Page 14 of Best I Never Had

She bends her body into a perpendicular angle, her hair falling like a loose curtain around her. Her cleavage rises upward when she leans forward, making me avert my eyes as she slides back into the apartment. “And that’s one tequila shot closer to me hugging the toilet all night.”

I cringe.

“Yeah, doesn’t sound very pretty now, does it?”

She’s inside now, with the opening of the window dividing the space between us. She reaches through it and tugs at my arm as I follow suit, curling my body inward to fit through the small opening.

I didn’t realize how many people filled Natalia’s small apartment or when the night shifted from a small gathering of friends to a full-on party. People are filling every corner, leaning against the walls,speaking over the music, and careless to the noise complaint that will most likely come within the hour.

Natalia leads the way, weaving around people and avoiding a splash of beer that misses her feet, hitting the wood floor instead. She turns and looks at me over her shoulder as she watches me struggle to maneuver myself through the crowd. She reaches for my hand, and her delicate fingers grip my thumb. Her hand doesn’t move to cling to my whole hand. Instead, it stays there, wrapped around my thumb as she tugs it gently, making my hand look large and awkward in contrast to her small one as I follow her lead.

I watch as she peers at me over the bare skin of her shoulder, her long dark hair billowing behind her as I catch a peek of the red lipstick painted on her full lips. I smirk lightly when her smile spreads into a wide grin.

How did this happen? When did we grow up? A familiar pang hits my chest as in between the vision of Natalia standing in front of me, I catch glimpses of her at seventeen. Her hair always styled in different ways while her feet were bound into the clunky boots of her Doc Martens. I can’t believe it’s been eight years, our graduation procession with us in our navy-blue cap and gown misting away into nothing but a fond memory. We’re actual adults now, settled into a stage of our lives where we have real responsibilities.

After squeezing through the crowd, we arrive at a small table lined with small shot glasses filled to the brim with a clear liquid I can bet my next check isn’t water. Dexter stands at one end, eyeing the row of perfectly lined up liquor as if it were a slab of red meat. He looks up and grins widely at me. His eyes are glazed over, with the flush of redness filling his cheeks and neck. Lucy stands next to him, her face hovering over his ear as she whispers something before they break into a fit of giggles.

Lucy has a shot glass already in her hand, carefully lifting it and handing it to me first and then a second one to Natalia. Natalia eyes hers, her eyeswidening as she suppresses a nervous gulp. Around us, more people have gathered, claiming their own glasses as they raise it into the air. A man, who I was introduced to as Natalia’s sister’s boyfriend and whose name I can’t quite remember over the chaos, speaks over the voices.

“I just want to say,” he starts, “thank you for gracing us with your presence this weekend, Lucy. I hope you visit us more often.”

Everyone cheers, bringing their glasses up in the small circle, barely clinking as they hurriedly toss the contents to the back of their throat. With my glass empty, I grimace, biting down on the juicy, citrusy lime that was passed around before I look at Natalia. Her glass is still in front of her, full and teetering to the edges. She wasn’t kidding when she said she can’t hold her liquor. Without a second thought, I take it from her and toss it back, chasing my already consumed tequila with another one.

Her mouth gapes as the corners lifts into a smile. No one noticed that she didn’t take her shot as everyone else is consumed in the bitter after taste that usually lingers into a violent shiver, no matter how accustomed one is to the taste of tequila. I discreetly hand the glass back to her and wink.

She laughs as she brings the back of her hand to her mouth and turns to face the other way. When she does, her cheek comes close to my arm. Not enough to touch but enough to let me know that this is our little secret. I peer down at her. Her twinkling eyes curve as she suppresses her laugh.

“Thanks, Marshall,” she says through her smile.

“Anytime,” I answer.

5

Natalia

senior year

“Canyou take me to the bookstore after school today?”

I look at Lucy. Her shoulder is leaned up against the locker neighboring mine as I rub lotion into my hands. She extends her left hand toward me, silently requesting a small dollop.

“Sure,” I answer, squeezing a pea-sized amount of the coconut vanilla cream onto her hand and tossing it back in my locker before slamming it shut. “Is there something you were looking for?”

She shrugs. “Just wanted to look around.”

“Can I come?” our friend, Yuri, asks from my side as she pops an Ice Breakers mint in her mouth. “There’s this Victorian romance book I’ve been wanting to get.”

“Is it like the last one you read? Something about a duchess and the stable boy?” I ask, poking fun at her love for romance novels that revolve around steamy sex scenes and forbidden love interests. Her most recent one included a particularly sexy romp where the main characters were caught in a rainstorm and stuck in a secluded stable.

“Doth thou accept my most treasured declarations of love,” Lucy calls dramatically with a fist clutched to her chest, making us all break out into laughter.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Yuri calls before walking off to her fifth period class. Lucy and I wave at her as I turn to see Hayden across the hallway. His back is up against a wall, and Jenny Chen is pushed up against his chest. Their faces are less than an inch away from each other with smiles that cut into their cheeks and reach all the way up to their ears. Just as I’m about to look away, I see their tongues tangle together.

I look back at Lucy, shaking the image of the intense PDA I just witnessed. “Carmen emailed me about this book she thought I might like. Maybe I’ll find it while we’re there,” I say.

Lucy’s gaze follows where I was looking, where Jenny now has her arms up around Hayden’s neck, and his hands are roaming down her waist, traveling further south.

“She’s so lucky,” Lucy croons wistfully.

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