Sweet Heat at Bayside

by Addison Cole

  “I make lists, too,” Desiree said.

  “Not me,” Emery chimed in. “I’d lose them, or one of the cats would steal them.”

  Emery and Dean’s cats, Tango and Cash, were always stealing things. Emery told tales of missing underwear, keys, jewelry, anything the little thieves could get their paws on.

  “Serena’s been making lists since she realized there were certain kinds of boys she needed to avoid.” Chloe grabbed a sharp-looking royal-blue blouse and held it up to Serena. “I love this color for you.”

  More precisely, she’d started her list with Drake Savage and all his finest points, followed by all of his faults.

  “That’s a fantastic blouse.” Emery snagged an off-white skirt from a rack. “Pair it with this skirt.”

  “Wait,” Serena said. “How much are they?”

  Chloe gave her a get serious glare. “Serena, you have more money than you’ll ever need. You can afford nice clothes for your classy new job.”

  “I don’t want to dip too much into my savings. How much is the blouse?” She’d been tucking away four hundred dollars a month since she’d started working full-time after college, with very few exceptions. She figured she couldn’t miss what she didn’t have, and she was right. She’d never missed the hundreds of dollars she stowed away in her bank account, and now she had a nice nest egg. Before the job in Boston, she’d dreamed of buying the cottage she was renting. She loved living around the corner from the beach, even if she had to trek through the woods to get to it. But dipping into her savings made her nervous. She’d allotted one month of her usual savings for new clothes, and if she was careful, she could build a whole wardrobe around it.

  “Twenty-eight dollars,” Chloe said. “And you’re trying it on.”

  “And the skirt?” she asked tentatively.

  “Same,” Emery said. “We know how thrifty you are, but come on. They’re beautiful, and you need to look the part in Boston. What size? Six?”

  “Eight,” Serena said. “I’ve got curves, woman.”

  “Curves Drake has noticed a lot since I moved here,” Emery pointed out. “He seemed really upset at breakfast Monday, and even this morning he was edgy. Now that you’re leaving town, I think you should fess up about your tryst with him. That man is so possessive of you—don’t tell me you’ve never slept with him.”

  Serena rolled her eyes. “Would you please get off the Drake train?”

  “Hey!” Mira covered her ears. “I don’t want to hear this!”

  Serena pulled Mira’s hands down and said, “You’d be the first person I’d tell, even if you didn’t want to hear it. I told you about the duet, remember?”

  Desiree and Emery exchanged a curious glance as they all moved to another group of clothing racks.

  “The dreaded duet,” Chloe said. “Please don’t bring that up. She was a mess for weeks.”

  “I was not!” It was months. She focused on the professional-looking cap-sleeved dress in front of her.

  Chloe sidled up to Serena and said, “I wanted to kill him.”

  “What are you talking about?” Emery demanded. “What duet? The guys had a band as teenagers, right? Did you sing in it?”

  “No. It was just stupid kid stuff.” Like the way I used to listen to them practice, pretending I wasn’t counting the number of times Drake glanced my way. “Drake and the guys had entered their band in the beach talent show, and I asked Drake to do a duet with me.” Even now, when Drake played the guitar, Serena was thrown right back to those early years. There was always a moment of reflection, a longing for what she’d missed out on, and then the sting of rejection would hit, bringing her firmly back to the present.

  “Those beach talent shows were the best for meeting guys from other towns,” Chloe pointed out. “You were so swoony over Drake back then, and he was so full of himself. I wanted to choke the life out of him after he ditched you.”

  “He ditched you?” Desiree’s eyes widened. “I can’t even imagine him hurting you on purpose.”

  “He was just being a teenager,” Serena said, as if it were no big deal, although back then it had been a very big deal. She chose a black dress from the rack and moved to another display. The girls moved with her.

  “A week before the talent show, there was this…moment,” Serena admitted.

  “A take-me-baby moment.” Emery waggled her brows.

  “Emery, please…” Mira pleaded.

  Serena sighed. “No. We were singing outside one night, just the two of us, rehearsing for the duet. We were singing ‘You’re the One That I Want’ from Grease, and I was foolishly crushing on him, like holding my breath every time he looked at me. I saved for months to buy those fake leather pants and heels so I could look like Olivia Newton-John in the movie.”

  “It was painful to watch her lusting after my brother,” Mira said with an empathetic expression. “I love him, but teenage boys are just…”

  “Horny jerks?” Emery suggested. “I’ve got three brothers. Trust me, I have heard it all.”

  “They’re just unaware,” Mira said diplomatically. “Drake was more serious than most boys, but when it came to girls…” She shook her head.

  “Luckily, that swoony, stupid crush didn’t last long,” Serena said. At least not in a way anyone else could see. Secretly, it had taken far too long before she could even imagine being with any other boy. She’d faked moving on for Mira’s sake, and eventually she had moved on. Mostly anyway. But it hadn’t been quick or easy. “You know that feeling when your insides are churning and you can feel your blood heating up inside your veins? In that moment, under the stars, I remember feeling like I couldn’t breathe or hold on to a single thought. Like my whole body was on overdrive.”

  “I love that feeling,” Emery said.

  “Yeah, well, I’ve never felt it for anyone except him.” Serena’s thoughts lingered on those memories. The excitement and nervousness that had made her entire body tremble felt as real and present as the hangers in her hand.

  “Is that true?” Mira asked.

  Serena realized everyone was looking at her like she’d just exposed her deepest secret, and she mentally replayed what she’d said. Shootshootshoot. “I meant I hadn’t felt it for anyone except Drake until then.” She waved her hand as if she hadn’t slipped up and revealed the truth. “There have been plenty of men since that awful night.”

  “I can attest to that,” Chloe said. “The girl was determined to get over her crush.”

  Serena gave herself kudos for pretending to move on so well.

  “You go, girl,” Emery said. “Don’t let being ditched hold you back. There are always more fish in the sea. But I still want to hear about how he ditched you.”

  “It was that night, right after that crazy, breathtaking moment when we both leaned in. I was sure he was going to kiss me. I saw it in his eyes, could feel it in my bones. And then suddenly he pulled back without kissing me. He looked almost mad, which was confusing as heck to a ninth grader thinking I’d finally landed the guy I was crushing on. Then he broke my heart. He told me he couldn’t do the duet and that he shouldn’t have agreed to it.”

  “What a jerk move,” Emery snapped. “Sorry, Mira. I love your brother, but really? An almost kiss and then he backs out a week before the event?”

  “Right?” Chloe rolled her eyes. “When she finally told me why she was so upset, I confronted him, and he said he’d overcommitted and the band thought it would hurt their chances to win if he entered twice. I gave him all my fury.”

  “You and me both.” Mira laid another blouse over Serena’s arm. “I gave him a hard time on a daily basis even after the talent show. Serena was devastated, and it was as infuriating as it was embarrassing that my brother was the one who had hurt her.”

  “I never held it against you.” Serena picked through another rack of skirts to try to push those sad memories away. She chose a few styles, loading them into her arms. “It was a long time ago.”

&nbs
p; “And he’s amazing to you now, so clearly you guys have worked through it,” Desiree said. “That’s what matters most.”

  Sure, if by worked through it you mean never spoke of it again.

  Desiree held up a black wrap dress with a red sash. “I know Vi doesn’t wear dresses, but don’t you think she could pull this off for the wedding? I know she won’t wear anything that’s not black.”

  “She’d probably use that sash to tie a man to her bed, so yeah,” Emery said. “I think she’d wear it for that reason alone.”

  Serena’s mind chased that tie right back to Drake, and she felt her cheeks heat up. She dipped her head so the girls wouldn’t notice.

  “Oh my gosh.” Chloe gave Serena a deadpan look. “You’re still thinking about Drake tying you up, aren’t you?”

  Serena cringed.

  “What?” Mira’s eyes widened.

  “He made a comment the other day. Obviously I never should have told Chloe about it.” Serena glared at Chloe. “Way to go, sis.”

  “Wait. Is there more to you two than you’re letting on?” Mira asked.

  “Secret tryst,” Emery said in a singsong voice.

  “No!” Serena insisted. “What is wrong with everyone this week? We were joking! I said something about him chaining me down in the office so I wouldn’t leave, and he said he didn’t have to chain women down.” She lowered her voice and said, “He ties them down, but only when they ask.”

  Laughter burst from Emery’s lips, which made them all crack up.

  “Oh, no, no, no,” Mira said, taking a step backward. “I can’t even…”

  “Seriously? Drake has a dark side?” Desiree asked. She was the most proper of them all, and yet, according to her delicious breakfasts, she had an amazing sex life.

  Chloe whispered, “I wonder if he has a red room.”

  “Stop!” Mira said with a laugh. “He’s my brother. If he has a red room, I don’t want to know about it.” She turned to Serena and asked, “Does he have a red room?”

  “No! I don’t know!” Serena said. “But it is surprising, right? I can’t stop thinking about it.”

  “I knew it,” Chloe said. “You’re still into him, aren’t you? You never blush, and you’re blushing like you’re back in high school.”

  “That’s called surprise, not interest.” Serena headed for the dressing room with all four of them on her heels. “So, none of you knew he was into that?”

  “No, but a little sexy bondage isn’t red-room dark. I can see him doing that.” Emery lowered her voice and said, “Dean and I explore, and it’s amazing.”

  “Okay, first of all,” Mira said, “Dean is like a brother to me, and I try to stay as far from my brothers’ sex lives as possible. Can we please change the subject? It’s bad enough that the breakfast table is like a banner announcing the quality of Des and Rick’s bedroom antics.”

  Emery sidled up to Serena and said, “I think you should sleep with him before you go to Boston,” in a rushed whisper. “See if he ties you up and report back.”

  “Ohmygosh.” Serena pushed through the dressing-room curtain, trying to ignore her suggestion—and wondering what it would be like to sleep with Drake.

  DRAKE SAT ON the dunes with Dean and Rick, shooting the breeze while the girls were out shopping. He took a swig of his beer, turning toward the wind whipping up from the bay as the salty air washed over his skin. The sense of peace it usually brought was one of his favorite things about living on the water. But tonight it failed to settle the chaos wreaking havoc in his head. He pulled out his cell phone, reading Serena’s text from earlier for a second time. She’d been trying on outfits for her new job and texting him selfies taken in the dressing-room mirror, asking if they made her look frumpy or if they were too sexy for her new job. Didn’t she know she could never look frumpy, and even if she did, she’d still be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen? And as far as too sexy went, heck yes. Everything she wore was too sexy if he wasn’t there to keep guys away, but he’d never tell her that. Instead he’d responded with, You look great.

  “Serena again?” Rick asked.

  “She’s nervous about her new job.” Drake was worried about her moving, too, and not just because he’d miss everything about her. She’d always dreamed of living in a big city, but he had a feeling she was in for a surprise. She’d gone to college at University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, which was more of a small town than a big city. Interviewing in Boston was a lot different from living there.

  Rick plucked a piece of dune grass and said, “The grass is always greener, right?”

  Drake had never seen the allure of big cities. They’d grown up in Hyannis and had lost their father in Cape waters during a freak storm when they were teenagers. While Rick had moved to Washington, DC, to try to escape the painful memories, Drake had traveled enough for his music stores to know that the Cape was where he belonged. This was where his roots were, and if he had it his way, he’d remain there until the day he’d be buried at sea, just like his father.

  “That grass-is-greener stuff is the biggest farce there is,” Dean said. “If you’re unhappy, the grass is greener elsewhere. When you’re happy, that happiness fertilizes your grass so it’s always lush.”

  “Man, Dean.” Drake shook his head. “When did you start talking like a man in love?”

  “The day Emery Andrews showed up on my doorstep asking to use my bathroom.”

  “And then saw that naked dude and moved in,” Rick reminded him.

  Dean grunted out a curse.

  Emery had moved to the Cape last summer and had stayed with Violet for her first night. When she’d woken up in the morning, she’d found a naked man in the kitchen, and Dean had immediately moved her into his cottage.

  “Sorry. Lifelong failing.” Rick took a drink of his beer.

  “You’ve got that right,” Dean said. “Did I tell you Em wants to get certified as a SUP yoga instructor?”

  “What’s SUP yoga?” Drake asked. “Do they talk smack while posing?”

  Rick chuckled.

  “Stand-up paddleboard,” Dean explained. “She thinks it will be the next big thing out here. She’ll probably try to get the girls to be her guinea pigs the next time we go out on the water. Do you think Serena will come back to go boating with us? If not, we have to find you another fake girlfriend or you’ll be the odd man out.”

  “Come on,” Drake mumbled. “Don’t be a jackass. Serena’s not my fake girlfriend.”

  They did everything as a group, and Serena had always been his other half. They’d shared Jet Skis and kayaks, doubled on surfboards, and teamed up in doubles events during bonfires. He didn’t even want to think about doing those things with someone else.

  “Does that mean you’re finally going to tell her how you feel about her?” Rick asked.

  Drake shook his head and took another swig of his drink. “Nothing to tell.”

  “Mm-hm. That’s why the back of your truck is full of boxes,” Dean pointed out.

  “She mentioned needing boxes. Big deal.”

  Rick set his beer bottle in the sand and leveled a concerned gaze on Drake. “Come on, bro. Are you seriously going to try to play this off like we’re idiots? We live here. We work here. We’ve seen how close you two have gotten.”

  Drake gripped the bottle tighter.

  “You’re just going to let her walk away like she means nothing to you?” Rick challenged.

  Drake pushed to his feet. “Let her walk away? That’s not what this is, and you know it. This is her dream. Who am I to stand in her way? What do you want me to do? You were both there when she was growing up. You know what her life was like, how hard she worked to fit in with everyone else because her mother was too busy to take care of her and Chloe. You think I want to be an hour and a half away from her?” He paced.

  “Then what do you want?” Dean asked so casually it pissed Drake off even more.

  He stopped pacing. “Not to be given crap by you
two. She’s not walking out of my life. She’s walking into the start of hers. Do you even realize how lucky we were that she helped us get this place off the ground?”

  “Yeah, we do.” Rick rose to his feet. “Unfortunately, you’ve wasted four years being too chicken to tell her how you feel.”

  Drake grabbed him by his shirt with both hands. Through clenched teeth, he seethed. “I’m not chicken, you idiot. I’m man enough to not mess with her head.”

  “You want to hit me? Get your aggression out? Go ahead,” Rick challenged. “But it won’t help.”

  Drake shoved him away as his fingers curled into fists. “I don’t want to hit you. Don’t you get it? She was always temporary. We knew she was heading out of here at some point, and if she were mine, it would mess up her plans.”

  “Dude.” Dean put a hand on Drake’s shoulder, and Drake shrugged him off. “Whoa, Drake. We’re on your side. We didn’t know you’d thought it through. But even so, how can you be so sure she can’t have both?”

  “Because I know Serena. I was there when she broke her arm on the skateboard when she was eight, and I was there that night when she got back on the skateboard, determined to prove to everyone that she couldn’t be dissuaded from making the jump she’d spent all day practicing. I was there when she was fourteen, watching over her as she walked home alone after work at the diner—where she was paid under the table so she could save up for college—because she refused to rely on anyone else to drive her or walk with her to and from work. She’s stubborn, and she’s driven. Do you really think she’d even consider going to Boston if she and I had been together the past four years? The last thing she needs is to choose between her heart and her dreams. I have never—and I will not ever—do that to her. If you know what’s good for you, you won’t mention this again.”

  They both held their hands up in surrender.

  “And what about you?” Rick asked. “What happens to your heart?”

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  Rick’s phone rang, and as he withdrew it from the pocket of his hoodie, Drake sent him a silent warning, reiterating the message to keep this bull to himself.