DAWNING POINT (AgeTabooRomance)

Chapter 15

Later that night, when the party became utterly rooted and the guests were deliriously incoherent, everyone stayed the night at Kallum's. Luckily enough the house had space for several guests to stay over all at once – whether by sharing spare rooms or sleeping on couches and mattresses in the spacious living areas – and because everyone was so far gone by the time it was midnight, it was easy to arrange who slept where. Thankfully, too, Andrew and Clarissa hadn't arrived back tonight, so the racket of drunk humans wasn't so much a disturbance.

Well... At least not to them.

Jett and Margot stayed together down the hall from Kall's room, the girls and Amir slept on the couches in the grand sitting room downstairs, Kieran and I shared a mattress in another spare room – Kallum didn't like referring to it as his mother's old office, mostly to save questions – and Kall, obviously, stayed in his own bed.

Although I usually slept with Kallum in his room, we both agreed we didn't want the others making assumptions about our relationship. After all, we were two single eighteen-year-olds sleeping in the same bed, which would only allow somewhat indecent speculations, and if Kall and I hadn't been inseparable since we were young children, even I might have assumed such closeness to be something it wasn't. Not to mention, Kallum was a bachelor – his words, not mine – and didn't want me potentially "killing his game" with other girls if Laurey, Britney or Courtney decided to spread foolish gossip – my words, not his – about town.

But truthfully, it wasn't so much that I agreed to sleep separately because I cared what people presumed about us. The spread of false bullshit meant to waste energy defending myself or Kallum – in one way or another – and I didn't feel like doing such. And at the end of the day, what Kallum and I did with each other in our own space, whatever our friendship entailed, was private. And absolutely no one else's business.

After my spit with Manning a couple of hours earlier, I threw myself into the party and into the spirit of being young and stupid – emphasis on the stupid – and wound up rather drunk myself, guzzling drink after drink until the world in front of me became a revolving door.

So much for the promise I'd made myself at the start of the night...

On the plus side, though, I'd forgotten about Manning. At least for a little bit.

I forgot about his strong, hard, wall-like body dangling over me. I forgot about his thick, rippling arms that could no doubt lift me like an infant if they tried. I forgot about his hot breath, smelling of wood and whisky, and either his skin or his cologne – I couldn't tell which – smelling of oak and mint. And I forgot about the desperation in his face, the intensity of his deep-as-wells raven eyes...

Yep. Completely forgot.

I hadn't seen Manning or so much as heard him move within the house since we argued. Despite the way my ears perked up and my arm hairs stood to attention as the party made its way inside, no noise travelled down from Manning's room. And admittedly, I was glad.

Maybe he didn't sleep with that woman after all. Maybe he sent her home after I undoubtably ruined his mood.

Chances were slim, but a girl could dream.

A few of us showered while the rest dried off from the pool and passed out atop extra sheets, opting to bother with hygiene tomorrow morning instead. I, however, was not one of those people, and showered thoroughly; washing my hair and drying off before slipping into Kallum's old Imagine Dragons Band t-shirt and a pair of silk bottoms that didn't show past the shirt's hem. Not that I wanted to wear pants as risqué as these with additional company around, but of course, I didn't know everyone else was staying over as well.