Chapter 23 Leith
Leith
Clarke had some things to take care of at the shop, so she told me she’d meet me at the high school. I didn’t love the idea of asking a girl to prom and then not picking her up, but Clarke insisted that it was okay.
This was our first outing as fiancés. I meant to tell my mom and Lainey before this, but with the weather warming up, my days had gone from busy to nearly impossible.
We were planting, watering, and unfortunately, a little behind on getting things growing.
I was also putting in a lot of work at Toades, and maybe I was taking a little longer on projects than I needed to because I wanted to spend more of my days with Clarke, but who’s to say.
I wouldn’t have that part any other way.
At this point, spending time with Clarke was my favorite thing to do.
The Sweetwater Peak gymnasium looked better than I thought it would. Pastel tapestry draped from the ceiling, balloon arches surrounded every doorway, and there were enough twinkle lights to light up the caves underneath the Sweetwater River.
I was sipping punch when Clarke came through the double doors. It was like there was some mystical force that pulled my eyes to look at her, and my heart stopped dead in my chest.
She was wearing a deep red dress. It reminded me of the rubies in her engagement ring.
It looked like velvet with the way it reflected the light, but I’d have to touch her to be sure.
And damn, did I want to. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail that I knew fell all the way to the small of her back.
Clarke saw me and the smile she gave me kick-started my heart right back up.
She turned slowly in a circle—giving me a three-sixty view of her dress.
It was cut low in the back, so I could see her porcelain skin.
When she completed her turn, she winked at me.
She seemed more comfortable around me recently.
It made me feel like I was floating. I basically sprinted across the gym to get to her—dancing teenagers be damned.
But Lainey beat me to it.
“It looks great in here, Lanes,” Clarke said. “Did you do all this?”
Lainey nodded proudly. “We’ve been working on it since Thursday. Our adviser says it’s the best the gym has ever looked.”
“Well, they’re right,” Clarke agreed. “It’s beautiful in here.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry I’m late. Put me in the chaperone game, Coach.”
“The principal gave all the chaperones a pep talk before they opened the doors,” I chimed in. “I’ll give you the rundown. Also, hi.”
“Hi.” Clarke smiled.
“You look incredible,” I said.
“That’s my cue,” Lainey said before starting to back away. “Don’t do anything embarrassing, Leith.”
We walked around the perimeter of the gym—closer to the punch bowl, which was our assigned station for the next hour. “Basically, we have to keep them in the gym so they don’t try to smoke or bone in the bathroom.”
“Got it,” Clarke said. She reached up to brush a piece of hair out of her face, and I caught sight of her engagement ring. Satisfaction steeped its way through my entire body. Mine.
I shook the thought out of my head. Not mine. My friend, but not mine. I stuck my hands in my pockets to keep from touching her. Maybe we needed a chaperone too.
“You look stunning,” I said again.
“Thank you,” Clarke said. “You look good too. I like navy on you.” I had two suits: one navy, and one black that I got for my dad’s funeral. That was still the only time I’d worn it, and I had no plans to wear it again.
“Your dress…” I trailed off for a second. “It, um, it matches your ring.”
Clarke looked down—bashful, maybe? “Yeah,” she said. “I thought about that too.”
I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to touch her. I reached out and gently grabbed her dress to pull her toward me. I was right; it was velvet. Now that I knew that, though, I had the urge to run my hands all over her body and use the dress as an excuse.
Clarke let out a little gasp—maybe I wasn’t as gentle as I thought I was. I didn’t know if I cared. I just wanted her as close to me as possible. I wound my arm around her waist and rested my hand low on her hip. She looked up at me, and I pressed my forehead against hers.
“All right, let’s cool it on the PDA, Mr. Wilkes,” a voice said in front of us.
“Sorry, Principal Kirk,” Clarke said as she took a step away from me—still the perfect student.
“I can’t believe he’s still here,” I muttered.
“I can’t believe you just got me in trouble with the principal.”
“Fuck him,” I said, pulling Clarke back to me. “We’re adults.”
Clarke pushed at my chest gently. “Easy, tiger. At least offer to get me some punch first?”
I rolled my eyes. “Do you want some punch, honey?”
“Yes, please,” Clarke said with a satisfied smile. I reluctantly stepped away from my fiancée to ladle some into a clear plastic cup for her. When I went to hand it to her, though, she said, “Cover me for a second,” before she started gathering her dress up over her knees.
What the hell was she doing? Then I saw a holster around her thigh that held a silver flask. Fuck. I looked a little too long—even after she’d taken the flask out and returned her dress to its downright and locked position.
“Some for me,” she said, pouring a little clear liquid in her cup, “and some for you.”
“I didn’t expect you to be the one to spike the punch,” I said. “I thought that was the other Cartwright.”
“Everyone always keeping an eye on Collins meant that I could do whatever I wanted.” She shrugged.
“Cheers to that,” I said, and we tapped our cups together. After I took a healthy swig, I nodded at the flask and asked, “Aren’t you going to hide the evidence?”
“Are you trying to get me to lift my dress for you again?”
“Well, yeah,” I said. There was no use in lying about it.
Instead of putting the flask back, though, Clarke slid it into the inside pocket of my suit jacket—slowly and intentionally, without breaking eye contact.
Fuck.
“Clarke…” I swallowed. There was nowhere I wanted to be less right now than this high school gym. It was torture—sick and twisted.
But I would’ve broken every rule—spoken and unspoken—between Clarke and me if we were alone right now.
“C’mon,” she said. “Let’s get drunk and make fun of teenagers.” I took a deep breath and tried to regain my composure. After all, I’d do whatever Clarke told me to.
We rotated chaperone stations every hour or so—from refreshments to pictures to dance floor to bathroom guard.
We laughed when “Doses & Mimosas” came on and every kid in the gym went wild.
It was comforting to know that some things hadn’t changed.
I watched a couple of other chaperones zero in on Clarke’s ring finger.
We shared a thoughtful smile when we saw Lainey dancing with Bea during a slow dance.
But when the DJ announced the last slow song, I pulled Clarke into one of the darker corners of the gym—chaperone duties be damned—for the last dance.
I didn’t know what I was expecting the DJ to play, but “I Remember You,” by Skid Row was nowhere on the list.
“Oh my god,” Clarke said as she put her arms around my neck. “This is exactly what all these horned-up teenagers want for their slow dance—Sebastian Bach wailing in their ears.”
I put my hands on her waist and pulled her close to me, and we started to sway side to side.
“It’s exactly what I want,” I said. “At least it’s memorable.” I finally got a chance to run my hands from her ribs to her waist. The back of her dress was open enough that my fingers brushed against her bare skin as I did it. I couldn’t tell which was softer—her skin or the velvet.
I pressed my forehead against hers—forgetting where we were, who we were surrounded by, and let myself have this moment with Clarke—not my fake fiancée, but the woman I’d been crazy about for over half my life.
The air around us got thick, and the music faded into the background as we moved together in our small, dark corner. I kissed her forehead, then her temple, then her neck.
I felt her inhale sharply, and I pulled her closer until we were flush—there was no part of my body that wasn’t touching hers.
“Leith,” she breathed. “D-do you want to get out of here?”
“Fuck,” I said against her ear. “I thought you’d never ask.” I grabbed her hand and started walking toward the gymnasium door.
“But Lainey…” Clarke said. That was the only thing that could’ve paused my mission of getting Clarke and me the hell out of this school. I scanned the gym until I saw the parent who had given me my chaperone badge. Mercifully, she was near the door.
“Hi,” I said when we reached her. I couldn’t remember her name. “Sorry, my fiancée isn’t feeling well—bad punch—so we need to head out a little early.”
“Oh…” The woman’s gaze went to Clarke’s left hand, and I watched her eyes widen slightly. “Of course, no problem. I’ll let Lainey know.”
“Thank you,” I said as Clarke and I both handed her our badges.
And then, finally, we were out of there.
And alone.