More Than Once by Dominique Wolf
CHAPTER 3:
“T
his was such a great idea.” I shouted to Reyna.
We were still on the dance floor and both Katrina and Sergio had joined us. I couldn't help but constantly notice Giovanni's movements. He was in a booth in the corner talking to one of the other guys I met. His name was Jose? Or was it Alonzo? Right now I couldn't remember which one was which. My focus was just on him. The beautiful blonde from earlier was sitting across from him but he wasn't paying attention to her and a small part of me was glad about that. I didn't want him to pay attention to anyone else - I wanted him to pay attention to me.
“Of course, it was a great idea,” she replied. “You should listen to me more often.”
Katrina snorted, “No one should ever take advice from you, hermana.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Reyna, you and I are both sitting with ridiculous tattoos because of your so-called ‘good life’ advice,” Katrina said as she sipped on her drink.
We all burst out laughing. One drunken night and another ‘Reyna knows best’ life session led to her and Kat finding a 24-hour tattoo parlour and getting what they thought would be each other's names on their ankles. They realized the next day they were too drunk to have even remembered their names and instead of getting each other's names, they got their own.
“Oh God, that was a bad idea,” Reyna admitted and turned back to me. “But this wasn't bad advice was it?”
“Not at all.” I smiled.
“You know what else you should do though?” Reyna shouted with excitement.
We all waited for her to finish her thought.
“You should have a one night stand!”
I choked on my drink. “Reyna I-,” I started but she interrupted me.
“Hear me out, Izzy,” she said. “Let's all be frank here - Nate was boring as hell.”
I started to object, but quickly shut my mouth knowing she was right.
“See!” she laughed. “You can't even deny it.”
Sergio ordered a round of shots earlier and one of the bartenders brought them to the dance floor. Katrina handed us each one while Reyna carried on her explanation.
“So, back to my point,” she continued. “Nate was boring and you don't need boring. You need excitement. And what is more exciting than a one-night stand?”
I remained silent, unable to think of an answer.
“Nothing!” she shouted. “Nothing is more exciting than a one-night stand!”
Was she being serious?I had never in my life had a one-night stand. I had never even considered it. My only sexual encounters were all with Nate and I couldn't deny that those were pretty vanilla. But sleeping with someone I just met? Could I even do that? A surprising glimmer of excitement awoke from within at the mere thought of it. The thought of being with someone like that again. My mind immediately went to Giovanni. I tried to stop myself, but I decided to stop fighting it. So what if I was sexually attracted to him? So what if I just wanted to take him home and have my way with him? Was that so bad?
“I couldn't do that.” I meekly protested.
“Why not?” Katrina joined the conversation. “It could be fun.”
“It would be fun,” Reyna emphasized. “In fact, I dare you to do it.”
I couldn't help but laugh.
“You dare me?” I repeated.
“I dare you!”
Reyna enjoyed her games, and she enjoyed them even more after a few drinks. I pondered this for a moment, fully aware that my confidence was derived from the numerous shots I had taken throughout the evening. A part of me was terrified of doing something so unusual, but another part of me was ecstatic at the prospect.
Fuck it - why not?
“I'll do it!”
Reyna and Katrina shrieked in excitement. I could even tell that Sergio was enjoying observing this little game of ours.
“Okay, some ground rules,” Reyna started to explain. “You have got to be the first to wake up and you leave right away, okay?”
“Yeah, don't stay for breakfast,” Katrina interjected.
“Otherwise you'll end up like us,” Sergio joked and pulled Katrina closer to him.
They were so into each other.
“Don't give out too much information about yourself,” Reyna continued. “Not that you should be doing much talking anyways.”
I blushed.
“Always use protection,” she continued. “You're still on the pill right?”
I nodded.
“Smart girl,” she said smiling. “And just have fun okay? You'll probably never see him again so who cares what happens?”
Was I seriously considering this? The hookup culture was very much alive among society here. You couldn't escape it. Everywhere you went people were more interested in experimenting and enjoying themselves with whoever they pleased rather than getting into a relationship. It was intriguing to someone like me who had never been a part of something like that.
“Okay, I get it. Now let's not overthink. Let's just see what happens.”
They both shrieked in excitement, and I couldn't help but laugh at their reactions to all of this. Reyna laughed and pulled me in for a hug before we went back to throwing ourselves into the night.
