Eleven
11
Salem
Pepper hadn’t lied. There wasn’t a biker in sight. She greeted us at the door and led us over to a booth that was closest to the bar and set up on a platform so that the stage could be seen clearly. I didn’t see any entertainment on the board for tonight, but if there was, it would be later.
I slid into the first seat, thinking that Marlana would follow me. But she chose to sit across from me instead. Which left Kendrix with a choice. I knew she was hoping to have him sit beside her, but he chose to take the space beside me.
This won’t be uncomfortable at all , I thought to myself sarcastically.
Marlana’s expression fell, but she recovered quickly.
In all honesty, the way she’d talked about him before I met him, I’d assumed they were an item. I’d realized quickly that was an incorrect assumption.
The waitress took our drink orders immediately and said she’d be right back with them before leaving.
“This place is so cool,” Marlana said as she looked around. Anywhere but at either of us.
Ugh, Kendrix. Why didn’t you sit over there?
“It’s hard to believe that bikers frequent this place,” he said.
“Pepper’s brother is The Judgment’s vice president,” I explained.
Marlana looked at me, wide-eyed. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yes. She could tell I was uneasy the night I was here and they all showed up, so she explained who they were.”
Marlana put her elbows on the table and leaned toward me. “Were any hot? Like Jax Teller hot?”
“Um, I don’t know who that is, but Pepper’s brother was very attractive and very taken. The others were…” I shrugged, as if that was it.
Liar. Rome was hot. He was also an asshole.
She frowned at the disappointment. “That sucks. And what do you mean, you don’t know who Jax Teller is?” she asked. “ Sons of Anarchy ?”
Ah. That was a television show. I’d seen things about it.
“Never watched it,” I admitted.
Marlana fell back, as if completely mind-blown. “You have no idea what you are missing in life. We are going to have to rectify this. My apartment, wine, snacks, and bingeing SOA .”
I didn’t think I wanted to watch anything that gave me a peek into the life that Rome lived. I wanted nothing to remind me of him. Thinking about him wasn’t pleasant.
“Here we go, two lemon drop martinis and a Heineken,” the waitress said, placing our drink order in front of us. “I put in your food orders, and Pepper said it will be out shortly.”
We thanked her, and once she was gone, Kendrix turned to me, holding up his bottle of beer. “Cheers to an excellent first week.”
I shifted my gaze from him to Marlana, and then we picked up our glasses and tapped them before taking a drink.
Kendrix began to talk about our plans for the May exhibit and asked about the high schools I planned on contacting, the vision for the display, and ways he thought would be best to advertise it. Marlana had several good ideas, and when his attention was on her, she glowed. How could he not see that?
The food arrived, followed by Pepper.
“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 than necessary, 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 hand between 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.
Jerking my gaze off his portrait, I turned the corner and stepped into the living room. Tyler had been speaking to Vanna and stopped, it seemed, mid-sentence as his eyes met mine. The awed expression as his gaze slowly drifted over the rest of me made me wish I could get Rome to see me like that.
Freaking Rome. Always on my mind.
“You are stunning,” he said.
“She is, isn’t she?” Vanna agreed with pride in her tone. “Now, I need pictures. Go on over to the fireplace. I’ll do photos in front of the mantel, then outside. That limo you have is something else. I want pictures in front of it too.”
He hadn’t told me he was bringing a limo. Did that mean sex?
Nervously, I tried to hold my smile as he approached me. His hand rested against my waist, and he tilted his head down to stare at me.
“You’re fucking breathtaking,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” I replied, wishing I could feel something for him.
“Oh, that is a good one!” Vanna said, and I realized she had begun taking photos with her phone. “Now, both of you, look at me. No, wait. Salem, you look at me. Tyler, you can keep looking at her like you were.”
“Not a problem,” he replied, causing her to chuckle.
I knew I should feel like Cinderella tonight, but no matter how fixed up I was, without my prince, this was just a ball.