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Tully shoved the beer toward her. "Here. "
Kate shook her head. It was a slight there-and-gone motion, but Tully saw it and felt ashamed that shed offered the beer, and then angry that her friend was so innocent. Tully had never been innocent; not that she could remember anyway.
"Ka-tie, Ka-tie," Tully yelled, getting the crowd to chant with her. "Come on, Katie," she said quietly. "Were best friends, arent we?"
Kate glanced nervously at the crowd around her.
Tully felt that shame again and the jealousy. She could stop this right now, protect Katie—
Kate took the beer and chugged it.
More than half of it spilled down her chin and onto her halter top, making the shimmery fabric cling to her breasts, but she didnt seem to notice.
Then the music changed. ABBAs "Dancing Queen" blared through the speakers. You can dance, you can j-ive . . .
"I love this song," Kate said.
Tully grabbed Kates hand and dragged her over to where the kids were dancing. There, Tully let loose and fell into the music and the movement.
By the time the music changed and slowed down, she was breathing hard and laughing easily.
But it was Kate who was the more changed. Maybe it was the one beer, or the pulsing beat of the music; Tully wasnt sure. All she knew was that Kate looked gorgeous, with her blond hair shining in the light from an overhead fixture and her pale, delicate face flushed with exertion.
When Neal Stewart came up to them and asked Kate to dance, Kate was the only one surprised. She turned to Tully. "Neal wants to dance with me," she yelled during a lull in the song. "He must be drunk. " Putting her hands in the air, she danced away with Neal, leaving Tully standing alone in the crowd.
Kate pressed her cheek against Neals soft T-shirt.
It felt so good, the way he had his arms around her, his hands just above her butt. She felt his hips moving against hers. It made her heartbeat speed up, made her breathing quicken. A new feeling overtook her; it was a kind of breathless anticipation. She wanted . . . what?
"Kate?"
She heard the hesitant way he said her name and it struck her suddenly: Did he feel all these things, too?
Slowly, she looked up.
Neal smiled down at her; he was only a little unsteady on his feet. "Youre beautiful," he said, and then he kissed her, right there in the middle of the dance floor. Kate drew in a sharp breath and stiffened in his arms. It was so unexpected that she didnt know what she was supposed to do.
His tongue slid into her mouth, forcing her lips to open a little.
"Wow," he said softly when he finally drew back.
Wow what? Wow, youre a spaz? or Wow, what a kiss!
Behind her, someone yelled, "Cops!"
In an instant, Neal was gone and Tully was beside her again, taking her hand. They made their lurching, desperate way out of the house, up the hill and through the scrub brush, and back down to the trees. By the time they got to the car, Kate was terrified and her stomach was in open revolt. "Im gonna puke. "
"No, you arent. " Tully yanked open the passenger door and shoved Kate inside. "We are not gonna get busted. "
Tully ran around the front of the car and opened her door. Sliding into the drivers seat, she stabbed the key into the ignition, yanked the gearshift into reverse, and stomped on the gas. They rocketed backward and slammed into something hard. Kate flew forward like a rag doll, cracking her forehead on the dashboard and then slumping back into her seat. Dazed, she opened her eyes, tried to focus.
Tully was beside her, rolling down the drivers-side window.
There, in the darkness, was good old Officer Dan, the man whod driven Tully away from Snohomish three years ago. "I knew you Firefly Lane girls would be a pain in my ass. "
"Fuck," Tully said.
"Nice language, Tallulah. Now, will you please step out of the car?" He bent down, looked at Kate. "You, too, Kate Mularkey. The partys over. "
