Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
RYDER
I think my heart stops when I see Elizabeth standing on the staircase, looking absolutely stunning in her red dress, her long legs openly showcased. The tiny red flowers in her hair make her look like a forest fairy, and the deep red color of her dress contrasts with her green eyes. My gaze moves to her mouth painted a scarlet red.
I have to hand it to Jayson. He really stepped up for Elizabeth. When he first came to me about all of us taking her to prom, I didn’t know what to say. Julien and I planned to go anyway because we knew Elizabeth would want us there. Jay said all he wanted was for her to be happy, and he knew that Jules and I being a part of her prom experience would make her happy. The thought of getting to hold her close tonight, take her in my arms, even if it’s just for one dance, makes all the years of waiting worth it. For one night, I can pretend that she’s mine. Hold her like she’s mine.
The bus pulls up to the hotel where our school prom is being held. We idle in a line of limos and luxury sedans and watch hotel bellmen greet each arriving vehicle to help the passengers out.
As soon as we step off the bus, two girls I recognize from school rush over and hug Elizabeth.
“You look so fab!” one tells her. I think her name is Beth.
Keith and Davis, offensive linemen on the Fallen Brook football team, walk over to stand with the girls. It’s then I remember the other girl’s name is Celeste.
We walk inside the hotel and check in with a parent volunteer sitting at a table in the front lobby. After marking off each of our names from a list, our hands are stamped with a dye that will glow under a black light.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Jayson growls next to me.
I follow the direction he’s glaring and automatically shift my body in front of Elizabeth’s, my fists clenching for a fight.
Julien comes to my side. “Not tonight. Tonight’s about Liz.”
Elizabeth is talking to Celeste and is oblivious to Maria and Marshall looming our way.
“Isn’t this sweet? Lizzie finally got her wish for a threesome.”
Elizabeth stops mid-sentence and turns around.
“We aren’t doing this tonight,” I tell Maria.
Marshall is smart enough to keep his mouth shut. It’s not only me, Jayson, and Julien, but also Keith and Davis creating an impenetrable wall of “don’t fuck with us” attitude. Marshall mumbles something to Maria and hauls her away, but her eyes remain locked on Elizabeth.
“Well, this night just took a turn,” Elizabeth says.
“Nope. Not going to let that happen, Princess. This night is about you, and we will make damn sure that it’s a night to remember,” Jayson promises.
He takes her in his arms and kisses her. “I want to dance with my sexy-as-fuck girlfriend.”
Careful of her dress, he lifts her in his arms and carries her into the hotel ballroom.
“Elizabeth is never alone tonight,” I tell Julien.
I have a bad feeling that Maria will try something, and I will not let that happen.
“Not for a second,” he says.
The hotel ballroom is decorated with different replicas of tourist attractions from around the world. A lit up twenty-foot Eiffel Tower stands in the middle of the room, a water wall that says Niagara Falls next to it. There’s also London’s Tower Bridge, and mini skyscrapers that represent the New York City skyline. Photographers are stationed at each one, ready to take photographs.
“Babe, you guys did such a great job,” Davis tells Celeste.
She shimmies to the beat of the music thumping out from the tall, stand-up speakers placed in front of the DJ’s table.
“Thanks, babe.”
“You did this?” Julien asks her.
“Not just me, but yeah. I’m on the prom committee along with Beth.”
“Nice!”
Beth laughs. “You would never believe what Samantha wanted to do—a cowboy theme with a mechanical bull.”
Celeste rolls her eyes. “She wants anything she can ride, if you know what I mean.”
“Celeste!”
“You know I’m right.”
Elizabeth and Jayson leave the dance floor when the song ends, and she rushes over to me.
“Dance with me?”
I glance at Jayson, and he nods his okay.
“I’ll go grab us something to drink. Come on, Jules. I can use the extra hands.”
Dancing isn’t my thing, but I’ll suck it up and look like a fool for Elizabeth for one night. She links her pinkie with mine and walks us to the middle of the dance floor. As soon as she turns around and I take her into my arms, the lights dim and the DJ plays “Helium” by Sia.
And just like that, everything around us falls away.
The lyrics of the song begin, and something shifts between us. Some intangible emotion, chaotic and unrelenting. Like opposite magnetic poles, our bodies pull together, inch by slow inch. With our linked hands between us, pressed to my heart, she places her other hand flat against my chest. Her touch lights a spark that grows into a wildfire, and my fingers convulse with need as they curve around her hip.
Her sweet breath puffs against the side of my face when she rests her cheek against mine and sighs. My eyelids close of their own accord, every cell in my body electrified and pulsing, reveling in the feel of her in my arms. This moment. This girl. This is everything.
“Do you feel it?” she says, her words a warm flutter against my already heated skin.
My fingertips dig into her dress. “I do.”
She shakes her head in confusion. “Will it always be like this between us?”
I don’t know how to answer her. Because for me, the answer is yes. Yes, to the invisible power that always seems to inevitably bring us colliding back to one another. Yes, to the love between us that we never act on. Yes, to the overwhelming emotions that punch me in the gut every time I see her or hear her voice. Yes to it all.
The music fades, and Julien taps me on the shoulder. “My turn.”
I reluctantly release Elizabeth and leave her with him. Jayson hands me a bottle of water when I reach him.
“She having a good time?”
“Yeah.”
I search the crowd for Maria and Marshall and spot them at the Eiffel Tower with Jacinda, Samantha, and their dates.
“I’m going to steal Liz later for a bit. Didn’t want you to think we skipped out and leave without us.”
Do I want to know? I mean, we are in a hotel, so of course my mind goes to the obvious conclusion that he’s reserved a room just for the two of them.
Jay sees the look on my face.
“Not what you’re thinking. Also, none of your damn business even if it was.”
Don’t ask. Don’t think about it.
For the next two hours, we dance and hang out with Davis, Keith, Beth, and Celeste. No matter what, we never leave Elizabeth’s side. If she goes to the restroom, Beth and Celeste go with her. The guys and I keep a constant watch on where Maria and Marshall are. The girls have fun pulling us to the different world displays. We take goofy pictures at Tower Bridge and group pictures at Niagara Falls and the New York City skyline.
At the Eiffel Tower, Julien takes Elizabeth in his arms and dips her. The photographer gets the perfect shot of them. She’s arched over his arm, their noses almost touching. Julien says something to her, and she tips her head back, a full-bodied laugh escaping.
Once Julien is finished, Elizabeth waves me over.
“Where do you want me?”
She worries her bottom lip, then reaches for my hand. “I want a photo of us just like we were when we danced. I want to capture that moment.”
She tucks her hand against my chest next to where my heart is pounding staccato beats, because holy hell, she’s touching me again. She wraps my fingers around her waist. My dick jumps in my pants, a surge of lust racing through me. As if in slow motion, she glides her fingertips along my neck and stops when her thumb curls under where my jaw meets my ear.
“Thank you, Ryder, for tonight. You guys have given me the perfect prom.”
She pushes up on her tiptoes and softly kisses the side of my mouth. I can hear the clicks of the photographer’s camera. I don’t know whether it’s the fact I stop breathing when her lips barely touch mine or the way she’s looking at me, but I’m lightheaded and a bit punch-drunk.
I step away from her when I notice Jayson and Julien are watching us. Julien with a quizzical expression, Jay with a harsh scowl.
I walk her off the platform, and the twins ask the photographer to snap a few pictures of them together. Elizabeth stands next to him, wanting to see the shots he takes.
“They really are identical twins,” the photographer says to her, looking at his camera display. “If they didn’t have different hairstyles, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.”
“Count the freckles,” she says, and he gives her a questioning look.
Jay lifts his fingers to his lips and lets out a sharp whistle. The shrill sound bounces off the ballroom’s high ceiling, and a few people stop what they’re doing to see what’s going to happen.
“Come here, Princess.”
He pulls her in front of him, his hands enveloping hers, and he grins.
Elizabeth’s brow furrows. “Um, aren’t we going to do photos?”
Jay’s grin spreads. “Wait for it.”
Suddenly, the upbeat rhythm of the dance music cuts off, replaced by the slow, soulful croon of a woman’s voice.
Elizabeth’s face lights up in recognition. “That’s our song! Oh my god!”
It’s Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” The song Elizabeth sang at our end-of-summer camp out.
And then to my horror, Jay drops down on one knee.
“What the fuck is he doing?”
Julien’s shock mirrors mine. “I don’t know.”
“Did you know about this?”
“No.”
Elizabeth’s face drains of color, the joy in her eyes evaporating. She tugs at Jay’s hands, trying to pull him to his feet.
“What are you doing?” she hisses.
The entire ballroom comes to a standstill. No one is dancing anymore. All eyes are fixed on the scene unfolding in front of the fake Eiffel Tower.
Holy shit. Holy shit. This can’t be happening.