Ghost Shorts | Fem!Reader

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Happy Birthday.

It rang out into the room as you walked in, fashionably late; skimpy black dress, big sparkling cross on your neck, platform thigh-high boots. Hundreds of balloons clung to the ceiling with ribbons obscuring the panoramic view of the city lights from up here.

Soon your tongue was licking salt off the back of one hand, a lime wedge in the other as you tipped the fifth tequila into your mouth. But it didn't dull your senses when you were introduced to him.

A friend of your sisters, someone whom knew the hallways of the nearby barracks like the back of her hand. You had always been kinda jealous of her bunny status, but you'd sworn off boys to save your socialite status. There were easily 200 people here, half of whom wouldn't come if they knew they didn't have a chance with you. It didn't stop you from also being the flirty, outgoing one. Popping champagne in the middle of the limo ride here. You loved being around people and people loved being around you.

You prepped yourself for another shot.

"Babe... babe..."

Soft hands grabbed your arm and spun you round to meet the two guys walking over.

"This is Gaz and this... is—"

"Simon."

He interrupted her, leaning in to give you a light kiss on each cheek. It took him bending almost in half to reach you, even when you stretched onto your tiptoes to help.

As he stood upright, he winked. You blushed. Brown eyes looked over your hand, a thin line of salt on the back. You ran your tongue over your teeth before raising it toward him.

"You wanna?"

A raspy giggle came out as he assessed the situation, before shrugging so slightly it went almost unnoticed. He wrapped his hand around yours, enveloping it as he leaned down again, trailing his hot tongue over your skin to lap up the salt before taking a shot from the bar and the lime wedge you held in your hand.

"Mmmm," he mused softly. "Delicious."

His voice pulled the air from your lungs, but you recovered quickly, throwing your arms in the air to squeal with excitement now the party had really begun. 

Sweat prickled down your neck even though your hair was tied up to showcase the strappy back of your dress, the very tip of your lower back tattoo poking out for all to see. You toyed with the hem which floated over your thighs as you danced, shooting Simon looks from across the floor. He wouldn't dance, no, he was content just watching you. You'd already plastered one of your birthday stickers on his chest and despite the fact that many others wore one too, you didn't care. You'd placed that one on him, smoothing it over the muscles which lay beneath his t-shirt. 

He too wore a silver chain, two infact. You figured one set was his dog tags, the other, maybe a present. It matched his watch perfectly, and some rings he had on his slender fingers. They flexed when other men touched you; jealousy. He had nothing to be jealous of, you'd only just met. So you pushed, and pushed, and pushed. And he snapped when you went to get another shot, sneaking up behind you with his hands buried deep into his pockets, watching around with his attuned awareness of the enviroment he found himself in. 

"You're a tease."

You didn't even turn around to reply, rummaging around in your bag for the little plastic pocket of powder to give you a bump. Your mum always told you of the dangers of drugs, but dabbling once a year satisfied the curiosity that gnawed away at your brain, even if the high was progressively more boring than the first. A momentary burn of the nostril was accompanied with the sweet relief of a strawberry sucker. You pulled it slowly from between your lips as you faced him. God, the height difference was insane. You stood at just over 5 foot, he was towering over you, surrounded by a blurred background of streamers and balloon ribbons. Head tilted around his figure to see what was going on.