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“We should probably head over there,” Elizabeth said, but she nowhad a dreamy, faraway look in her eye, and Devyn knew she was thinking aboutsex, which had her keyed up all the more. This plan had backfired, but thenagain, maybe not. They were about to be tied up together.

“C’mon, let’s go.”

As they stood at the starting line minutes later, middle leg tiedtogether and with an arm around each other, Devyn found herself acutely awareof Elizabeth’s body heat and the way she smelled heavenly of fresh cotton.“What lotion do you use? I need to buy it.”

“I’m not wearing lotion,” Elizabeth said, turning her face towardDevyn’s neck. Her breath tickled the skin there and sent a chill straight fromDevyn’s spine to her center.

“Then why do you smell so good that I want to do things to you?”

A pause. “What kind of things? Tell me.”

“Go, Liz and Devyn,” a voice yelled from the group gathered in thegrass to watch. She glanced over at Jill sitting next to Charlie with a stickof fluffy blue cotton candy in her hand. Apparently, she wasn’t the only onehaving a good time today. She offered a wave with her free hand and turned backto Elizabeth.

“Really, really slow things. With my tongue. My lips.”

“And go,” the race official yelled. Beside them, twenty otherteams took off, bound and determined to make it to the finish line first andcollect the hundred-dollar gift card to Festive Foods. Devyn and Elizabethhadn’t moved.

“We have to run,” Elizabeth said, as if on delay. But they were adisorganized mess now, and after only four steps, fell over in the grass.Elizabeth folded in, partially on top of Devyn. “Uh-oh,” she said. “That didn’tgo well.”

“Damn,” Devyn said, staring up at Elizabeth, who amusingly enoughmade no attempt to get up. The weight of her had Devyn’s body awake andcraving.

Elizabeth frowned. “We should probably concede defeat andcongratulate the winners.”

“Whatever you say.”

They held eye contact for a heated moment, and Elizabeth’s handsmoved to Devyn’s hips, where they squeezed lightly. Finally, as Elizabethpushed up and off her, she made a point of grazing Devyn’s crotch very slowlywith her knee and flashing a smile. Devyn’s eyes fluttered closed and she tooka steadying breath as the pinpricks of pleasure hit and died. She shook her headat Elizabeth and assisted her with the untying process.

“Three-legged races as foreplay never occurred to me.” Devyn freedthe rope.

“And now we’ll never look at them the same way again.” Elizabeth,the town goody-goody who had just brushed against her intimately in public, nowoffered her a smug smile as she sauntered over to Peggy and Lulu, who had takendown the rest of the competition with triumphant flair. As Elizabeth walked,Devyn stared at her ass, her legs, and the always perky energy she carried withher. God, she wanted to do things with her. To her. She also wanted to buy hera cupcake and watch her face light up. How was it that those two thoughtsexisted in the same space over the course of 2.3 seconds?

What was she going to do with Elizabeth Draper? And why did such aquestion deliver her all sorts of exciting options? She laughed as she crossedthe field to find her. Sex and cupcakes. Devyn’s new reality.

* * *

The Springaling Festival might just have been Elizabeth’s favoriteto date. Everyone’s smiles seemed brighter, the food was more exciting, and thevibe was, at all times, cheerful. Did it also have something to do with thefact that she had Devyn with her, and seeing it all through her eyes added tothe appeal? Maybe. She couldn’t discount the pull she felt whenever Devyn wasin her vicinity, friend or no friend. She was on a high and loving every secondof it.

“Hi, Mr. Rotowski,” she said to her old algebra teacher, whoreally should just shave off that last tuft of hair that clung to his head fordear life.

“Hi there, Ms. Draper.” He high-fived her as they passed, tufta-blowing in the breeze.

“Was that who I think it was?” Devyn stared off after him.“Roto-Rooter?”

“In the flesh. I wholeheartedly enjoy that I’m still friends withmy teachers.”

“Only you, Draper. Only you.”

They walked on, side by side, as the temperatures dipped a bitwith the descent of the sun. “What was it like to be popular in high school?”Elizabeth asked. “To go to all the parties and have invites thrust your wayeverywhere you looked. People wanting to be you. Hang out with you.”

Devyn shrugged. “Way less exciting than it sounds, if I’m beinghonest.”

“Well, that’s a shame.”

“I look back at that time and remember how unhappy I wasunderneath all the bravado. Not ready to tell the world who I was yet, andwasting all of my time with people who were uninterested in knowing the real meanyway. What I should have been doing was spending time with my mom, whowouldn’t be around forever, you know?” She glanced away. “She loved things likethis. You know, when the whole town came together?” She touched her heart,where the pang of longing clearly hit.

Elizabeth nodded. She hadn’t known too much about Devyn’s mother,who had been well liked in the community and was definitely gone too soon. “I’msorry you lost her.”

“Thank you. You lost yours, too, right?”