Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(92)

After they’d been dancing for the better part of a half hour, Melanie hip checked her, immediately getting her attention. “Cutie at six o’clock,” she stage whispered.

Glancing behind her, Katherine quickly averted her gaze when her eyes locked with the baby blues of a blonde man. He certainly wasn’t bad-looking – cute in a boyish sort of way – but Katherine wasn’t interested in hooking up like most of her friends seemed to be.

What were they thinking anyway? Sans Penelope and Nathaniel, they were all werewolves.

She cringed when she felt the man press his chest to her back, boldly digging his fingers into her hipbones as she danced. She stepped away from him. “No thanks,” she declined as politely as she could, deciding it was time for a break from dancing anyway.

He seemed disappointed, but let her go easily enough, eyeing Melanie like he might try sneaking up behind with her next. She didn’t think the girl would mind.

Making her way through the maze of people on the dance floor, Katherine decided to head over to the bar to check on Mack and Jon – see how they were doing with the ladies.

They were both chatting up the same girl.

She was pretty, with long hair that nearly went to her waist, but she suspected the boys were more attracted to the goods that threatened to pop out of her low cut top.

“Katherine,” Mack called, gesturing for her to join them. She hopped up on a bar stool. “This is Emily.”

“She’s a college student,” Jon offered, seeming particularly enamored with this fact.

“Hey,” Katherine greeted, nodding her head in greeting.

“Hi,” the girl replied, her bubbly personality immediately apparent. “Katherine – that’s such a pretty name! A little old-fashioned though. I mean, I think I have a great-great-grandma who was named Katherine or something. Oh, I know. Have you ever thought of going by a nickname? Kathy? Kate? What about Kitty? Oh, I like it! I have a kitty, you know. His name is Mr. Snuggles though, not Katherine. Sorry.”

The girl had obviously had one too many of the little pink drinks she was holding. Maybe even five too many.

“Uh, that’s okay?”

Before Emily could share more of her wit with them though – the results of a clearly sophisticated college education – a loud squawk from the dance floor caught all of their attention.

“Get your greasy hands off of my boyfriend, you tramp!”

Katherine’s eyes landed on the source of the commotion. Penelope.

Well, Penelope and another girl, who had a very pink bob of hair upon her head.

They were arguing rather heatedly and from what Katherine could tell, Pinkie had just shoved Penelope.

“Tramp?” Penelope screeched. Katherine watched as Melanie grabbed her elbow to stop her from flying at the other girl. “Really? Maybe if you learned how to satisfy your boyfriend’s needs, he wouldn’t have to look for his kicks elsewhere.”

“Well I can certainly see why it was he was looking here,” Pinkie spat, eying the bust line of Penelope’s dress. “Do you know how to spell easy? Your name.”

Pinkie took another step toward Penelope and Melanie – she was nearly in their faces – and Katherine knew she had to move. She unglued herself from her seat at the bar, intent on helping Melanie try to defuse the situation.

“If you got it, flaunt it, honey!” she heard Penelope retort.

And just when Katherine got to them, it happened.

“Flaunt this,” Pinkie yelled and doused all three of them with whatever drink it was she was holding in her hand. All Katherine knew was that it was extremely sticky and judging by the awful smell it shrouded them in – very alcoholic.

Lovely.

And then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, Penelope lost it. And by it, Katherine meant her marbles. Every last one of them.

She shrieked and with no one holding her back, launched herself at the girl, toppling her over. She swung an arm wildly – totally the wrong way to throw a punch, as Katherine was now well aware – and somehow connected with Pinkie’s mouth. Her bottom lip began to bleed.

Fortunately, that was when the oh-so-diligent bouncers finally made an appearance and pulled the furious Penelope off of the girl. Unfortunately, they swiftly kicked Penelope – and Katherine and Melanie, who were apparently her cohorts – out of the club.

Agnes and the boys – minus Jon – immediately found them where they sat sulking on the sidewalk outside of Vertigo. There, Penelope explained that she had, in fact, met up with the boy she’d gushed about the entire drive to Fort Saskatchewan, only to find out he had a girlfriend – that’s right, Pinkie. Or Kristin as Penelope had called her.

By the time she’d recounted the entire sordid tale, Jon had finally joined then, looking entirely too pleased with himself. Apparently, he’d weaseled a kiss out of college girl Emily.

Mack wasn’t too impressed.

The drive back to Haven Falls seemed to take forever – much longer than it’d taken to get to Fort Saskatchewan. She didn’t know if it was because it was well past ten o’clock by the time they’d finally left and she was tired or because she was covered in sticky alcohol and extremely uncomfortable.

Or perhaps the most obvious reason of all was the culprit – Bastian. She had no idea what awaited her back in Haven Falls.

But she was about to find out.