I can’t contain my smile as I climb out of my truck, eager to meet her on the other side.
She walks ahead of me as we make our way up to gravel road to the two story barn, its red paint faded from years of neglect. I can’t help but stare at her ass, its perfect shape and the way it wiggles as she walks. My pants grow tighter in the crotch, and I clear my throat, hoping it’ll somehow clear my head. I don’t need some advanced degree in women’s studies to know that having a massive hard on the first five minutes of our date would probably turn her off.
The barn is a primo party spot, if only because it’s far enough from the city that the roaring music doesn’t bother anyone. It kind of smells like rotten hay and burnt oil from the old tractors that linger in the field around it.
There’s strands of Christmas lights hung up everywhere and people my age packed as far as you can see. I let my hand rest on Bess’s lower back as the crowd thickens.
I lean forward, letting my cheek press against hers as I whisper, “You want a drink?”
“Sure,” she says, gazing up at me. It takes everything I have not to kiss her right here. I need to take my time, win her over the right way. She needs to know she’s not just some hookup and I’m not just some horny asshole who never noticed her in high school.
We make our way to the back of the barn, where Jerry Minoa’s parents had let him attempt to turn an old room into an apartment a few years back. There’s unpainted drywall hung in the space that’s about the size of a two-car garage. There’s a kitchen with a working fridge, and two old couches that are probably made more of dead skin cells and semen than actual couch fabric by now. Rugs cover the wooden floor, and an old box TV sits on a wooden crate in the corner where this girl is dry humping a guy she has pressed against the wall. It’s not exactly a romantic atmosphere, and I’m starting to question why I even wanted to bring Bess here instead of taking her on a real date.
A girl with red hair that must be dyed that color because it’s so unnaturally bright stands behind the dirty counter, pouring shots of tequila into disposable plastic shot glasses.
I recognize her as Jerry’s girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend, I can never remember where they stand from one day to the next. “Two beers?” I ask her, since she’s kind of the unofficial bartender of the joint.
“All out,” she says. Tequila sloshes out of the bottle as she looks up at me and then resumes pouring. “Jerry went to get more, but he just left so it’ll be a while. Shot?”
I look at Bess, who was already watching me. “You wanna do a shot?”
She curls her bottom lip under her teeth while she considers it. “Yeah, okay.”
I look back at fire hair girl and nod. “Two, please.”
She pours them and I hand one to Bess, then guide her to an empty part of the room. “On three?”
She nods and I count it down. On one, I toss my head back and down the liquid in one gulp even though the girl poured a lot more than a usual-size shot.
Bess does the same and then immediately blanches, sucking air through her teeth. “Oh God. Oh no. Ew.”
I laugh. “Was that your first tequila?”
She nods, her eyes watering. “So gross!”
I laugh and then hold out my hand for her shot glass. She slides it inside of mine and then I put them both in my pocket in case we want to use them later.
“If I’m being honest,” Bess says, leaning in so I can hear her over the music, “I’ve never actually drank before.”
“Really?”
She looks a little insulted, and I wish I hadn’t reacted like that. I shrug like it’s no big deal. “First time for everything. I won’t let you get too drunk,” I say, reaching out and sliding my hand into hers. She stares down at our entwined fingers and grins.
“Maybe the alcohol is exactly what I need.”
“Well they don’t call it liquid courage for nothing.”
The song changes to something loud and grungy, and the crowd seems to come alive. There’s yelling and cheering and, worst of all, dancing that’s more like wild thrashing of drunk people.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, tugging Bess along behind me as I make a safe exit path through the jam-packed room.
Out in the main part of the barn, the people aren’t as packed, and the dancing isn’t as crazy. They’re playing hip hop out here, and you can’t help but bob along to the beat.
I pull Bess’s hand and twirl her around, tugging her up close to me in one smooth motion that I have to admit makes me look pretty damn suave.
Her eyes widen in surprise as she presses against me, and I slide my hands down her back to rest just on top of her perfect ass as the song switches to an R&B classic by Usher. Seizing the moment, I pull her closer and sway to the music. She slides her hands up my chest, her eyes on her fingers as she slips them around my neck. The cutest little grin plays at her lips.
I lower my forehead to hers and let my fingers trace up to her hips. She has a killer body, with curves in all the right places, and it’s doing ridiculously crazy things to my libido.
