"Missed you." It was concerning how much I did, considering I had only left his bed mere hours ago.
"Missed you more, babe."
He gathered me in his arms and planted a searing kiss on my lips right there in the middle of Main Street. His tongue swept inside my mouth before he pulled back with a grin. Twin patches of pink bloomed on my cheeks as I noticed a couple of familiar faces milling about. Someone would definitely be calling my mama right about now.
My fingers caressed the soft whorls of hair on his nape. "How's the venue?"
His annoyed sigh tickled my mouth. "I don't know why I hired this setup company. They've called me so many times this morning that I just came in. We went through the look about a million times before today."
"Aww, poor baby. What can I do to make you feel better?"
His eyebrows waggled, and he leaned forward to retake my mouth. But before his lips touched mine, a cutting feminine voice interrupted.
"Well, isn't this sweet."
You have to be fucking kidding me.
Jessica appeared behind Harrison, hands on her hips, as she eyed us with a quiet rage that had me tense. There was a particular look in her eye—anger, yes; jealousy, yes—but there was also a vindictive kind of evil that lingered in how her gaze swept between us.
Harrison sighed before he turned to face her. His arm wrapped tightly around my shoulders as he pulled me flush to his side. I slipped my hand around his lower back, squeezing his hip.
Jessica rolled her eyes, no longer keeping up the pretense of thinly veiled insults and fake pleasantries.
"Jessica, what can we do for you? Thought you were still helping out at the hall."
I stiffened at the idea of Harrison and Jessica alone together. Old insecurities bubbled until Harrison squeezed my shoulder in comfort, instantly pushing them down.
"I was, but since you were taking a break, I thought I would, too." She turned to me and smiled the way a predator would before they pounced.
"You would justlovethe theme, Grace. Did Harrison tell you that we were reliving our prom days? Guess you didn't miss prom after all."
My body jerked in time with the inhale my breath made at her words. Those old insecurities that I refused to acknowledge started simmering away again.
There was a reason prom was such a big trigger for me. There was a reason why I refused to discuss a certain somber memory that had sat like a crowded elephant in a small room. Whenever Harrison attempted to broach the subject, I would shoot him down, unable to dredge up those lost few weeks of school where I dared to dream.
And now, being confronted with Jessica's sly smile, it took me back seven years, when the same expression was written on her face.
"Okay, that's enough, Jessica."
"Why? Don't you think Grace should know that this whole fucking event was for her benefit?"
My grip on Harrison's waist loosened. All color drained from my face as I glanced up at him.
"What's she talking about?" I couldn't keep the shaky pitch out of my voice.
"Jessica," he hissed.
Harrison's arm tightened on my shoulders. I could sense his desperation to pull my detachment back from where it was leaking.
Jessica's lips curled in a spiteful sneer, and she arched her perfectly lined brow in open derision. "I heard you and James talking this morning about how you hoped this reunion would make up for prom."
My arm dropped completely from Harrison's waist, and I fought to move away from his warmth. My chin threatened to quiver, but I clenched my jaw to keep my distress at bay.
Despite my withdrawal, Harrison still refused to let me go. He turned pleading eyes to mine. "Grace, listen to me -"
"What the fuck is she talking about, Harrison?" I repeated. My voice was surprisingly even despite the lump in my throat.
"His little pity joke he did to you all those years ago? Harry here still felt so bad about it that he planned this whole reunion for you. Why do you think the theme isProm Revisited?"
