Secretly

This was going to be a long night. Julie wasn’t lying when she said her friends were loud.

There was a lot of screaming and not a whole lot of singing. Jon was finding that the more alcohol consumed, the betters the girls sang. Or maybe his judgment was impaired and they just sounded better.

“Next round’s on me!” He declared as the girls cheered. Either way, the alcohol needed to keep on flowing.

Julie’s friends, like her, were all attractive. They were all dressed in skimpy outfits like every other girl out on the town on a Saturday night.

Jon found he was more attracted to Julie’s simple outfit of a tank top and shorts. Compared to tight tops and mini skirts, Julie’s outfit looked a lot easier to take off. That loose tank looked like it would slip right off.

“Jon! Your turn!” Amelia thrust the microphone at him. Despite all the damage his eardrums were no doubt suffering from, Jon was having a good time. He’d been hesitant to accept Julie’s offer, and thought about declining and going out with the guys instead. He’d done a fantastic job of avoiding her so far, and he didn’t want to ruin that.

He’d readily admit, he wanted Julie all to himself, but he was not going to go behind his best friend’s back, no matter what.

“I want… Kumbaya,” Jon said, picking the only song he could sing without overly embarrassing himself. The girls exploded with laughter.

“Is that even on HERE?” Kelly laughed, scrolling through the list of songs on the screen. They were in their own little room, complete with a mini stage and several couches to lounge on.

“Jon,” Julie said seriously, “That song is not appropriate.” Then she burst out laughing. Tipsy Julie was interesting.

“Are you kidding me?” Jon defended. “That song is the ORIGINAL karaoke song. Everyone sings it around a campfire. It’s like, the epitome of karaoke songs.”

“Gee, Mr. Epitome,” Julie laughed, dancing even though the music hadn’t started yet. She wobbled on her wedges and collapsed into Jon’s arms, where he straightened and steadied her with an arm around her waist. “But some of us have never been camping before.”

“Really?” Jon asked, curious. He’d done it so often as a kid that he couldn’t even count how many times he’d gone anymore. The first notes of Kumbaya started, but he wasn’t paying attention.

“Sing!” someone commanded. But Jon could care less. Julie was so close and staring up at him with her big brown eyes. Jon felt the microphone being forcefully taken from his hand, and he took advantage of his now free arm to wrapp it around Julie so that she was enclosed in his embrace.

“How have you never been camping? Everyone’s been camping,” he said.

“I was gonna go with Mike,” Julie slurred. “But have you seen Cabin in the Woods? That. Shit. Is. Freaky.”

Jon had never heard Julie curse before. It wasn’t in her nature. But when she did, Jon found it sexy.

It made him wonder what other things those lips were capable of.

“I want s’mores now!” Julie screamed, jumping out of his arms. A cold whoosh of air rushed in the place where her warm body had been. “Let’s go camping!”

“But we’re in the middle of Chicago,” Jon protested. Also, it was one in the morning. But he didn’t think Julie would particular care.

“Oh, Jon,” Julie pouted adorably. “Do you have one creative bone in your body? We can improvise, silly!” And then she doubled over in hysterical giggling.