I softly press my elbow into his ribs. “Shame,” I joke lightly.
“Man, you don’t want to know how handsy some of those girls are getting. The second you step away, they pull you back in for more. One even pulled the invisible rope move out of her back pocket.”
Everleigh lifts her brow at him. “I hardly think that’s a problem for you guys.”
“It’s a problem when I need to get the fuck away because my throat feels like an overcooked piece of chicken.”
She looks out into the club’s dance floor, ignoring Sebastian’s odd analogy. “Tristan and Webber don’t seem to be having an issue with it. You being a softie tonight, Seb?”
He gives that lazy grin of his. The one that has my sister looking at him like he’s a delicious red apple. Too bad he’s dangling from the Tree of Knowledge and is off limits. “If you want to talk dirty, Ev, just give me the heads up, and I’ll plucksoftieright out of that vocabulary of yours. Show you exactly what it means to be hard.”
She smacks him in the chest with a flush on her cheeks.
All of us laugh.
The three of us girls head out to the dance floor and move with the music after that. We dance to songs like Usher’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’”in Loveand Beyonce’s “Naughty Girl”.The air is extra warm even with the overhead fans misting us with water. Sweat coats my skin under the knotted crop top I’m wearing. My free-falling hair swishes over my shoulders. And my body feels more and more weightless with each song change.
I grind back into Everleigh, ignoring the few guys who linger close behind. Olive eventually grips one by the collar and drags him over to dance with us. He’s respectful with his hand placement. I’m enjoying how carefree it feels to wiggle my hips and let my hair fall back.
We spend what feels like forever like that. Just letting loose and having a blast until we’re like Sebastian and need to breakaway from the crowd to replenish our energy. I switch to water after downing a shot with Everleigh, and we spend more time out on the floor. The guys do their own thing, too.
We allow for distance between us, and I think it’s important we do it. It’s been an eventful semester. Two breakups in our group. Another friend who has distanced herself so much that I’m not sure how to help her. It’s clear, more than ever, that we need this night. To unwind and be free.
Our time at Lucy’s ends not much later. The DJ calls out the last set list. We decide to wind down and head out before it’s closing time, and it’s a pain in the ass to get out the door. We head out as a group, Everleigh on one side, Tristan on the other. Sebastian’s arm is slung over Olive’s shoulder, and she laughs at something he says. Somewhere through the night, her eyes switched from lovey-dovey to something calmer with him. Like friendship. And I can understand why. Sebastian is an easy person to connect with. It’s so uncomplicated falling in sync with him. To talk to him and feel like you’re being heard. He has this natural ability to make everyone around him feel important.
We form a circle out on the sidewalk to figure out our plans. Webber looks down at his watch, and I already know he’s not ready to call it a night. “I know a dude from my Econ class that’s having a rager tonight. Anyone down?”
Tristan’s finger immediately shoots up. “You know I’m always in.”
I feel the invisible dig in his words as it rides the breeze like a wave and crashes into Everleigh. Always being out and not prioritizing his relationship with her is part of the reason she ended it with him.
Webber’s eyes turn to Sebastian in question. “What about you?”
Sebastian checks his phone and sucks air through his teeth. “It’s still early. Fuck. Okay, fine.”
It’s nearly midnight, but the guys always have an easier time pushing the limits than us girls.
Olive nudges my arm. “Are we going?”
“Not tonight, sis.”
For a second I think she’s going to complain, but then she nods. “I’m kind of tired, anyway.”
“Same,” says Ev. “You guys have fun.”
The guys hail down a cab for us, and we squeeze into the back seat. We ride the short distance to Spring Meadows. Everleigh slips the driver some cash, and we file out of the back. We’re relatively quiet as we head for the main entrance, Everleigh already prepared to swipe her keycard. She mistakenly drops it on the ground, and when she bends to retrieve it, I spot movement out of the corner of my eye.
It immediately puts me on edge.
Spring Meadows is only a couple blocks from campus, and security around Chatham Hills is always top notch.
Cigarette smoke wafts over to us, and for some reason, my brain links it to the guy with tattoos up down his arms and dark hair that approached Colson.
A bad feeling swoops low in my stomach. The door beeps, letting me know that Everleigh finally scans her card for access. The shape I thought I saw out of the corner of my eye walks out of the shadows, a tiny orange glow at the brightest point of it.
And I just know it’s him.
I can’t explain how I know, but it winds through my body and settles low in my gut. It amps up my heart rate and causes the slick of sweat that appeared on my back at the club to return.
