There was a buzz in the air and I felt it pulsate through my body. People were having fun, drinking, laughing and encouraging each other to take on the mechanical bull.

"So, what do you think?" Lucas asked behind me.

Instead of answering, I turned around and felt a grin spread on my lips. The energy was palpable and I wanted to be swept up in that carefree joy.

Lucas laughed and ushered us towards the long bar. I hopped up on one of the bar chair while Lucas waited patiently next to me. Before long a waiter rushed up to us wearing a huge brown cowboy hat with brown pigtails hanging out underneath.

"What can I get you guys?" She asked in a heavily fake southern accent.

I couldn't help but giggle under my breath as Lucas placed our orders. In a bar like this it was either beer or whiskey so I settled for the lesser evil of the two and waited until the girl behind the counter gave us two ice cold beers. The music still pulsed and people cheered from the dance floor while I watched. There was a part of me that wanted to do that but the idea of even trying those intricate steps had me ducking away.

"It's line dancing. Wanna try?"

"For a dance with such a simple name the steps actually look quite complicated."

"It's actually very easy once you get the hang of it, it's also a lot of fun."

"I think I need a little more theory before I try practical, I'll just watch."

Lucas set his beer on the counter and grabbed a hold on my arm, "No, you are not just going to just sit here come on."

"No thanks!" I said but it was pointless.

Lucas was already pulling me to an empty spot on the dance floor and since his strength out matched mine ten times over, I had no choice but to follow.

"This is a terrible idea!" I screamed over the music.

Lucas just smirked, "Just follow my lead and you'll get the hang of it in no time!"

Then Lucas started to move, showing me a series of steps that the crowd behind us was doing at a much faster pace. For a moment, I only focused on the way his body moved, completely thrown off guard that he was actually a good dancer.

I shook my head twice and tried to focus on the steps that Lucas was showing me. That itself was more difficult than I would like to admit. Eventually I got the steps down and looked up at Lucas.

"Okay, now that you've got the steps down, we need to move a little faster."

We moved faster but my feet tangled and I went down, I would have crashed if it wasn't for Lucas' arm around my waist. Instead he spined me around and I crashed against his chest. I looked ridiculous but laughed anyway. Even if I was making a total fool of myself, I was still having fun.

"Looks like we got here just in time!" Someone said behind me and I swiveled around to see Chloe.

She waggled her eyebrows and I just laughed but my cheeks caught flames nonetheless. Behind her, Layton gave me an easy smile and pulled Lucas in for a half hug. We found a booth at the back and everyone ordered something to drink, I was wedged into a corner with Chloe right next to me. Lucas and Layton stuck to water for some reason and I saw Chloe give them a grateful smile. She ordered two shots of tequila and when our drinks came she pushed one of the tiny glasses in my direction.

"Oh, no thanks," I said shaking my head and holding up my beer bottle.

Chloe rolled her eyes, "Am I really going to have to use peer pressure?"

"Fine, but just one!"

Chloe pulled a salt shaker closer and licked the back of her hand, then she gave me a wedge of lime and I frowned.

"It's easy Kate, lick the salt, take the shot and bite the lime."

I found Lucas' eyes on me, one corner of his lip tipped in a smirk. Why did it feel like he was daring me? I licked the back of my hand and dabbed some salt there just before Chloe started counting down. When she reached one, I licked the salt the taste stinging my tongue then I tossed the burning liquid down my throat until it warmed my belly. Lastly, I bit into the lime while holding Lucas' gaze, I had to fight to keep my face straight. There was a promise of something dangerous in his eyes and with the alcohol already working through my system and making me a little brazen, I winked and gave him a challenging grin.

Lucas laughed just as Chloe pulled me from my seat, "We're gonna dance until my feet fall off!"

I found myself dancing next to Chloe under the strobe lights, swaying my hips to the beat and all my self-consciousness was drowned in tequila. Time after time, I matched Chloe's steps as we twirled around the dance floor. Chloe bumped into me a few times making me snort laugh.

"Come on, I need to use the bathroom!" Chloe shouted over the music.

Chloe and I pushed through the throng of people to the restrooms at the back. There was a small line so we spent about ten minutes waiting in line. I waited by the mirrors for Chloe and as soon as she was done washing her hands she walked over to me.

"So are you gonna tell me why Lucas is giving you bedroom eyes?"

"What?" I said in an overly high pitched voice.

"Don't what me," Chloe said while mimicking my voice, "I saw you two on the dance floor all wrapped around each other and I definitely saw the whole tequila shot business, so spill!"

My face went bright red under the harsh fluorescent lights of the bathroom and I tried to come up with an excuse or better yet a diversion .

"I think we need another drink!" I said spinning on my heel and walking to the door with Chloe right behind me.

Chloe laughed, "Fine! But eventually, you're gonna tell me everything!"

After walking past the crowded dance floor, we were at the bar ordering even more shots of tequila.I stepped onto a bar stool and lifted my head above the crowd trying to find Lucas and Layton. When my eyes finally spotted them I sucked in a sharp breath before I burst out laughing. Chloe stepped up on the chair with me and I felt it wobble precariously under our weight but I didn't care. I pointed out the boys and Chloe started hacking in laughter.

Layton was clinging to the mechanical bull with one arm in the air waving a cowboy hat. He looked like he was handling it rather well, all things considered. Chloe hopped of the chair pulling me along with her and after three shots of tequila, I was already unsteady on my feet.

"I am not missing this!" She said practically pulling me toward the raging mechanical bull.

Chloe hung on the red rope that was supposed to keep people out and screamed at the top of her lungs to cheer him on. Lucas was also there but he had his phone out capturing the whole thing on video. Above our heads there was a timer counting down the final seconds of Layton's run. When the counter hit the final ten second the whole crowd started counting down. As they reached one the crowd erupted in a deafening cheer and I found myself joining in.

As the noise subsided, Lucas leaned in and tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear, "Wanna give it a shot?"

I laughed, "There is no way I could do that!"

"Come on, it will be fun. I'll even do it with you."

My brain felt fuzzy and I realized, I wasn't sober at all if I thought that riding a mechanical bull seemed like a good idea. But drunk me was up for fun so I nodded my head and grabbed Lucas' arm pulling him towards where Layton had just hopped off. Lucas helped me up onto the bull and I had to pull myself to be able to sit. Chloe looked up to see me and Lucas duck on the bull and nearly lost all her marbles. She started giving me catcalls and waggling her eyebrows like some possessed doll, I couldn't help but cackle at her ridiculous behavior.

Lucas put his foot in the buckle and swung his long legs over the bull straddling it's back mere inches behind me. I had both my hands around a piece of rope that jutted out where the bull's head was supposed to be. Lucas gently pried one hand loose.

"You should only hold with one hand, keep your balance with the other one." Lucas whispered in my ear and I could do nothing to suppress the shiver that ran down my spine.

"That hardly seems safe."

Lucas snaked his arm around my waist and pulled my body flush against his. With his arm around my waist, Lucas gripped the rope and I leaned into his chest.

"Now if the bull bucks forward you're gonna lean back and vise versa."

I tried to let the words penetrate my foggy brain but it just sounded like white noise to me. An alarm sounded and people gathered behind the rope. Chloe and Layton were both laughing their asses off and I tightened my grip on the rope.

The the bull started to move, slow and steady at first but soon it's movements became more erratic. The bull spun around and I heard Lucas whoop behind me. The crowd became a blur as people's faces mushed together. I was giggling uncontrollably. In my mind though I kept thinking about what Lucas said about leaning in the opposite direction. That asshole never said anything about spinning, so I kept leaning in the same way that he leaned. The bull lifted it's backside and Lucas tired to pull me to lean back with him, in the very next instant it lifted the front and my hand slipped from the rope.

I crashed into Lucas' chest and we both went tumbling off bull and I landed on top of Lucas unable to breath through my own laughter. I rolled off of him and stayed there next to him on the mattress. He was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face.

"You were supposed to lean!" Lucas said between breaths of laughter.

I turned my head towards Lucas only to find him already staring at me. The look in his eyes made all my laughter dissipate into this air, like mist in front of the summer sun. The alcohol and adrenaline mixed with Lucas' heady sent had my whole head feeling dizzy and my body flushing in heat.

Lucas was the first to break eye contact and he helped me stand up but my feet swayed underneath me. Luckily, Lucas always seemed to know when to catch me and I felt my heart skip a beat.

"I think it's time we get you home."

Lucas still held onto my arm as we found Chloe and Layton and I took some comfort in seeing Chloe wasn't fairing too well herself. Layton had his arm around her waist but she kept trying to push him off while still giggling.

She put on arm on my shoulder, "You are completely nuts, you know that right?" Chloe slurred and broke down into another fit of giggles

I joined her and I saw Lucas and Layton just shake their head at us. At this point I didn't care at because my eyes felt heavy and the room was spinning. Layton gave Chloe's car keys to the bar tender and then took her outside. After we said goodbye to them Lucas helped my drunk ass into that humongous truck of his.

When he got into the drivers side he looked over to me, "So, did you at least have fun?"

My head dropped and my tongue felt like it was made of lead, "Best night ever, whoo."I said and then fell back against the seat.

Lucas chuckled and then drove home. I kept dosing off until Lucas announced that we were home. It took a few tries and Lucas' help to get me out of the truck and I kept battling the bubble in my chest. We walked around the back of the house all the way to the pool.

I stopped and spun around to face Lucas but I had to grab a hold of his arm to stop myself from taking a dive into the pool, "Thank you, for tonight. Actually, for the whole day. I needed this."

He smiled, "No problem."

I knew that if I wasn't holding onto his arm in that second my legs would have caved under me. But drunk me is brazen and I took a step forward until I was only inches away from him. Lucas cupped my cheek and tilted my face upwards.

"You're drunk." Lucas said with a smile.

"What if I wasn't."

Lucas' eyes bore into mine and I felt the whole world spin for a different reason. I might have been drunk but I've been thinking about kissing him since the first day I met him. In that moment I couldn't think of anything I wanted more.

Lucas closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine, "If you weren't drunk right now, I would kiss you."