I smacked my hand to my forehead. “Oh Lord, I don’t want to see that.”
“I’m sure you and Ollie will busy yourself.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “What? You think this is an orgy?”
Bria laughed. “Wanna?”
“Hell no,” I said through a laugh. “Not going to happen.”
Bria made a pouty face, and I slipped away from her before her ideas clouded her best judgments. Isaac encouraged the alcohol on Ollie and Ollie finally caved, taking a few gulps before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. I checked the clock above the door. Two minutes before the fireworks.
“One minute!” Isaac called out, and Ollie wrapped his fingers around my wrist as he pulled me in front of him toward the window.
His breath was minty and laced with alcohol as he pinned my back to his torso. “You ready for a new year?” His words danced in my hair as his breath worked small bumps across my skin.
“I’m so ready.”
We stared out the window. Past the rolling hills and the darkness, the city lights sparkled as if all the stars in the sky had gathered and hovered around one location. Since Ollie only started three months before me at Dolor, we both had half the school year down, and only one and a half years to go. We could make it.
“Ten!” Isaac and Bria said, counting down. “Nine … eight …”
Ollie leaned into my ear. “Close your eyes, Mia.”
I spun around to face him. “Why?”
“Six … five …”
Ollie wrapped his fingers around my chin and brushed his nose to mine. “Just close your eyes, my love. Pretend we’re far away from here and I’m holding you in the middle of the city under those lights.”
“Ollie …”
“Two!”
“Do it for me.” Ollie dipped his head and kissed my objection away. I gripped his sides to keep from falling back as he held my head in his hands. His lips melted over mine, soft and captivating. His hand traveled to my neck as he swept his thumb along my jawline. Our tongues crashed, and all my senses kindled against his fervor.
He pulled away slightly and brushed our mouths together as I inhaled his sweet breath. “Happy New Year, baby,” he whispered, his lips turned up into a smile against mine.
“Happy New Year.”
Turning around in Ollie’s arms, I looked back out the window to see the firework display as Ollie slowly swayed me back and forth with his long arms tight around my waist. Shades of red, purple, and white glowed in the distance, shooting from a nearby city, creating designs in the velvet black before sizzling into a stardust rainfall.
Closing my eyes, I pictured being under those colors, inside Ollie’s arms, with the night wind in my hair. Ollie pressed his lips to the back of my head before resting his chin over it.
“Happy fucking New Year!” Isaac shook Ollie from behind and the moment dissolved as quickly as I had created it. “Let us drink!”
The bottle hooked around us and appeared in my face. I grabbed the bottle and took a swig before Bria pulled me from the window.
“Isaac kissed me,” she whispered. I gave her two thumbs up after she took the bottle from my possession.
“See! You can do this.” I smiled. She had no reason to be nervous. She had already screwed the guy more than once, but she was right. Tasting feelings of my own, I understood how nerve-wracking it could be—especially the first time. It was like losing your virginity all over again.
I couldn’t have drunk much, maybe three shots at most, but my vision distorted as if I were trying to see through a pool full of chlorine, and each time I tried to stand on my feet, the floor moved from under me.
I blinked rapidly, and Bria and Isaac came into focus. Bria was completely nude across the floor, her breasts bouncing as Isaac had his way with her. But she wasn’t moving. She wasn’t saying anything. Her eyes were closed.
“What are you doing?” I called out. “What’s wrong with her?”
But Isaac didn’t respond. He never turned around. Was I even talking?
