Not surprisingly, Gina and Ingrid nodded eagerly when I asked them if they wanted a drink. We found a table in a dark corner where it was just about impossible to carry out a conversation, but we gave it a go anyway. At this rate, I was going to have tinnitus by morning.

An hour or so went by, during which I’d had three more drinks. We were currently on the dance floor, dancing to Guns n Roses’ “Night Train.” Reya grabbed my hands and swayed with me to the music, while her friends screamed the lyrics, knowing every word. It was as my eyes travelled over the sea of heads surrounding me that I thought I recognised a familiar one. The guy disappeared, and I shook it off.

Lee wouldn’t come here, would he?

There was a brief second of quiet between one song and the next when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

Lee: You’re a good dancer.

I gasped as I read it, swiftly typing a response.

Karla: Where are you?

My heart pounded, and my skin grew clammy with nerves as I contemplated the idea that he was here. There was something about the fact that we’d been communicating but hadn’t actually seen each other for weeks that heightened my anticipation. I felt surrounded, too hot, and my fingers shook as I waited for him to reply. The screen of my phone remained dark, and I felt Reya nudge me. Glancing up, I saw her frowning as she sent me a look that asked, What’s wrong?

Shaking my head to let her know I was fine, I slid my phone back in my pocket and tried to focus on dancing again. It was no use, though, and I found myself frantically scanning the club. After a minute I spotted him over by the bar. He was with some other guy, knocking back shots. The guy turned, and I recognised Trevor, the second-youngest Cross brother. His pretty blue eyes flashed in the darkness as he smiled at something Lee said, showing off a pair of handsome dimples.

I guessed Trevor to be about two years younger than Lee, which put him at around twenty-three. He had a very laid-back, sort of skater-boy style, and every girl who passed him by gave him a second glance. Lee had the same good looks, but despite the grin that was perennially plastered across his face, there was something harder about him, something a little bit more intimidating and unapproachable.

Almost as though he sensed me watching him, his eyes flashed to mine and held me captive. I shot him a look of irritation and pulled out my phone.

Karla: I hope you didn’t come here for me.

From across the club, I saw him looking down at his screen, reading my text before his fingers began tapping. A second later he glanced in my direction and grinned. My phone lit up in my hand.

Lee: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Ugh, he was such a smart-arse. My attention was drawn away from my phone when Reya nudged me again. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted in my ear, “I just saw the guy from our gym. Did you invite him here?”

I shook my head in response.

“Who’s that with him?”

“His brother,” I answered, adopting her hands-around-the-mouth approach. I wasn’t sure why people did that when trying to be heard over music, because it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

We continued dancing, but now I was noticing Reya’s eyes return to Trevor, clearly checking him out. I wasn’t surprised. He was too pretty not to look at. Lee’s back was turned from the bar, his elbows resting along the counter as he drank a bottle of beer. My hips swayed to the music and he took a swig, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

The music changed from rock to a more techno song. There was something about the rhythmic beat, combined with Lee’s attention, that got my blood pumping. Crazy lust built within me, and I had to turn away before I did something stupid. My pores tingled with barely restrained energy, and I was suddenly aware of how tight my dress was, how it moulded itself to my form.

Losing myself in the music, I danced. Strobe lights flashed, stark white, red, and blue, causing my vision to blur and the movement of the people around me to seem choppy and staccato. Reya and the girls had caught the attention of a group of guys, but I stayed just outside their circle, trying my hardest to forget Lee’s presence.

He shouldn’t have been there.

This was going to end in disaster.

We lived in two different worlds.

And yet....

No. This couldn’t happen. We weren’t supposed to see each other. It was supposed to be only texts, nothing as close as this. The fact that I wasn’t in uniform added an extra tension. I was well aware that I wore my profession like a shield with him, something to keep his advances at bay. But the fact of the matter was, it scared me how much I wanted him, how needy he made me feel. With just one touch, he could lure me into jeopardising years of hard work and dedication.

I heard a shout above the music right before it cut off and the club went dark. My heart pounded. The weather must have been picking up again, resulting in another power outage. I wondered if there was a generator and how long it’d take to kick in. Now that I was unable to see a thing, the voices that surrounded me were almost louder than the music had been. People were either complaining about the blackout or yelling like maniacs, excited by the fact that we’d been plunged into darkness.

Within seconds everybody had their phones out, using the dim light from the screens to find their way. I looked around for Reya, but it was still too dark to see. All of a sudden my skin prickled with awareness, like my body sensed him. Strong arms slid around my middle and pulled me into an even stronger body. He didn’t have to say a word for me to know it was him, because I’d memorised his touch, his smell. His mouth went to my exposed neck, licking just below my earlobe.