Strong Enough

“Girl, let’s go! Get out of the bathroom.” My fist pounded against the door as I tried to prod Leeana out of the room she’d been changing in.

“I cannot wear this. Alex will kill me.”

“Alex can suck a dick. You’re hot and it’s your last night as an unmarried lady. We’re going out, getting drunk and making memories we’ll never remember.”

The door was ripped open revealing Lee standing on the green bath mat in the bathroom dressed in a tight black cocktail dress. The gold straps crossed behind her, and weaving down and around the dress to add some flare.

“If Alex has a problem, just blame me because that dress is hot and it would be a crime against nature if you didn’t wear it.”

“Or I’ll just remind him it could be worse and I could be dressed like you.”

“Hey, I look sexy. And this dress is perfect.” Looking down at my low-cut orange dress, I knew I wasn’t exactly keeping things hidden. My back was completely exposed, the fitted fabric only covering my ass. “Plus I’m not getting married tomorrow. So if I want to let boys hit on me all night, there’s no one to give a fuck.”

A whistle was heard behind me as Mia and Emma entered my childhood bedroom.

“Lee, that dress is killer.” Mia moved to hug the bride, admiring the way the dress formed to her body.

“Alex will freak if he knows I’m wearing this. But at least with y’all around, no one will be looking at me.” Lee looked to Mia, whose dark blue dress molded perfectly to her. One arm had a sleeve to the elbow. The other side had three cutouts, exposing her tanned skin underneath.

“One more added way to keep the boys away.” Emma stepped to her sister placing a sash claiming ‘Bride-to-Be’ in bright pink letters.

“Thank you baby sister. Isn’t that dress a little much? Or rather, not enough?” I rolled my eyes as Lee’s protective side kicked in. Emma was easily the most covered up of the four girls in the room. The red fabric of the halter dress was tight, but her cleavage was mostly covered and it went down to the middle of her thigh, at least 3 inches past Lee’s dress and 5 past mine.

“You need alcohol, like now. You’re the party pooper at your own bachelorette party and it hasn’t even started.” I slung my arm over Lee’s shoulders and steered her from the room. With cell phones and money tucked into bras, we climbed in a cab and pulled away from the house into the night air to celebrate the ending of a chapter in Lee’s life.

By the time the cab pulled up to the club it was almost nine. Settling into a table near the bar, we ordered some shots and a few beers before the night began. It didn’t take long after the shots arrived for us to toast our beautiful bride and her groom, downing the shots in their honor. And two shots later, the four of us were on the dance floor.

It started off innocent enough, but once the alcohol started to kick it, there was no holding back. After two songs I had my hands on Mia hips grinding against her, Emma and Lee still keeping it pretty tame. Mia caught my eye and we each pulled a sister into our dance.

I had Emma in front of me, her back to my front. I moved gently against her, whispering to her ear, “I said I would corrupt you. Don’t worry. It’ll be fun.” My hands found her hips and I pulled her body close to mine, though I noticed her movements were stiff and I could tell she was nervous.

“Take a breath. We’re not having sex, we’re just dancing. Let your body move with mine and the music.” Slowly, her body loosened and moved gently with mine. “Close your eyes. Just let yourself react naturally.”

Her hands found mine as we moved to the beat of the loud music. It was more than obvious at this point that we were attracting a lot of male attention. I looked around and found more than a few groups of men watching our small group on the dance floor.

“We’ve got an audience.” I looked down to find Emma looking up at me. Her hand moved to my neck.

“You want to give them something to watch?”

I raised my eyebrows at the sudden boldness of the small blonde, but smiled. “What did you have in mind?”

She spun around and wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her body flush against mine. Her hands on my shoulders moved down my arms as she pulled them to her hips again. Her body started moving against mine, as her smooth fingers ran through my hair. I pulled her closer to me, feeling as our forms melded together, my hands moving slowly to her ass.

Behind her head, I noticed a particular group of men who could not stop staring at the two of us. I sent them a wink as we continued to dance. Our bodies moving together as if they’d always been joined. Her body twisted again in my arms, one hand wrapped around my neck. She moved her body seductively down mine, clearly teasing the men who were staring.

It took everything in my not to burst out laughing at the looks the men were giving her as she came back up to face me. A quick chaste kiss landed on my lips as the song ended, surprising me a bit.

“Where the hell did that come from?” I looked at her questioningly as she took my hand, leading me back to our table.

“Maybe I’m not as innocent as you think.” I saw a glint in her eye, seriously wondering how this seemingly innocent girl had just pulled those moves out of thin air. When we got back to our table, Lee and Mia were already sitting, a beer in each of their hands.

“What are you teaching my baby sister?” Lee’s eyes were threatening me, though I could tell from the smile she was trying to hide that she didn’t really mind me hanging out with her sister. I mean, it was Mia and me who had corrupted little Leeana 5 years ago, so it wasn’t like she didn’t know the kinds of things I did with my friends.

“I’m teaching her how to be just like me. How to not give a fuck and take the world by storm.” I grabbed a beer from the table and raised it in the air. “Because unless you’ve got a man to marry, why waste time acting innocent? We’re young and sexy and we do what we want!”

I took a swig from the beer I was holding before pulling Emma into another kiss, this one not quite so chaste. Her soft lips responded to mine quickly and I felt her hand rest on my knee under the table. I pulled away from her, not wanting to really piss Lee off. But I caught that look in her eye again and couldn’t help but wonder if she played innocent for the sake of her parents, much like I did.

I didn’t have long to wonder because seconds later the DJ for the night started talking.

“I’ve been told that we have a bride in the house tonight!” Our table let out a few ‘woo’s’ getting everyone’s attention as Lee started to turn red. “Well we here at The Terrace would like to give her our wedding present.”

The spot light hit the stage and three men strolled into the light. They were dressed as cowboys, tight jeans, boots, cowboy hats. The only thing missing was the shirt, but there were no complaints from any of the ladies or the few gay men in the room.

“Get your ass down here, girl! You’re only single for one more night.” The DJ motioned for her to come down but she shook her head. It took about 2 seconds for the three of us to grab her and drag her to the stage and force her to stand there and get her present.

The gorgeous cowboys quickly surrounded her, breaking into a dance. They moved suggestively to the song the DJ played. One came behind her, took her wrists and moved her in the movements of the dance, making her laugh. About halfway through, the boys turned around and pulled the tear-away jeans from their bodies, revealing tight boxer briefs that stated “Alex and Leeana” on the ass. Lee’s face was shocked and her blush turned a deeper red. She pointed at me, knowing I had something to do with it and simply shrugged and smiled, watching the men dance around her.
The song ended and she gave each boy a hug before hopping off the stage and smacking my arm. Of course a second later she pulled me and the other girls into a hug and thanked us for embarrassing the shit out of her.

The night went on in a blur of dancing, alcohol and laughter. It made me happy knowing Lee was having a good time. Though, the longer the night went on, the drunker all of us became. It was around eleven that Mia and Emma were found dancing on the bar. I’m pretty sure I had five different guys and a particularly aggressive lesbian buy me drinks and it’s possible I may have made out with one of them in the corner.

By 1am, Lee was passed out in Mia’s lap at the booth we’d moved to. Emma and I were slurring our words, but refused to resign ourselves to going home just yet.

“You know what really sucks?” I looked right at Emma. “Being forced to be around the boy you can’t stop thinking about.”

“Why?” She was trying to focus her eyes on me, but was having a hard time.

“Because he’s a douche bag. The fucker cheated on me. He couldn’t even wait for me to leave the state before he started sucking face with some hooker.”

“The fuck? Who does he think he is?”

“I don’t know. The jackass fucking rips out my heart right before college and the proceeds to aggravate my life from 250 miles away!”

“I’ll beat the shit out of him if you want me to.” Emma looked at me very serious. “I’d totally do that for you.”

“No, he’s not worth it.” I wrapped a lazy arm around her. “You know what I am going to do. I’m gonna make him so jealous. I’m gonna make him fucking mourn the fact that he screwed me over.” I caught sight of a particularly attractive man sitting at the bar, eyes glue to me. “And I’m going to start with him.” I started to stand up before losing my footing and falling back next to Emma, a round of girly giggles erupting from both me and Emma.

“Ok, I think it’s time to go.” Mia, who was somehow not completely drunk, woke Lee and somehow got all of us out to the street and into a cab.

I don’t remember the ride home. I don’t know where he came from. I don’t know how I made it upstairs. I only remember feeling weightless and looking up at the face of a boy I wanted so desperately to hate.