Page 11 of Dirty Chorus

“You did it first!”

“It’s not like I meant to walk in on you!”

“Shut up and come with me!” She grabs the collar of my shirt and drags me through the crowd.

We escape into the kitchen, where the garbage overflows with beer bottles and empty plates. Someone leans back in a chair in a graduation gown with vomit all over their shirt, and I think there’s a half-digested French fry lodged in their eyebrow.

We head outside to a backyard lit with string lights. There’s nothing out here other than empty beer cans lying in the dirt, old patio furniture, and a group of people playing beer pong.

“Why are you here?” She wiggles my beanie onto her head. “Hmm?”

Shit. She's wearing my beanie. I should steal it back, right? No, it looks good on her.

“Why were you fucking staring at me like that?” I ask.

“Like what? hmm?”

“Don’t fucking toy with me. I saw it in your eyes.”

“Saw what?” Charlie folds her arms. “Ever heard of just locking the door?”

“Ever heard of knocking?”

“Knocking!” She doubles over and laughs. “You walked in on me using the bathroom not even a week ago.”

“You liked it, didn’t you?” I ask, and that’s bolder than my usual self to ask that type of question.

She pauses, visibly swallowing before running her front teeth over her bottom lip. She smirks and shakes her head as she says, “It’s kinda hard not to stare when a guy is...” She clears her throat, and my heart starts thumping. “I guess that’s your girlfriend.”

She puckers her lips that are a perfect shade of nude and my imagination takes over again. It was her instead. It was Charlie on her knees. They were her plush lips stretched around me. They were her grey eyes, heavy-lidded as she took my length in her moaning mouth. Fuck. No. Snap out of it Noah.

“I dunno about that.” I swallow. Charlie’s eyes drop to my jeans and I adjust myself again. At least he’s a half chub now, but it’s like I was sack-tapped. My nuts radiate, an aching pain in my legs and stomach. It’s gonna get worse if I don't crank one out.

“So umm...” Charlie rocks on her feet. “Do you just hook up with girls you don’t even date?”

“Where is your boyfriend?” I scan the backyard, and a group of people huddle around a beer pong table. She's quiet, holding her posture and biting her bottom lip. The energy just shifted.

“Umm...” she huffs and crosses her arms. I’ve caught her off guard. I scan all the little groups huddled up with drinks in hand.

“Do you come to parties like this often without your boyfriend?”

“Well...” She inspects the ground. “I just graduated and the football team at GCU always holds a party every year for recent graduates transferring. He’s the... the quarterback”

Of fucking course he is. “Oh, I see...”

“I’m gonna...” She points a thumb over her shoulder. “Do you want a beer?” she asks, and my mouth goes dry.

“Sure, why not.”

I slip my hands into my pockets and follow behind her to one of the ice box coolers. She digs through the ice and pulls out a Bud Light and hands it to me. It’s cold to the touch, and her fingers are scorching hot. I notice the thrum of her heart on the side of her neck and it's pounding hard.

“You graduated from high school tonight?” I pop open the can, foam fizzles out, and I take a sip of the bitterness.

“Yeah... me and your... girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend. But do you know Amy?”

“No...I don’t hang out with the drama kids. Half of them are fucking weird.”