Stage Fright

Chapter 67 ~ Midnight Kiss

Josh

I don't know what had happened or where Heather had gone but I hadn't seen her in a long time. Julia looked pretty worried though so I'm sure it was important, I just wanted to spend time with her. 

I look around and suddenly I see her coming into the kitchen with what looks like a quarter of a tray of Jell-o shots and a half-empty bottle of hard stuff. She sets the Jell-o cups down with the rest on the island and returns the bottle to the table in the dinning room. 

I walk over seeing how stressed she looked, I hoped everything was okay.

"Hey." I say quietly and she turns with a smile, wrapping her arms around me.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you." She whispers and I smile. "I'm sorry, I just had to do a quick clean of a bathtub." She mumbles and I furrow my eyebrows.

"What happened?" I ask and she sighs.

"I'll tell you later tonight once everyone leaves." She tells me and I nod, pulling her close.

"But you're okay, nobody's hurt?" I ask and she nods with a smile. "You're still okay?" I whisper and she nods again, running her hands up my chest.

"I'm alright." She whispers and I smile. "There's only a half-hour until midnight." She tells me, leaning in close. "I want to spend it with you."

"Really?" I ask and she nods, sliding her hands into the back pockets of my pants. 

"Let's get a drink and dance." She suggests and I nod. She gets both of us a beer and takes my hand, leading me to the dance floor. I was too busy watching her hips swing, she was certainly right about the skiing toning her butt. 

"Josh!" She exclaims. "Are you looking at my butt?" She asks with a laugh and I shrug.

"Maybe." I admit, opening my can. "It looks nice in that dress."

"That's so unlike you." She pretends to scold me and I laugh. "You're always such a gentleman." I just take a drink from my beer and she raises her eyebrows. "Turn around." She insists, crossing her arms.

"What?" I ask, but before I can even react she's walking behind me with a laugh.

"Yours is nice too." She comments, leaning in over my shoulder and kissing my cheek.

I pull her onto the dance floor and she wraps her arms around the back of my neck, mine on her waist. I'd give anything to see her this happy all the time, I was glad that she seemed to be bouncing back so well after everything she'd been through.

"You look so great tonight." I whisper and she smiles, leaning her forehead on mine. 

"So do you." She whispers back, finishing what's left in her can and leaving it on a table. She then grabs hold of my belt loops, bringing us as close together as possible. I let my hands run over her back, feeling the bare skin under my fingertips.

It was in this moment that I remembered reading that passage in her letter about how much she loved feeling my rings on her skin. I wasn't quite sober at the moment either and my hot girlfriend was doing evil things to my imagination.

She turns around then, her back to my front and takes my hands, sliding her fingers through mine and resting our joined hands on her hips. She was moving her hips to the beat, I couldn't tell if she was doing it intentionally or in absent thought, but the room suddenly felt tighter.

She leans her head back then and kisses the underside of my chin and I press my lips together, knowing I couldn't help how I felt. I press into her back and she seems to pull back a bit.