the bass was low, pulsing through the floor like a second heartbeat and the strobes lit your skin gold, sharp, and defiant. your laugh carried over the music loud and free as you leaned in close to the girl beside you, her lips brushing your ear. she was pretty but she wasnt renee rapp pretty. she was wild pretty. the kind of girl who didnt come with chains

your hand found her hip and you swayed together close enough to be whispered about and to be seen and renee saw

across the room renee froze with a drink in her hand and someone else mid sentence beside her. her eyes locked on you like a ghost had just walked through her or maybe she was the ghost. you looked different. you looked looser and more dangerous. she hated how much she still knew every inch of you

you didnt even flinch. not when your lips skimmed the new girls, or when your fingers hooked into her belt loop, not even when renee turned away too fast and slammed back whatever drink she was holding but god she felt it. the punch of it. youd been hers. all yours, all twisted up in silk sheets and slow mornings and toxic nights. you once said she owned you and you meant it but now you looked owned by no one

she saw it in your eyes. you werent trying to get over her. you already had and it was killing her

a few songs later you caught her staring again. this time it was from the bar with her glass empty and her lip caught between her teeth. you saw the guy next to you whisper something bold and felt his hand skim your thigh. you didnt move it. you just looked right at renee while it happened

she was too drunk. flushed and furious. she pushed off the bar and stumbled toward you, her voice sharp before her steps even caught up "youre really letting him touch you like that?”

you raised a brow with a lazy and cruel smirk “why not? youre not touching me anymore”

she scoffed “you dont even like him”

you tilted your head, daring her “maybe i dont care. maybe i just like being wanted”

her jaw clenched “thats bullshit and you know it”

“no” you said close enough now to catch the tequila on her breath, the jealousy in her voice, and the panic under her skin “what i know is that im not yours anymore” and then you kissed the girl again

right there with renee standing two feet away, unraveling like the memory of you still lived in her lungs and she couldnt breathe without it. you were free now but she was still burning