Page 178 of Tell Me I'm Enough

“I’m proud of you.”

She waves me off. “It’s just an admin position, but it at least gets my foot in the door.”

“We should celebrate tonight. There’s that big party to kick off the year happening. A lot of alcohol, a lot of fun, and…”

I turn and reach my hand out, grabbing her thighs and bringing her closer to me, needing to feed this new addiction. I grab her face, and she leans down into my touch, following my lead while keeping her curious eyes on mine.

I hover my mouth above hers. “A lot of secret places I can do this at.”

I tilt my head to meet her lips, taking in the warmth of them and the way they taste like the coconut lip balm she always wears. I can feel the way she melts into me, and I keep kissing her because I don’t want the high to end, because I could easily overdose in her touch if she’d let me.

When she pulls back a little, I see the lust-filled haze in her eyes that probably matches mine. “I’m…I’m doing a dry semester,” she tells me. “For Lydia.”

She leans to sit back on the bed again, and I’m still stuck staring at her, trying to clear my head enough to register what she said.

“Oh, shit. So no drinking at all?”

She nods.

“No parties either?”

“I don’t think that would be possible. I’m a Gamma girl and in college. I’m just gonna have to have fun without the alcohol.”

A small smile spreads across my lips, admiring this girl. “That’s pretty cool of you.”

“Yeah. I mean, I just wanna be there for her, you know? It’s gotta be hard coming back to all of this temptation after what she’s dealt with.”

I stand up, walking over to grab my phone from my dresser. “Well, I’ll just have to drink double the amount…you know, for you.”

She glares at me, but a smirk still pulls at her lips. “I think you drink enough for the entire student body some nights.”

“Don’t judge my extracurricular activities.”

She puts her hands up playfully. “I would never.”

* * *

Normally, parties make the cravings louder. There’s no better place to hide than in a place like this. It should drive me crazy; I should want a lot more drinks in me than I already have.

But it doesn’t.

Because Simone is next to me, laughing at something Lani just said, and it’s all the distraction I need from my own head.

She grabs my arm mid-laugh, and I can’t help but love how comfortable she is around me. She doesn’t need alcohol to be electric. She’s just…like this. She’s bright and outgoing, and she’s just a light that pulls you to her whether you want to or not. And Idefinitelywant to be anywhere she is.

I’ve got a cup in my hand, but I keep forgetting to want to drink it. I keep forgetting I even have it…and that feels pretty big. The fact that Idon’twant it. The fact that when she’s around, the noise in my head finally shuts the hell up.

I’ve stayed beside her since we got here like a puppy dog, and now we’re outside by the pool, soaking up the last bit of summer heat we’ll get this year.

Sure, call me whipped or pathetic, but I don’t see a better place to be right now.

“You’re being suspiciously well-behaved,” she says, narrowing her eyes at me.

I shrug. “Trying to set a new personal record.”

“For what?”

“Not embarrassing myself in front of sober you, who will remember every dumb thing I do.”