Page 109 of Freshmeet
“If growing up means having a stick shoved up my ass, I’ll pass.”
“I don’t remember you hating a little ass?—”
“Guys, come on.” Linc cut Kimmy off from telling us exactly what Tom liked in regard to his ass.
Olivia flashed her eyes at me, her top lip caught by her bottom teeth like she was trying not to laugh. It felt like we were back in high school—out of the loop and outsiders to the drama. Exactly the way we liked it.
We stood in awkward silence until Connor stumbled up. He handed Laura a red cup, liquid sloshing all over.
“Damn it. How drunk are you, Connor?” She yelled as she shook beer off her hand.
“Pretty drunk.” He laughed.
Taking a big gulp from the second cup, he looked inside and then passed it to me. “Here you go.”
Not a drop got on me, and I grinned up at him. “Thank you.”
He stepped behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. Pulling me back to him, he rested his chin on my shoulder. His body surrounded me, adding to the summer heat, but there was no way I was moving. I would melt into a puddle infront of all these people before losing his touch. Taking a drink, I tried to settle the trembling caused by Connor’s mouth grazing my ear when he spoke to his friends. I didn’t hear a single word he said because I was too drunk and too distracted by the vibration of his chest as he talked. It reminded me of us cuddled up in my bed, while I listened to him laugh, or just breathe.
Searching for a distraction from the growing heat in my belly, I glanced around the circle. While everyone else looked on with mild interest, Laura stared at us, completely shellshocked. I finally understood exactly who she was and why she’d been so weird.
Laura is the ex.
That’s a mood killer.
Chugging the rest of my beer, I gave Olivia a look and shook my cup.
“I need to grab a drink.” She nudged Tom, and his arm fell from her. “Come with me?” She watched me, giving me an escape route.
“Yup. I could use another.”
Laura glanced down at her full cup and then at me with barely veiled disgust.
Whatever, let her think I’m a drunk.
Turning in Connor’s arm, his hands slid dangerously close to the swell of my ass. “I’ll be right back.” I went up on my tiptoes, his red lips farther away than usual because of the heels. He lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me hard. I twisted my fingers in the strands of his cheap, coarse wig, smiling when I thought about how absurd we must look. He broke away, grinning, completely unaware that his lipstick was smudged.
Using my thumb, I cleaned him up and said, “You’ll have to share this color with me.”
“That’s easy. It’s yours.”
I threw my head back and laughed, giving him a little push away. “I want my lipstick back.” I poked him in the chest, then turned dramatically to catch up with Olivia, who was already halfway to the bonfire.
“What’s up?” Olivia hooked her arm in mine, and we staggered through the dark field.
I looked up at the stars. This far out, you could actually see them.
“Laura is Connor’s ex. I don’t know if she’stheex-girlfriend or an ex-hookup, but the way she’s acting is weird, like we slapped her in the face.”
“That makes sense. I get the feeling Kimmy and Tom have history too.”
We looked at each other and burst into laughter. “You think? What tipped you off? The casual reference to ass play?”
We giggled all the way over to the keg and poured ourselves a beer. Drinking half, we refilled the cup and went back to the “gang”.
In the few minutes we’d been gone, Laura had found her way next to Connor. She leaned into him, a hand on his chest. He shook his head but didn’t move away.
Annoyed, gnawed the inside of my cheek.
