Page 104 of Naive in Love

After a couple of rounds everyone is ready to hit Bourbon Street. We pay our tab and head out for our next exploit. The amount of people out and about has increased significantly. Many are walking with drinks in hand. Each bar or club we pass has bouncers yelling their specials to the crowd, trying to entice people to enter their establishment. People on the balconies overhead are dangling beads and yelling down to the crowds in the street. A couple of drunken girls and guys raise tops and drop bottoms for the chance to catch the infamous beads.

As we pass a strip club, Mike and Josh tease about the guys making a stop and for us girls to find a place to wait on them. My heart drops at the thought of Ethan going into one of those clubs. As much as I don’t want him to go in, I’m not about to be the party pooper if that’s what he wants to do.

“Hell no! Y’all knock yourselves out. I’m not jeopardizing my chances of getting some tonight by walking in there,” Ethan teases the guys while giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. I swat him across the chest, slightly embarrassed by his brash comment.

“I think I just heard the sound of the whip,” Mike teases.

“Say whatever you will, but Preston is awfully quiet over there. And I’m guaranteed a good time. What about you two?” Ethan defends himself while laughing hysterically as I turn a wonderful shade of crimson.

We come upon a club that excites Paige and Bree when the bouncer yells, “Two-for-one drinks upstairs on the balcony!” We flash our IDs as we walk into the club. Ethan’s hand, which was on my back, guiding me, disappears, so I follow Paige as she weaves through the crowd, following Bree to the staircase that leads up to the balcony. She walks right up to the bar, ordering eight beers for everyone. I look around wondering where we lost the rest of our party. When the bartender starts placing bottle after bottle on the counter, we look at each other puzzled. She begins popping the tops off and spouts off, “That’ll be fifty-four.”

“I ordered eight.” Paige hesitantly replies.

“Two for one, doll.” She replies with a clack of her tongue and a superior smirk.

Bree and I start giggling at the mistake Paige made ordering. Bree and I each grab two in each hand and look for a table to place them on while Paige pays. We find a table, and Bree goes back to help Paige with the others. I take in my surroundings, starting to worry about where I lost Ethan. There are so many scantily clad females bumping and grinding with guys all over. I love and trust Ethan, but my innate insecurity begins to make an appearance. I jump and spin around when I feel hands on my waist.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Ethan says, giving me a quick kiss.

Mike and Josh grab a beer from the table, taking large gulps as Paige and Bree join with the rest.

“Thirsty?” Mike asks, his brows raised, looking at the small cocktail table filled with beers.

His question has Bree and I giggling again.

“Shut up!” Paige looks at us, eyes narrowed, then adds for everyone else who is looking at her. “I ordered eight, not thinking about the two-for-one special the bouncer told us about. So y’all can double fist it.” She raises her bottle and mock salutes us.

Ethan grabs a beer and wraps his other arm around my middle, leaning down and kissing my neck.

“Where were y’all?”

“Men’s room.” He leans in again, kissing me firmly.

I hate that my insecurity clouds my judgment and keeps me from trusting him the way I want to. Having confidence in oneself is hard. Saying it and feeling it are on two very different things.

I bring my focus back to the present, not wanting Ethan to see my inner turmoil.

“Let’s go check out the balcony!” Lena yells over the music pumping throughout the club. Preston grabs her hand, leading her out. I look at Ethan, who is talking with Josh. As much as I want to stay by his side, I decide I need to trust and learn independence. I walk behind them with Bree close behind.

There are a few people with a bag of beads yelling down to the street. The view of the street and people from this vantage point is unique. The people next to us are yelling asinine instructions to catch people’s attention. Everyone laughs at the requests, and some even participate for the chance to collect more beads. The group hands Preston a large handful of beads and encourage us to join in.

Lena and I get one guy to stop as we tease him to drop his pants. He is dancing around to the music coming out of the club. He is teasing us back and yelling for us to lift our shirts. We laugh hysterically. Preston teases Lena that he will be the one dropping his pants for Lena. I’m practically doubled over from laughing so hard when I feel arms come around my waist. I stand up to lean against Ethan, holding my breath, trying to control my laughter.

“I leave you for a few minutes and find you cat-calling guys to drop their pants?” he teases. He turns to Preston and adds, laughing, “And please, dude, no one wants to see your white-as-hell ass. Save that shit for your room.”

Preston acts hurt as I swipe a couple of strands from his hand and throw them to the guy we were teasing, just for being such a good sport.

“The next time you need to see a guy’s goodies, just ask. I’ll be happy to oblige.” Ethan says in my ear before sucking my ear lobe into his mouth and trailing kisses down my neck. I close my eyes, relishing the moment. The intensity of his kisses and his body heat pressed up against me leaves me breathless and weak at the knees. I turn around, placing my hands on his shoulders to steady myself, pressing my body tightly to him.

“Go to your room for that shit!” I hear Mike tease.

We are breathless and need space to regain our composure, but we refuse to let go.

“Dance with me,” he says as we gaze at each other.

I let my hand slide down his arm, sliding my fingers between his. “Let’s go.”

“Heading downstairs to the dance floor,” he tells our friends as I pull him behind me. I wiggle through the dense crowd with Ethan close behind.

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