“I don’t remember being asked to vote. Do you?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win.”
“Logan.” I shake my head as he wraps his arms around me tightly and a genuine laugh bubbles up my throat.
“What?” His dimple twitches. “We’re winning.”
“If we win, I’ll buy you dinner.”
“When we win”—he nods my way—“I will take you up on that. But I’ll pick up the tab. I’m hungry for steak and lobster. I’m taking the tab into triple digits.”
“In that case, I gladly defer to your credit card.”
We share a laugh as the band starts up a drum roll.
The room grows dark as a series of spotlights dance around Principal Rice and the drums crash to a thunderous crescendo.
“The new king and queen of West Paragon High are”—she holds her hands up and confetti rains down from the ceiling—“all of you. Every woman a queen, every man a king. Congratulations and thank you so much for making this event such a success. Enjoy the rest of the night!”
The spotlight bounces to the band and the drummer leans into the mic. “And now for your entertainment, we have a special guest singing just one song with us this evening. Cooper Flanders singing ‘Morning has Broken’. Have fun.”
“Coop?” I gasp with delight as Cooper takes the makeshift stage with a guitar strapped to his chest as the music cues up.
Coop starts in and he’s slaying it, both looking and sounding hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July.
Logan pulls me close and points to our left. “Check that out.”
I turn just in time to see Laken wriggling out of Wesley’s arms as she makes her way to the stage, swaying and swooning at her true love.
“Boy”—I muse—“Cooper is pulling out all the stops. And that voice? Mmm, he’s got Laken in the bag.”
Logan growls, “You’re starting to make me wish I could sing.”
“You can dance,” I say, pressing my body close to his as we begin to sway to the melodic rhythm of Cooper Flanders’ voice.
That sideling dimple goes off. “Only when I’m with the right person.”
Something catches in my spirit, the scales fall off, and it’s so very obvious where my heart lies and with whom.
“You are definitely with the right person.” I take a breath and hold it. “And so am I.” My mouth falls open with the revelation, our gaze impossible to break. A slow grin pulls at his lips, but he’s slow to give it. There are some moments you remember forever, and this for me is one of them. “I’m home, Logan. It’s been a long journey, but I’m back and not the Counts, life, death, Gage Oliver, or any other entity in the universe in the heavens will ever take me away from you again. I trust you, Logan, and that was the biggest barrier of all. But it’s broken, crumbled to dust. You have me in every way. And I know that I know you won’t hurt me.” The words come from me like a song in the night, like a poem set to music, like sacred vows pulled straight from my soul.
Logan breaks out into a smile that slays me—the exact smile he gave the moment I met him all those years ago. “Welcome home, Skyla. I’ve been waiting for you. I wasn’t going anywhere. There has only ever been you for me. My story begins and ends with you. It always has and it always will.”
Tears blur my vision, but I blink them away. “Kiss me, Oliver.”
“Here?” He ticks his head to the side, teasing me with the prospect.
“Right here, right now. This is our proclamation to each other, because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what anyone else wants to make out of it. I’m yours. I’ve always belonged to you.”
Logan presses his strong hands against my body as he pulls me close. He bows down, his lids hang low but are slow to close as he comes in for the kill and he does just that. Logan Oliver ends me with one touch of his beautiful lips. Logan kisses me right there on the dance floor, in the heart of West Paragon High for all to see, for me to feel, under the watchful eye of Cerberus, just the way it should have been to begin with. This much I know is true. I do love Logan. I truly do.
Kissing Logan is like warm sunshine on my back, love from the fiery orb that I haven’t seen in years. It feels like living, like dying—like a long overdue resurrection all rolled into one. Logan’s mouth burns like a hot coal over mine, his tongue refreshing like the river that flows from the very throne of God. This kiss right here is a blessing from the Most High. Logan pours his entire life force into me and I return the favor with a steady stream of love pulsating from my heart to his. Logan Oliver is mine wholly and truly. Our destinies have collided and we are born anew. Celestra to Celestra, love that usurps the passages of time. Two souls coming together at last to please fate, to please one another. There is nothing more beautiful, more precious than to savor the taste of his mouth in mine.
Whispers of my name, ofhis, surround us. They seep into my mind and I try to discern who they belong to. They go off like an unstoppable chant. Logan and I are causing a scene, we are being seen, our love for one another evident for all to witness.
I hear Gage coming in clear like a reprimand, but it’s all in my mind, he wouldn’t dare. He’s trying to infiltrate the ranks, ruin this precious moment, and take up space in my head that he has long been evicted from.
Logan moves us from the dance floor in a heated rush. I spot Chloe near the exit, her eyes reduced to slits of hatred as I pass her by and I don’t even bother giving her the finger. I couldn’t care less what Chloe thinks about me, what her vile heart and mind truly think about anything.
