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fingers.
    She righted herself and laughed at something the DJ had said, making a slow jealous burn seep into my chest. My breath caught at the sight of her. Damn it! She turned and somehow found me at the edge of the dance floor. She narrowed her eyes at me, a cold stare seeping through the people around me hit me like an atom bomb and causing my stare match hers.
    She walked with purpose off stage left, making a beeline straight for me. The heated anger emanating off this girl parted the waves of people dancing like the Red Sea. The cleared path in front of her gave me an excellent view of her swaying hips for which, I feel sad and pathetic to have to admit, I immediately imagined pinching between my thumbs and fingers.
    “Hello, Mister Eriksson,” January said, overly polite. Any stranger walking by would mistake it for the saccharine it appeared to drip, but I knew it for the acid it really was.
    “Miss MacLochlainn.”
    She stood comfortably in front of me, her hands laid gently at her sides, one hip cocked. “I see you got in.”
    “I did, thank you.”
    Her eyes briefly flashed something wild. She was trying to bait me. I wasn’t falling for it and that was obviously pissing her off. That made me smile.
              She eyed me strangely for a moment. “Huh. You do have teeth. Lost that bet.” She stood a bit taller at the insult. “Listen, if you need anything and I mean anything , don’t hesitate to ask. It’s why I’m here,” she said sarcastically and began to walk off. Don’t let her have the last word, that would be too mature.
              “Oh, I believe I’ve had about all I could possibly want from you,” I barely said, but it was enough to catch her attention.
              She stopped, straightened, her hair shifted off her shoulders as she whipped back around and came stomping up to me like a five-year-old. I tried to fight the grin that spread across my face but couldn’t.
              “I’m sorry, did you say something?” she asked, a foot from my face. I ignored the way my pulse raced at her proximity.
              “I apologize,” I said, leaning in further. “I’ll speak more clearly then. You couldn’t give me anything you haven’t already. You’re quite the generous hostess, it seems.”
    And the facade finally breaks . “You’ve got a lot of nerve! You know that?”
    I fell to the back of my heels, wrapping my arms in front of me.
              “You kissed me back!” she continued. “I was there! I know when someone kisses me back and you kissed me back , Thomas Eriksson!”
I avoided eye contact, glancing to my right a bit, and noticed a waitress getting ready to pass with a tray of drinks.
              “Excuse me, miss?” I said, leaning around the statue that was January. The waitress offered me the tray and I took a cold Heineken. “Thank you.”
January’s face and neck burned a bright red. At any moment, I suspected steam would start pouring from her ears.
              I took a swig of beer before answering, still avoiding eye contact. “I didn’t kiss you back.”
              She leaned into me, inches from touching me, making my blood pressure spike to unhealthy levels. “You did. I felt you did,” she whispered. “Trust me, there’s nothing you can do or say or even pretend that could convince me otherwise.”
              “You tell yourself whatever you need to in order to make you believe that, January, if it makes you feel better. Justify slutty behavior however you wish.”
She stumbled back, hit hard by my unfeeling words. I closed my eyes briefly. I immediately regretted hurting this virtual stranger. I felt physically ill at the lie. I didn’t really feel that way, in fact. Truthfully, that girl just brought something out of me I couldn’t control and it scared the shit out of