Page 38 of Surfside Sisters

Tommy did a lazy-sleepy-sexy thing with his eyes. “I can be really good.”

The waiter arrived. Keely pulled her hand away.

“So did you like college at all?” She was serious.

“It depends on what criteria you’re using to judge,” Tommy said.

“Criteria. Get you with your big word.”

Tommy laughed. “I managed to learn a few things.”

“I’ll bet you did.”

With a shrug, he turned serious. “I admit it. I basically coasted. My grades were awful. My dad’s furious. But I didn’t end up drunk in a trunk or in jail for assault, so he can’t really complain.”

“And women?”

Tommy smiled, his white teeth flashing. “I was with Isabelle. Mostly.” He shrugged. “I thought, if I can’t have fun in college, I’ll never be able to have it.”

“Oh, Tommy, I think you’ll always have fun,” Keely told him, and as she spoke, she felt very affectionate toward him, and not jealous at all of the women he’d slept with, probably a number mounting into the dozens, andmountingwas the appropriate word.

“What about you? You dropped out in your junior year.”

“Because I wanted to help my mother.”

“So do you miss college?”

“More than I can say,” Keely answered truthfully.

“Why?”

“I loved my studies. I made all A’s, not that I’m bragging. I loved it there, walking from the dorm to a class. I was high on the atmosphere, the smell of the textbooks, the sound of a pen on paper or someone tapping away on her computer…” She stopped talking, took a sip of wine, and lost herself for a moment in reverie. She had to change course now, or she’d get maudlin.

“You’re weird,” Tommy said.

Keely shrugged. “Probably.” As she ate oysters and pan roasted lobster, she steered the conversation away from anything serious. She asked Tommy about his family, his friends. His new dog. Tommy was funny, charming, magnetic. She relaxed in his spell. The buzz of the wine, the pleasure of this gorgeous, attentive male was a tonic for her wounded spirit. Her entire body flushed every time Tommy looked at her or touched her knee with his beneath the table.

When they left the restaurant, light was fading from the sky.

“Let’s walk down to Easy Street,” Tommy said.

“Sure.”

He took her hand. His hand was so much larger than hers. Easy Street was the short street between the harbor and the Dreamland Theater. Several benches were set along the brick sidewalk so people could watch the ferries come and go. Tonight as they rounded the corner from the theater building, Keely saw that the benches were empty, and Tommy must have, too, because he said her name in a husky voice and put both hands on her waist. He moved her so that her back was against the building. He pressed himself against her.

His kiss was sweet and rough with need. It was lovely to be kissed like this.

“I want to make love to you,” Tommy said, his voice warm against her cheek.

She gently pushed him away. “Not yet. It’s too soon for you—you should wait, be clear about Isabelle. I don’t want to rush into something and then…lose it.”

“Keely, you know I’ve always wanted you. I am clear about Isabelle. She’s always been second best—”

Keely blocked his mouth with her hand. “Don’t you dare say that. If you evenhintthat what you felt for Isabelle wasn’t true, I’ll never talk to you again. Grow up, Tommy, for God’s sake! You can’t honestly believe I’ll becomplimentedif you call Isabelle second best.” She stepped away from him. “I shouldn’t have come.”

Tommy folded his arms and leaned against the wall, signaling retreat. “I apologize, Keely. I didn’t mean to insult Isabelle. I loved her. I did love her. Maybe I still do, always will. But I am grown up. I know what I want. I know who I want. And I can be patient.”

Keely relaxed. “Good. I think we have to be patient, Tommy. I don’t want to be your rebound affair.” She smiled. “And I don’t want to have revenge sex with you.”

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