Chapter 6
June
I looked at myself in the mirror. What was different in me?
Why did I feel so beautiful right now?
Just because that meathead deigned to spare a second look at me? I jumped off the sink and left the bathroom. I made my way slowly through the crowd until I bumped into William, who surprised me with a big smile and a splash of color on his chest.
“June, there you are! Do you know why Amelia told me to go fuck myself when I asked where you were?”
“Forget it,” I muttered embarrassed.
“What happened?”
“Really, Will. Why don’t we get something to drink?” I recommended impulsively, completely forgetting that he couldn’t drink. William didn’t make me repeat it twice. He took me right to the bar and ordered.
“Are you sure you want to—”
I couldn’t even finish the sentence before he downed two shots right in front of my incredulous eyes.
“Come on, you gotta keep up!” He laughed, catching me off guard. Aided by the drink I’d already had, I decided to throw back the shot. The clear liquid burned in my chest like the flames of hell.
“Oh, you’re slow,” he teased.
The next two went down much easier. A short time later we found ourselves in the middle of the crowd, dancing. Not a second went by that our eyes weren’t locked in the dark, our mouths eagerly seeking the other’s out.
We started making out. Nobody was paying attention.
Our kiss had the aftertaste of mint and peach vodka.
Will smiled at me, his snow-white teeth glittering under the neon lights.
I smiled back, until he took my face in his hands and stuck his tongue between my lips.
I didn’t have much to go off, but I was sure that Will was a really good kisser.
Softly, delicately, but at the same time unafraid to be bold.
I jumped as his tongue changed rhythm and his hands squeezed tighter around my waist.
“Too much?” he asked kissing me a few times on the neck.
“Well, there are so many people here.”
Which makes it worse, I should’ve added, but I kept my mouth shut just as Will opened his to say, “You look beautiful.”
That took me by surprise. Will just paid me a compliment, and that was enough to make me understand how disconnected we were and out of step our conversations were.
We were talking, but we weren’t really communicating.
It wasn’t a sincere dialogue. Sometimes it seemed like he was using lines on me, and I couldn’t understand if he really felt that deep down or just wanted to make me happy.
An unexpected glint flashed in his dull gray eyes.
“Come with me, June.”
Will took my hand and pulled me out of the crowd. As I followed his bare back, Marvin stopped Will to whisper something in his ear.
“I have them if you need ’em.”
Will shook his head. The din was deafening, and I wasn’t sure if I’d heard right.
“What? What were you talking about?” I shouted, noticing Will’s cheeks turning red.
“Nothing. Let’s get out of here.”
Will squeezed my hand tightly and led me to a private area where everyone was much older than us. The couch we sat on was isolated compared to the rest of the place. The music was still blasting, but it seemed to be a few decibels lower, so that we could talk without yelling at each other.
“How are you?” I asked as William lowered his eyelids.
He seemed tired. I didn’t mean to pry, but my instinct wanted to remind him not to mix drugs and alcohol. I tried to beat around the bush.
“Will, are you taking something right now?”
I was trashed. I was seeing double, but even then I couldn’t stop worrying about him. A tired huff escaped his sulky lips, and a curl bounced on his forehead.
“I’m gonna get back on my meds as soon as my parents get home, June. Can we just have fun and not think about that stuff right now?”
I jumped as he pushed a lock of hair behind my shoulder and grazed my bare skin with his fingers.
“You’re right, Will, but I want to make sure you’re okay.”
I tried to maintain my concentration. I thought about everything he had told me in the past few days, but it was all jumbled in my head right then.
I felt a sensation of confusion that ended up being pleasant; the kind of confusion that left me lightheaded, with my lips burning and an overwhelming desire to kiss him.
William seemed to be thinking the same thing; he didn’t really want to talk either.
“It’s sweet of you to worry, but I’m fine. And when I saw you tonight, it scared the hell out of me.”
“How so?”
My voice sounded alien to me. Maybe I should’ve stopped at that one drink and not had the shots.
“In a good way. You’re amazing. You’re sexy even when you don’t take your clothes off like everyone else.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, overjoyed but embarrassed.
His compliment made me blush, but I straddled him. His lips had never been so moist, sweet, and juicy, which was confusing my senses.
All of a sudden Will took off my tank top, leaving me in my bikini.
Time now seemed to have its own rhythm. My clouded brain couldn’t register every single gesture, every single moment.
Maybe that was why I was missing a few steps.
Will moaned in my mouth, and I clung to him again, kissing him back.
I felt his heart race when he pressed against my breasts.
Our tongues intertwined incessantly, while I thought I heard Jackson’s voice in the distance.
“Eww,” I heard him mutter.
“Ew, what?” chuckled Marvin.
“Don’t be a dickhead. Let’s get out of here,” James said gruffly. When Will and I detached ourselves to shoot them a look, they’d already turned around, but for a second I thought I caught a glimpse of the blue paint on James’s lips. It made me feel a strange sensation in the pit of my stomach.
What was I doing there with Will? For a second the alcohol got the best of me, and I couldn’t remember where I was anymore.
William’s face was a jumble of colors. I noticed the electric blue everywhere, on his cheeks, around his cheekbones, even on the tip of his nose.
“It’s okay, we’re alone now,” he breathed against my parted lips.
The skin on my stomach was a jumble of random paints, and the more our bodies collided, the more our colors mixed. I felt my ears throb with the heat that had spread throughout my body, as our make-out session got steamier and steamier.
William started getting comfortable with my bare skin. He put both hands on my hips, holding me firm on top of him. Without meaning to, I realized that I was tightening my thighs around his hips, and that seemed to bother him.
“Um, June.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Will started to kiss me again, but then seemed to change his mind. “June, don’t do that.”
“What should I be doing?”
He looked down at the swimsuit concerned.
“Is it the weight? Does it bother you?” I asked bewildered, lifting myself up to not put my weight on his legs.
“No, the opposite. I like it too much when you do that.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t know what to do or say, and instead of doing something to make the moment less awkward, he blurted out another uncomfortable question.
“Does it bother you if I do this?” He let his hands slide into the jean pockets at my butt.
“No,” I mumbled faintly.
Will started sucking my earlobe, making a series of chills go down my black, and I writhed. Without realizing it, I rocked harder and harder on his hips. Right then I couldn’t think of anything but feeding my body, which was hungry for something that I was unfamiliar with.
“June.”
“Mmm?”
Will cradled my face in his hands to gaze at me with his silvery eyes.
“I don’t think . . . I mean, we’re not at that point, right?”
What point? We were just kissing. Oh man, did he mean that?
“No, at least I’m not,” I stuttered clumsily.
We aren’t even together, since you’re the one who wants to take things slow, I wanted to yell at him.
“Do you want to go back and join everyone else?”
Will’s question left me perplexed.
“I don’t know. Do you?”
“No, June.”
His hands squeezed my butt firmly then moved up to lightly scratch my back, sending a wave of tremors down my spine.
I let myself taste his mouth, and my hands slid down his lean abdomen.
I would’ve been shocked by my audacity sober, but right now, I decided not to think about it and enjoy the moment.
I moved my center of gravity forward, causing Will to let out a moan as he licked my neck. I felt him breathing on my neck.
“June.”
My name was now a turned-on moan that flowed from his mouth and touched mine with a fragmented rhythm.
“Oh yeah, keep going.”
I felt his breath shatter into a million pieces. He grabbed my thighs, planted his fingertips into my flesh, then threw his curly head backward.
“Will.”
A boiling wave rushed over my stomach, and I felt heat grow between my legs, but after a few moments I noticed that it wasn’t just a feeling. I saw him pant with parted lips and red cheeks like he’d just finished a long run. I writhed.
“Are you okay? Do you want to go outside to get some air?”
“Fuck. Sorry, I—”
William put both hands in his hair, looking freaked out.
“What is it?”
“Um, I’m just—” His hesitant words were a slap that rudely woke me up. I watched him rub the nape of his neck nervously, and I immediately understood.
“What a mess. I gotta go to the bathroom.”
Will grabbed my top from the couch and brought it in front of his lower stomach to cover the white stain on his swimsuit. I nodded, not very convinced, then with my head completely empty, I followed him as he rushed toward the crowd.
“Is it my fault, Will?” I asked at a certain point, completely unaware.
“No, of course not. It’s me. Sorry,” he whispered, before kissing me on the lips.
“You don’t have to be sorry.” I pushed his hair back while he looked around for someone.
“Stay here. I’m gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second. My head was spinning like crazy. I’d been drinking. There were too many people around me. I thought I was going to suffocate in the crowd.