Page 33 of Drown Like Heaven
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I had no idea how long it’d been since Ivan dropped us off, or what I’d even been doing since arriving here, but I was having a great time. My cheeks hurt from smiling and my skin felt warm. I was dancing, and amazingly not thinking about anything at all. Nothing could touch me.
Until a pair of brown eyes caught mine from across the room.
Brown eyes, brown hair. Tall. Probably wanted to drown me.
Mason?
It was like a beacon was shining on him, the light luring me to him.Is this real?I shook my head and he disappeared for a second, but when I glanced back I swore I saw him again. A flash of his shoulders, the back of his head,something.
I blinked harder, feeling like I was hallucinating.
No. He wasn’t here.
I was making things up.
But my pulse was already off-rhythm, my fingers trembling. It was unsettling how quickly he’d thrown me off-balance. Not even him—thethoughtof him. That wasn’t good.
He was already digging himself deep into my psyche. That one meeting was a once in a lifetime type of connection. My life in his hands and my soul laid bare.
I turned back to Mila, but she’d disappeared somewhere. Weaving through the crowd, I tried to keep steady on my feet but I was stumbling over my platform Docs, constantly looking over my shoulder as I tried to find my friends again.
I’m way too drunk right now.
There is literally no way Mason is here.
It only took me a minute to find Mila and her friends again, going back to get more drinks. Serena linked arms with me, tugging me along with her, smiling widely and chattering about some guy she knew and liked—or some guy she’d just met? I wasn’t really sure. Shit, she was even drunker than me.
I tried to focus my vision, focus on putting my feet one in front of the other as we tripped through the mass of sweaty bodies. The hair on the nape of my neck was damp and sticking to my skin, my head heavy with alcohol. It took way longer than it should’ve to reach the bar, and I wasn’t sure if that was because of the density of the crowd or the way my brain was perceiving time.
But after a few minutes and another drink, I was feeling good again.
Laughter kept bubbling out of my chest, all my words slurring, my thoughts happy, and disconnected bubbles floating through my skull. The world was a mirage, a smearing of still images that pulsed with light and joy. I lovedeveryone.
Mila and I were kissing—wait. We were kissing?
I pulled away from her, gulping in air and wiping saliva off my mouth. Wasn’t the first time.
She was smiling ear-to-ear, hanging onto my shoulders, swaying drunkenly.
“I love you,” she slurred.
“I love you, too.”
“Fuck Anthony. Fuck him…to hell.”
The name was like a bucket of ice water over my head, a stone dropping heavy in my gut, a lump swelling in my throat. I loosened my arms from around Mila’s waist, instinctively trying to put space between us.
“Oh,shit,” Mila said, eyes widening as she held either side of my face, getting closer to me. I could smell the fruity liquoron her breath. “I’m so, so, so sorry, Dakota. Forget that…him. Please, I shouldn’t have said it. Please don’t be sad.”
I swallowed hard. The room was spinning. I tried to force myself to smile, but tears were stinging in my eyes. The alcohol, which had been making everything better, was now making everything worse.
God, what the fuck?It’d been so long since I’d seen him.
I felt nauseous.
Surely people got over things like this quicker than I was.
