Page 14

As we slip past the velvet rope, we thank the security guard, finally stepping inside the place.
And as soon as we’re in, the world shifts.
This place isalivein a way that makes my skin tingle, all my sensations already heightened. The air is thick with the scent of perfume, alcohol, and even the faint smell of cigarette smoke. The lights pulse in time with the music, and the room is covered in flashes of neon pinks, blues, and greens.
I love it already.
“Let’s head downstairs!”
Tamana shouts into my ear, the music around us too loud for us both to be able to speak normally.
After nodding at her, we walk further into the place before we find the stairs, making our way downstairs as the music here only seems to grow louder.
People are screaming here, laughing too, and the dance floor is a sea of bodies. Soon, Tamana and I join in, moving and swaying to the beat of the music. I feel the vibrations moving through the floorboards, sending a low buzz through each of our bodies.
“This is amazing!”
I shout out to Tamana over the music, watching her face light up with excitement.
“I told you this is great!” She shouts back, dragging me through the sea of bodies as we make it out the otherend, finding ourselves at the bar. “Two mojitos.” She tells the bartender as she leans over the counter. “Thank you!”
He nods at her, his hands already moving as he begins making our drinks.
Sitting on one of the barstools, I look all around the place. The beat is even louder here now that I’m sitting down, and the crowd looks wilder. Everybody dances closely together, bodies pressed, faces lit up with excitement under the shifting lights. Despite my initial hesitation about coming to this place, I find myself smiling, turning to look over at Tamana.
“To a night we’ll never forget.”
She says with a grin, sliding me a drink as she clinks her glass to mine.
“To new beginnings.”
I reply, raising the glass as I bring it to my lips.
At first, the drink is sweet. I take a few more sips, and when I notice that Tamana has almost downed her glass in one go, I don’t hesitate to follow, swallowing every drop before I set the empty glass back down on the counter, already feeling a little more at ease now that I’ve got some liquid courage swimming through my veins.
Tamana grabs my hand again, already up from the barstool as her eyes gleam with pure energy.
“Come on, let’s dance!”
I laugh at her, shaking my head.
“We’ve just come back from dancing, Mana!”
She pouts at me.
“That’s not an excuse!” She insists, tugging me off as she pulls me towards the dance floor. “We look too good to just sit around tonight!”
I can’t argue with her, not when I know she’s right.
Before I know it, we’re both weaving through the crowd, finding a spot to have to ourselves towards the centre of thefloor. Together, Tamana and I begin dancing, our hands up in the air as we sway our hips to the beat of the music.
The crowd around us moves in even closer, and I catch the eye of a man dancing nearby.
He’s at least a foot taller than me, with a confident smile that’s impossible to ignore. He steps closer towards us, his dark eyes locked on mine, an eyebrow raised as he presses his hands to either side of my hips. A thrill runs through me as I let him rest his hands there.
Dancing beside him, Tamana gives me a knowing look, winking as she spins around to find a partner of her own to dance with. I laugh when she wraps her arms around the first attractive person she sees, not even hesitating to begin dirty dancing with him.
Turning my attention back to the man in front of me, I notice the way his eyes travel all across my body; over the swell of my breasts, the narrowness of my waist, the curve of my backside. He leans down, his voice low as he says something I can’t quite understand over the loudness of the music.