Whatever It Takes

Your Type

I laughed and shook my head, taking another sip of my drink. Eddie tutted at me, leaning forward on his forearms. I don't think I had ever really noticed the tattoos he had all over his arms – bats and skulls wrapped around his, now, thick arms. He had a snake design that wrapped around his right forearm that moved when he gestured with his hands as he talked. The more I drank, the more I continued to stare at his arms. His arms and his eyes.

"Oh, come on, Birdie – not even one?" he asked. I rolled my eyes, still laughing.

"No, Eddie – there aren't really a lot of cowboys in Dallas," I joked back, raising my eyebrows at him. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, shaking his head.

"But if there were – would you?" he pushed. The whole table, including myself, started laughing. I took another sip of my drink, looking down at the lime bobbing between ice cubes. Eddie poked my side, and I snapped my head up, surprised. He waggled his brows. "Well? Would you?"

"No!" I laughed again, making him grin wider. "Cowboys aren't really my type."

"What is your type, Dovey?" Jonathan asked. I felt my face flush and was suddenly embarrassed for no discernible reason. I shrugged, shaking my head.

"I d-don't know!" I stammered, trying to will my blush away. Nancy smiled and took a sip of her vodka cranberry.

"Oh, come on, Dove – this is a fun game!" she piled on. "You and Eddie are the single ones – me and Jonathan have to live vicariously through you guys!"

"I don't know!" I exclaimed, glancing around. Eddie smiled at me when I looked at him, and I felt my stomach flip. I cleared my throat. "Someone kind, and funny. Someone smart. Someone who my friends like."

"So, why did you date your exes?" Eddie quipped. My jaw dropped, and I laughed in spite of his crappy comment. Nancy and Jonathan were also laughing, and Eddie leaned forward again, proud of himself.

"They weren't that bad," I lied, trying to sell it to everyone. Eddie scoffed, and I glared at him, trying to stay mad. He smiled, leaning closer to me. I stayed where I was, trying not to back down.

"Bird, they were absolute duds," Eddie insisted, smiling coyly. His smile was nice too. It made you want to smile back at him and be in on the joke with him.

"They weren't duds – you just don't like anyone different than you," I sniped back. He shrugged and ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth,

"And the opposite of me are complete, and utter duds," he repeated. I laughed and swatted his shoulder, nonverbally telling him to quit it.

"What about you, Ed?" Nancy asked. His eyes lingered on me for a beat, and I raised my eyebrows at him. He turned to Nancy, cocking his head to the side. "What's your type?"

"Imaginary," I teased.

He snapped his head to me, smiling widely. I shrugged, trying not to smile too much back. He took a sip of his beer and leaned forward again. He and I were right next to each other, our shoulders almost touching.

"Well?" Jonathan asked. Eddie looked at me again, still smiling.

"I like girls who are pretty and smart and funny," he answered. I rolled my eyes.

"Very vague, Munson," I quipped. I looked down at my drink – why did I even care?

"Well, I'm not the most discerning," he chirped. I looked up at him, surprised – he would normally say something mean back to me when I sniped at him like that.

I was shocked by how much fun I was having with him. We weren't totally friends or anything, but he wasn't jabbing at me like he normally did. He and I were...teasing each other? And it was funny, it never really got mean. I was relieved – it was the first time since coming home that I was really relaxed and having fun.