She did let Laney off the hook though.
“I could use another drink.” She eyed her empty glass. “Thank goodness they’re free, because they’re not mixing them nearly strong enough.”
“Finally, something we can agree on.”
They waited in line again and grabbed two drinks. Laney was starting to feel slightly lightheaded. Her body was warm, her skin tingling. That was the alcohol, she thought. Just the alcohol. The dancing was starting up. Laney threw back the rest of her drink in a single gulp. Morgun stood beside her, relaxed, natural, like they really were a couple.
Laney glanced around the room anxiously and spotted her mom in the distance. As though her gaze was magnetic, Helena turned her head to study them.
Shit.
Laney knew she didn’t have to sell anything. She’d probably fulfilled the requirements of bringing a date and that was likely good enough, but she didn’t want to take chances. She’d gone to a lot of trouble already, and she was going to shell out a grand for this. She didn’t want it to all be for nothing. That would be extremely annoying.
Helena smiled at Laney from across the room and started to head towards them. Laney panicked. She grabbed Morgun’s arm with one hand and her drink with the other. She set the glass down smoothly and, just as smoothly, like they’d rehearsed it, she steered Morgun through the throng of people behind them and straight onto the dance floor.
Laney wasn’t sure if the first dance had already happened. Maybe? She realized she might be a little bit more than buzzed. She wasn’t paying attention and she felt bad. But then, no, she was sure she hadn’t missed it. There would have been an announcement. The first dance didn’t belong to the bride and groom this night, because there were couples already swaying to the slow country song playing. They were illuminated like shadows in the dimly lit area of the dance floor. It was brighter around the edges of the room.
“What are we doing?” Morgun gasped as Laney’s hand settled at the small of her back and the other rested on her shoulder. Morgun was tense, her body stiff and confused.
Laney glided back and forth in slow motion and Morgun fell easily into step with her. “We’re enjoying one token dance because my mom is watching, then we’ll take a bathroom break or get some air, hopefully where no one will find us for a few minutes.”
“Um, alright…”
“Tha
nks for playing along.”
“Sure.” Morgun was a good follower. She even let Laney believe she was a decent leader.
Their bodies swayed easily together. The heat of Morgun’s body burned into hers where they were connected. Laney’s heart raced inexplicably. She was also strangely short of breath. Her head felt like her brain was swimming laps in a sloshing sea. She almost never drank, and there she was with a few glasses totally taking her judgement for a wild ride. It was totally the drinks, because she couldn’t actually be enjoying Morgun’s proximity, could she?
Laney didn’t even like dancing, but she found her body oddly relaxed and at ease with it. And oddly thrilled at the times when Morgun was closer than she maybe had to be.
They swayed together and Laney tried to figure out where she was at with the unexpected surge of heat welling up in her belly, her rapid heartbeat, and her spinning thoughts. She had no clue what she was doing.
She loved her brother and she loved Natasha, she really did, but maybe she just didn’t like weddings. For most of the day, she’d dealt with an angry bundle of nerves. She felt stressed and she knew she acted stressed. She should be nicer. Like Morgun said. It was just so hard to be nice when she was so used to having to look over her shoulder. And her mom basically breathing down her neck didn’t help.
Maybe bringing Morgun was a bad idea. Not that it was Morgun. Bringing anyone would have been a bad idea. Laney felt extra pressure to pretend that everything was fine. She couldn’t relax. She couldn’t really enjoy her brother’s day. She felt that even though she and Jason worked out their differences over her not doing the photos, she was still a little bit on edge about it. She didn’t want to be, but she was.
It’s just weddings. I never liked them. I can still be happy for my brother and Natasha and not like weddings, can’t I?
“Laney?”
Laney snapped out of it and looked around rapidly like they were going to be jumped by a pack of jackals before she turned back to Morgun. “What’s that?”
“The song? It’s over? Want to get some air?” Morgun looked like she didn’t mind the idea at all.
Laney slowly relaxed her grip then loosened it altogether. Her hands felt empty. Cold. Morgun’s body heat was gone as soon as she stepped away. Laney could only explain the sensation as something that felt a lot like loss or regret, or some such nonsense. Was it possible she was drunker than she thought? That would explain the irrational thoughts and emotions she couldn’t seem to keep at bay.
“Laney? Are you coming?”
She had to shake herself a second time. “Yeah.”
She followed Morgun through the crowd and made a clean break out of the room. There was a long hall that extended past them. It wasn’t well lit, because it was probably supposed to be mood-lit or whatever. The walls had some token pieces of art behind glass, probably the cheap stuff that couldn’t easily be damaged, the stuff no one drunk from a wedding could damage or would think about jacking off the wall to take home to decorate with.
Morgun glanced left, then right. “I wonder where the bathrooms are.”
“Why? Do you have to pee?”