Page 69 of Eva

I recently learned about The Page 69 Test, a blog that, to the best of my understanding, believes that page 69 of a book can give you a micro-view of the greater themes and characters of the book.

I immediately wanted to see if this held true for Eva.

 Eva page 69

I rose and walked to the window. Hudson came over to stand beside me. Kyoko was using the end of her trunk to twist hunks of grass out of Sofie’s lawn and shove them into her mouth.

            “She seems to be eating that okay,” Hudson said. “Jenny somehow found a baby elephant who was already weaned.”

            “How old do you think she is?”

            “Can’t be more than a year. She’s barely larger than they say elephants are when they’re born.”

            I couldn’t prevent my gaze from dropping to examine Hudson up close. The sweats were baggy, but not baggy enough to conceal the fact that Hudson was going commando. I jerked my eyes front and center again, turning my head so Hudson couldn’t see the flush staining my cheeks. What was I? Sixteen?

            A muffled beep emanated from down the hallway.

            “Dryer’s done,” Sofie announced.

            Hudson was moving before she spoke. I turned to watch him, admiring the clench of his ass beneath the soft material stretched tight around his hips, and silently laughing at how short the sweats looked on him. My laughter died when he peeled the tight shirt off. He waited until he was beyond the kitchen, in the gloomy hallway, out of Sofie’s sight. Had I gone back to my seat on the couch, I would have missed the show, too. As it was, I wished he’d flipped the hallway light on. What the shadows revealed was enough to make my mouth water.

            And now, let’s see the front, I thought, admiring the play of muscles across his back. As if he heard me, just before he slipped into the washroom, he turned his head and met my eyes. A slow grin spread across his face, and he looped his thumbs into the waistband of the sweats, tugging it down a tantalizing three inches to reveal the upper swell of his white ass before he stepped out of sight. I blinked and took a step in his direction.

            “Close your mouth, dear,” Sofie said, softly enough for only me to hear.

 Micro-view?

I think page 69 passes the test. It's got the baby elephant, the sexual tension building between Hudson and Eva, Eva's sexuality seen in some of its multiple shades, and Sofie, who plays a major role in a minor way. Plus, that little unplanned snippet of a scene is one of my favorites in the first 150 pages I've edited.

Not too shabby.