Page 41 of Silver Fake

“You know what you’re doing, and it’s making it hard to keep my mouth off you.”

“Are fake boyfriends supposed to put their mouths on their fake girlfriends?”

Something flashes in his eyes, and I smirk.

He moves his face to mine until our mouths are barely an inch apart, and my breath hitches. “There’s nothing fake about how you’re looking at me right now, and there’s not going to be anything pretend about me kissing you.”

He pushes his hand into the hair at the back of my neck and holds me. Then he’s kissing me. I close my eyes and moan into his mouth, forgetting all about the other people on the dance floor around us. I pull my arms tighter around his neck, wanting to feel him even closer. His lips move against men like he’s starved for me, and I open to him. My decision not to stay with him tonight doesn’t feel like the best. Maybe it’s not too late to tell him I’ve changed my mind about going home with Denise.

I lean back, breaking our kiss. We’re both breathing heavy. I lick my lips again and love the groan I hear him make.

Suddenly, I hear a shout from behind us.

“Nancy!” Bill shouts from across the room along the edge of the dance floor.

John pulls away from me in an instant, and I don’t blame him. His dad sounds panicked. He rushes to the other side of the room, and I’m right on his heels.

Bill is on his knees, bent over Nancy. Her eyes are closed, and she isn’t responding to Bill shaking her shoulder or any of the people beginning to gather around them. Every time I’ve seen her, she’s been this bright, luminous woman, but the woman on the floor looks like a completely different person. She’s pale, and I can hear her taking strained, shallow breaths.

John drops to his knees beside Bill. “What happened?”

He’s shaking so bad I’m surprised he’s not the one passed out on the floor.

“I don’t know, she just collapsed,” Bill chokes out. Tears are running down his face, and he’s manically running his hands over Nancy like he’s hoping to find something on her that will wake her up. “She said she needed to sit down and cool off. The next thing I know, she’s on the ground.”

“I’ll call an ambulance,” I say, leaning over John’s shoulder.

“No,” he says, reaching into his jacket and pulling out his phone. “I’ve got it.”

“Okay,” I say, taking a step back, trying to ignore how it feels a little like he’s pushing me away. His mom is sick, so he’s just worried. I am, too.

He calls 911, and someone answers right away.

“My mom just collapsed,” he says into the phone. His voice is short and clipped, and he starts barking instructions to them. “She is unresponsive but breathing. We’re at the Barton Beach Hotel in the ballroom. Yes. Tell them to hurry up.”

He hangs up and shoves his phone back in his back pants pocket. Then he pulls off his jacket, and folds it.

“I don’t think we should move her until the ambulance arrives,” he says to his dad. “But let’s try to lift her head off the floor.”

Bill takes Nancy’s head in his hands while John folds his jacket and slips it underneath Nancy’s head like a pillow. I feel so lost. I’m not sure what I should do here. I just want Nancy to be okay, and I wish John would let me do something. I understand, though. He wants to be the one to help her.

He turns to his dad and pins him with a look I am surprised to see him aiming at his dad. “What’s wrong with her, dad? Don’t bullshit me. She didn’t just pass out like this from dancing here tonight.”

“I … I,” his dad stutters, holding her hand in his. “She fell so fast. I barely caught her before her head hit the floor.”

“That doesn’t explain what made her pass out in the first place,” John argues.

His dad looks like he’s fighting an inner battle on what to say next. I don’t think there is anything he can say. Nancy is still going to be sick and passed out, and that’s what’s important right now.

The doors to the ballroom swing open, and I’m glad they got here so soon.

“They’re here!” Someone calls from the ballroom entrance, and two paramedics rush in, pushing a stretcher over to Nancy.

“We need to get her off the floor,” one of them says. “If you two will step back, we can get her.”

They bend over to pick her up, but John stops them. “No. We’ll do it.” He looks at his dad, and Bill nods.

They reach under her and lift her slowly, then move her over to the gurney and get her situated so the paramedics can check her out. The room is silent as we watch the paramedic take Nancy’s vitals.

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