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By Root 400 0

large gulp of wine for courage, she ’fessed up. “It was sheer dumb luck I became a cheerleader. We were new in town and my brother had just made the varsity football team. I wasn’t unpopular exactly, but I was greedy for more visibility. When my parents encouraged me to try out for cheerleading, I was scared spitless. I didn’t think I’d make it. I told them I wanted to try out for the flag team instead. They weren’t satisfied with flag team. When I made it, I was so damned happy in a way because I was validated, you know. It was instant-popularity time. Instant. I never had so many friends right away. In San Francisco I wasn’t exactly popular. It was a big school, and I was a small fish. Little Clarksville was a whole ’nother game.”

“Uh-huh. And once you were in a smaller high school and had left all your friends behind, it was a good chance to fit in.”

Her gaze snagged on Vic’s fingers as they slipped around the sweaty beer bottle. She knew his touch would be electrifying. A tiny thrill went through her, and she had to jerk her attention back to the subject.

“Exactly.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Dad and Mom loved it when I became a cheerleader. Their kids had made their mark on the high school. With Dad the football coach, and Mom involved with school…” What else could she say about it?

“So how did Ann and Carolyn convince you to ask me out?” he asked.

“They dared me. They said you were…”

“Yeah?”

Oh, hell. He wasn’t giving up on this. He wanted the whole damned story right now. “They said you were probably a virgin, and they thought that was an anomaly. They said you might be gay.”

Vic grunted. “Uh, no. As you found out, I’m not gay.”

Oh, she’d found out all right. “Ann and Carolyn told me that I needed to drive you to a secluded place and seduce you. They said that if I didn’t, they’d make sure my senior year was a living hell. Plus, I think I was secretly thrilled someone was lusting after me. That you acted as if you liked me.” She laughed softly. “Not sure why you did though. I was a little bitch.”

She saw his chest rise and fall with a deep breath. His arm lay on the table near hers. “Nah, you weren’t that bad. Besides, you realized I wasn’t such a bad guy and you actually liked me.”

Heat crawled into her face. “Yes.”

“And that’s when I finally got up the nerve to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world and discovered you didn’t mind it.” He said the last part with a silly grin.

She giggled as the memory of their sloppy kiss returned. “Oh, yeah. Loved it.”

His dark eyes challenged her, drew her closer. Nearer to a fire. “I was a horrible kisser, but it was damned heaven touching you.”

Yeah, an awful kiss. She’d never forget it though. How could anyone forget a kiss rife with that much fear and angst on her part, and outright teenage horniness on his?

“And contrary to what I’d heard about most teenage boys, you weren’t an octopus who couldn’t keep his hands off me. You were such a gentleman.”

He lifted the beer bottle in a salute. “My daddy brought me up right.”

“Mine didn’t.”

He frowned. “Were they trying to keep up with the Jones’s?”

“Yes. That meant their kids should too.” She blinked, her eyes burning with sudden tears that didn’t make sense. She’d never told anyone this, any of the stuff she’d explained to Vic. It felt like a release a long time in the making. “I’m really sorry that I bought into everything in high school. The whole popularity garbage. I hurt you and that wasn’t cool.”

His smile was forgiving. “We all do stupid shit when we’re teenagers. I know you’re not that kind of person now. I’m over it.”

Was he? Then perhaps she should be too. She sighed, the release in her heart and mind a warmth she would never forget.

“Do your parents still live here?” he asked.

“No, they’re spending early retirement on a series of cruises. They think my photography career is bogus. They hope I’ll come to my senses someday and do something worthwhile. My brother is a doctor, and that makes them proud. He’s a chiropractor, and yet they really wish he’d been a surgeon.”

He leaned in closer