Salvation : Book 3

CHAPTER 24 : Dangerous Game

We were absorbed by the crowd upon our entry. Lily's house was on the same street as Adrian's, and it's layout was fairly similar to his—like most of the houses in this neighborhood. We walked through the white painted front door into the small foyer, there was hardly any space for us to fit but we squeezed through. To our right was the entrance to the living room. It was packed with over a dozen teenagers, all dancing to the extremely loud music that blared from the speakers placed at the corners of the room. The room reeked of alcohol, most of the guests were holding red solo cups, drinking without the slightest care. I couldn't wait to join them.

     Adrian wrapped his arm around me, keeping close, probably so we couldn't get separated. I smiled at the notion as we navigated through the crowd. There was a corner, where all the furniture had been moved to, that was unoccupied. We moved towards it.

     "I'll get us some drinks," Adrian announced over the music.

     "I thought you said you weren't drinking," I said loudly.

     "Changed my mind," he said, and I smiled at him before he pulled his arm from me. He squeezed through the crowd heading for the kitchen. I plopped down on the couch. Abby sat next to me and Jack settled across from us on the mahogany coffee table.

     "There are a lot of people here," Jack said. "Are you sure this is cool?" He asked as he furrowed his brows.

      I gave a reassuring smile. "I'm fine," I told him. And for once it was true. I hated crowds and admittedly, parties were definitely not my thing, but for once in my life I didn't mind the chaos. I didn't mind the deafening music, the overzealous crowd or the horrid stench of alcohol—okay maybe did mind that a little bit—but I didn't care. I wanted to get lost in chaos. I wanted to be absorbed into the madness and forget for one night, that my life was what it was.

      "Are you sure?" Abby asked. I nodded.

      "I'm very sure," I said. "Guys stop worrying about me. We're here to have fun. If I wasn't cool with any of this, I'd say something, okay? I just want us to enjoy tonight." They both nodded in time for Adrian to reappear with four shot glasses.

       He handed each one of us a glass. "Bottoms up," he said as he gulped down his shot. We all did the same. The alcohol burned it's way down my throat, it felt like swallowing down acid but I didn't mind, because a minute later I could feel it taking effect.

       "I feel like dancing," I said, jumping back up to my feet.

       Both Jack and Abby eyed me with concern which I immediately shrugged away. "Adrian, do you want to dance?" I asked.

       "With you?" He arched a brow, I nodded. "Of course," he said before taking my hand and leading me closer to the makeshift dance floor. Bodies were squashed together with barely enough breathing room, yet we somehow found a spot for ourselves. I observed the movements of the crowd. They were jumping up and down to the sound of the beat, groping each other and rubbing their bodies together in ways that shouldn't be done in public, it was all pretty illicit and it made me blush. I didn't think I could do any of that. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

      Adrian gave me an endearing smile before he placed his hands on my hips. "Like this," he said as he guided me. He moved me side to side in a swaying motion. I placed my hands on his shoulders and we slow danced to the fast upbeat techno song.

      I lost myself in his misty forest green eyes. The world around us fading away. I barely took notice to the people who bumped into us, or the sticky floor, or the ever growing stench of alcohol and body odor. None of it felt real, the only real thing was Adrian.