Coming out tonight really wasn’t the best idea that she had ever had. It would be the first time that she had seen him in months and, although her heart wasn’t the aching wound that it once had been, this was going to test her healing scars.

So far, it had been OK. The mutual friend whose engagement had demanded this reunion had thrown an impressive party, and she hadn’t had to speak to him at all. Whether purposefully or not, they were managing to avoid each other. She would look over occasionally and see him, the same man that she had loved but somehow he was completely different. He wore different clothes and had a new hair cut. He didn’t look like her memory of him and that seemed to make it hurt less.

She was just thinking about leaving when someone caught her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. Immediately lost in the mass of people, she turned to find herself in his arms.

‘Dance with me,’ he asked. ‘For old time’s sake.’

Hesitating, she stepped away but, as she tried to ease herself from his grip, the song changed and people flooded the dance floor. The crush was pressing them together, almost against their will and certainly against her better judgement. As the tempo increased, so did the energy around them and they were soon inescapably locked together.

She tried to keep a distance between them, a microscopic layer of free air that would separate them, but it was impossible. As soon as they touched, he drew his arms around her as if nothing has changed. Hidden amongst the other dancers, their bodies fitted together as they always had. Chest to chest, cheek to cheek, his arms around her waist while hers draped over his shoulders.

‘We shouldn’t do this,’ she shouted in his ear. ‘We can’t do this.’

‘Why not? We’re just dancing.’

But she knew that wasn’t what they were doing. This was more. This felt highly charged. This was the substitute break up fuck that never was. Being so close to him again, she remembered how his body used to feel. She remembered how he felt pressed against her, inside her. She could feel his skin touching hers, the hard muscle of his chest, the soft hair on his arms. She clung to him, inhaling his scent, imprinting his texture on her memory. She traced the contours of his back through his shirt as she danced with him, remembering, and as the crowd surged and swelled, she echoed the movements etched in her subconscious.

The air was hot and thick around them, and sweat was soon running down her back. His fingers gripped her arse to pull her closer, lifting and grinding her against him. She could feel his cock underneath his jeans hardening as she rubbed against it. He jammed his thigh up between her legs and she rode him to the rhythm that pulsed through them. The heavy beat pounded in her stomach, chasing her racing heart and making her gasp and pant.

Suddenly, the song ended, and there was an almost imperceptible shift in the atmosphere surrounding them. As people left the dance floor, they were no longer held together. There was enough room now to step back, and it drew attention to how close they had been. Awkward and unsure, she backed away, his grip loosening around her waist as he let her go.

They stood for a moment, gazing at each other, holding onto this last moment before they remembered all the reasons why they had split up and the spell was broken.