"of course. no janelle?" anne asks. evas ears perk up at the female name, but she doesn't turn her head. she awaits bens answer and notices the hesitation before he answers.
"nah, she's busy," he says and clears his throat. anne just nods, taking his word for it. eva pretends she doesn't notice the slight in his voice.
"tell her we missed her. but you already know everyone, right?" ben nods and anne turns to her (almost) sister in law. "this is eva—joe's cousin."
eva turns to look at him and gives him a polite smile and a wave. he extends his long arm out in front of anne and eva grabs it. his hand is warm and the handshake is firm. he doesn't break eye contact as they shake, and she's the first one to pull away, the intensity of his stare causing her stomach to stir. eva pretends she doesn't notice his fingertips grazing her palm as she pulls away.
"ben," he says, introducing himself. eva gives him a sheepish look.
"i know."
a small smile tugs at his lips and he nods curtly before walking around the table to sit on the other side. evas heart rate increases noticeably, and she hates that for herself. he's off limits, obviously.
about ten minutes later, another employee anounces that joel's in the building. anne tells everyone to get up and hide off to the side for their big surprise. they all quickly huddle together and eva becomes acutely aware of the body next to her. she doesn't have to look over at him to know who it is—the tension she feels is enough confirmation.
the anticipation for joel's entrance builds, and before eva can think, everyone is screaming 'surprise' at him. he jumps just as anne had when eva scared her, and everyone laughs. his hand flies to his chest as he clutches the area over his heart. "oh my God!" he exclaims, doubling over dramatically.
anne grabs evans hand and pulls her towards her cousin. "joel," anne says, letting go of eva. anne gently lifts his head up by his chin, and when he catches sight of his cousin his eyes light up.
"no fucking way!" he exclaims, fully standing up and engulfing his cousin in a bear hug. "ive missed you!" he says.
"i know. i missed you too," she says, pulling away from him.
"how long have you been in philly?"
"i left london this morning and got in three hours ago," eva explains. joel nods and asks her more questions about her life whats going on.
eva and joel are cousins on her moms side. their mothers are sisters and they grew up together for the first 12 years of their life, until evas dad moved them for the UK for five years. there she met several different modeling agencies and was able to start her current career. when she was nineteen—right after joel was drafted—she moved to new york to talk to more agencies and got her first US job with calvin klein. she stayed in new york for two more years before officially moving back to london full time.
joel nods as eva finishes telling him about london and how it hasn't changed, except for her new apartment, since he last went. "you've met everyone already, right?" he asks, the subject changing easily. her mind jumps to ben, and her stomach turns over once.
"yeah—you've got some interesting friends," she says, causing her cousin to laugh. the two of them retreat to the table, and anne gives up her chair so joel can sit down next to eva. "no, anne, i'll sit on the other side, it's fine." eva says, quickly walking around to sit next to one of his teammates, tobias, before she can protest.
"you're from london?" tobias asks when she sits down. eva nods, wondering how loud their conversation really was. "i couldn't even tell."
eva laughs at his comment. "eh, it's more noticeable when i'm back home," she says. surprisingly, she never really picked up an accent. though she's lived there for a long time, her american accent outshines the UK dialect.
