"I'm glad James said something to me. I was a lot like that as a kid." I helped her get more things out of the fridge, and we joined the men and their wives and girlfriends in the yard. I had a lot of fun, and Mark's smoker put out good food. The party started to get wilder after sundown, and around eleven, James asked me if I was ready to go. "You don't want to stay?"

"This is the part where the heavy drinking and manly posturing begins. I'd rather get you home."

"You can come back if you want," I said. At eighteen, I couldn't drink with these...