Page 16 of Bayside Heat
Drake’s gut clenched.
“I saved every penny I earned for a whole year to afford the dress I wanted.” She flipped a few pages to the part of the yearbook that featured pictures from prom.
His eyes were immediately drawn to a photograph of a group of girls standing arm in arm, wearing bright, sparkly dresses, but all he saw was Serena’s beautiful face, caught midlaugh as Mira and whoever the girl was on her other side kissed her cheeks. Serena wore her hair pinned up, with side-swept bangs, and her cheeks were flushed. The yellow halter-top dress with a thread of gold beneath her breasts might have looked simple on anyone else, but on Serena it looked elegant. On her wrist she wore a corsage of white roses, and a strange beat of jealousy pulsed through him.
“You’re the prettiest girl there,” Drake said honestly. “He was a lucky guy.”
She tilted her chin up, studying his face for a long moment. “Want to know a secret?”
“Not if you’re going to tell me that he’s the dude who stole your virginity or something equally disturbing.”
“Like I’d share that with you? Get real.” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
“Aw, come on. I was kidding. Tell me your secret.”
“No. Forget it.” She closed the yearbook.
“Come on, stubborn girl.” He took the yearbook from her and opened to her senior picture. “I want to know a secret about this cutie pie in the tasseled hat.”
“It’s embarrassing, and you’ll just make fun of me.”
He touched her cheek, guiding her face toward him again. “No, I won’t. Tell me.”
An uncharacteristically shy expression came over her. “I called to ask you to go to prom with me,” she said so quietly he tried not to breathe, for fear of missing it. “Not as a date date, you know, but as friends. We always had fun together, and I figured…”
His chest constricted. “Why didn’t you?”
“Call you? I did.” She paused, her gaze skittering nervously around the room. “But you told me about the trip you’d planned to the West Coast with your friends from school.”
“Serena…” He wanted to tell her he would have gone with her, but he knew that wasn’t true. He’d been in his third year of college, and she was just graduating high school. He’d matured, gained experiences she’d had yet to enjoy and conquer. He’d had too much experience as a man to be with her then, especially when she was just starting her life, gearing up for college. And then, by the time she was old enough that it felt appropriate to be with her, she’d had her heart set on achieving more than a life on the Cape.
“Why me?” he asked. “As I remember, you had plenty of punks sniffing around every time I came home to visit.”
“Yeah, and you scared them all off!”
“Hey, I was away at school for months at a time. You had enough time to hook up without me around.”
“And I did,” she said too nonchalantly, making him wonder just how many guys she’d been with.
“Do not tell me about them.”
“Oh, please. You were probably hooking up with all sorts of women at college. Don’t even pretend you were bothered by not being here to watch over your fake sister.” Her eyes widened, and she jumped up to her feet. “I just remembered something I have to show you!”
She snagged her phone from the couch and shoved it in her pocket. Then she grabbed his hand and tugged him to his feet. “Come on.”
He followed her down the hall toward her bedroom.
“I have a shoe box with stuff from the guys I went out with in high school and college. It’s hilarious.”
“I don’t want to see that.” He stopped walking.
“Yes, you do! It’s funny. They’re not love notes or anything.”
She grabbed his wrist and ran into the bedroom.
He swept his arm around her waist, hauling her against him. “I don’t want to see it.”
They both laughed as she struggled and twisted.
“Okay, okay!” she said between giggles. “Then let me show you the pictures from when Mira and I made you and Rick play wedding with us! You were such a handsome groom, and you have to see how serious Rick was when he officiated the ceremony. It’s way funnier than the high school guys.”
