“Fuuuuuck,” I heard Steven whisper to Cory. It made me giggle.

I leaned my weight to one side and posted my cue on the floor, grabbing my glass of beer with my free hand and taking a big chug just for effect. I was getting better at holding my liquor. “You wanna break first or do you just want me to run the table right now and win the bet,” I smiled and winked, just as Gavin had done minutes before.

He just laughed at my boldness and waved me through. “By all means. Show me what you’ve got,” he said, sliding into one of the stools by the dingle twins and their harem.

It had been a few months since I’d played, but I wasn’t very rusty. I broke and sunk the one ball right away. Two, three, four and five went soon after. I strutted around the table with a cocky swagger just to show off my new confidence, and then polished off the rest of the balls in a matter of minutes. Just to be a bit of an ass**le, I tilted my stick sideways when I was done and blew the chalk off the tip. Gavin just nodded, smiled and looked down before reaching out to shake my hand again.

“Well played,” he said. “I knew you were holding back. I didn’t think you’d be that good, but I knew you were playing me.”

“Why’d you take the bet then?” I asked, feeling a little guilty for flaying him in front of everyone now.

He just turned to look at the stunned dingle twins and then looked back at me. “Wearing lipstick for the next 30 minutes out there on that floor is worth every ounce of embarrassment knowing these jack-offs have to, too,” he laughed.

I smiled and took another drink of my beer. I was having an amazing time. I felt freedom I hadn’t felt in weeks, and the weight of my secret was temporarily lifted. “Play again?” I asked.

“Damn straight,” he said, racking the balls. I let him break this time, and as I had suspected, he was better than he’d let on. I was still the stronger player, but he was good. And we competed for the next 30 minutes until the band started playing and we all headed to the dance floor.

The boys were all good sports, proudly wearing their red lips until the shiny makeup wore from their faces. The dingle twins were able to wear theirs off quickly by making out with a few various women at the club. Gavin’s took a little longer, and after 30 minutes, I felt guilty and handed him a napkin to wipe the remaining color away.

I wasn’t sure how many beers I had drunk, but I was working on a nice buzz when the main band started playing and the floor became crowded with moving and gyrating bodies. The band was amazing, somewhere between hard rock and alternative pop. They played a few cover songs that I loved and a few songs of their own that surprised me.

I was in my own world, dancing with my arms over my head and my hips swaying, when a strange guy reached around my stomach and pulled me into him. I turned to face him and put my hands up against his chest to push him away, get some distance. But he quickly pulled me close again. I was starting to panic a little when I saw Gavin’s tattooed arm reach in between us, and heard him say, “Sorry, man. She’s taken.”

I smiled with relief as I turned to dance with Gavin now. “You okay there?” he asked, his hand on my shoulder. I just nodded and raised my eyebrows a bit. “Sorry, some guys are ass**les,” he said a little loudly so that my groper would hear.

“Thanks,” I relaxed a little. Gavin still had his hand on my shoulder, and we were both swaying back and forth some. I was aware of his touch, but decided to pocket it as innocent, and kept enjoying myself. We danced like that for another two or three songs, until the band decided to slow things down. I was about to head to the seats when Gavin grabbed my hand to stop me.

“One dance?” he asked, giving me puppy-dog eyes. “I did wear lipstick for you.”

I laughed a little and gave in. “Okay, one dance. You were a good sport,” I said.

Gavin held my wrists and moved my hands behind his head to lay them along his neck. He slid his hands slowly down the undersides of my arms, and then they came to rest along my hips, pulling me close. The song was slow and erotic, and the couples left on the floor were all very into it. Not sure where to look, I laid my cheek flat on Gavin’s chest. My heart was kicking up some as my brain swirled from the buzz of the alcohol and the dangerously inviting smell of Gavin’s cologne. I felt his chin at the top of my head and tilted my face up to look at him. He was biting his bottom lip and looking at me with unmistakably hungry eyes. I felt his hands slowly work their way along my rib cage and slide barely under the edge of my bra as he moved them to my back again and then low along my hips once more, his fingers flexing and digging into my skin with a touch that was full of want.