Page 40 of Swept Away

I look at Mason again.

“Do you want to do that?” I ask.

“It’s up to you.”

“Does he live far?”

“Not far from where you live.”

“All right.”

I’m still pondering.

“I had a lot to drink tonight,” I say, thinking out loud.

“I’ll prepare you something light,” Carter suggests, and I’m leaning toward saying yes.

I shouldn’t, but I do.

“Okay. We can do that.”

I enter the car, having no idea what I’ve said yes to.

“Will there be other people at your place?” I ask when Mason slides behind the wheel and Carter takes the seat next to him.

“Only the three of us,” Carter says seriously, not looking at me.

My chest tightens, and I look closely into that feeling to detect fear, but I’m not afraid. I’m just strangely tense.

Mason turns the radio on, and an old blues song fills the air. Neither of them talks, and I lean back in my seat, keep my legs together, a little turned on that I’m here with them, wearing no panties under my short dress, and I stare at the city.

Lights resembling fireflies are strewn across the city.

The car windows are down, and I feel so relaxed in their presence that I let my mind drift away and revisit what’s happened this evening.

We turn right not far from my place, and soon after, we make a left, and the car rolls slowly up to the front of a house similar to mine.

It’s a two-story building, and it’s sunk in darkness.

“That’s us,” Carter says, and I straighten in my seat.

Mason lets me out and locks the door behind me while his friend is already moving up the stairs and opening the door for us.

Mason looks at me as I get ready to walk and enter the building.

“Are you cold?” he asks, smiling when a shiver sweeps through me.

“No.”

He loops his arm around my neck and pulls me into him.

“Nervous?” he asks as we begin to walk.

“No. I’m just not used to going out.”

“I couldn’t tell back at the club,” he says, holding the door for me and inviting me in.

We enter a small foyer, take the stairs up, and turn left.