Page 16 of Allured By Her

I thought about pointing out that she had been the one to kiss me like that, but I kept my mouth shut.

Better to just let it go.

* * *

The reality of thebarn party turned out to match up almost exactly with what I’d thought it would be like. Lots of cheap beer, a fire pit outside, a rickety beer pong table, and music so loud that it punched at your eardrums.

Tenley had driven us, and she had clamped onto my hand when we’d gotten out of the car.

“Remember to be into me. Obsessed with me. We have to make it real,” she said, squeezing my hand. There was desperation in her voice, and I wanted to stop and ask her if she really wanted to do this. If Shane was worth all this trouble. Because from where I was standing, he was a shitty human and she was definitely better off without him. She was the prettiest girl in Arrowbridge, and she could have any guy she wanted. Why waste it on some dude who peaked in high school? It made no sense.

Once again, I kept my mouth shut and followed her into the party. The barn doors were wide open, and I recognized just about everyone here. For a moment I had the feeling of time collapsing in on itself. These people would probably be here in ten years, twenty years. Getting drunk in this barn and telling the same stories. How tiring.

“Should we get a drink?” I asked Tenley as just about everyone stared at her as we walked in together. I couldn’t tell if they were staring because of the thing that happened with Shane, or because of me, or both.

It was probably both.

“Yes,” Tenley said, smiling at me and yanking me close to her before kissing me. Everything in the barn faded, even the sound, and the only thing that existed was Tenley’s mouth on mine. Her fingers digging into my hand. Her other hand tenderly pressed against my cheek.

My hands had gone to her waist again, and this time I hadn’t avoided touching her skin directly. She was warm and so soft. How long had it been since I’d made out with anyone? A while. Way too long.

At some point a new sound penetrated my consciousness. Cheers and hoots and hollers.

Tenley made a little frustrated sound in her throat and then pulled back. I kept my eyes closed. I didn’t want to open them and see everyone staring at us.

“Let’s get a drink,” Tenley said, tugging me even though I stumbled. I had no option but to open my eyes and find that most everyone was staring at us, including Shane, who had his arm slung around a woman who had bullied me in high school. Shane’s face was murderous. Her face was pure disgust.

“Tenley, what the hell?”

A few people had flocked toward us as Tenley shoved a can of cheap beer into my hand. I cracked the top and sipped, cringing. It was cold, but that was about it. I much preferred a mixed drink, or even wine from a box. Still, Tenley was driving, so I might as well take advantage and get buzzed.

Tenley had let go of my hand, but I stood close to her as her friends bombarded her with questions about, well, me.

“It just kind of happened, but I’m soooo happy. Right, babe?” Tenley said, leaning into me.

I guess we were doing cutesy nicknames. Hadn’t discussed that ahead of time, but we’d both been way too distracted by the kissing to discuss that part. We were winging it now.

“Literally so happy, babe,” I said, making my voice super sweet. Tenley stepped on my foot just enough to hurt.

“Awww, that’s so sweet. We completely support you,” one of the women said and the other two nodded.

“One of my cousins is a lesbian,” one of them said.

“Yes, love is love!”

I had to fight not to make gagging noises, but I kept a smile plastered on my face and drank the rest of the beer faster than I normally would have just so I didn’t have to say anything else.

“Yeah, thanks,” Tenley said, but I could tell her attention was on Shane and his new woman, Cassie. They also seemed pretty wrapped around each other. Cassie had that “adoring gaze” thing going on and was laughing way too hard at everything he said. Gross.

Unsure of what to do, I just let myself be led around by Tenley as I tried not to die of boredom. I hated just about everyone here. Why had I thought this would be anything but awful? I hadn’t needed to come to this party to know what it was going to be like and now here I was and all I wanted was to leave and never see any of these people ever again.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I finally asked Tenley, my voice a little too loud. She had us camped out in a corner of the party as she glared at Shane and would mutter things to herself every now and then.

“Oh, it’s in the house,” she said, pointing. A lot of the guys hadn’t even bothered with the toilet and just relieved themselves outside into a bush, but there was no fucking way I was doing that.

“Why don’t you come with me, BABE,” I said, putting emphasis on the last word.

Tenley blinked at me. “Oh, of course.”

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