I lifted the straps of the dress over my shoulders and assessed it in the mirror. It looked perfect. It stopped above the knee. The fabric was satin, and the dress had a tasteful neckline that left enough cleavage visible to be alluring but not inappropriate. I smiled at the reflection in front of me. It paid to be picky sometimes.
“Gabs,” I said as pulled the curtain open. She gave me an approving smile and sprang up from the seat.
“That looks incredible! Dray is going to love it!”
“You need to stop.”
“You’re crazy. You don’t want to date the rich quarterback who could literally visit you in California whenever he wants because, why?”
“Because long distance doesn’t work. Especially not with a guy like him who has a lot of options.”
“Sometimes I think you don’t realize how gorgeous you are.” Gabby folded her arms and gave me a pointed look. My frustration diminished. I was lucky to have such an optimistic friend who loved to remind me how valuable I was. “And long distance can work. You’re running out of excuses.”
I closed the curtain again before I unzipped the dress. “How about the fact that we end up arguing whenever we talk. Doesn’t really scream stable, now, does it?”
“Lovers argue, Dallas. It’s just a sign of the angsty romantic connection that you both share.”
I ripped the curtain back when I was finished changing and stared at her in faux disgust. She read way too many unrealistic novels and I thought an intervention was in serious order. She didn’t seem concerned by the distaste, and fixed me with an innocent smile as she followed me to the cash register.
“You’re just bothered because I’m right.”
The dance started in a half-hour, and to say I was nervous was an understatement. I was disappointed that my plan to binge watch Netflix had been thrown out the window. Instead, I would get to watch Drayton show up looking like an A-list heartthrob with some cover girl on his arm. And I had to entertain a college dance major I hadn’t expected. The entire event was being overhyped by my imagination and it was starting to make me nauseated.
I stood in front of the mirror and combed my fingers through my hair, which I’d given a natural wave to. My summer tan was wearing off so I had put a bit of tanning moisturizer on to give me warmth.
“Can I come in?” Cooper knocked on the door and opened it a crack, but he didn’t appear until I let him know that it was fine. “Oh wow, Dallas. Great dress.”
I smiled and gestured at his tall, lean frame. “Great suit.”
Cooper looked dapper in a fitted dark-blue suit. He’d opted out of wearing a tie, but he still looked formal and handsome. The only downfall was that I felt the colors didn’t look right together. Dark blue and champagne didn’t fit. But there was nothing to be done about that now.
“I got you something.” He smiled, walking farther into the room with his hand behind his back. “I snuck off while you were dress shopping.”
He proudly revealed the mystery gift—a beautiful corsage with a champagne ribbon and shimmering detail; the more interesting part was the lily that it was made of. He couldn’t have known that my dress was going to be champagne and I had to wonder if the lily was a coincidence or not.
“How did you know that I love lilies?” I smiled appreciatively and slipped the corsage onto my wrist. Maybe I should just try and make an effort to feel something for him. It could go somewhere if I let it happen naturally. Maybe …
“Oh, I-I didn’t know. I thought it looked good.”
“It looks great. I love it. Thanks.”
I should have felt more excited for the evening ahead, but I was anxious with a side of dread. I was stressed about Cooper. I was worried that where Drayton and I stood was so unclear. The simple fact that he and I were so up in the air left a permanent weight on my chest like I had never felt before. It was a constant ache in the back of my head.
“Shall we?” Cooper offered me his arm and I linked mine with his. We headed into the living room where Nathan was waiting with his keys in hand, watching a football game on the television.
“Aw, Sis.” He smiled and spun the keys around his finger as we approached. “You look great”—his eyes moved to Cooper and his mouth turned down—“although black would have looked better,” he mumbled.
“Well.” I clapped my hands together as a deep heat engulfed my cheeks. He was making things incredibly awkward with his blatant hostility. “Should we go?”
“Yeah. You want a photo?” Nathan waved his phone with boredom.
His enthusiasm was outstanding. I bet if Drayton had been my date, he would have created a themed backdrop and set up his own photo shoot. I didn’t bother mentioning it, and Cooper and I stood together for a few snapshots.
When we arrived at the dance, I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough. The tension had been palpable; no one said a word the entire ride. Thank the good Lord that it was only a five-minute drive.
“Your brother doesn’t like me, does he?” Cooper asked as we waved Nathan off and headed toward the gymnasium.
“He’s just a bit of a snob when it comes to sports,” I explained as lightly as I could, so that Cooper didn’t take it to heart. “I think the fact that you don’t worship at the altar of football bugs him. Just ignore him; it’s not important.”
“You guys take your football pretty seriously?” He held the gymnasium door open and ushered me inside.
“We do.”
The now-transformed gym looked great, and I admired how well the social committee had done the movie classics theme. The walls were lined with famous quotes. People were taking photos with cardboard cutout characters from the films Mean Girls, The Breakfast Club, Clueless, Grease, Sixteen Candles, Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, and a slew of other favorites. Red and blue helium balloons stuck to the ceiling and streamers were cast from one wall to the other. It looked marvelous.
“Want to dance?” Cooper placed his hand on the small of my back as he leaned in with a keen smile. The dance floor was occupied with two or so dozen students, but there were more people arriving by the minute, so I supposed dancing before the floor turned into a sweaty cesspool of horny teenagers was our best option.
“Sure.”
I gripped his hand and led him toward the floor to make up for the weak acceptance of his request. I was grateful that the song was an upbeat Demi Lovato tune and not a slow song that would require intimacy. I was so pathetic.
We danced for about ten minutes, during which time the gym filled up, the chatter becoming louder and the atmosphere more energetic. I did my best not to glance at the door every two seconds, but it was almost impossible. I was offered a momentary distraction from my search when Gabby and Josh arrived, looking like a couple fit for the red carpet.
Gabby’s fitted dress fell to her thighs and the vibrant yellow fabric complimented her warm, glowing russet skin. The plunging neckline was decorated with a simple silver chain and pendant, and her hair was arranged into a beautiful bun on the top of her head. Josh’s suit was swish, and he was wearing a tie that matched her dress. Gabby saw me from the entryway and waved, looking the happiest that I’d seen her in a long time. I decided then and there that I would drop the moody attitude so that she wouldn’t worry about me.
“You look so hot,” I squealed as she jostled toward me with her arms open. We embraced in a girlish, giggling hug. Now the night felt right—my best friend here, seeing her in such good spirits, admiring the way Josh grinned at her with an infatuated expression.
“You look hot.” She gripped my shoulders and held me at arm’s length, an adoring look fluttering her eyes before they moved toward the date behind me. “Hey, Cooper, you look nice.”
“Thanks, Gabby, so do you.”
“And we all know that I look amazing.” Josh stepped forward and threw his arm over Gabby’s shoulders. “Let’s go and dance, beautiful.”
A smile that met her gorgeous brown eyes lifted her cheeks and
the two of them slipped away into the crowd. At least something good came from my friendship with Drayton. Two people who were absolutely perfect for each other met—they deserved so much happiness.
Cooper and I continued to dance for a while, our bodies moving in sync to the loud music. He had incredible rhythm even when he was dancing in a crowded gym and wearing a fitted suit. We danced well together, but our bodies didn’t fit the way that I wanted them to. Not the way that it felt when I danced with Drayton.
“Hey, I’m just going to go and get a drink,” I told him approximately three seconds into a slow song. His hands had found my hips, and I felt as though I was about to suffocate.
“I’ll come.”
“No, no.” I exhaled and reminded myself to breathe as he waited for an explanation. “I’m going to go to the bathroom first. I won’t be long.”
I grabbed Melissa as she headed for the dance floor. She raised a curious brow at my hand holding her arm with an ironlike grip. Letting go, I admired her black sequin cocktail dress with shimmers of emerald that illuminated when the light hit it.
“You look gorgeous—”
“You’re not my type,” she laughed when I stammered then gave me a light jab in the shoulder. “What’s up, girl?”
“This is Cooper. My date.”
“Your date?”
“I’m going to the bathroom.” I sidestepped out of his hold and patted her on the shoulder. “Chat with him for a second.”
I pecked his cheek, which seemed to make him happy and beelined toward the spring-loaded gym doors, throwing them open and practically running down the concrete steps as I filled my lungs with the chilled night air.
This was too much.
It was too hard and I could feel the threat of tears as I leaned against the wall around the corner, hidden out of sight. My inability to feel something for someone else was so frustrating, so enraging that I wanted to pull my hair out.
Cooper was so sweet and kind, the sort of person that a girl would be blessed to have. But there was nothing there and I felt panicked that this was how it was going to be from now on. He couldn’t make me feel the earth-shattering, euphoric, and captivating emotions that Drayton made me feel. It was so unfair that it hurt.
I was realizing that you couldn’t force feelings and love to exist where they didn’t, in the same way that you couldn’t deny when they did. The sound of gravel crunching beneath feet startled me, and I expected to find that Cooper had followed me. Maybe even Gabby. But instead, I came face to face with a shadowed Drayton.
My heart thumped with impossible strength at the sight of him. His black tailored suit hugged him perfectly. He was wearing a crisp white shirt and a thin belt. The shirt sleeves were rolled to his elbows, stretching at the seams around his large biceps. He wasn’t wearing a tie and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing his toned, olive chest. He looked beyond good. He looked mesmerizing and I couldn’t describe how deep the desire I felt for him went.
“Are you okay?” He was cautious, stopping a few feet in front of me.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “We should probably stop meeting like this, though.”
“I saw you basically run out of the gym.” He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. “I wanted to make sure that he hadn’t done anything to make you upset.”
“No, Dray, he didn’t,” I said. “I didn’t even know you were here.”
“I’ve been here for a while.” He shrugged, and his eyes moved toward the corsage on my wrist. He stepped closer and lifted my hand to inspect it, the touch sending shock waves throughout my body.
“You told him to get this, didn’t you? I don’t know how you knew, but you had something to do with this?”
He didn’t take his eyes off the corsage. “You love champagne, you always wear it.” His hand slowly moved farther up my arm, his fingers grazing my skin so gently that it raised goose bumps as he moved toward my elbow. “And the lilies are obvious. You draw them all over your econ book.”
At this point, if I had been hooked up to a machine, I’d have been condemned as a medical mystery with the rate that my heart beat and my lungs worked. He had a firm but gentle grasp on my elbow. His eyes locked with mine and a vulnerability that I’d never seen before shone through his every feature, like a bright beacon of hope. If sparks of electricity were visible between two people, we’d be lighting up the entire state at this point.
“Dray—” It came out as a breathless gasp as he tugged on my elbow and cupped my neck, driving our mouths together with a hungry force that knocked the wind right out of me.
My hands wound themselves around his neck, my fingers sliding into his hair as he pushed me backward into the wall. Our tongues met and I couldn’t believe that the taste of peppermint over cigarettes actually tasted good, but it did.
His smooth tongue moved expertly against my own as his hands traveled down the length of my waist, across my hips, and onto the soft satin that caressed my thighs. We clawed at each other as if we couldn’t get close enough, the hard brick wall behind me no doubt creating indents on my back, but at that point a natural disaster could have taken place and I don’t think that I’d have noticed.
I could feel his swollen length pressed against my stomach through the soft, silky fabric, and it drew a moan from deep within me. His pace picked up in response, his hands winding in my hair and pulling my head back to expose my throat, which he dragged his hot mouth along, kissing and sucking his way to my collarbone. “In case it wasn’t obvious,” he murmured, still kissing my throat. “You look so fucking gorgeous.”
I stared up the starry sky, gasping in ecstasy, completely at the mercy of his touch and coming undone at his words.
His mouth worked its way back up to my own, crashing against me furiously and urgently. His arm wound around my waist, pressing our bodies impossibly close together, his rock-hard chest felt beyond sensual, and I undid another button as we continued to kiss with need. I ran my hands across his pecs and chest, something I’d wanted to do since I first saw that sculpted masterpiece. My touch drew a throaty groan from him, which reverberated right through me, igniting more need than I thought was possible.
“Come with me?” he mumbled against my mouth, continuing to pepper me with wet, hot, needy kisses.
I wanted to follow him. I wanted to follow him anywhere he wanted to go, but the reality of the situation reminded me that I couldn’t. It reminded me that I shouldn’t even be doing this right now.
“I can’t,” I gasped and leaned away from his dangerous mouth. “Dray, I can’t. I’m here with someone else.”
He leaned against the wall, encasing me between his arms as we both desperately tried to catch our breath. I’d messed his hair up, quite significantly, and I was sure mine didn’t look a lot better. Our breathless panting could probably be heard from miles away. But it didn’t seem to matter. Nothing did. Drayton’s eyes flickered between mine and my mouth, and he looked as though he was going to kiss me again. I wanted that. I wanted it all, all of him, all night long. But I was there with someone else, and even I couldn’t go so far as to leave Cooper at a dance where he didn’t know anyone.
“Yeah,” he huffed and straightened up. “You are here with someone else. I’m sorry.”
He leaned back in and placed a soft, chaste kiss against my swollen lips before he caressed my cheek and walked away. I was left leaning against the wall with the spins. I’d had a lot of kisses and not one had been in league with that.
I could only feel a fraction of guilt for what I’d just done. The high was still very much in place, and Cooper was a faint thought somewhere in the back of my mind. That was until I began walking back inside, only to find him leaning against the gym wall at the corner, a sad smile on his face.
“Cooper?” I attempted to fix the disheveled state that my hair is in. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough.”
“Cooper, I—”
“I g
uess I should have seen it coming.” He twisted on the heel of his foot and began to walk in the other direction.
“Wait. Ple—”
“You could have told me.” He turned around and I almost bumped into him. I felt sick for being the cause of his distress. “You could have just said, ‘I’m not interested. Go home. You’re wasting your time.’”
“I—It—I didn’t want to be rude. You came here just for me. I didn’t—It would have felt—I mean, I didn’t want to ruin the weekend. It didn’t seem fair to brush you off when you had nowhere else to go.”
I was sobbing. Not because I was scared of losing his friendship—that would be awful—but because he seemed so hurt and frustrated, and I felt terrible.
“Don’t, don’t be upset.” He sighed and sat down on the steps. “You’re not really to blame here. I arrived without warning and with how complicated things seemed between you and Drayton, I should have known that it was wishful thinking that you would be available.”
“I am sorry.” I sat down beside him.
“Don’t be.” He smiled and stared in front of him. The soft night breeze tousled his hair and chilled the surface of my skin. It was getting colder but I was well aware my anxiety over the situation was making me feel ten times worse. “I get it, you know. You guys have this thing. It’s pretty obvious that you’re trying to fight it.”
“I’m failing,” I admitted.
“I’ve been in Drayton’s position before—I’ve had to watch the girl that I love move on with someone because a future wasn’t in our cards. It hurts.”
“Drayton doesn’t love me.” I quickly denied the notion, not wanting the ache in my heart to become any worse.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” He nudged my arm with a playful smile. “The way someone looks at you can say a lot about how they feel. You both look at each other as though … as though no one else around you exists.”
“So, what happened? With the girl that you love?”
“Her family was originally from India, really traditional. They moved here when she was young, and we went to high school together. We went to separate colleges, but we made it work. I loved her. Unfortunately, her parents had arranged for her to marry someone else when she was a child. It’s not super common but it does exist in some families.
The QB Bad Boy and Me Page 19
