make the best of it.”
“Getting drunk?”
“Having some fun!” I corrected, smiling. “We’ll
live like roomies.” Ethan went to Yale and had the whole American college
experience before returning to China, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for him.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him away to our table where Claudia had already
sat the glasses next to a bottle of Patron.
“You owe me two shots,” Claudia exclaimed.
“This one doesn’t count,” I said.
We sat at the table with Ethan draping an arm
around the back of my chair. Claudia giggled and took another shot of liquor.
“This must be an American game. Am I supposed
to drink when the two of you laugh?” Ethan asked. “What kind of game is this ?”
“That’s so cute,” she said. “Bottoms up!”
Ethan took a shot of Patron.
“How good are you at holding your liquor?” I
asked.
“I’m Chinese,” Ethan said, practically beating
his chest. “If I can handle baijiu I can
survive this stuff. You’re the one who will end up on your ass before the night
is out.”
“Good thing you have a driver.”
Claudia giggled again. Ethan grabbed the bottle
of Patron, poured another shot and drank it down.
“You’re better at this game than I thought. But
you’re going down faster than the both of us. I can see it in your eyes,” Claudia
said.
“Not faster than this pretty woman,” he
replied, planting a drunken kiss on my cheek.
Claudia and I laughed again, which in turn led
to the three of us taking another drink.
CHAPTER 5
The following morning brought nothing but pain
and misery. Blinding sunlight flooded in through the wall to wall landscape
windows of my hotel room, the warmth of its light a contradiction to the cool
blast from the air conditioner. My head ached, my body was sore, and I was not
only cold but naked from head to toe.
I started to get up, cringing as pain pierced
my temple, forced me back down. I felt heavy. An arm stretching across the bed
hung over my shoulders like an anchor. A sickening feeling washed over me as I
brought my eyes into focus and gazed at the face sleeping by my side. The last
thing I remembered about the night before was stumbling into the hotel room
with Ethan. I winced, unable to shake the images and memories that followed
next. He reached out, as intimately as a lover, sidling so close the end of his
nose touched mine.
“What happened last night?” I cringed, afraid
of hearing the answer.
Ethan caressed the side of my face with his
open hand, biting down on his lip in anticipation.
“You don’t remember?”
Then leaned in and kissed me softly on the
lips, his fingers trailing up and down my neck in gentle circular motions. I
had not realized before how utterly perfect his body looked and felt, hard and
masculine against my soft pillowy form. Ethan kissed the side of my neck, and
suckled the skin on my collarbone as he wedged his heavy body between my
thighs. I felt like a gazelle, trapped between the powerful jaws of a lion… a
trap from which I’d lost all power of extricating myself. It had been too long,
too many quiet nights without the physical intimacy of a boyfriend who lived on
the other side of the country. Why did Ethan have to be so… irresistible ?
So strong, warm and hard ? Push him away. Far away, quick, before it’s
too late!
“I don’t remember anything about last night,” I
lied.
But my body remembered. A chill raced up my
spine as I was assailed by memories of Ethan and I in bed. Suddenly, every
nerve in my body was on fire. We lay, our bodies coiled together covered under
a thin white sheet. The hot sticky residue on my thighs, evidence of lovemaking
hung thick and hot in the air, like a pheromone that only Ethan could sense. I
felt his aroused presence and wondered what kept him from acting on his
primitive male instincts as my center tingled with
desire.
“Because you don’t want to remember,” he
replied, hoisting himself to his
“Getting drunk?”
“Having some fun!” I corrected, smiling. “We’ll
live like roomies.” Ethan went to Yale and had the whole American college
experience before returning to China, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for him.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him away to our table where Claudia had already
sat the glasses next to a bottle of Patron.
“You owe me two shots,” Claudia exclaimed.
“This one doesn’t count,” I said.
We sat at the table with Ethan draping an arm
around the back of my chair. Claudia giggled and took another shot of liquor.
“This must be an American game. Am I supposed
to drink when the two of you laugh?” Ethan asked. “What kind of game is this ?”
“That’s so cute,” she said. “Bottoms up!”
Ethan took a shot of Patron.
“How good are you at holding your liquor?” I
asked.
“I’m Chinese,” Ethan said, practically beating
his chest. “If I can handle baijiu I can
survive this stuff. You’re the one who will end up on your ass before the night
is out.”
“Good thing you have a driver.”
Claudia giggled again. Ethan grabbed the bottle
of Patron, poured another shot and drank it down.
“You’re better at this game than I thought. But
you’re going down faster than the both of us. I can see it in your eyes,” Claudia
said.
“Not faster than this pretty woman,” he
replied, planting a drunken kiss on my cheek.
Claudia and I laughed again, which in turn led
to the three of us taking another drink.
CHAPTER 5
The following morning brought nothing but pain
and misery. Blinding sunlight flooded in through the wall to wall landscape
windows of my hotel room, the warmth of its light a contradiction to the cool
blast from the air conditioner. My head ached, my body was sore, and I was not
only cold but naked from head to toe.
I started to get up, cringing as pain pierced
my temple, forced me back down. I felt heavy. An arm stretching across the bed
hung over my shoulders like an anchor. A sickening feeling washed over me as I
brought my eyes into focus and gazed at the face sleeping by my side. The last
thing I remembered about the night before was stumbling into the hotel room
with Ethan. I winced, unable to shake the images and memories that followed
next. He reached out, as intimately as a lover, sidling so close the end of his
nose touched mine.
“What happened last night?” I cringed, afraid
of hearing the answer.
Ethan caressed the side of my face with his
open hand, biting down on his lip in anticipation.
“You don’t remember?”
Then leaned in and kissed me softly on the
lips, his fingers trailing up and down my neck in gentle circular motions. I
had not realized before how utterly perfect his body looked and felt, hard and
masculine against my soft pillowy form. Ethan kissed the side of my neck, and
suckled the skin on my collarbone as he wedged his heavy body between my
thighs. I felt like a gazelle, trapped between the powerful jaws of a lion… a
trap from which I’d lost all power of extricating myself. It had been too long,
too many quiet nights without the physical intimacy of a boyfriend who lived on
the other side of the country. Why did Ethan have to be so… irresistible ?
So strong, warm and hard ? Push him away. Far away, quick, before it’s
too late!
“I don’t remember anything about last night,” I
lied.
But my body remembered. A chill raced up my
spine as I was assailed by memories of Ethan and I in bed. Suddenly, every
nerve in my body was on fire. We lay, our bodies coiled together covered under
a thin white sheet. The hot sticky residue on my thighs, evidence of lovemaking
hung thick and hot in the air, like a pheromone that only Ethan could sense. I
felt his aroused presence and wondered what kept him from acting on his
primitive male instincts as my center tingled with
desire.
“Because you don’t want to remember,” he
replied, hoisting himself to his
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