Page 28 of Old Flame

“How is everything?” she asked, glancing at the other two, then at me.

“Fantastic!” Marlana exclaimed.

I nodded in agreement. “As good as I remember.”

Pepper smiled. “That’s what I like to hear. Monday and Tuesday nights are always biker-free. The other nights though, some of them are usually here, but they only ride out together on Thursday and Friday nights.”

“We could make this our Monday evening go-to,” Marlana suggested. “God knows we need it after a weekend event.”

Pepper seemed pleased with that, so I didn’t argue.

“Kendrix isn’t normally here on Mondays anyway,” she added. “We could make it a girls’ night.”

The idea seemed to excite Marlana.

“I hope you do,” Pepper replied.

Someone called her name from the back, and she sighed. “I gotta go. If I don’t see you before you leave, I hope I do next week.”

When she turned to leave, Marlana held up her glass. “Oh, she will! We are so coming back.”

I liked Pepper and this bar, but it now held a memory that I’d like to put behind me. Smiling tightly, I took a drink.

Florida was probably a bad idea.

You just got there. Give it time. I could hear the words spoken in Eamon’s voice, and the ache of his absence reminded me what I’d lost.

I was left to silent, imaginary conversations with him.

Twenty-One Years Ago

The hot-pink dress that Vanna had bought me when we went prom-dress shopping last month was unlike anything I’d ever worn. I stared at myself in the floor-length mirror longer thannecessary, but it was hard to believe that was me. Reaching up, I tugged on one of the curls that cascaded over my left shoulder, leaving my right one bare. This was the first time I’d seen my hair curled and fixed; it usually hung straight or was pulled up into a ponytail or bun.

Vanna had spent an hour curling it, then pulled it over to one side so that it didn’t cover the back of my dress, which laced up like a corset. The shiny, satin-like material was fitted in the waist, then went into a floor-length, layered skirt that had a slit up the front to my mid-thigh. There was even a hint of a train in the back. The strappy heels she had helped me choose were clear so as not to take away from the attention of the dress, she’d explained to me.

The neckline dipped in front, and Vanna had called it a cowl neck. This was the only part about it that had caused Vanna to frown. My boobs showed off a good amount of cleavage, but the saleslady had raved about how I looked in it so much that Vanna had caved and agreed that this was the one.

Right after Tyler had asked me to be his girlfriend, he had invited me to prom. If Rome hadn’t been bringing a girl he was dating, Shana, to his mom’s to eat dinner with us regularly now, I was sure I’d have turned Tyler down. But seeing as all Rome did was ignore me since the afternoon in his truck four months ago, I had agreed. Why not? I was sixteen. Free to date and enjoy being a teenager.

I’d thought that moment meant Rome liked me the way I did him, but it hadn’t been that at all. He had just been horny.

I’d imagined Rome being my first in all the things, but that wouldn’t be happening either.

Tyler had kissed me the day he asked me to be his girlfriend. We’d done a lot of kissing since then. He’d even put his hand up my shirt and felt my boobs.

Five nights ago, while he was kissing me, he had slid his handbetween my legs and rubbed me where I knew it was supposed to feel good. He groaned, and his kissing became more frantic. Unfortunately, I hadn’t felt much, but then I had been wearing jeans.

I hadn’t decided if I wanted him to be the one to take my virginity or not. Tyler didn’t give me the fluttering in my lower stomach or make my panties wet. Knowing how good that had felt after having experienced it with Rome, I wanted that again.

I’d heard the girls talking about their plans to have sex in the hotel rooms or limos they’d reserved for tonight and hoped Tyler didn’t have that in mind. I wasn’t ready to lose my virginity just yet. I was waiting until I was sure.

The doorbell rang, and I turned from the mirror and went to pick up the silver wristlet purse that had my lipstick, the phone Vanna had bought me for Christmas, and some money, just in case I needed it. I heard Vanna greet Tyler and headed toward the entrance of the house.

Rome’s senior picture hung at the end of the hallway, and it was hard not to look at it as I walked in that direction.

I regretted that afternoon in the truck. It had shut him off from me. We had started becoming…I didn’t know…maybe friends. But now I was just someone who lived at his mom’s house. He’d introduced me to Shana as his mom’s student and ward.

Shana was older and gorgeous with big brown eyes and blonde hair. I was so envious of her that it hurt my chest. But I was polite to her, even when she said things to me that weren’t very nice when no one else was around. It was clear she didn’t like that I lived there. I had no idea why. Rome never glanced my way or spoke to me.

---