Partying!

Once Shen Shu got home, she found Niko sitting on the couch, with his laptop on the coffee table in front of him. This time he's in the middle of the apartment! He seems to be engrossed with work, but his presence was different from every other weeknight when he's in his home office or his bedroom.

Niko sees her clutching her bag tight, and she prays he does not see through it. She prayed he did not sense what she was hiding. Her embarrassment was already at its peak, and she did not want him to make it any worse.

He acknowledges her with a look before his attention returns to his work. Shen Shu released a breath before she dashed up the stairs and bolted inside her bedroom. She looked for her dresser, and she hid her new vibrator and drink under a pile of clothes, knowing she would have to wait another day to use it, and not while Niko was home.

…

Shen Shu did not have work the next day, so she spent the entire morning grocery shopping. She wiped down the counters and cleaned the stove before Niko stalks into the kitchen, wearing nothing but black track pants.

He looked like he had just returned from a workout.

He refills his water bottle and chugs it in one full swig. Shen Shu watched his Adam's apple bob, the water travelling down his throat. She saw how Niko's pants hang low on the v line of his lower obliques, his skin sweat-slick. His gaze catches her, and she knows he felt her staring.

Niko's eyes fall to her breasts on the verge of spilling out of her crop top, and he takes his bottle from his mouth and licks his bottom lip.

Holy shit!

Shen Shu's face turned red, and she hoped he missed the blush that crept on her skin or the fact that she was hardly breathing. She turned her attention back to cleaning the stove, and she felt him coming closer.

Her body begins to burn with overwhelming need, and she could not help but want him to press against her back, to touch her neck, to fist his hands in her hair—

Shen Shu slammed the stovetop. She felt Niko back away from her, and she did not look at him as she ran to her bedroom.

Shen Shu went to the bathroom and instantly ran her face with cold water.

She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing a girl with dark hair and cat-like eyes. Her skin was flushed, and she felt ashamed.

Was she that sex-deprived that she began to think of Niko in that way?

She pulled out her phone to call Ting, and she answered right away. "I want to get trashed tonight," Shen Shu told her.

"Heck yeah!" She responds.

Later that night, she got dressed, and Ting was waiting outside.

Shen Shu noticed that Niko was not home, so she took the opportunity to slip from the apartment without seeing him. She thanked the heavens he was not home.

When Ting sees her, she asks, "Did something happen?"

Shen Shu remembers how she wanted Niko in the kitchen, but she pushed those memories away. "No," She told her. "I want to have a good time tonight. That's all."

Ting takes her to an exclusive party at some CEO's mansion, and she already feels excitement pumping through her. She looked at the people, and she felt the energy radiating from them, filling her.

Ting and Shen Shu have some shots before the two of them begin to dance their hearts out together. Ting started to make funny dance moves, and Shen Shu couldn't help but laugh at her. Ting spins her around, and Shen Shu chuckles.

Two men then approached them while they were dancing. "Can we dance with you?" one of them asked.

"Fuck off," Ting says, partly drunk. "I'm having fun with my best friend tonight, and I don't need you losers ruining it."

Shen Shu smiles at Ting. "I love you!" She says to her.

Ting hugs her. "I love you too!"

They giggle, and then they go behind the bar to down more shots. Shen Shu never felt any happier than this. She then took a tequila bottle, downing it straight from the neck. Ting looks at her with concern. "I think you've had enough, Shu."

Shen Shu giggles. "No, it's definitely not enough!"

She then takes the bottle and realizes she has the immense urge to relieve herself. Shen Shu looks for a bathroom, and she does her business. When she finished, she returned to the party and got lost in herself.

She does not remember much of the next half-hour or how she found myself dancing with some stranger she met, but she was too drunk to care. The man starts kissing her neck, but she doesn't feel a spark. It did not feel hot. It was awkward.

Shen Shu tries to push him away from her, even as her body feels like Jello, but he grips her tight. He spins her around, so his front is to her back, and he kisses the back of her neck. Stop! she thought, but her mouth couldn't form the word.

She then felt cool air on her back, and she realized the man has suddenly pulled away from her. Her eyes widened as she looked at Niko, who grabbed him and threw him across the floor. People around them stepped back, and she watched as Niko struts toward her, taking her hand in his.

Shit! Why was he here?

Niko pulls her away to somewhere quiet, and Ting finds them.

"There you are!" she says, relieved. "I could not find you, so I called Shen Chi to help me."

"I'm taking her home," Niko tells Ting.

"Sounds good," she said. "I'll call you later, Shen Shu." Ting then disappears.

"Niko…" Shen Shu begins, but Niko ignores her. He keeps his hand intertwined until they get into his car.

Niko did not say a word to her, and she felt herself growing tired of his silence. She wished he would say something to her!