Chapter 10

“I’m twenty-one. I’ll be twenty-two in the fall, November.”

Sean nodded. “So are you gonna tell me? This doesn’t exactly seem like a hot spot for a good-looking, very hot twenty-one-year-old on a Friday night.”

Arliss cocked his head. “I believe I asked you the same question—first.”

Sean laughed. “Point taken.” He stared out at the water, wondering how much he should share with this stranger. He realized it might be easier to talk about what was troubling him with someone who didn’t know him, rather than someone with whom he was well acquainted and, most likely, knew Jerome. Strangers often made good listeners, he had found. They weren’t clouded by preconceived notions. And besides, almost all his friends were also friends of Jerome’s, and Sean was still uncertain who was on what side.

“Man trouble?” Arliss prodded.

“You areperceptive.”

“For a stripper?”

Sean shook his head. “I never said that.”

“So? Was I right?”