Prom King

by Penny Wylder

  He doesn’t have the chance to respond because Sasha starts laughing. A bold, loud laugh that fills the gym. I see small smiles cracking on people’s faces, some of them covering them with their hands. She’s winning them over. “Isn’t that cute? Everyone in the school knows that you’re in love with Adam. It makes perfect sense that you’d do anything you possibly could do dance with him.”

  I don’t dare look back at him. Not now. I don’t want to know. “I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t do this,” I say. I look at people in the crowd. I look at the teachers. “I didn’t even want to come to prom,” I said. “I came with a friend. I didn’t…” I trail off because there’s not one person who seems to believe me. “How does Sasha even know that my name was written in blue ink? How would she know that if she hadn’t seen the envelope herself?”

  Just for a second, I think I’m making progress. I see some people try to think about that, but Sasha doesn’t let them finish the thought. “Ollie, you’re nothing but a cheater. I mean, I understand why you did it,” she sounds sympathetic, but she’s really not, “but it’s pathetic.” She rips the tiara off my head, and I wince as it tears at my hair. “I think it’s time for you to go.”

  “But—”

  “CHEATER!” she yells it in my face.

  I try to say something. It’s not true. “I’m not—”

  “CHEATER!”

  A tear slips out, and I can’t breathe. She’s not going to let me talk or defend myself. She put this together so perfectly that no one is going to question her. “Please,” I say, but no one hears it. Sasha is chanting the word now, and other people have joined her. There’s pain in my chest, and I can’t…I can’t…

  I look back at Adam, and he looks disappointed. Like he doesn’t know what to think of me, and I feel my heart fracture in two. I run, and the crowd parts for me. I’m not sure how I make it to the doors, because I can’t see anything.

  I’ve never felt this kind of pain before and I don’t know what to do. Somehow I make it to my car, and I collapse into the backseat, letting tears and pain consume me. What did I ever do to make people want to treat me like this? Why couldn’t Sasha just leave me alone?

  If I never see any of these people again, it’ll be too soon.

  8

  Ollie

  Present Day

  The air is still perfect, and Adam doesn’t let go of my hand until we’re outside and across the street to the square with trees and a fountain by the Plaza. It’s a strange kind of place, dark in the middle of New York’s brilliance. Somehow all the noise doesn’t seem to reach right here, and it feel like we’re completely alone.

  “How have you been, really?”

  I shrug. “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah,” I make a face. “Why?”

  Adam scratches the back of his neck, “I was worried about you.”

  I’m still not getting it. “But why?”

  “It’s really good to see you,” he says. “I’m glad that you’re doing well.”

  “Yeah.”

  He puts his hands in his pockets. “So what did you decide to do after high school?”

  “College,” I say. Then I laugh. “I’m kidding. I did go to college, but I’m an accountant now. Super sexy, I know.”

  “That’s great,” he says. “Seriously. I would be lost without my accountant. They get a bad rap but I think most people would fall apart without people who actually understand tax law.”

  “I do get a lot of very nice thank you gifts around tax season.”

  He laughs. “Anything else? Are you seeing anyone?”

  There’s no way in hell I’m going to tell him about my nerdy single existence. The life that’s not glamorous like tonight. The one where I stay home reading books and watching Netflix and occasionally going on dates with men who don’t find me attractive. “Well, that’s not fair,” I say. “Don’t I get to hear about your career too?”

  Adam looks suddenly shy. “I’m finishing up the last year of my residency, I graduate next year.”

  “Residency as in doctor? Wow!”

  “You seem surprised,” he says, chuckling.

  “I mean, I am a little. I guess I figured you’d have gone into finance or something.”

  He nods. “A lot of guys from our class did. I didn’t even really know it was something I wanted to do until college. In fact, I was sure I didn’t want to be a doctor since both my parents are. But I took a bunch of classes in different fields my first semester, and to make my family happy, one of them was a pre-med bio class. I was surprised how much I loved it. And of course my parents were thrilled. I never looked back.”

  “That’s really great, Adam. What’s your specialty?”

  “Pediatrics.”

  Wow. “That’s really amazing, Adam.” And I mean it. “Where are you?”

  “Columbia. I’m hoping to stay there too.”

  “Good to know that you’re not planning to leave anytime soon.”

  “Why is that good?” he asks with a smile.

  I shrug. “No reason. But I do think it’s great that you’re doing something to help people. I mean, as much as I like my job, I can’t really say that.”

  “Well—”

  I hold up my hand. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do.” Adam looks down at the ground, and over at the fountain, then back at me. “I’ve been thinking about you, Ollie.”

  I try to ignore the way my breath catches in my chest. “Probably just the reunion. I imagine you’ve been thinking about everybody in our class.”

  “No. I’ve been thinking about you for a long time. I actually never stopped.”

  I freeze, try to push down the hope that blooms through me. He doesn’t mean what I think he means. The only reason that he thought about me was because of everything that happened.

  There’s a silence for a moment and then he takes a step forward. “I want to apologize.”

  The intensity in his face is mesmerizing, and I don’t want to look away, but I don’t understand. “Adam, we haven’t seen each other in ten years. What are you apologizing for?”

  “For ten years ago. I never got to know you in school the way I really wanted to, and what happened at prom, I shouldn’t have just stood there. I should have said something or gone after you. That was my fault.”

  I close my eyes, fighting against the memory that wells up in my brain, still impossibly painful after all this time. “It wasn’t your fault. That was all Sasha.”

  “No,” he says. “I’m the reason that she did it. She wanted me to go out with her, and I turned her down that night.”

  I open my eyes, and I’m staring into his perfect green eyes and I’m suddenly nervous. What does this mean? “Why did you turn her down?”

  “Because I liked you. And she hated that.”

  Suddenly the question I’ve been asking myself for ten years—why would Sasha Daniels target me like that—has an answer. I’m not sure if I’m angry or relieved, but I’m glad that I know. If I had known this a long time ago, things would have been different. “I wish you’d told me that a long time ago.”

  “Yeah,” he says. “But you didn’t come back, and after that night I didn’t think that you’d want to see anyone. And the more time passed the harder it got to consider reaching out. Which is why I’m apologizing now. I should have done more, and I regret not getting to know you when I had the chance.”

  The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. “You still can.”

  It settles in my gut, that I forgive him. It’s not his fault that Sasha chose to take his rejection out on me, and yeah he could have done something, could have said something, but he wasn’t the only person that didn’t. I mean, I wish that he had told me about his feelings a long time ago, but I didn’t tell him that I liked him either. And staying angry about it isn’t going to help either of us. Besides, maybe there’s a chance now.

  Adam’s face goes still in shock at my wo
rds. I don’t think he was expecting me to say that. It’s fair, I wasn’t expecting me to say that either. Yeah, that was probably stupid. He didn’t bring me out here to hit on me, he brought me out here to absolve ten years of guilt. The realization of just how wrong I was about this situation creeps up and I blush, embarrassment making me flash hot. “I should go,” I say, turning and heading back toward the hotel.

  “Ollie, wait,” he says. “Don’t go.”

  He manages to grab my hand, and I lose my balance, slipping backwards. He catches me, pulling me upright and against him, and I still can’t breathe and now it’s for an entirely different reason. Adam has his arms around me, hands against the bare skin of my back and I feel like I’m back in high school because it’s all I’ve ever wanted.

  Being pressed up against him, I feel the body that I saw in that photo through his clothes. Hard and strong and absolutely overwhelming. It’s not only his muscles that are hard right now, and… oh my god. It’s because of me. It really shouldn’t take a man’s hard-on to be convinced that he wants me, but it suddenly clicks.

  I feel like I’ve got emotional whiplash from the last three minutes.

  “You okay?” His voice is lower, rougher than before.

  I look up into his face and we’re so close now. “Yeah,” I say. And I mean it. I’m okay. I can’t believe that this is happening. Is it going to happen? I don’t know. I don’t want to force it. I don’t think that I could take that rejection. “You can let me go now.”

  “Why would I ever do that?”

  He leans down and presses his lips against mine and oh…

  My whole body feels like champagne, light and bubbly and drunk and it’s barely a kiss. I gasp when he pulls back. Our mouths were closed and it was nothing more than lips and I still feel like I’ve run a marathon—breathless and filled with endorphins and just happy.

  His hands roam up and down my back, and I’m very aware of the fact that I’m not wearing any underwear under this dress. I can feel my nipples harden against the silk, and I wonder if he can feel them too. I don’t know what to say right now. What do you say in this moment? Where the barest of kisses is better than you ever thought that it could be?

  I’m saved from answering that question because we’re both staring at each other, and I can feel the smile on my face. It matches the one that’s on his that’s making me feel like the sun is shining at midnight in Manhattan.

  “May I kiss you again?”

  “Please do.”

  He chuckles as he closes the distance, and this time it’s not just lips. His tongue is there, gently asking permission and I open for him, and everything feels like it expands. This is so much more than I thought, so much better. I feel like I’m flying, joy and air and pleasure filling me up until I can’t contain it and I kiss him back.

  I wrap my arms around his neck and try to pull him closer. I’ve never had a first kiss like this. I guess it’s technically a second kiss. Who cares, I’m kissing Adam Carlisle! My body heats up as our tongues dance and I think I could stay in this moment forever.

  I have to catch my breath when we separate. He’s stolen all my breath from me. I’d happily let him do it again. “Wow.” Is the only word I can say.

  He chuckles softly. “I wasn’t expecting that.” His fingers tighten on my spine. “I didn’t want you to run. I was just surprised and wasn’t expecting you to forgive me or willing to be near me.”

  “Better late than never. I’ve thought about you too. I actually have a confession to make.”

  “Oh?” he smiles. “Are you keeping a dark secret?”

  I laugh. “Not dark, no. I wasn’t going to come. I was convinced that I never wanted to see any of our class again. But Lorraine knows me too well—she knows that I never really got over my crush.”

  “On me?” He’s grinning like I’ve just said I think unicorns are real.

  “Yeah, on you.” I’m glad it’s dim here under these trees because I’m blushing again. “I had said no, and then she showed me your pictures. Once I saw them, I realized that you were the only person that I wanted to see. Even if it was only from across the room.”

  “This is much better than from across the room,” he says, and then he kisses me again.

  My heart is going to pound itself out of my chest. God, I’ll never be able to thank Lorraine enough for forcing me to come to this reunion. If I had known that this would happen, I never would have fought her on it. I need to buy her the biggest box of her favorite chocolate that I can find.

  The energy of this kiss shifts, and I can feel it turn hungry in both of us. I slide my hands inside the jacket of his tuxedo, feeling more of his body, and I’m acutely aware of the fact that his hand is sliding down my back to the low dip of my dress. A few more inches and he’s about to realize that there’s absolutely nothing separating him from my skin.

  I hear the click of high heels a second before I hear her voice. “Ollie?”

  Lorraine comes around the corner of the path and I try to jump back from Adam, unsuccessfully. He doesn’t let me go, and we’re still entwined together. Adam raises an eyebrow. “Embarrassed?”

  “No,” I say, blushing. “Though I love getting caught mid-make-out by my best friend.” He chuckles, and I turn to face Lor. “Hi.”

  She smirks. “Hi. I came to get you to dance! The party is finally going, and it’s really fun.” She looks Adam up and down. “You should come too.”

  “I’ll be right there,” I say.

  “Sure,” she says.

  “How did you find us?”

  “I followed the sound of your ovaries screaming in ecstasy.”

  “Lor!” I flush bright red as Adam bursts out laughing.

  She waves a hand. “Kidding. The doorman said he saw you guys come this way when I described you.”

  “Okay then,” I say. “Bye.”

  “See you!”

  She flounces off, and I turn back to Adam, hiding my face in his shirt. “Now I’m embarrassed.”

  “Don’t be,” he says, still laughing a little. “If my best friend were here it might have been worse.”

  “Is he here?” I ask, not wanting to walk into that particular situation.

  Adam shakes his head. “No, he’s a friend from med school. I’m sure you’ll meet him at some point.”

  “I’d like to, but I’m glad I don’t have to worry about something more embarrassing than that.”

  He tilts his head to the side. “I think I’d risk it so I could do this again.”

  There’s something in the way that he kisses me that makes New York fall away. I’m standing in the middle of the sky with Adam, nothing exists but the two of us, and I’m prepared for it to stay that way. He pulls away too soon. “Will you dance with me?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  Taking my hand in his again, we walk back into the hotel together, and I ignore the pointedly amused look that the doorman gives us when we pass. God knows what Lorraine said to him when she came back inside.

  Lor wasn’t kidding, the ballroom is an entirely different place when we walk into it. The lights are low now, with roving streaks of colored light highlighting the dance floor, and it seems more like a club than a ballroom. The benefit of that is no one even notices that Adam and I walk in hand in hand. There’s a crush of people on the dance floor and Lorraine is right in the center.

  Dancing has never been my thing, but I’ll do it for Lor. And the thought of dancing with Adam leads me to dirty places in my mind. Places I definitely shouldn’t be dwelling on in public. “Ready?” he asks.

  I nod and he pulls me into the crowd, helping maneuver us to where Lor is already completely one with the music. Her smile is brilliant, and she cheers when we reach her, pulling me into a hug and then spinning me back to Adam. “I don’t know how to do this!” I shout at him so he can hear me.

  “Don’t worry,” he shouts back, and then he leans down so his voice is in my ear. “I’ve got you.”

  Gr
abbing my hand, he spins me out and pulls me back so that my back is against his chest. The way he’s moving with the rhythm is smooth and easy, and his confidence makes it feel easy for me too. One of his hands holds mine, and the other is wrapped around my waist, holding us close so that we move together.

  I like the way I can feel the fabric of his clothes against the bare skin of my back, and I like the way his fingers spread across my stomach, confident and a little possessive. I can feel that he’s still hard, and the thought that he’s hard because of me makes my heart beat faster.

  Adam’s lips find my neck and god I’m glad that it’s so loud because I moan. His mouth feels like fire and pleasure and now I’m wondering what his lips will feel like everywhere. Everywhere. His hand slips lower on my dress, and it’s like every little inch of me he touches is shooting need straight into my gut. I’m going to get lost and forget where I am.

  “Adam,” I say, but my voice is lost in the music. I turn to face him, and our movement takes on an entirely different feeling. Face to face, hips locked together, and I’m so aroused now that I can’t really move. He’s the one who’s moving both of us.

  I lean forward to whisper in his ear, “I don’t want to stop.”

  “We don’t have to.”

  “If we don’t,” I say, “I’m going to have a moment more embarrassing than prom.”

  I watch his eyes go dark and everything about him hardens more, and he holds me more tightly against his body. It doesn’t help the problem. The music changes then, to a slower song, and it’s like high school all over again. People who haven’t paired off suddenly do, and Adam and I blend in perfectly with the other couples. I glance to my left and see Lorraine with Joey Lancaster—honestly I should have seen that coming.

  Adam’s hand falls on my lower back, and he takes my other hand in the traditional waltz pose. “I wanted to dance with you that night, you know.”

  “Did you?”

  “I was as surprised as you were that night, and when it seemed like you had won, it was too perfect. But I should have realized something was wrong earlier. I had just told Sasha that I liked you. But I was so happy…” Adam looks embarrassed now. “I’m glad I have the chance to do this now.”