“You’re welcome. See, I can be a decent guy.” He glanced at my chest.
I slapped his arm. “Now, you’re just being obnoxious.”
He laughed. “You know it.”
Soon we pulled into the school parking lot, where we saw a limo dropping off a group of kids. C.C. insisted on parking toward the back of the lot to ensure no one dinged the doors on his dad’s ’Stang.
I held onto his arm as we made our way in. Music blasted from the gym, which had been turned into an underwater wonderland theme. There were shells, sand castles, seahorses and clams decorating everything. Christmas lights were strewn through the gymnasium, along with white, blue, and silver streamers. Silver disco balls hung from the ceiling, reflecting the colorful flashing lights.
We found a table to set our stuff down on, then he led me out onto the dance floor, where we joined several other couples. C.C. rested one hand on my hip, the other closed over one of mine. We swayed back and forth to a slow song.
Over his shoulder, I caught sight of Kenadi, who gave me a big grin and waved.
“Wow, you guys did awesome with the decorations,” I said as we spun around.
“Yeah. I think it turned out pretty nice. Liza and I had fun staying up late to finish it last night.”
“Mind if I cut in.” Rex tapped C.C. on the shoulder. My body tensed.
“No. Go ahead.” He smiled and walked away.
Rex held out his hand and pulled me close to him. My eyes darted to C.C.’s retreating form. He headed toward a table in the back, where Liza stood waiting for him. That sneaky S.O.B. lied to me. What the heck’s going on?
“You look beautiful tonight.” Rex smiled down at me.
“Thanks,” I said. “S-so why did you cut in? I mean, we haven’t really spoken or anything since—well, since that huge fight in the hall.”
He chuckled. “Because I wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
“Okay.” Great. Did he plan on embarrassing me further? Maybe I should run for the exit now.
We swayed back and forth. My arms wrapped around his neck, his around my waist.
“Here’s the thing. You were right about everything. I’ve been a total douchebag or as you put so nicely an ‘asshole’. I let what everyone else thought rule me.” His eyes twinkled. “I didn’t get to know you. Trust me, I’m sorry for that and for the awful things I said. But, the truth is, you never tried to know me either.”
Startled, I glanced at him. “But you never let me in. I asked you questions all the time.”
“I know—which is what got me thinking. If we were really into each other, why couldn’t we talk about stuff or be honest with one another? You actually did me a favor when you broke up with me.”
I laughed. “I’m not sure if I should be offended by that or take it as a compliment.”
My breath caught in my throat when I noticed Trey over his arm. He looked gorgeous. His tall frame, pressed close to Portia as they danced. My throat thickened. It still hurt to see them together. Not wanting to ruin my entire night, I turned back to Rex.
“Take it as a compliment because it made me realize the girl I should be with was in front of me the whole time. Someone I might not have looked at, if it wasn’t for you.”
“I’m happy for you.” I smiled. “So, do I know the lucky lady?”
“Yeah.” Just then the song ended. “Listen, I think I had one too many cups of punch. I need to head to the little boys’ room. Thanks for the dance, Del.”
“You’re welcome.” I watched him weave through the gyrating couples and disappear.
C.C. came back over. “Okay, so I have a surprise for you.”
“You mean, like the fact that Liza isn’t home sick?”
“That, and well, my uncle got tickets to the Fantasy Con. And I have one for you.”
“Oh. My. God. Are you serious?”
“Yes, now come on. He left them down in his closet. He said they’d be tacked up on his board.”
I clutched tight to his arm. “You are seriously the awesomest guy in the world. If you didn’t have a girlfriend, I’d totally kiss you right now.”
“Well, I did bring you to prom, so that should get me a little somethin’ somethin’.” He winked.
“Forget I said that.” I rolled my eyes.
We went down the hall toward the senior wing. I saw my brother, Kenadi, Kevin, and Rex down there too.
C.C. pulled out a key to the door and opened it. “Okay, in ya go.” He gave me a shove and the door locked behind me.
“What the hell! Hey, let me out.” My fists pounded on the steel barrier. “Hey. Someone. Let me out.” I backed up and bumped into someone else.
“Don’t bother. I’ve tried screaming and pounding on the door,” a male voice said.
“Trey?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll be back in an hour,” C.C. said from the other side.
“When I get out of here I’m gonna kick your ass.” Sometimes, I hated that his uncle was the janitor.
“So how did they lure you in?” Trey said.
“Con tickets?”
He chuckled. “Nerd.”
“Really?” I snorted. “And what did they tell you?”
“Con tickets.”
“Bigger nerd.” I attempted to move and stepped on his foot. “Sorry.”
A moment later, a blue light lit up the closet. Trey had turned on the flashlight on his phone. “We never got a chance to finish our conversation the other day,” he said.
With a sigh, I glanced up at him. Time to be the bigger person. “It’s okay. I mean, I’ve got a few things to say too. First of all, I’m sorry about Portia and almost breaking you up.”
“Actually … ”
“No, don’t interrupt. I need to get this off my chest.” I held up my hand to shush him. “The thing is, I do like you. A lot. And I should’ve seen it sooner. But I know you have a girlfriend, and well, I-I’m okay with that. Like you said, I miss being friends and hanging out. So I hope we can put this behind us, and that you’ll come around again,” I said. “Just, please don’t be mad at me forever. I mean, we can just pick back up where we left off and forget any of it ever happened.”
“But I don’t want to forget.”
My eyes welled up. “So we won’t be friends anymore?” Okay, I guess I deserved that.
“No, what I’m saying is I want to be more than friends.” His hands rested on my bare shoulders. Heat raced through me like sparks igniting. “Where else could I find a girl who loves Dwarves of Iconia as much as me? And where in the world could I ever find another girl who would sabotage my dates so I’d spend time with her learning how to properly date?”
“Wait, I thought you and Portia … ”
“No, after she overheard us in the alcove we talked and realized we didn’t have anything in common. We tried for a few weeks to see if maybe something would spark between us, but it didn’t. In fact, she and Rex are kind of together now.”
My mouth dropped open. “So you’re not mad at me?”
“No. I mean, I was really pissed—because I was there, right in front of you all along and you never noticed. Do you know how sucky it is to be invisible to the one person you want most to see you?” He touched my face. “I just needed time to get things sorted. I’m sorry, I avoided you. That I treated you bad. You didn’t deserve it. You don’t know how many times I stood on your porch ready to apologize. Then I’d remember how crappy I treated you and thought there was no way you’d ever forgive me. It was Portia and Drake who finally nudged me and told me to get my head out of my ass before I lose you. Which, by the way I have to say, I think you should tell Carver Foster that you can’t hang out with him this summer.”
“Wait a second, you were eavesdropping.”