Yes, she does her best.

Introductions were quickly made—the guys were named Billy and Dean, and were firefighters in their late twenties. And they didn’t seem uncomfortable in the least to learn that they were sharing drinks with a pair of college freshmen. And just like the night before, the server never bothered to check ID’s.

Kelly quickly ended up going through several more drinks before the food even arrived and seemed to really be enjoying herself. And at her roommate’s urging, Traci even tried a little bit of the cocktail the guys had sent over. She had to admit, it was pretty tasty—dangerously so in fact. Its sweetness masked the vodka’s punch and Traci had enough presence of mind to stop herself before drinking too much of it.

But Kelly was more than happy to finish off the remainder of it for her. But even the small amount that Traci had drank was enough to loosen her up just enough for the anxiety to fade into the background. At least, enough so that she could participate in the conversation taking place at the table.

The guys were quite charming, and very funny. Kelly was shamelessly flirting with both of them, of course. While it was a bit much in Traci’s opinion, she could acknowledge how attractive Billy and Dean were. They were both tall and fit, with thick, muscular arms and wide chests. At one point in the night, Kelly was sandwiched between both guys, rubbing up against them, touching their chests, and sharing whispers back and forth with them, giggling all the while.

Absolutely shameless.

Billy and Dean loved it of course. At one point, Billy invited the girls to come and visit the firehouse for a special tour.

“A very special tour,” Dean added. He gave Traci a suggestive wink and she felt herself blush.

The evening went by quickly, and Traci actually enjoyed herself. And it turned out that Dean was right about the battered fish tacos—they were amazing. And just like Kelly had hinted at earlier, when the night was winding down, the guys insisted on paying for the entire meal. Traci tried to pay for her own portion of the meal but they wouldn’t hear of it.

Billy and Dean walked the girls outside. A cold breeze blew past, causing Traci to shudder. She’d enjoyed herself enough, but was eager to get back to the dorm.

“You know,” Dean said, “it’s not that late. Why don’t you girls come take a walk with us?”

“Yeah, we’ll show you all the cool spots in town,” Billy added.

Kelly wrapped her arms around Dean’s bicep. “That sounds fun! Let’s go, Traci.”

“I don’t know, I’m kind of tired,” Traci answered. “Let’s just go back to the dorm.”

“Aw, come on, let’s go for a walk!” Kelly beckoned for Traci to join them.

“I really think we should just head home.”

“It’s way too early to head back,” she said. She swayed a bit and steadied herself by pressing harder against Dean. “Just go back without me. I’ll just take a quick tour of the town and head back.”

Traci wasn’t crazy about the idea of leaving her roommate alone with two guys they had just met, but Kelly made a ‘shooing’ motion with her hand. But they were firefighters after all, and Traci supposed that should make them somewhat trustworthy. Awful people wouldn’t find themselves in that line of work—would they?

“I’ll see you later,” Kelly called back over her shoulder as the guys led her away.