to look into that handsome face, and he smiled as if we were the only two in the room.
Our bodies swayed in that moment with a remembered fluidity. Hips rocked side to side. Movements synchronized to the music. Heat coming off of our bodies despite the evening chill.
His lips looked so inviting. And I needed to stop staring. Because I was the one who had said that I didn’t want him. I was the one who had walked away from this.
I tried to turn in his arms so that I wouldn’t have to face those intense eyes. But he held me in place.
“Don’t,” he said.
“Don’t what?” I breathed.
“I like to be able to look at you.”
“You’re a real charmer. You know that?”
He grinned and tugged me even closer so that we were chest-to-chest. He shifted one of my legs between his and moved his hips in a way I distinctly remembered. My pulse quickened in tempo with the music, and I forgot all about us being in public or anyone else around us. I had no concept of time. Only that we were still dancing. My feet ached, and I needed another drink. But neither of us pulled away.
Until Melanie literally ran into us.
“Nat…Nat,” she slurred. “Some guys bought me drinks.”
I yanked away from Penn and reached for my teetering little sister. “How many drinks? Are you okay?”
“We did a couple rounds of shots. I’ve done worse,” she said and then snorted.
“Did you watch them make the drinks? You didn’t look away?”
“Yes, of course! Who do you think I am?” She swayed precariously on her heels. “I finally feel so loose. Who cares about Michael Baldwin and that bitch Kennedy anyway? Let’s do shots, Natalie!”
“I’m not sure that’s such a great idea.”
Melanie dramatically rolled her eyes and then turned to Penn. She grinned drunkenly. “What about you?” She rested her hand on his arm. “You’re pretty.”
Penn chuckled and then removed her hand from him. “How about some water instead?”
“No! Shots!” she insisted.
“What’s going on?” Amy asked, appearing at my side with Lewis.
“Melanie made some friends who got her wasted.”
Melanie teetered again. “I think we should all drink more. The night is young!” She leaned forward into Amy’s face. “I’m young and hot. My boyfriend just dumped me, and I want to get laid.”
Amy cackled. “Oh Mel, you are never living this moment down.”
Melanie turned to Lewis. “Can I make out with you?”
Lewis opened his mouth and then closed it. He shook his head. “Sorry, jailbait.”
Melanie turned in a meandering circle before facing me once more.
“I think maybe Penn is right, and you need some water,” I told her.
“Oh, come on, Natalie. Don’t you remember what it was like when you were seventeen?” Amy asked.
“Well, yeah,” I grumbled. “I don’t want her to make the same mistakes that I did.”
“I think we all have to make our own mistakes,” Penn mused.
“Okay, philosopher. You were my mistake. So, maybe we shouldn’t let Melanie do what we did.”
Penn raised his eyebrows. “Wait, at seventeen?”
Oh shit.
I hadn’t meant to say that.
I’d never told him my age. Not then and not now.
“Well…I was eighteen,” I added softly.
“Shit. That’s better than seventeen, but, fuck, Natalie, I didn’t know you were that young. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What was I supposed to say? There was no way to interject that into the conversation.”
“No wonder you were so mad at me,” he mused.
“Tell me about it,” I grumbled. Not to mention the little fact that he’d taken my virginity—which I was not bringing up right now! I glanced over at Lewis and Amy, who were intently watching us. “Can we just talk about this later?”
“Oh, don’t mind us,” Amy said.
“Yeah, we’re enjoying this,” Lewis said with a laugh.
“Well, I’m not,” Melanie said, her voice cracking.
One second, she was holding it all together, and the next, a fissure cut through her cool facade. A sniffle came first and then real tears streamed down her face. “Oh god, what am I doing? Michael dumped me. I’m alone. And I still love him. I don’t know what to do, Natalie!”
I pulled her into a hug and held her as she sobbed on the dance floor. My little sister always tried to be so strong, as if nothing in the world bothered her. But she couldn’t hold it together forever. And the alcohol only made it worse.
“Let’s get you in a cab,” I said, nodding toward the entrance.