Per tradition, we delved into the alcohol head first. To say I ended up a little drunk would be an understatement. I was on that tightrope up above a pool of clouds – a mix between drunk and high. The wind blows stronger when you’re higher in the air. It is somewhat freeing. It is that relaxed vibe coursing through your entire body. It is another world.

Ashley, on the other hand, drank about half of her drink and had only a slight buzz. So I stay up on my tightrope – alone. And at the moment, that is fine with me. It’s still very relaxing.

Suddenly, there are hands roughly against my chest. I’m on the tightrope losing my balance, trying hard not to fall. Ashley’s hand is working at my breast. Maybe I should let myself fall, what a wonderful feeling. Then her hand is gone, and my balance is maintained.

I complain briefly, and only half truthfully, about the rudeness behind her pushing my buttons when her and I both are on our periods. She says she could be doing worse, and then proceeds to prove it by prodding one slender finger in a nether region that causes me to lose my balance and fall toward the pool of clouds beneath me.

I’m falling, flying, hurling towards clouds and enjoying the rush. I’m falling further. I’m falling faster. Holy fucking shit, I’m falling for Ashley all over again.

I jump up, my muscles tense.

“You know, I’m at a point with Sean that even after two weekends ago, I didn’t feel guilty. I still don’t feel guilty.” Ashley explains.

She had been having problems with Sean lately. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a great guy, because he really was. But he was very inside the lines, in the box, going the speed limit. Ashley was none of that. She was chaos, she was outside the box, she’s Ashley fucking Davies – need more be said?

I contemplate it for a moment before I respond. “Well,” I say – swallowing a swig of a strong margarita. “When you find a boyfriend worth feeling guilty for, then we’ll stop.”

Her response comes so easily that it shocks me. “If he’s worth feeling guilty for – he won’t have a problem with it.”