Grace grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. “Isn’t that a beautiful thing, you guys? We have all day. C’mon, we’re young. Let’s take advantage of it.”
The bartender at the Old Hat greeted us. Grace held up four fingers. “Four whiskeys, please.”
“Oh geez,” I heard Tati mumble.
“What are we doing, Gracie? For real.” I was totally confused.
The four of us sat in a row at the bar. “Everyone has been so busy lately and Matt’s leaving soon. I just want to spend some time with you guys getting drunk and having fun and not studying. I have the whole day planned for us.”
Tati held up her shot. “You’ve convinced me. I’m game.”
“Bottoms up,” Brandon said.
After we drank our whiskeys, Grace turned to us. “All right, let’s hit it.”
“Where to now?” I said.
Her eyes lit up. “The dark room.” She handed me a roll of film. “We need to develop that.”
“Please tell me it’s not naked pictures of you guys,” Brandon said.
“No, they probably have enough of those,” Tati added.
“It’s not,” Grace said. “It’s a clue.”
“What are we gonna do while you guys develop that?” Tati asked.
“You’re coming with us,” Grace said. “Matt can show you guys how to make a print.”
I smirked. “Yeah, it’ll be fun.”
We walked to the photo lab on campus, soaking in the warm spring air along the way. There were a series of small rooms where students could develop film negatives and then a bigger room filled with red light, enlargers, and developing pans for students to make prints. I set up some negatives in enlargers from a roll of film I had left in the room, so Tati and Brandon could make prints. They were shots of me and Grace making stupid faces at the camera; it was kind of a throwaway project, but at least Brandon and Tati could amuse themselves while Grace and I developed the roll.
We walked down the hall and I pulled Grace into one of the smaller rooms and closed the door. “Thanks for planning today. This is fun.” I kissed her against the door and hitched her leg up around my waist, running my hand up her thigh and pushing her dress higher.
“I thought you told me people don’t do this in here.”
“I don’t know what other people do, and I don’t really care.”
She whimpered but pulled out of my embrace. “We need to develop that film, Romeo.”
“Killjoy,” I muttered. “Fine, I’ll get it started, but I’m gonna get some after.”
“I’ll be at your disposal then, but get that roll going first.”
“All right, I have to turn the red light off to develop it so it’s going to be completely dark in here for about twelve minutes.”
She wrinkled her nose. “What’s that smell?”
“It’s developer.” The chemical smells were overwhelmingly pungent inside of the eight-by-eight room, which was warm and humid. There was a stainless steel sink and counter on one side, along with a tall narrow vat where film negatives were dropped into developing solution. On top of the counter was a large timer with glow-in-the dark hands. On the other side was a wooden bench.
I bent and flicked the radio on below the sink. Music came through a speaker overhead—some kind of smooth jazz from the university’s station. “I can’t change it, but it’s something.” I looked back at Grace sitting on the bench. “You ready? I’m going to turn off the red light now.”
“I’m ready.”
I hit the switch. Photo labs are so black and warm that you feel instantly sleepy. Grace yawned audibly from the other side of the room. All my other senses went into overdrive. I popped the film open and blindly attached it to a clip. Feeling my way over to the sink, I managed to expertly drop it into the vat without making a sound.
“You okay, baby?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said drowsily.
“Give me one more minute.” I set the timer and then a mental image of Grace riding me flew through my head.
“Get naked.”
She laughed. “Are you serious?”
“I can do a lot in twelve minutes,” I said as I felt my way over to her.
I gripped her arm first and then we were kissing. There was no need for any other senses; it was all touch after that. I kissed her from her ear to the base of her neck and then pulled her dress over her head. She unbuckled my belt and yanked at my jeans. I turned her around. From behind, I kissed her shoulder and smoothed a hand down her back, over her butt, and then my fingers were there, inside of her. She didn’t make a sound.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Don’t stop,” she panted.
And then I was sliding inside of her. Our breaths were hard but we muffled them as best as we could. I moved in and out, slowly at first, then harder and more urgently. She pushed back against me, matching my movements. There was no sound other than tiny mewling sounds and heavy breathing. When I felt her tighten around me, I lost it. The cold surge shot through me like all my nerves were breaking apart. I pulled her toward me and buried my face in her neck. In one motion, I pulled out, collapsed onto the bench, and lifted her onto my lap.
We were kissing slow, sleepy kisses when buzzzzzz! The timer went off. I stood and flipped on the red light. Grace stood beside me, stunned. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “That was amazing. Are you okay?” Synapses must have still been misfiring in her brain because she just nodded.