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It's too hot in the bar, even with the air conditioning cranked up as far as it'll go.
It's too hot, and everyone has taken off their jackets and rolled up their sleeves, but no one wants to leave. The band is playing smooth jazz, the singer leaning into the microphone to croon something in Spanish that sounds as hot and slick as the sweat rolling down her neck. The couples on the dance floor have their arms wrapped around each other, swaying to the beat.
Catherine is dancing like she's in love.
She's got her hands resting softly on Nick's shoulders, and her eyes are closed, like she trusts him more than anyone in the world. His fingers have been tracing little circles along her spine for the last three songs, and she doesn't seem to mind.
Sara knows; she's been watching all night.
It still hurts. Catherine had asked Sara if she wanted to go dancing, and she'd said yes. That was before she knew that Catherine had asked half the night shift to come along. Before she knew this wasn't a date. At least, not their date.
Sara would've left an hour ago if Catherine weren't dancing. It's worth the heat, and the embarrassment, just to watch Catherine dance.
"I could buy you a drink."
Sara looks away from the floor long enough to identify Greg sliding onto the barstool next to hers. His t-shirt is almost transparent with sweat, but the heat hasn't phased him. He's been dancing with one woman after another, never staying with anyone for more than a song or two, always finding his way back over to Sara's side of the bar.
"Got one," she replies, indicating the glass at her elbow. It's something she saw Catherine order earlier, with chocolate liquer and grenadine. Too sweet for Sara's taste, but she had wanted to know what the other woman would taste like, even if it was only in her imagination.
Greg picks up the frosted glass to sniff at it, then surprises her by taking a sip of it. "I thought you'd drink beer."
"Some other time," she tells him dismissively, and turns back to the floor.
Nick has turned Catherine around so her back is against him. He's got his face buried in the shine of her hair, and it makes Sara so jealous she can't see them for a moment. That should be her.
"I guess I'm not the one you want to be with tonight."
When she turns to look at Greg, he shrugs and looks away. And suddenly, Sara feels like a jerk. He's been nothing but nice to her all night, and she's hardly spoken to him. "I'm sorry," she says awkwardly. "It's not you."
"No, no problem." He shakes his head and gazes out across the dance floor. "I just didn't think you went for the guys with big muscles, you know?"
Sara snorts and answers before she thinks. "I don't." Thankfully, Greg can't see her blush in the dim light. She shouldn't have said that.
But he just nods, as if he already knew. "She's really pretty."
They sit for a moment in the heat, listening to the singer moan into the microphone, soft and low. Catherine is smiling and saying something over her shoulder at Nick, the two of them sliding gracefully along the floor.
Sara is startled when Greg puts his hand on her knee. "You wanna dance?"
She can't help frowning at him. "Not really."
"But you wanna dance with her, right?" he asks. He just laughs at her suspicious look. "It's okay. I'm just saying, you could get a better view if you were, you know, actually on the dance floor."
She hadn't even thought of that. "Sure."
He takes her hand as they wind through the dancers. Here on the floor, the lights are flashing in her eyes, making the bodies moving around them seem to flicker in and out of the darkness. Greg tugs her to a halt a little away from Nick and Catherine, and Sara feels suddenly completely awkward with his hand on her shoulder as they start to move.
Then the music changes and Greg shuffles them into a turn, and Catherine is right there. She's got both arms around Nick's neck and she's laughing up at him, then turns those brilliant eyes on Sara from two feet away. They're close enough that Sara can see the way the other woman's hair is curling around her face in the heat, the way her freckles stand out when she's flushed and happy.
"I didn't think anyone would get you out on the floor," Catherine says, smiling at her. And at Greg, still holding one hand carefully at the waistband of her jeans. Smiling at all of them, really, but Sara can imagine that it's just for her.
"You should've asked her," Greg says casually, and Nick laughs like it's a joke.
Sara shifts sideways and steps firmly on the pointed toe of his cowboy boot. "Oops." She backs away, like it was an accident. "Guess you know why I don't dance."
"Come on, it's not that hard," Catherine says, and winks at Nick. "You just..."
Sara freezes when Catherine moves behind her, tugging Greg's hands into position. "Hold her here, and here." The other woman's breath is cool against the back of Sara's neck, her voice soft against the music. She smells like chocolate and perfume. "Loosen up a little."
And then Catherine's hands are on her waist, softly pressing her to move in time with the beat. The temperature in the room jumps a dozen degrees. Sara can feel her heart pounding hard enough to make her hands shake.
"Like this?" Greg murmurs somewhere in front of her, and pushes her back just enough to make contact with Catherine's body.
"Don't crowd her," Catherine laughs lightly over Sara's shoulder.
"Sorry," Greg replies, grinning.
But he doesn't move back, and neither does Catherine. Sara is sandwiched between them, her body sliding back and forth with the pressure at her shoulders and her waist. For the first time in her life she really feels like she's dancing, and in her mind, she can imagine it's just her and Catherine there on the floor. She feels like her bones have melted, and all she can do is move.
Eventually, the music changes, and they all stop, a little clump of stillness on the dance floor.
"I think you've got it," Catherine says softly, stepping back. Nick takes her hand, but she keeps looking at Sara for a moment, an odd expression on her face. "Keep going. Don't sit out, okay?"
Sara can't stop nodding until Greg pulls her closer.
"You okay?" He asks quietly, as they start to sway again.
"Yeah," she says. It's easier to move to the beat now, remembering the way Catherine had pressed against her.
"I know you'd rather --"
"Shut up," she says, and glances over her shoulder at the other couple. She catches Catherine glancing over at them and smiles. "It's close enough."