Wade - 18 Years Old
Senior prom was supposed to be a night to remember—full of beautiful dresses on beautiful girls, flowers, dancing, and sometimes, sex. It was a night out without inhibitions, and I could absolutely use it.
Training for my first rodeo had picked up over the last six months, and I was exhausted.
I truly was only planning on going because Max and I had vowed to live our senior year of high school to the fullest.
I was heading off on the rodeo circuit after graduation, and Max was taking over helping Pops with the farm. As soon as that diploma hit our hands, our lives truly began.
Standing in front of the floor-length mirror in Ma and Pops’ bedroom, I adjusted my bowtie and smoothed back my hair. I don’t know why I was so nervous; I was only going with Ray.
We had decided that going as friends would be best for both of us. I didn’t want to take a date and feed into the idea that I would be available for dating post-graduation.
My focus was solely on making it to the NFR my first year in the circuit, and I couldn’t be distracted by tits and ass.
Truthfully, though, I didn’t ask anyone to be my date because I didn’t want to go to prom with anyone other than Ray. She might have been my best friend, but none of the girls at school held a candle to how beautiful, funny, and strong she was.
Plus, after losing her mom at the beginning of high school, I figured she could use a night off from acting as the additional parent around the house.
I couldn’t imagine the stress Mr. Cortez was under, being a single parent to ten kids, but being the sheriff now had its perks, and the town had rallied around their family to help in any way they could.
I knew that Ray’s having the night off was going to be tough on him, but she deserved it. She deserved to feel like a teenager, even if she turned back into a pumpkin at midnight.
The doorbell chimed, and I could feel my palms slick with sweat. I brushed them along my pants, trying to dry them off before having to answer the door. I don’t know why I was so nervous; it was just Ray.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to twist open the knob with my sweaty hands, because Ma had already answered and was gushing in the living room about how beautiful she looked.
I took one last look in the mirror and schooled my nerves enough to head downstairs. As soon as my foot hit the last stair and my eyes lifted to the foyer, my heart stopped.
It was as if someone had turned the volume on the TV from the highest level to complete silence. The only sound was the pounding of my heart as it attempted to return to its normal rhythm. I stood there, unable to speak, completely stunned by the sight before me.
Ray was standing beside the front door, listening intently to whatever Ma was chatting her ear off about. It gave me a few minutes to look my fill uninterrupted. She was a vision in a form-fitting black satin gown that draped beautifully over every inch of her tanned skin.
She hadn’t given me any hints as to what her dress looked like, other than the color and that I needed to match.
Her hair was curled and left hanging in thick, dark waves around her shoulders. She had it pinned up on one side with some sort of clip with pearls on it. She looked like a Hollywood starlet, all glitz and glam, ready to take the world by storm.
Somehow, she looked older than the sixteen she actually was.
Ma noticed I was standing awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs and gently tapped Ray’s elbow. She turned, and it felt like every ounce of electricity in the room was funneled straight through my system the second her ruby red lips kicked up into her signature smirk.
I knew my best friend was stunning. I had watched each and every one of my friends fall over themselves for a chance to talk to her.
She commanded a room with her electric personality and unparalleled charm.
But as I stood there looking like a love-struck fool in the foyer of my parents’ living room, I realized she wasn’t just stunning, funny, and full of life. Ray was everything.
She was perfect, and I wanted her to be mine.
The girl I had met five years prior in the middle of the woods, asking to skip rocks and be my best friend, was gone. In her place was this stunning woman who had every hair on my body standing on end and my heart beating overtime.
I don’t know how I hadn’t seen it before, but my eyes were suddenly open, and I was struck dumb.
I knew at that moment that Rayna Cortez was going to either break my heart or set my soul on fire. But either way, I was royally fucked.