Seems Like Old Times (15 page)

As her gaze swept over the landscape surrounding the clear
waters of the pond, she found the spot she sought. But the bench was gone now,
and she couldn't pick out the exact spot where it had been.

Not that it mattered....

o0o

By April of their sophomore year, Lisa and Tony had been
friends for six months, which was an eternity back then, when every minute was
so full time lasted forever. They sat on a bench in Settlers Park, having
walked there after one of Tony's baseball games. Since he was young, he was
only on junior varsity, not the big team, but the coaches were letting him do a
lot more than warm the bench. He played third base, shortstop, and on occasion,
pitched.

A chilling breeze was in the air. Lisa wore a quilted
jacket, and Tony, a blue zip up with the words Miwok Mustangs in white letters
across the back. In back, his hair fell in thick waves to the collar of his
jacket.

In Miwok, new leaves glistened on the oaks and the pastel
flowers of spring painted the area. Lisa turned to Tony to give him her news.

Stompin
' Steve Peters had asked
her to go with him to a movie on Saturday night, and all day she had floated
somewhere between seventh heaven and cloud nine.
Stompin
'
Steve was the star running back on the football team and he was a junior.
Everyone just knew he was going to be student body president in his senior
year, and even more of a football star. Yet, he’d asked her out, and she was
only a sophomore. Everyone thought he was crazy about Amy Dunkirk. They were
sure wrong.

"You're going out with that fat ass jellyfish?"
Tony jumped to his feet, waving his arms around. "That pile of muscular
manure
who
shoves other people around and calls
himself an athlete!"

Lisa sat sideways on the park bench facing him, one leg
curled on the bench, her elbow on the backrest. "You sound jealous. It's
not as if you and I are going together, or anything."

"Jealous? Me? Of the creature that ate Oakland?
Fat chance!"
He flopped down beside her, hands on his
thighs, legs outstretched.

"You can go on dates, too, you know." She leaned
toward him, her eyes teasing. "Maybe sometime Steve and I will even double
with you."

He grimaced. "I don't think the Stomper would
approve. It might interfere with his action."

That gave her pause.
"His
what?"

"Action, Lisa." He pulled himself up straight,
his gaze intense. "You should hear him talk in the gym on Mondays. He's
got more moves than an octopus, and old Amy Dunkirk was dumb enough to fall for
everyone
of them."

"Oh?" In spite of herself, the corners of her
lips turned down.

 He gripped the arm she had on the backrest.
"You don't want to be the center of gossip, do you?"

She yanked her arm free. "He wouldn't dare!"

On his feet again, he paraded back and forth in front of
her, hands on hips. "What makes you so sure? He'll be all over you!"

She folded her arms petulantly. "What's wrong with a
kiss? If I like him..."

He stopped pacing, his thumb slowly rubbing his chin a
moment as he looked at her. Again, he sat beside her, closer this time. Looking
toward the horizon, he said in a very knowing voice, "I think I can guess
what I'll be hearing about next Monday."

Her head whipped toward him. "What?"

"That Lisa Marie Reynolds can't kiss." A chortle
erupted and he bent forward as it grew to a full belly laugh.

She punched his arm. "What do you mean? Of course, I
can!"

"Yeah?
I never heard that
you went out with any guy who took you off to be alone."

She gawked at him. "Why should you have? It’s not
your business! Anyway, I've been kissed before, Tony Santos!"

"Spin the bottle doesn’t count."

She grimaced. "You are
so
funny."

"Remember,
Stompin
’ Steve
is an eleventh grader."

Her chin lifted. "So?"

"So? So, there's a technique to it."

Her brow crossed. "And I suppose you know all about
it?"

"Sure."

She gave him a sidelong glance. "How did you
learn?"

Now it was his turn to ease casually against the bench,
his arms flung over the backrest, his face smug. "At my old school, I had
an older girlfriend. She was seventeen."

She rolled her eyes.
"No way!
An older girl looking at you?
She must have been
totally desperate!"

He shrugged. "Maybe, but she sure could kiss."

She pursed her lips together, wanting to knock that smirk
right off his face. She rocked her shoulders in a quick, small motion from side
to side while thinking over his words. "Well, smarty, since you know so
much about it, why don't you tell me?"

"Sure."

She froze, her breathing stopped,
then
she forced herself to appear cool and calm. She peeked at him,
then
dropped her gaze. "Okay," she said.

"Well, first, you, um... Well, you... Hell, I don't
know how to describe it!"

Relief flowed through her. "Some help you are!"
she said haughtily.

He folded his arms, his legs stretched out before him.
"Well, I guess I can show you. But don't get any ideas! It's just to help
you out, nothing more."

Her mouth dropped open. "Get ideas? Don't you
wish!
" Her heart thrummed. "Well, I’m sure I don't
need help, but...I guess it won't hurt to find out what that seventeen-year-old
taught you."

He took her hand and led her deeper into the park, to a
secluded bench that faced the pond and was hidden from the walkway by large
bushes. She sat, and he sat beside her. He turned her shoulders toward him,
lifted her hands to his neck,
then
slid his arms
around her waist. "Comfortable?" he asked.

Her heart beat so fast she was feeling light-headed. She
gave one quick nod.

His gaze held her captive. "Now, someone who knows
what he's doing, when he kisses a girl, does it slowly and gently. Got
it?"

She nodded.

"Like this." He pulled her waist closer, causing
her head to drop back and her lips to part slightly as she gasped with
surprise. He cocked his head, lightly kissed her mouth, and drew back. He lightly
kissed her again,
then
tilted his head so that his
nose was on the other side of hers while meeting her with light, feathery
kisses that sent tingles through her body. She was ready to move a whole lot
closer to him when he lifted his head.

"Only if the girl likes that and wants more, does the
guy who knows how to kiss involve his tongue at all."

"I see." He pulled her closer. Her arms
tightened around his neck as he lowered his mouth to hers. His tongue brushed
over her lips, playing and teasing at the entrance to her mouth, until she
lifted her tongue to touch his. As his lips slid sideways over hers, her breath
caught, and, again he stopped.

"That's right. The girl invites when she's ready,
then they can kiss well. Got it?"

She nodded vigorously.

"The guy who doesn't know how to kiss will simply go
up to a girl, slap his mouth across her face like a slab of raw liver then cram
his tongue down her throat as far as it can go. I'm surprised the girls don't
gag."

Lisa put her hand to her throat and swallowed hard.

Tony smiled. "I guess some girls just don't know any
better."

Her voice was tiny. "I guess not."

"Are you ready to put it all together?"

"I think so."

He reached for the top button of her jacket and, to her
surprise, unfastened it. As each button fell open, she felt her stomach tighten
and her breathing grow
more shallow
. Then he slipped
his arms under her jacket, circling her back. She waited. He nodded. Slowly,
she lifted her hands to his broad shoulders.

As their lips, she shut her eyes and leaned closer. His
lips passed gently, lovingly over hers and she drew him closer, wanting more of
his kiss. The moment his tongue touched her lips, she met it with hers and felt
a tremor pass through him. His arms tightened as his tongue found its way into
her mouth. She took it between her teeth, biting down lightly. Surprised he
lifted his head and looked at her. She laughed and lifted her hands to his
hair, stroking the soft locks with her fingers. She watched a grin steal across
his face, his eyes crinkling in delight, and she pulled his head down to hers
again. His soft groan of pleasure was a triumph to her and she abandoned
herself to his kiss, unzipping his jacket and sliding her arms within it,
letting her hands travel along his back, upward, trying to reach his shoulders,
until the fabric of his jacket stopped her. For the first time she became
acutely aware of the difference in their bodies--he was hard, sinewy, smooth
but steely to the touch. And she liked to touch him.

At the same time, he caressed her, but never higher than
her rib cage, and never lower than her hips. Still, her body tingled with a new
awareness, and every sense seemed heightened, and each moment, magical.

She discovered boys had a particular taste, and she liked
the way Tony tasted. His scent, up close, was different, too, and she could
feel the pulse on his neck, and his rapid heartbeat when his chest pressed
against hers. With one finger, she traced the outline of his
ears,
she touched his nose, his cheeks, his eyebrows. Everything about him seemed
unique to her, despite how well she thought she knew him. Every new thing she
learned, she liked. That day, she learned all about kissing Tony.

o0o

She did have her date with
Stompin
’
Steve Peters that Saturday night so long ago. They went to the movies.
Afterward, he drove out to a country lane, parked the car, took her in his arms
and kissed her. She promptly gagged, and he, just as promptly, brought her
home.

Lee giggled at the memory, then giggled harder, and
finally, laughed until tears came to her eyes. She had spent years getting all
but nauseated by nearly half the men who tried to kiss her and never, until
just this moment, figured out why.

"What's so funny?"

She looked up. "Tony!" Her face was still shiny
with mirth.

Dark brown eyes swept over her discarded stockings and
bare toes wriggling luxuriously in the grass. The sight of those ten perfectly
manicured red-tipped toenails rocked him without
warning,
the sight was so erotic that he felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. He tore
his gaze from her feet to meet her bemused eyes. "I don't know about this,
Lisa. You're sitting here laughing all by yourself. It's good it was just old
Ton' who found you. People have been locked away for less."

"Where's your friend Trish?"

"Gone home, I think. I haven't seen her for a good
hour."

"Oh. That's too bad."

"Not really." He looked uncomfortable, as if he
shouldn't be here talking to her like this, shouldn't be seeking out her
company. "Ben told me he saw you heading this way, but you hadn't come
back..."

Is that so, Mr. Santos?
She suddenly felt good.
"It was nice of you to check up on me. I'd hate for a blue whale to carry
me off."

He smiled. "Is that what you were laughing
about?"

Her gaze shifted to a white oleander bush and she rubbed a
fingertip over the smooth skin between her eyebrows. "Actually, I was just
remembering Steve Peters. It made me laugh."

"Ah, yes." He put his hands on his hips.
"The original liver lips."

That drew her back.
"The
what?"

He looked sheepish.
"Nothing."

"You knew!"

His eyebrows rose in innocence. "Knew? Knew what?
What are you talking about?"

She cocked her head.
"Nothing.
But if I ever find out you knew..."

He held out his hands, palms up toward her and backed up a
couple of steps. "I swear I'm innocent--whatever it is!"

"Oh well, it was probably for the best." She
gazed up at him, his dark eyes, his mouth...and the memory of how good it felt
to kiss him washed over her again, memories of nights in Tony's Bonneville
where those "practice kissing" sessions continued. Good God! Where
had that memory come from? Where had
all
these memories come from?
Unnerved, she put her shoes on and stood.

He was sorry she put them on. He liked seeing her barefoot
and relaxed, all warm and sunny and laughing. He liked it a lot. To his
consternation he also liked the way she’d been looking at him before she turned
away. He could feel heat throughout his body from her gaze, and felt a fire
building around his groin.

"I wonder if my aunt is ready to go home yet,"
she said as she started walking back toward the picnic area.

He walked beside her. "I saw her talking to Gene
Cantelli
about ten minutes ago."

"Really?"
She wondered
if Miriam had been with Gene all this time. If so, she was glad.

As they reached the barbecue area he began to chuckle.
"God, Lisa--
Stompin
' Steve!" He shook his
head. "He became a lawyer, you know."

She snorted,
then
held her hand
to her nose, horrified at the unladylike sound.

He glanced at her,
then
both of
them burst out laughing.

"Hey, don't laugh," Tony said. "I owe that
man a debt of gratitude I can never repay. I'm sure you don't remember, but it
was because of him we
first "

"I remember...right back there by the pond. They took
away our bench, though."

Our bench.
He
seemed to notice the slip as soon as she said it.

"You do remember!" His voice dropped. "I'll
be damned!"