Female Friends

When the DJ said my name and the whole club sang, I never imagined the best part of my birthday would begin much later, far from the dance floor.

Sonia was waiting for me at the restaurant door in a dress so short that every time she breathed it told a secret. And I had come ready to tell mine.

I was curious and a little scared, but when I knelt in front of him I knew I wasn’t going to back out. That afternoon I learned something new about myself.

I thought those photos were mine alone—until she counted to five by the ships and hiked up her dress without warning.

I could have held it, but I didn’t want to. I got out, left the door ajar, and waited for the headlights to find me squatting by the road.

When I started teasing Diego inside the tent, Camila had her eyes closed. But her hand was already moving under the sleeping bag, and I knew she wasn’t asleep at all.

When my friend opened the bag, there was no uniform at all: just wings, a garter belt, and fishnet stockings. And the trailer was already waiting to roll.

We always played at being girlfriends in front of everyone, until heat, the river, and a few beers blurred the line between the game and what we really wanted.

I arrived at her place an hour before dinner and found her naked in front of the mirror, torn between two dresses and about to change everything.

When the four guys came into the apartment at five in the morning, I knew I was about to live through something I’ve never told anyone.

The apartment walls were paper-thin, and my girlfriend’s best friend slept just on the other side. That first morning, we pretended not to remember she was there.

Renata always hid behind Camila and Marisol. That night, on warm sand and far from home, she decided she was done watching from the shore.

When Sara came out of Don Aurelio’s winery her legs were shaking and she wouldn’t look me in the eye. I knew exactly what had just happened inside.

I went expecting Pilar, but it was her friend who slid the number across the table and told me, without beating around the bush, to call her as soon as I got home.

There were twenty photos and a video hidden in a folder with a single letter. I opened it expecting anything but what I was about to see.

I confessed to Bianca why her boyfriend would never fully satisfy her, and she revealed a secret identical to mine. That same week we invited them both over.

When I walked into that attic with the ropes hanging from the beams, I understood that night would no longer belong to me.

At the club gym, after the final circuit, Daniela and Roxana discovered that sport wasn’t the only thing they were good at doing together.

We accepted the rules without fully knowing what we were surrendering to: an island, several masters, and the promise that a no would always be a no. The rest was up to desire.

When Daniela asked whether I’d brought the toy, I knew that night in my empty house was going to end far from where I thought I was in control.