by K. K. Allen
“That maybe things could be different?”
She cast her eyes down and nodded. My heart was starting to pound violently. I didn’t know where the conversation was heading, but I also didn’t know if I wanted to find out. “C’mon, Camila,” I said, taking a step closer to her and tightening my hold around her waist. “This isn’t something we need to figure out today. I’m not even sure that’s possible.”
She furrowed her eyebrows as she glared at me. “Then what are we doing together, Ridge? Just killing time before I go off to college? Time’s running out, you know. Or do you even care?”
“Whoa.” My chest puffed, and tension radiated in my neck. “Why are you picking a fight with me?”
“Why are you making it so easy?”
Camila was a spitfire, but I hated it when she used that fire against me. I put my good hand on her face to force her to look at me. “You know I want to be with you. I came back here for you. And when you go off to college, I’ll wait for you to come home. Don’t you think it will be much easier to deal with our fathers once you’re out of high school and working at the vineyard full-time? Either way, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” I squeezed my eyelids shut, realizing the significance of those words. When Camila’s giggle left her throat, I opened my eyes and smiled. “We’ll deal with whatever obstacles are in front of us then. And one day, when the vineyard is yours and the corn farm is mine, then we won’t have to worry about what anyone else thinks. We’ll be the ones making the rules.”
A tear fell from Camila’s eye, and she swiped it. “That could be thirty years from now.”
“No way,” I said gently. “Four years, tops. We’ll be more equipped to deal with our fathers then. Plus, they’ll be too old to argue with us anymore.”
She smiled, a challenge in her eyes. “You’ll really wait for me? Four years is a long time, you know.”
“Not as long as the lifetime I’ve already waited. And I’ll wait forever more if it means we get to exist in this world together. We’re going to change the future together, Wild One. Four years isn’t going to stand in our way.”
She looked at me for several seconds before tugging me by my collar and smashing her lips to mine. We kissed until the moon hung brightly above us through the treetops and the stars twinkled boldly in the dark night’s sky. We kissed slowly then feverishly, saying all the words we wanted to say but couldn’t.
Camila and I had only explored each other the way we had on Last Dollar Road, and I ached to touch her like that again. “I’ve missed you,” I said before planting a soft kiss between her neck and shoulder.
Her body relaxed into me. “I’ve missed you too.”
When the next few seconds filled with awkward silence, worry crept into my chest. I was so used to Camila always driving the conversations with her intense enthusiasm. “Is something else wrong?”
She searched my eyes, and the extra stretch of silence worried me more. “Um.” She looked down, like she was guilty for something. “There’s this dance thing at my school…”
“Senior prom?” I asked.
Camila nodded.
“Okay, what about it?”
“I haven’t decided whether I’m going yet.”
“I never went to mine.” I was still confused but also trying to make her feel better about whatever had upset her.
Her eyes were cast down, at the top button of my shirt, which she’d undone. “Why didn’t you go?”
I chuckled. “Probably because the only girl I would have taken was a sophomore at the time.”
A smile tilted her lips. “I wish you could come with me.”
I frowned, wishing all the things that she did. Is that what’s upsetting her? “Be careful what you wish for. I might just show up with a dozen stalks of corn instead of flowers and wearing a flannel instead of a suit.” I winked, trying to lighten the mood, but she didn’t laugh. Closing my eyes, I let my forehead rest on hers. “I wish I could take you to your prom, Camila. You’ll be the most beautiful girl there.”
“What’s the point in going if I can’t go with you?”
Something yanked at my chest. A selfish part of me wanted to tell her not to go, but I couldn’t ask her to do that. “The point,” I said, cupping her chin with my fingers, “is to have one last hurrah with your friends. Dance until your heels hurt. Laugh until you cry. Make memories that you’ll never forget. Then when it’s all over, save me your last dance and meet me at the bridge so that we can make a memory of our own.”
Camila’s eyes welled with emotion. She took my hand and squeezed it. “I love that plan.”
Good, because I love you.
29
Ridge
A sleek black Mustang pulled down the gravel drive to my ranch house when I came back from the hilltop. The Saturday of the dance had arrived, and I’d been keeping myself occupied all day. The last thing I expected was for Raven Bradshaw to pay a visit, especially when she should be at her prom with Camila. Harold was working on one of the old tractors in the garage, and I wondered what he would think of our visitor. A Bradshaw was almost as bad as a Bell in his mind.
Raven stepped out of her car, revealing the gown she’d picked for the evening. It was a long, beaded gold dress with a high slit that revealed an overly tanned thigh. Her makeup was bold, painted in just the right spots to make her appear older than her eighteen years. I would be a liar if I didn’t recognize my attraction to my old friend, but I’d had many reasons for not exploring that attraction. Lord knew Raven had given me plenty of opportunities. The way she was looking at me on her approach told me she might be there to offer me another one.
“Lost on your way to the dance?” My joke was a lame attempt at trying to ignore the real reason as to why Raven had chosen that night of all nights to show up in her prom dress.
Her blush was still visible on her highlighted cheeks. “Something like that.” When she stopped in front of me, her height was almost a shock compared to Camila’s. “I’m here to ask you to my prom, actually.” Her blush deepened. “I should have asked you sooner, but I had some trouble getting up the nerve. I know you graduated two years ago, and the last thing you probably want to do is go to a silly high school dance, but—” She laughed quietly then looked me boldly in the eyes. “I think it could be fun. You know, to go together. You already know a lot of people going, since they were at the camp last year, and…”
She just kept talking, and I just kept listening. At one point during her run-on, I opened my mouth then snapped it shut. Raven had always been nice to me, despite her brother’s feelings toward me. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.
“You’re not saying anything.” Her eyes froze on me, and her nervous mood dissipated into darkness.
“I’m sorry, Raven. I guess I’m just confused. We’ve been friends for a long time, and your brother isn’t exactly my biggest fan.”
She waved her hand. “Don’t worry about Trip. He’ll be there tonight, but he won’t bother you.”
I let out a laugh. “He’ll be at your prom? Who’d he sucker into taking him tonight?”
Raven smiled at my amusement. “Camila Bell, of course.”
The air left my chest as soon as I heard her name. Raven didn’t seem to notice.
“Trip’s had his eyes locked on that girl for as long as I can remember.”
Not a person in town could have missed that, but to hear those feelings might suddenly be reciprocated had me fuming. Just the previous week, we’d met at the bridge, and she’d been so distraught over the fact that we couldn’t go to the dance together. She failed to mention that she’d agreed to go with someone else. Even if she had told me she was going with someone else, I wouldn’t have been upset about it, or at least no more upset than I naturally was that we couldn’t go together. But why did she feel the need to lie? I could only think of one reason—that she had feelings for him back.
Camila Bell, of course. Raven’s words went around and around in my
mind.
“So,” Raven said, her expression still hopeful. “Will you be my date tonight? I mean, you’re already dressed up and everything.”
She’d noted my crisp black slacks and white button-down. I didn’t dare tell her why I was dressed up, and I cringed internally and let out a slow breath before responding. As pissed as I was at Camila for lying, I couldn’t accompany Raven to a dance, knowing she had feelings for me. Not only would it lead her on, but I would have to stare at Camila with Trip all night. Imagining them together was bad enough.
“I can’t go with you, Raven. I’m sorry.”
Her eyes widened slightly. Surely, men didn’t turn Raven down—especially outcasts with zero events on their social calendar. I had to give her a reason.
“It’s just that… I’m seeing someone, and it wouldn’t be fair to them.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize. I’m the one who’s sorry. I put you on the spot like that. It’s just—” She let out a laugh and waved at her car. “All my friends are going with someone else, and the only guy who asked me to go is a freshman. Sometimes I really hate living in such a small town.”
I smiled back at her sympathetically. “Trust me. I get it. Maybe you’ll meet someone at the dance. Any guy would be crazy not to want to dance with you.”
She shrugged then took a step back. “Yeah, well. Consider yourself crazy then.” She winked, making me feel a little better that I hadn’t completely crushed her.
Not until after she’d driven off did I allow myself to think about Camila again and the fact that everything I’d planned for that night, everything I’d planned to do and say, was a complete waste.
30
Camila
Loud pop music blared from the giant limousine when I climbed in to greet my friends. I was the final stop on the way to dinner before the dance, and as soon as I stepped inside, I laughed at the setup. Someone had gone all out with our transportation. Not only was the limo large enough to fit thirteen of my closest friends comfortably, but it was also lined with neon-blue lights that reflected off the wood floor. It felt like I’d just stepped into a club, complete with two poles and a bar. Undoubtedly, some of my friends had sneaked alcohol into those cabinets.
“There’s my date!” Trip’s voice boomed from the other side of the limo.
I waved at him and smiled before squeezing in between Josie and our friend April. Calling Trip my “date” would be a stretch. He’d asked me to accompany him, and I’d said okay but with conditions—we would go with a large group of friends, we would go as friends and nothing more, and no slow dancing.
He’d tried to argue that last one, but I put my foot down. If he wanted to come to the dance so badly, then he had to play by my rules, which ensured he wouldn’t get the wrong idea about our going together.
“You’ll never believe what Raven did,” Josie whispered to me while everyone was shuffling out of the limo for dinner. She waited until everyone was out of the vehicle before she turned to me fully, her eyes wide. “Raven went to Ridge’s house and asked him to be her date to prom.”
“What?” The word came out as a shriek. “She did what?” I hissed.
Josie looked uneasy. “Carla and I were getting our nails done, and I kind of accidentally overheard their phone conversation. I don’t think Carla even realized I heard, but I did, and you should know he turned her down.” She giggled. “Obviously, since he’s not here. He told Raven that he’s seeing someone.”
I glared at the window, suddenly feeling an overwhelming desire to skip dinner and the dance and head home to find Ridge. “Of course he turned her down. On what planet does she think she has any chance with Ridge Cross?”
Josie squeezed my hand. “We already know Raven lost her marbles a long time ago. But that brings me to the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Are you sure Ridge is okay with you being out tonight with Trip? Seems a little double-standardish on your part.”
Guilt shot through me faster than I could stop it. “Double-standardish? I didn’t realize that was a word.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I’m saying.”
“I’m not out with Trip,” I corrected her. “I’m here with my friends. All of you. Trip just happens to be one of them.”
Josie frowned. “But he asked you to come as his date, and you agreed.”
“What was I supposed to do with our parents standing by like he’d just proposed?” I hissed. “What matters is that I don’t have feelings for Trip. At all.”
“And you’re sure Ridge will see it that way?”
I wanted to cry. I hated her questions because they brought all my anguish about the night to the surface. “He doesn’t have to see it any way, because I didn’t tell him Trip asked me to prom.”
She glared at me. “So you lied.”
I pulled in a deep, painful breath and shook my head. “I might have omitted the total truth. But this isn’t a date. I won’t let Trip pay for a thing.”
“He purchased this limo we’re in right now.”
I groaned, the urge to cry strong. “We’re not even going to slow dance together,” I mumbled. “I made him agree to the rules, and he did.”
“Oh my god, Camila. You’re in denial.”
I covered my face with my hands and leaned down until my elbows were resting on my knees. Everything felt tight—my chest, my throat, and even my freaking dress. I was suffocating, and it was all my own doing. “What do I do?”
Josie’s warm hand landed on my back and started circling it. “That’s completely up to you, Camila. What do you want to do?”
It wasn’t even a debate. “I want to be with Ridge.”
“Then you should be with Ridge.”
Josie had always been the one warning me to be careful. She knew just as well as I did that it could all lead to disaster. But she also loved me and knew that if I saw that night through with another man, I would never forgive myself.
I looked up, feeling a deep whoosh of relief pass through me, and felt love for my friend for the sharp slap of reality. “I need to go.”
Josie smiled then turned to the driver, who was waiting for us by the door. “Sir, do you mind running my friend home? She’s not feeling well.”
31
Ridge
The scent of stale beer wafted around me as I lay the blanket over Harold’s passed-out body. He’d been drinking a lot more ever since I’d punched him in the nose, and he hadn’t spoken a word to me since either. I was half-shocked that he hadn’t met me at the door with a shotgun when I returned that same night. Whether it was loneliness or the need for help on the farm, he’d let me stay.
I picked up the bottle that had rolled beneath the coffee table, tossed it into the garbage in the kitchen, and reached into the refrigerator to pull out another one. After opening it, I walked out to the front porch and sat down.
Passing the bottle from one hand to the other, I glared at it like it was peer pressuring me to drink it. I’d never had a sip of alcohol in my life, but the past year had seemed all about firsts—first kiss, first love, first potential heartbreak. A beer couldn’t possibly make things worse.
“Here goes nothing.” I moved the bottle to my lips and let it linger for a second, taking in the bitter scent with a wrinkled nose and closed eyes. “Jesus, who drinks this shit,” I mumbled against the rim. But just as I was going to suck it up and take a swig, the sound of tires rolling over the gravel drive had my eyelids popping open. “Oh no.”
Dread rolled through me as the limo came into view. My only thought was that it was Raven, back to haul me to that dance. That time, I wasn’t sure if I would have the strength to say no, not because I wanted to go with her but because it would give me the perfect opportunity to shove my fist into Trip’s face once and for all.
I set the beer down on the top stair and stood. The driver exited the limo and walked around the car. When the back passenger door opened and fabric from a red dress was all I could see through the cracks, my h
eart began to pound like crazy.
Before Camila even stepped past the driver and smiled at him in thanks, I knew it was her. She looked up at me, a timid smile on her lips, and walked forward a few steps, like she was too nervous to come any closer. Red was my favorite color on Camila. She wore it well, especially that night. The fluffy fabric fell just above her knees in front and dipped a few inches lower in the back. A sheer layer draped over the solid fabric of the skirt, and the neckline left her shoulders completely bare.
After blinking a few times, I finally felt like I could speak. “Won’t you be late for your prom?”
“I’m not going,” she called back.
The driver shut the door, walked around the limo, and got back into the driver’s seat.
I watched him drive away, confused. “What are you doing here, Camila?”
She shook her head, and as I stared back into her wide, beautiful eyes, I could see the fear she’d carried with her. “I’m here to apologize. Because I lied to you,” she said.
Not trusting my anger, I didn’t say a word. Instead, I kept my stare firm as I waited for her to continue.
“You already know, don’t you?”
I remained silent.
“You’re angry with me.”
Again, I remained silent.
Camila took a small step forward then stopped. Instead of my feisty Camila, in that moment, she was hesitant and afraid. Camila was never afraid.
She cast her eyes down. “Trip asked me to the dance. And I agreed to go with him.” She looked back up, that same look of guilt and fear swimming in her gaze. “But I insisted to him that we only go as friends,” she said. “There were fourteen of us riding in that limo, and I left before we even sat down for dinner.”
