Page 4 of The Dance

“Who invited you?” I slid off the bed.

“Grace invitedus. I guess she knows whoever owns the place. I don’t know. I just texted her we’d be there.”

“All right.” Molly and I knew Grace from our Humanities class freshman year, and we hung out with her often, but she wasn’t a dance major. She was studying finance.

“So, get dressed so we can go.”

“Fine, but I’m wearing flip-flops. My feet need a break.”

* * *

We tooka rideshare the forty or so minutes to Lake Houston, arriving after the sun went down. Molly and I dressed in tank tops, short shorts, and flip-flops, because even though it was March, it had been a warm sunny day that carried over into the evening.

When Molly told me it was a party at the lake, I thought we’d be on the shores. Instead, we were dropped off in front of a two-story mansion. “Are you sure this is it?” I could hear loud music, and there were a ton of people coming and going from the house, so I knew we were at the right place, but I had to ask.

“Yep, let’s go.” She grabbed my hand and tugged me down the circular drive. We didn’t go to the front door as I’d expected since I thought it was a house party on the lake.

“Where are we going?”

“To the back,” she stated.

We went around the house toward the backyard. A large pool overlooked the dark water, and everything was lit by the lights coming from the large windows of the house, the pathway lights, and the string lights wrapped around the trunks of a few trees.

“Should we find Grace or get a beer first?” Molly asked.

“Beer,” I answered. There was no telling where Grace was in the sea of intoxicated people. “Are you sure this isn’t a college party?” The people looked to be around our age, swimming in the pool, standing around chatting, and dancing.

“Maybe some are in college, but I think a lot are older.” Kegs sat on the ground outside of the double doors to the house, and red Solo cups littered the floor. It seemed no one was allowed inside. “Two,” she said, holding up two fingers to the guy manning one of the kegs.

The guy filled two plastic cups with the amber liquid and handed them to us. “Now what?” I inquired over the loud beat of the music.

Molly lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. I guess we go find Grace.”

“Text her and ask her where she is.” I took a sip of my beer.

She grabbed her phone and sent a text. It buzzed a second later. “She’s by the water.” We made our way around the pool to a set of stairs that headed down to the lake.

“There you are.”

I looked to see Grace walking toward us.

“Let me introduce you to my new friends.” She led us down the bank toward three guys. “Y’all, these are my friends, Molly and Stacey.”

The guys turned to us, and I tilted my head slightly as I eyed one of them and pointed my finger. “I know you from somewhere.”

“Oh yeah?” He smiled, and my belly dipped. In an instant, I knew exactly where I’d seen him before, because I’d had the same reaction when he grinned at me from behind the bar.

“You’re a bartender at The Wild Pony.”

“The best one.” He laughed, and the two other guys did too.

“You’re such a cocky fucker,” one of his friends mocked.

“What? You want to see my cock?” the bartender dude heckled.

“Yeah, whip it out.”

The two men played a little push and shove while I looked at Molly and Grace. “How old are they?”