But just because you’re alone
doesn’t mean you’re available.
And just because they want something
doesn’t mean you owe it to them.
I’ve learned it doesn’t matter how you reject them,
‘no’turns women into monsters.
‘Not tonight’,swift exits, silence, blunt, rude?—
you’re still a bitch.
The bar erupts?—
a cheer cutting through the noise.
Someone whistles.
I turn to Celie,
who's halfway across the bar,
tongue-deep in the bartender’s mouth.
He’s not fighting it.
Her black curls spill everywhere.
Half of her ass is out.
Morals are off the clock.
To my right?—
the bouncer’s moving through the crowd,
heading our way.
A laugh punches out of me, equal parts murder and mercy. I’ve got her by the hip, wrestling her away from the bartender while covering her ass at the same time.
It’s multitasking. It’s friendship. It’s hell.
She laughs into his mouth after I break the seal.
“I’ll come back for you,” she breathes, dreamy, glossy-eyed.
“Celie. We gotta go.
“Before we’re banned from another bar.”
I grunt, hauling her toward the door,
dress riding up, heart halfway gone.
She turns back to him,
