this time and will pay next time and the time after that,” he responded.
She raised a brow at him. “What makes you think there will be a next time?”
“As much as you play hard to get, we both know there will be.” He didn’t see a need for them to pretend it wasn’t inevitable. “And before you decide to get an attitude and try to hold out, out of spite, we both know I’m patient.”
She glared at him briefly, and he couldn’t help but smirk at her. She was cute when she was pretending to be mad.
“So what does this former client do, and what is this party for?” she asked, grabbing two straws from the nearby table and handing him one.
“She’s a content creator. She makes these short animated series and releases them online. They sent her a plaque or something for four hundred million subscribers, so she’s celebrating it.”
“What’s her name?”
“Koa.”
Eri stopped the straw halfway to her mouth. “Koa? As in KoaBae Animations? She was a client?”
“I take it you’re familiar.”
“Familiar? I don’t think I’ve missed an episode of any of her mini-series. I didn’t know she lived in Albuquerque. She’s one of my favorite creators, and we’re going to her party tonight. That’s crazy.”
Elias smiled at her fangirl moment and let her have it.
He’d seen a couple of clips from the different series on the rare occasions he was scrolling through social media.
So when she’d reached out to him to commission a bike, he had some idea of who she was.
He hadn’t known she lived in the city either, but then again, there was no reason for her fanbase to.
He’d only figured she was one and the same because Koa wasn’t a common name.
“Are you going to ask for a picture?” he teased.
“I might,” she responded. “What motorcycle did you do for her? What does it look like?”
He took his phone out and went to the gallery where he kept all his commissions. There, he found the first picture of her bike and brought it up before handing it to Eri.
“Scroll left. I think there’s about six or seven of them.”
She looked through the pictures, stopping on one to zoom in on a detail on the side, and turned it to him.
“That’s the logo from one of her first series before she was popular. I don’t think it’s up anymore, but it’s cool that you incorporated it. It’s a nice bike, too. I like the colors.” She handed his phone back. “I think if I rode, I’d want something similar.”
“It’s never too late to learn how if you want to.”
“Maybe. I’ve only been on Mickey’s twice, and for now, I’m fine being a passenger princess.”
“You should let me take you for a ride when it gets warmer.”
She pursed her lips. “I like how you’re making all these future hypothetical plans.”
“Act like you heard what I said before, Amate.”
Before she could respond, their order was called, and they retrieved it. Eri grabbed random condiments from the table before they found one right beside a heat lamp. She was right; the food was delicious, and he made a mental note for them to return soon.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
They’d arrived at the party close to nine, and a mass of people were in attendance.
That had been an hour ago, and the number had almost doubled.
Eri was sure they were at capacity or over it.
Koa had rented out one of the largest event spaces in town for her celebration, and Eri had seen several other content creators she was familiar with.
Some she knew lived in different states.
The atmosphere reminded her of a well-organized, tamed frat party.
There was music playing, but there were darts, beer pong, and other games she’d witnessed the few times she’d been bored enough to attend a frat bash.
However, there was no craziness, no cups and trash thrown around.
If all the parties she’d gone to on campus had been like this, she wouldn’t have left them so soon.
She hadn’t seen Koa yet, but there were so many people in attendance that she knew it would be hard to find her, and several people would want her attention.
Not to mention, Eri had no idea what Koa looked like.
Her face was never on her page, and she supposed that was for her privacy, but by the number of people in attendance, she had a large group of friends and acquaintances.
Eri stood near the darts area as she looked out over the crowd. Avian had dragged Marco to the sea of other dancing bodies a minute ago, and Elias had stepped outside a couple of minutes prior to take a call. The music wasn’t overbearing, and she could easily make out conversations near her.
“Hey.” She looked to her right at the man who’d approached her and took a step back as he was too far into her personal space. “I saw you standing here alone.”
“I’m waiting for my friends,” Eri responded.
“I can keep you company while you wait,” he replied, and she tried to figure out what part of her statement sounded like an invitation. “I’m Myron,” he introduced.
“Hi, Myron.” He seemed nice enough, but she wasn’t giving him her name. He wasn’t flirting with her, but she suspected it was coming. Why else would he seek a lone woman at a party? Sure, he could have just been that friendly, but the chances of that were slim.
“You’re very pretty.”
“Thanks.”
“You want to dance while you wait for your friends?”
“No, thank you.”
“Oh, come on,” he smiled.
“No, I’m good.”
“Just one dance.”
“No,” she replied, and the irritation in her voice was unmistakable.
“You’ll have fun, and we can get a drink together afterward,” he pressed.
“She said no,” filtered over her shoulder. “Which is a complete sentence.” Eri felt a hand on her waist. “And she has a drink.” Elias held a cup in front of her, and she took it, glancing at the blue concoction.
“My bad,” Myron responded, hands up in surrender. “She didn’t tell me she had a boyfriend.”
“She didn’t need to because, like I said, no is a complete sentence, and she doesn’t owe you anything other than that,” Elias responded.
Eri could feel the deep vibration of his voice against her back, and his tone left no room for argument. Her mind flashed to other scenarios he could use it in, and she shifted, subconsciously leaning back against him. He gently squeezed her waist as Myron left without a response.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I didn’t mean to take that long. We’re having a family dinner tomorrow, and my mom wanted me to pick up some things before I came, and sometimes she doesn’t know how to get off the phone.”
She laughed as she stepped away, turning to face him. “It’s fine. He hadn’t been here long. Besides, I’m a big girl. We both know I have a smart mouth and can handle myself.”
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, she would try 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 for the 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.