Somewhere in the Middle

Not a Date

Even with her hair dripping down her back, and clothes still sticking to her skin, Evie felt human again. The women's bathroom in the venue had two rows of shower heads—no stalls—but she was the only woman using them, so it didn't really matter.

After squeezing the ends of her hair one last time with a towel, she piled her long, wet locks high on her head in a bun, then grabbed her things and headed back out through the venue to the bus.

She did her best to be quiet so as not to wake Henry, and only tossed her things into her bunk before heading right back out. She barely made it inside the venue again before someone was at her side.

"There you are." Lucas grinned as he strode up to her, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I've been looking for you."

Startled and nervous to know that he was looking for her, all she could think to say was, "Well... here I am."

And hated herself immediately after the words were past her lips.

Lucas' smile didn't budge. "Glad we haven't scared you off yet."

"I'm not so easily frightened." Just of you, she thought to herself.

If it was possible, his smile got wider. "Lucky for us. We can be an overwhelming bunch."

Evie shrugged. "You're not so bad," she said with a wink. Which she also regretted right after she'd done it. She tried to walk past him, but he slid right in front of her.

"Hey," he paused, his smile faltering only for a moment before returning to its full size. "I was just gonna go grab something to eat. There's a diner right down the block. Care to join?"

Evie must've looked hesitant, because Lucas held up his hands as if to show he meant no funny business.

"Not a date—we'll save that for another time." He winked then, and Evie hated how attracted she was to his somehow not cocky self-assurance. "Just two co-workers, getting food before a long, busy day. I'll even let you pay for your share if it makes you feel better."

Evie's heart pounded. She wanted to. Oh boy did she want to. But...

"Come on," Lucas said, convincing her with the deep brown of his eyes. "You've gotta eat, right?"

She knew she was going to give in right from the get-go. She just wished it didn't feel so much like defeat.

"I'm paying for my food," she insisted, as if she might still claim some control of this not-a-date thing they were doing.

Lucas' smile was practically blinding.

"Absolutely," he said as he turned toward the door. "But..." he sighed like he was admitting something he shouldn't as he reached for the handle. "I've got to get the door for you. Not making a move, just being a gentleman. I do this for my grandma, too if it helps."

Evie giggled, her stomach doing flips as she walked past him into the sunlight. "In that case, I'll allow it. Thank you."

"No problem," he said from behind her, and she turned to wait for him, watching as golden strands of his hair she hadn't noticed before appeared in the sunlight. "But that's the last thing I'm going to do that could be misconstrued as a move. Promise."

"What about the door at the diner?" Evie asked with a smirk.

Lucas paused. He hadn't considered that, and grinned over at her as they began walking. "That's the last thing I'm going to do that could be misconstrued as a move."

"What about on the way back? Aren't you going to have to open both doors then, too?"

"That's true," Lucas said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Okay, here's the deal... anytime I open the door for you, it does not mean I'm making a move."