It was an unseasonably warm New Year's Eve for Chicago: 60 degrees, t-shirt weather for the natives. I had just left a dinner with my group of friends to head to a party in a neighboring suburb to which my friend James had invited me. Over the course of our winter break, sexual tension had been climbing between us but I still wasn't sure I wanted something to happen. He was staggeringly witty and had a chiseled jawbone but I found him just a tad too slick on occasion, and this put me on edge.
As a girl wholly disinterested in dressing up and playing nice, I was clad in my go-to outfit for most occasions barring weddings, funerals and job interviews: yoga pants, UGG boots and a shirt from Urban Outfitters that ran a thin line between beautifully fashion forward and merely questionable. I stood on the front porch enjoying the night, waiting for James to answer his phone. Mid-ring, the door opened and it wasn't James but his best friend Tommy.
Let me take a detour here and explain how I knew Tommy. At the first (and only) rager I ever threw at my house, James had come bringing several of his best friends. I was dating an enormous tan moron at the time but despite that my jaw had hit the floor the first time I saw Tommy. He was tall, 6 foot 2 and muscular in the best way possible: from years of working out and crew. He had a mouth normally set in a grim line and tawny eyes. When he laughed, his nose and eyes crinkled. He was perfectly masculine, devastatingly handsome and generally grumpy. While we didn't exchange more than a few words the night of my party, I had seen him once over winter break when we saw the latest installment of the Harry Potter movies with James. They had made fun of me for sobbing unrestrainedly when Dobby the house-elf died. I had no idea what he thought of me. He was the definition of stoic.
He ushered me into the house wordlessly and once inside we hugged awkwardly. The party was typical of college freshmen: lots of Natural Light beer and UV Blue drunk straight out of the bottle. At midnight we all gathered downstairs to watch the bottle drop. James and I had already joked that we would be each other's midnight kiss but secretly I was already wondering how angry he'd be if something happened between Tommy and myself. The ball dropped, Tommy popped the champagne and James and I kissed: closed mouth. He was well on his way to obliterated and I was quite sober so there was much attempt at Frenching on his part and hasty retreat on mine (insert disparaging remark about French here).
As Tommy passed me the bottle of cheap champagne, we heard that the host's aunt would be dropping by soon to check that all was in order. Naturally, this presented an issue for us so we gathered coats and shoes and met outside to game-plan.
Standing in a circle on the sidewalk, shivering slightly, we discussed what to do. There were parties all over the North Shore that we could go to, but none of us could drive by that point. Eventually we decided to walk and as we started to do so, Tommy reached down and firmly grabbed my ass. I looked up at him, honestly surprised and he grinned down at me. My heart flip flopped.
"Excuse you," I whispered (though everyone was far too drunk to notice) "That's my ass thank you very much."
"You're welcome." Tommy responded. "My hand is warm."
"You're a piece of shit," I reprimanded him, smiling inwardly. He withdrew his hand from my yoga pants and smacked my ass.
"Start walking, we're lagging behind" he commanded. My stomach fell out my butt. I love a man who orders me around.
Tommy, James, their best friend Henry and I began to walk towards a party we knew of. The night was fine when we were moving and we drank beers and smoked cigars as careless teenagers are wont to do. Cars honked at us and we yelled back a cacophony of happy new years' as we laughed and fell over ourselves. Tommy intermittently grabbed my ass and pulled me closer and I would scooch away, laughing. Henry and James were walking a few feet in front of us singing Irish drinking songs and making general asses of themselves. Tommy and I didn't speak much, just laughed and enjoyed the night and the moment.
Then we simultaneously looked at one another and he leaned down (I'm 5'4" on a good day) and kissed me while we walked. Yes it was as awkward as it sounds. And yes, sparks flew. We giggled to ourselves, enjoying the scandal of kissing while Henry and James walked just a few feet in front of us.