Afterglow

volatile

We danced and swayed to the instrumental music drifting through the speakers, my eyes flitting around the room and landing on the intricate detailing on the stage set in the center of the room, the gold color palette streamlined throughout the entirety of the ballroom, right down to the delicate gowns adorning the female judges. 

Lachlan's hand firmly clasped in mine, his eyes eclipsing into my own and the entirety of his attention placed on me. 

His hand was flush with my lower back, the soft tension of his touch bringing a bright blush onto my cheeks as I relished the heat flooding me with how close we were to each other. 

It was as if all of the other debutante contestants, all of the onlookers, all of the judges had simply dissolved away and it was just Lachlan looking down on me with his all knowing eyes, and me craning my neck upwards to try and meet his eyes without sinking into a puddle of the emotions that cascaded throughout my body. 

The mixture was dizzying.  Soft waves of lust and longing flowed through my stomach as the rolling of anxiety and fear rendered my senses almost useless.  Finally, the acceptance of what I was going to do entered my body and I closed my eyes briefly, latching onto that emotion like a lifeline.

"You okay?"

His dark and husky voice brought me out of my trance and into the present, reminding me that I needed to be in the moment, because it was a moment that I would look back on frequently in my despair and need to hold onto something good and pure, somewhere that my mind could go that didn't make me wallow in the pain when everything was gone, when he was gone. 

We swayed and danced and passed sweetly shy smiles between the two of us, not sparing a single glance to anyone in our vicinity, because when it was the two of us it was like there was no one else that ever existed around us. 

I fell for Lachlan in a time when I needed someone to save me, but I didn't realize that I would be the one saving myself, and everyone else I cared about, by pushing everyone away.  I would relish him one more time, and then I would let him go.  I'd let everyone go, because this was my mess and it was time that I took responsibility for that. 

His touch seared me from the inside out, butterflies careening sharp turns and twists inside of my stomach as I tried to keep my head straight on my shoulders. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," I whispered in response to his concerned question, finally paying attention to the others around us. 

Suddenly, his hand twirled and spun me out on the dance floor, gasps and applause scattered throughout the crowd paying their full attention to us.  The tips of my shoes slid and twisted on the floor with the turning of my feet, and as I began to grow dizzy he pulled me towards him, much like he did that day on the pond, but this time I didn't fall through a gaping hole in frozen waters. 

No, this time I was crushed into his warm and inviting body, breathless and wide eyed as I lost all inhibitions and never lost eye contact even as he dipped me low, his hand skimming on my upper thigh and eliciting sharp shivers through my volatile body. 

Raucous applause sounded around us and I flushed as he steadied my body back to normal, and we stepped back towards the stage where it was time for the awarding of the scholarship. 

"Meet me in room 302, remember," he whispered in my ear and it was all I could hear the entire time as I climbed the stairs to the stage with Sloane and Jenna staring at me slyly. 

The roaring in my ears didn't dull until they crowned my sister as the winner and I smiled and cheered her on, searching for Lachlan in the crowd.  His retreating form alerted me to the fact that the ceremony was over as I realized I hadn't been paying attention to anything or anyone besides him in that entire room.