Page 293 of Rage

“I’m Olivia,” I said, loud enough that they’d hear me over the music.

Not that it mattered, not really. But I needed them to be able to confirm that they knew me if they were asked.

“Kenley,” they replied with a low groan as I ground against them, a hand finding my lower back to force me harder against their muscular body. “What’s a pretty thing like you doing all alone?” they asked, head bending to graze their lips against my cheekbone.

A girlish giggle escaped me that soundedwaytoo much like I’d totally lost sight of my mission. My heart was beating so fast… It’d been years since I’d danced with a stranger at a club. Though Charlie would never dance with me, his ever-present glare worked better than a forcefield to keep people out of my bubble.

There was a time when I’d found his possessiveness romantic, I thought that it meant that he loved me and wanted to protect me. Now I knew better, he just didn’t want anyone to touch something that he perceived as his.

Dickhead.

I tilted my face up to look at them through my lashes, falling right into my usual M.O. for flirting like I hadn’t been on a five-year hiatus. “Looking for you, of course.”

Kenley laughed in surprise, making little crow's feet appear at the corners of their eyes. “Well, gorgeous, you found me.”

“Thank goodness,” I purred softly, rounding my blue eyes innocently in that way that always seemed to work with guys. “I was getting lonely.”

Kenley was visibly queer in a way that usually would’ve made me nervous. Their stylishly tailored pants tucked over a pair of leather boots. A leather belt with silvery chains hanging over their thigh along with a few charms that caught the light. Their mesh shirt was just see-through enough that I could see their silvery mastectomy scars, the material sticking to their toned chest with the sheen of sweat.

I’d worked hard—at the insistence of my husband—to wipe any hint of my bisexuality away from my appearance. Long gonewere the rubberized bracelet I’d worn in college touting my LGBTQ+ status, the bisexual pride pin removed from my gym bag, and perhaps the saddest loss, the pink steak I’d had in my hair through my undergrad.

It didn’t matter how I’d felt, it was all about how people saw us, sawhim.

The irony that me being a girl kisser hadn’t done so much as dent the patina of our image, whereas his partying had shoved a wrecking ball through it, wasn’t lost on me.

Their eyes followed mine, lopsided smirk returning. “Why don’t we find you that drink?”

There it was again, the question in Kenley’s eyes, like they were asking permission before they bent, mouth grazing the corner of my lips in a barely there kiss.

“I’m not really that thirsty,” I admitted, catching their jaw to hold them in place for a slow, deliberate press of mouths. “Why don’t we find somewhere quiet instead?”

Kenley’s little raspy groan made my knees wobble, their hand finding my hair to drag me to their lips for another heated kiss. They tasted like whiskey and lime, their soft lips passing over mine unhurriedly but not lazily. Purposeful. Like we had all the time in the world.

And maybe they were right.

Maybe I’d been looking at this thing all wrong. Too worried about the finer details of my plan that I’d forgotten the most important thing.

Tonight was the first night of the rest of my life.

Offreedom.

My hands slid to their belt, using it to keep them close as we kissed in steady passes of mouths and gentle nibbles of each other’s lips.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a one-night stand—did we really ever? One day it was the norm, and then the nextit was an anecdote of the crazy shit you’d get up to in college, usually followed by a wistful sigh, dreaming about a simpler time.

But of all the one-night stands I’d secured, of which there’d been plenty—I didn’t remember them feeling like this. Kenley’s free hand found my ass, squeezing and making me release what was undeniably a moan.

They broke the kiss, lips slightly swollen and glossy with our shared saliva. “S-Somewhere quiet?” they gasped out, a rosy pink blush dusting the bridge of their nose and tips of their ears.

I nodded, their hand finding mine to tug me off the dancefloor. On the way by, I caught Selene’s eye, nearly laughing at her bright grin and flashed a thumbs up.

That sealed it. How Kenley made me feel aside, bestie approval was the most sacred covenant out there.

Kenley led me into the ladies' bathroom, pushing me up against the door to kiss down my neck the moment I was inside. “Usually I’d go for the men’s,” they admitted. “But the girls are usually cleaner.”

“Thoughtful,” I praised with a definite air of teasing to my tone. Using a hand at the back of their neck, I pulled them back to my lips. “God, I could kiss you forever.”

They loosed a little laugh. “Me? Have you seen yourself tonight?”

---