Prologue
My hand grips your thigh just below the hem of your short black dress, and you sigh as loudly as you dare. Glasses clink and the fake laughter of party banter fills the air.
"Why did we come here, if we both hate parties?" I ask. You are wearing that perfume. Oh.
That perfume.
Memories flash. You biting your lip. My teeth against your neck. I return from my reverie.
"Being a wallflower can be fun, in its own way," you say.
"I hear it has its perks."
"Oh, stop." You lean in close to me, your breasts bunching together beneath the thin material. "Just try to have fun."
"Do we even know anyone here?"
"Sure! That's Jamie and Erin, they invited us. And Josh and Megan." You nod your head at two couples smiling at one another over their wine glasses as your hand finds my bicep.
"I don't know who those people are. Did I mention I hate parties?"
"You did. Many times. But we should go out occasionally. And besides," you grip my arm a little tighter, "never know what might happen."
"Gonna tease me all night like this, until we get home?"
"Maybe."
I turn from you, aware of eyes upon us. I allow myself to smile and talk about nothing with people that I'll likely never meet again. I compliment Jamie on his home, he tells me about how they just re-did their kitchen and bathroom, about how they did it all themselves. I don't care but I pretend that I do.
The party flows outside, into the thick July evening. We follow, waters in hand, as our fellow partygoers stumble and giggle in various stages of intoxication, awaiting the big event.
"The view is spectacular from here," Jamie tells someone. They'll go off just right over the river."
I let you walk in front of me. I don't care about that view. I care about a different one. You turn back, sensing me.
"What?" You ask, smiling.
"Nothing." I stand next to you and pull you against me, hand clutching you just above the curve of your hip.
"Hm," you mumble. You free yourself from my grip and slink away, in the opposite direction of the flowing crowd, back toward the house.
I follow you.
Your heeled footsteps echo on the "newly redone" hardwood. Tap. Tap. Tap. Each resonates a little closer as I stalk you.
The house is empty, the hallway dark. The party outside is muffled and distant, save for the occasional laugh of a few stragglers.
You stand against the wall next to the bathroom, staring at me. Your smile is gone. Your face is hard. Your eyes tell me exactly what you're thinking.
I walk up to you. "Expecting company?"
A wave passes gently through your body in response. "Yes."
I move close to you, within an inch, without touching.
"Fireworks are about to start," I say, lowering my lips to your own, as close as possible without touching. "How long do we have?"
"Five minutes, maybe ten," you whisper.