Chapter 33 #2
Now that we were dressed, we spent the rest of the time before the ball listening to music and putting the finishing touches on our makeup. Just before eight o’clock, there was a knock at the door, and Anna went to answer it.
She grinned as she started to pull it open. “Legs, Ass, your dates are here,” she called over her shoulder to us.
The door opened wide to reveal the twins both standing in the entrance with equally confused looks on their faces. They were always strikingly similar, but their matching expressions and tuxedos made them look more identical than ever.
“Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?” Wes asked.
“I definitely do,” Sawyer said, a cheeky grin forming on his lips as he stepped through the door. With the tall, athletic Montfort twins now in the room, it suddenly felt a lot smaller.
“Those are their new nicknames,” Anna said with a proud expression on her face. “And mine is Tits, just in case you were wondering.”
“Are you planning on telling absolutely everyone?” Cress gently slapped Anna on the arm.
“Everyone who will listen.”
“I can totally see where you get the names from,” Sawyer said as he ran an assessing eye over our outfits. “You girls look hot. If I didn’t actually like you, I’d probably want to bang you.”
Wes had walked over to stand near me, and I leaned in close to him. “I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not,” I murmured.
“It’s the biggest compliment you can get from Sawyer,” he said with a laugh. “You do look beautiful though, Isobel.”
I flushed at his compliment. “You look quite dashing yourself.”
“Thanks.” He smiled and tugged proudly on the lapels of his jacket.
The twins were both wearing matching tuxedos, and if I didn’t already know who was who, it would have been nearly impossible to tell the two boys apart. Wes’s hair wasn’t gelled back like his brother’s, and it was easy to tell it was him when you looked into his kind brown eyes.
“So, who wants some vodka before we get this party started?” Sawyer grinned, offering a hip flask.
Cress and Anna happily took a swig, but I quickly shook my head when he held it out to me. “I’m not letting you be a bad influence on me tonight, Sawyer.”
He winked. “The night is young, Grace. Don’t make declarations you don’t intend to keep.”
“Oh, I’m keeping this one,” I muttered.
Sawyer moved on to offer a drink to his brother, but Wes also refused. “I think I’ll follow your lead, Isobel. If I have too many drinks, I’ll probably start spilling my guts about Sarah ditching me tonight.”
I reached out and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sorry she bailed on you.”
He smiled and shrugged. “I guess it’s not all bad. I do get to take the infamous Legs to the ball, after all.”
“Shut up!” I swatted a hand against his chest, and he laughed. “Who’s to say I’m Legs anyway?”
He glanced down at the long slit that cut up my thigh, and my cheeks heated under his gaze. “How could you not be?” he asked.
My throat restricted slightly, and for a moment, I had to remind myself that Wes was just a friend—a really hot, sweet friend who happened to have a girlfriend. He also wasn’t Noah. He didn’t come close.
“We should get going,” Anna said. “I’m meant to be meeting Angus there in a minute.”
“He’s not coming to get you?” Wes asked. It wasn’t hard to miss the judgmental tone in his voice.
“Nope. Angus is a dick.”
“Yeah, remind me, why are you going with him again?” Sawyer asked.
“Because his lips are my greatest weakness,” Anna said, a hint of defeat in her voice.
Sawyer scoffed. “Angus? Really?”
“Yeah, the guy has skills.”
“Huh. I’ll have to ask him what his secret is.” Sawyer had a thoughtful look on his face as he considered the idea.
“No need,” Anna immediately responded. “I can tell you right now what it is. He has this way of curling his tongue—”
“Why don’t you guys talk about this later!” Cress practically leaped forward to interrupt them.
I nodded, relieved Cress had stepped in before we all had to hear about Angus’s tongue. “Yeah, we don’t want to be late.”
“We aren’t done with this conversation,” Sawyer said, pointing at Anna who nodded firmly in response.
Cress and I began to usher everyone from the room before Anna and Sawyer could start up another conversation we didn’t want to be a part of.
We left the dorm and headed across the courtyard to the main building.
I’d been at Weybridge a month now, but I hadn’t come close to exploring the entire school in that time.
To get to the ball, we walked to the far end of Esher Hall where people were gathering outside a set of wide-open doors.
The women were all dressed in gorgeous white gowns while the men wore tailored tuxedos that fitted them perfectly.
I’d never seen so many people all dressed so beautifully before.
The air practically radiated with wealth and privilege.
I smoothed my hands over the front of my dress, once again caressing the unfamiliar feeling of smooth silk.
I might have looked the part, but I was still worried people could see I didn’t belong in this dress, let alone this school.
“Ugh, there’s my date,” Anna groaned. She reached out and swiped Sawyer’s hip flask from his hand before taking a long drink. She grimaced as the alcohol hit her mouth, but that was the only sign of discomfort as she quickly knocked the drink back.
“I’ll see you guys inside,” she said, giving a miserable scrunch of her nose before she marched over to greet Angus.
I skimmed my eyes over the waiting crowd, looking for any sign of Noah.
It was the first time since we’d started dating that I wasn’t completely sure whether I wanted to see him or not.
As much as I understood his situation, I hated knowing he’d have Veronica on his arm tonight, and it wasn’t something I particularly wanted to witness.
I felt slightly relieved when I couldn’t find him among the huddled crowd outside the entrance.
“You ready for your first Weybridge event?” Wes caught my attention as he took my arm in his.
“Sure, let’s go,” I replied with an empty smile. The truth was, I wasn’t ready. Not even close. Thoughts of Noah and Veronica had wedged their way into my mind. And even with Wes by my side, I had a bad feeling this night was going to be far more difficult to endure than I’d imagined.