We pushed our way through the crush of bodies to the bar; the eyes of some college guys tracking us like prey, which I guess single college girls were. I ignored the interested looks. Other college girls might not mind being prey, but Callie and I did. The guys in here knew to leave us alone, but a few couldn’t take no for an answer.
Callie and I weren’t opposed to being hit on, I mean what girl doesn’t like a hot guy flirting with her, but after putting up with it for nearly three years, it kind of sucked.
Standing at the bar, I spotted some friends on the dance floor so, after Callie passed me a beer, we headed towards them. We loved to dance and during the past six months had only allowed ourselves to let go once a month, due to the papers we had to get written before the end of the semester, plus, of course, there were our jobs. Our jobs being another reason why I hadn’t been too bothered about Liam’s lack of passion. It had been so long since I’d felt like a normal twenty-one year old.
“Hey,” Jeff whispered into my ear, his arms wrapping around my waist as he snuggled in against my back. Jeff was harmless and totally not into me. As in, he much preferred someone with a dick! Callie and I were the only ones who knew that because we’d once seen him kissing a guy. We’d basically been in the wrong place at the wrong time. After a bit of a showdown we’d become friends, and now and again I would go out with him and let everyone think we were dating to help him keep his secret. He was a good sounding board and had let me rant about my family and guys, more often than I’d care to admit.
Jeff pushed me further onto the dance floor with him. Keeping his hands on my hips he started swaying to a slow song that had come on. He was only a couple of inches taller than my five-foot-six frame so he was pretty easy to dance with.
The Leopards usually played the slow song before they took a break, so any minute I expected the speaker system to kick in with ‘Panic! At the Disco’, which was pretty good, or something else as Mick was the bar tender tonight and he loved the kind of music that had a bite to it. I was one hundred percent into Three Doors Down, which drove Callie mad, as she was more Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. I’d yet to admit to liking them as well.
On my second bottle of beer, thanks to Callie, I continued to dance and grind against Jeff who wasn’t affected one bit with my ass rubbing against his dick.
I placed my empty bottle onto a table at the side of the dance floor, before I practically threw myself into Jeff’s arms as we started jumping and singing along to ‘The Leopards’.
After about an hour on the dance floor with Jeff, I turned to him and shook my head, to let him know I needed a break. Leaving him alone, I walked towards the table where Callie was sitting with Chase, David, Liam, Nadine and Kristy – some friends we occasionally hooked up with.
Liam made room for me, so I slid into the seat. “You looked good out there,” he shouted, kissing me smack on the lips.
My eyes flew wide open. Callie looked about as stunned as I felt. That was new. Liam had never shown me any affection in public before. Narrowing my eyes, I took his challenge. I turned in his embrace and straddled him, wrapping my arms around his neck and plunged in. I needed to see if there was anything between us once and for all. I put my all into it and maybe we had potential, because my blood started to tingle and Liam started to grow between my legs. I pressed against him. Liam broke the kiss and just looked at me.
“God, you’re hot tonight,” Liam commented.
Our breathing was labored while we continued to stare at each other in shock, in truth I felt confused. Liam was great to hang out with and we had been dating, kind of, for the past six months, but we hadn’t kissed like that before.
“Wow, you two looked ready to get down and dirty,” Kristy said as Liam moved me from his lap with unsteady hands.
“Thalia, do you want to leave?”
I hesitated at Liam’s question.
“I don’t mean to follow up with more than a kiss. I just meant because we have an early start tomorrow.” Liam practically had to shout in my ear to be heard.
“Okay.” We stood to leave, the others giving us knowing looks, but Callie knew me better than anyone else and knew Liam wouldn’t be spending time in my bed.
I leaned over to shout in Callie’s ear, “Are you coming or staying?”
“Staying. I’ll get Jeff to walk me back.”
We hugged, and then I let Liam pull me through the crowd to the outside. It was good to breathe fresh air after being squished in the sweaty bar.
Liam grasped my hand, his grip sending tendrils of warmth up my arm while we walked back to my apartment in silence. He appeared to be as lost in thought as I was. He was probably replaying the kiss. The kiss, which had come out of the blue. Could I blame it on the alcohol? Probably not. He knew I’d only had two beers. The kiss had been hot; he certainly knew how to kiss.
“Are you okay? You’ve been quiet since we left the bar.” His tone seemed unsure, but I couldn’t tell what he was unsure about.