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The words seemed to echo across the room, different voices repeating the same ridiculous script.
No drink could dull my senses fast enough.
We ordered more drinks, then more still, transforming torturous conversations into something lighter. Eventually members of the “family” began to slip away.
I found that I was no longer eager to flee, and rather enjoyed watching them go instead.
Then the two of us were alone, the fire crackling in front of us. Behind our backs, the sounds from the rest of the restaurant and the people beyond grew distant.
Layana leaned her head on my shoulder. “You survived.”
“Are you sure?”
She ran a hand across my chest. Warmth radiated through the thin fabric of my shirt. The alarm bells that should have been blaring in my head whimpered in the distance.
“You feel just fine to me,” she said.
“Justfine?”
She flexed her fingers and froze. “Spectacularly unharmed.”
“Physically unscathed,” I said.
She tilted her chin so our gazes caught. The usual deep oceanic storm in her eyes abated to a gentle whirling tide pool. The flush in her cheeks and softness in her expression mirrored the effects of intoxication I felt within me.
My attention flicked to her gently parted lips. “We’re drunk.”
“Thrillingly tipsy.”
She began moving her hand once more on my chest, gliding her fingers ever so slightly back and forth. Given her relaxed expression, and the swirling disorientation in my own head, it was possible she didn’t realize what she was doing.
“It’s not safe to return to the slopes in this condition,” I said, my voice rough.
Heat radiated outward from her touch, igniting my nerve endings. A knot formed in my throat. I tried to swallow it away, but it grew larger instead.
“Maybe we should take a nap,” she said.
“I’m not tired.”
“If we stay here like this….”
Her words drifted off, leaving me to imagine what she was going to say. If we stayed like this, her touching me like that, I might lose my mind and kiss her.
She sucked in a tiny breath and nuzzled my shoulder with her cheek.
If she didn’t stop touching me, I would want more than a kiss.
“If we stay here like this…” Her lips curved in a devious grin. “Someone might come in and try to talk to you again.”
“I’m sold.”
“What?”
“Let’s get you a nap.”
I slowly rose to my feet, careful to pull her along with me. But once I was standing, I tottered.
We were notthrillingly tipsy.We were both most definitely drunk.
