Paige scrunched her nose. “Um, I think I already have your number, but thanks.”
“It’s not just for you and Romeo.” He looked over at me, his jaw tight as he eyed over the both of us. ”Just so you know, you don’t have to have sex on prom night. It isn’t a rite of passage, got it?”
Paige faked a vomit. “OMG, Reed, we are seriously not having this conversation with you.”
“Grow up, Paige.” He swallowed. “This isn’t just about you.” He left the room with a slam of the door, and I tucked his number into my palm.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say my brother has the hots for you.”
Yeah, right.
She eyed the paper in my hands. “You’re keeping his number?”
“Well. Yeah. Just in case backup is needed.”
And maybe some future texts here and there.
My dress was blood red, which also happened to be Reed’s favorite color, and no, I didn’t get it because of that. The truth? I fell in love with the dress the moment I set eyes on it. It was high waisted with a deep V neckline. The spaghetti straps crisscrossed over my bare back. The inner skirt flowed down to my ankles and had two slits rising to about mid-thigh. Sheer fabric of the same color flowed over it, giving only a peek of my legs. It was hot and so grown up, I barely recognized myself in the mirror.
“Wow.” Paige scanned my dress from head to toe. “Derek’s going to have an instant hard-on when he sees you in that.”
The corners of my reddened lips fanned upward, and a giddy excitement warmed my belly at the thought of Reed—not Derek—seeing me in this. Maybe now he would finally see me as a woman and not a little girl. I smoothed out the skirt. “Ready for pictures?”
We made our grand entrance into the living room, and both our parents gushed over us. My father winced when he noticed my neckline. “Maybe you could pin that a bit.”
My mother playfully smacked his arm. “Stop, it isn’t that bad.” She threw her arms around me, being careful not to mess up my hair. “You’re beautiful.” After we released each other, I looked around the room for Reed. He was lying on the couch, engrossed in his Kindle.
“Reed?” Auntie Jo called out to him. “Don’t they look amazing?”
He didn’t take his eyes off the screen. “Yeah, amazing,” he said flatly, pissed off about God knew what.
My heart fell like an anchor to the bottom of my stomach. He really was my “mean crush.” I was stupid to think this dress would change anything. I really needed to get over him and move the hell on.
But there was a moment the other night when “Just Like Honey” was playing as I lay on his bed. A look in his eyes that reminded me of the Anna Karenina quote. Just one fleeting moment, but it gave me hope that maybe he was beginning to truly see me.
As much as I loved this dress, I was regretting it. Derek couldn’t take his eyes off my cleavage or stop himself from tracing a finger between my breasts. His reminders of what was coming after the dance were so frequent that I couldn’t even enjoy it. It didn’t help that the music sucked for the most part, and the DJ barely knew any of my requests. It was like he had downloaded a bunch of party pop hits and considered the job done. I wouldn’t have been surprised if “The Electric Slide” started blaring through the speakers. I found out about that horrible dance when I went to my real aunt Tia’s wedding three years prior. Everyone over the age of thirty-five had squealed in delight and participated in the weird ritual like it was some middle-age anthem.
After about a million selfies with friends and semi-friends, prom night was nearing the end, and Derek practically dragged me out to the limo. The football team had rented out a whole floor of a hotel like it was a wedding party. Everyone who was eighteen checked in, and a few of the players had brought practically enough liquor to stock an entire bar, stuffed into suitcases.
Paige and I had pink champagne for the party.
We spent a good hour circulating through different rooms and hanging out. Derek had his arm around me constantly to make sure it was clear that I was his. I drank my first glass way too fast, and the bubbles went straight to my head, so I made sure to nurse the second glass. When Paige and Bryant headed off to their room, Derek flashed me a devilish grin that shuddered right through me.
“You ready?”
No.
“Sure.”
The palms of my hands suddenly felt really hot and clammy as we walked down the hallway together. I sucked in a deep breath as Derek inserted the key card into the door. An overwhelming smell of baby powder air freshener violated my nostrils. It’d been said that the sense of smell was a powerful memory inducer…and this was not the smell I wanted to associate my first time with.
The moment the door closed, Derek pulled me against him, and that tongue started probing my mouth like an alien while his tentacles ventured over every part of my body within reach. This kiss was even wetter and slimier than usual.
I pulled away and pushed him back with my hand. “Would you mind if we take this a little slower?”
He huffed a condescending laugh like I was a child he had to appease. “Sure.” He took hold of my hand. “You look so hot in that dress, I feel like I’ve been holding back for hours.” He led me deeper into the room, and I looked down at the bed. A neatly arranged blue and gold floral print comforter stared back at me.
“You forgot the rose petals.” The disappointment in my voice was more than evident.
“What?”
“I told you it was my dream to lose my virginity on prom night with rose petals on the bed.”
He laughed. “You were serious about that?”
I crossed my arms. “Yes.”
“Aw, come on, babe. This isn’t about some fantasy. This is you and me.” His smile was softer, and he slid his hands down my arms, reaching for my hands. “Forgive me?”
I intertwined my fingers with his and nodded. He kissed my lips without tongue this time, and it was so much better. “Feel like some music?”
“Okay.”
He pulled out his phone and tapped through it. “Last Hope” by Paramore filled the room. I stared over at Derek in shock. “You like this song?”
“Not really, but I know you do.” He walked over and put his arms around me.
“How did you know I liked it?”
When it came to music, I had to wear earbuds to listen to my own. Since he was the one with a car, he was always in command of the music.
“I asked Paige for your favorite slow songs and put together a playlist.”
Not the same as already knowing them, but the thought was kind of sweet.
His index finger hooked under one of my straps, and he slid it down my shoulder, his tongue skimming across his bottom lip. My stomach fluttered, and I gulped when a hand slipped inside. He grabbed a handful of my left breast and started kneading me like I was dough. He moaned as he moved in closer for another kiss, but I pulled away from him again.
Derek let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his blonde hair. “What’s the issue now?”
It wasn’t so much the question as it was his tone that seared through my chest. Like I was something he had to deal with in order to get what he wanted.