We continued to sway to the music, alternating between the table and the dance floor.
As the night progressed and a few people started to leave, the DJ switched to slower numbers.
Lucy and Jacob were the first to get to it. Lucy was playing coach as Jacob awkwardly stumbled across the floor.
Bless his heart; that guy couldn't dance to save his life!
I turned to Ashley. " ... come here," I said, extending my hand to her.
She smiled shyly but didn't resist; she took my hand and came closer to me.
We locked eyes, standing face-to-face, our bodies inches apart.
Ashley placed her hands gently around my neck and I wrapped my hands around her curvy lower back.
We continued to sway to the music for a bit longer. Ashley took the opportunity to pull me closer, guiding my hands down to her hips and pressing her chest against me.
As the DJ left after midnight and the music slowly faded in the background, some people started to leave. But the core group remained and we just chatted while we sobered up.
When we finally stumbled out of the party around 2 a.m., most had already left, leaving behind only a few of us—including Ashley and her closest friends.
"Hey, guys, what do you think about an after-party at my place? My parents aren't home tonight." Ashley glanced around at us.
Everyone readility agreed and we walked to Ashley's house, which was just a street away.
Julie and her boyfriend Dylan were with us; Dylan was the football team's captain. The same guy who stepped in between me and the crazy dickhead at that other party.
Jacob went with us as well, because of Lucy.
The area Ashley lived in wasn't fabulous.
A street away, there were rundown flats where a bunch of unemployed scum lived.
Her house was clean, but the place reeked of weed.
I was pretty sure that it wasn't just Ashley smoking, her parents must have smoked as well, otherwise Ashley would have had to keep the smell from invading the house.
We walked through the house to the back, stepping out onto a balcony.
It was quite cozy.
There were swings with plush cushions and a big sofa.
Julie and Dylan sat on the sofa, Jacob and Lucy cuddled on one of the swings and I settled into the other.
A few seconds later, Ashley came out onto the balcony.
In one hand, she held a small speaker, playing "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World.
In the other hand, she had a pack of papers and a few grams of weed.
She set the speaker on the small table, turning up the volume slightly.
She placed the rolling papers and weed on the table and began to expertly roll a joint.
As she licked the paper, I couldn't help but admire how gorgeous she looked in that black dress.
She lit one joint, gave it to Julie and then handed another one to Lucy.
Then she rolled the third and last one.
As she finished, she turned to me with an intoxicating smile.
She sat down beside me and handed me the joint. By the time the third song was playing, we were all pleasantly baked.
"Isn't Linking Park the greatest fuckin' band on earth?" Jacob asked everyone.
Lucy agreed with him and Ashley did too, although it was easy to read her face and see she didn't give a rat's ass about Linking Park.
Jacob mentioned my car and wanted to know how I earned the cash for it.
Ashley was surprised that I even had a car.
For a few minutes, the talk went around the room, which was long enough for me to be shocked at how dull it was.
Dylan was talking about his recent football games.
Jacob was talking about how many joints he could smoke before he puked.
'Had I been like this once?' I thought.
I feared I had.
No wonder I didn't have a girlfriend until my mid-20s
It was time to liven up the atmosphere a little.
"Have you guys ever considered," I began, "how much religion has warped our views on sex?"
That got their attention. Everyone in the room looked at me like I was about to deliver a punchline.
"What?" Ashley squealed.
"Just think about it for a second," I continued. "Beyond the basic need for food and water, the strongest instinct in us is the desire to reproduce. It's hardwired into our DNA. Without the urge to have sex, a species would fail to prevail."
"Pre-what?" Jacob asked, his eyes red and barely parting.
"It would not keep the race alive." I rephrased. "If we didn't have this instinct to screw, we would've gone extinct ages ago. God, fate, or whatever, bestows the desire to screw on us so that we may continue existing indefinitely."
"Yeah," Ashley said, her eyes twinkling a little. The rest had to agree with my logic too.
I went on. "Here, you have a natural urge. It's a fundamental aspect of human biology. Yet, the church tells us that it's dirty. People are made to feel ashamed of these natural desires, which are beyond their control. Initially, they say you should abstain from sex before marriage. Then, they permit it only within marriage, but under the condition that you mustn't find pleasure in it. If you do, you're deemed to be committing a sin."
"Yeah!" Jacob said, "That's fucked up."
"And if that wasn't bad enough," I continued, watching Ashley carefully now. She was staring with rapt attention. "For religious reasons, many types of sexual conduct have been criminalized. Did you know that there is a law in The State of Florida that says men can not eat pussy."
"What?" Ashley exclaimed.
"For sure!" Dylan shouted out of the blue.
Yeah... he was high as fuck.
"Yep." I nodded, taking another hit. "It's also illegal for a woman to give a blowjob. It is against the law to have oral sex. Now here we have an activity that people enjoy doing to each other. Something that does not hurt anyone but that, in fact, brings pleasure to people. At least I know I enjoy it a lot. But, thanks to bigots back in our history, it's illegal."
"You've never eaten pussy before, Jack," Ashley giggled, her eyes gleaming.
I looked at her meaningfully. "Ashley, I bet that I could make you come in less than two minutes using only my tongue."
"Oh yea? Is that so?"
"Yeah, how about you come closer and see for yourself?" I told her. "Unless you're afraid, I will make you lose control."
"You sure are confident," she replied teasingly, but her curiosity was clearly piqued.
She stood up to her feet.
She adjusted the hem of her dress, sat on my lap and turned her face toward me.
She stared at my face with her eyes fixed on mine. "So?"
I reached out and took her face in my hands, feeling the soft skin of her cheeks.
I pulled her closer slowly, drawing her lips to mine. She came willingly, parting her lips. I kissed her softly, feeling her puffy lips meet mine.
I darted the tip of my tongue forward slowly, touching the inside of her lip and running it back and forth, feeling the back of my tongue rub against her top teeth.
I withdrew my tongue for an instant and then darted forward with it once more.
Her tongue shot out to meet it this time.
I swirled the tip of mine with hers.
One of my thoughts at that moment was that I needed to know her feelings to know how far I could go.