“Clichéd?”
“Yeah, the whole ‘have sex on prom night in a hotel room’ cliché. You forget, I have a reputation to uphold when it comes to wooing my girl. If I started doing normal everyday shit like that, Elizabeth would kick my ass.”
“You do have the whole romance and wooing thing down.”
“Yes, I do. Damn proud of it too. And tonight, I will continue with that tradition. That’s why I need Liz for a bit. So, would you mind?”
“Not at all. Like you said. This night is for her.”
For the next two hours, we dance and hang out. Davis, Keith, Beth, and Celeste join us. No matter what, we never leave Elizabeth’s side. If she goes to the restroom, Beth and Celeste go with her. Me and the guys keep a constant watch on where Maria and Marshall are. The girls have fun pulling us to the different world displays for pictures. We do goofy pictures at Tower Bridge, and group pictures at Niagara Falls and the New York City skyline. At the Eifel Tower, Julien takes Elizabeth in his arms and dips her. The photographer gets the perfect shot of them. She’s bent in his arms, their noses almost touching. Julien says something to her, and she tips her head back laughing. Her silky blond tresses flow out and down over his forearm. Absolute perfection. I’m definitely ordering a copy of that one.
Once Julien is finished, Elizabeth waves me over.
“How do you want to do this? Where should I stand?” I ask her. She worries her bottom red-tainted lip then reaches for my hand.
“I want it just like how we were when we danced. I want to capture that moment.”
Fuck me. Elizabeth tucks her hand against my chest next to where my heart is pounding staccato beats because holy hell, she’s touching me again. Holding my larger hand in hers she wraps my fingers around her waist. My dick jumps in my pants, a surge of lust racing through me. As if in slow motion, she reaches her left hand up and glides her fingertips along my neck and stops when her thumb curls under where my jaw meets my ear.
“Thank you, Ryder, for tonight. You guys have given me the perfect prom.”
She pushes up on her tiptoes and softly kisses the side of my mouth. I can hear the clicks of the photographer’s camera. I don’t know whether it’s the fact I stop breathing when her lips barely touch mine or the way she’s looking at me, but I’m lightheaded and a bit punch-drunk. I stumble back on my heels when we release each other. Jayson and Julien are looking at us. Julien with a quizzical expression, Jayson with a semi-scowl.
Next, Julien and Jayson take some photos with each other for their parents. Elizabeth stands next to the photographer wanting to see the shots as he takes them. “They really are identical twins,” the photographer says to her looking at his camera display. “If they didn’t have different haircuts, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart, would you?”
Elizabeth gives him a questioning look. She’s been able to easily tell them apart since she was six years old and they dressed the same.
“Come here, princess,” Jayson calls her over.
He gives a shrill whistle with his fingers and a few people stop to see what’s going on. Jay pulls her in front of him, takes both of her hands in his, and stands there grinning at her.
“Um, Jayson, aren’t we going to do photos?”
He grins wider. “Wait for it.” The DJ cuts off the music abruptly. The couples on the dance floor look around trying to figure out if something happened. The lights dim again, and a woman’s crooning voice starts singing. Elizabeth’s eyes go wide.
“That’s our song! Oh my God!”
I recognize it now once she says that. It’s Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” The song Elizabeth sung just for Jayson. And then to our shock and astonishment, Jayson starts to drop down on one knee.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Julien and I both yell out at the same time.
“Jayson, what are you doing?” Elizabeth exclaims.
No one is dancing anymore. Everyone in the ballroom has stopped what they are doing and are watching the scene unfold in front of the fake Eifel Tower.
Holy shit. Holy shit. What’s happening? This can’t be happening.
“Holy shit!” Julien exclaims. The photographer is having a field day clicking as fast as he can to take as many shots of what’s going down in front of us.
Elizabeth
“Jayson, what are you doing?” Oh my God. Is this really happening? What do I do? My nerves are already frazzled from being intimately pressed against Ryder again, and now this. Part of me is stupidly excited and giddy and I want to leap into Jayson’s arms screaming yes, yes, yes. Then there’s the other part of me. I look over to Ryder and Julien. They look as shocked as I do.
Jayson pulls my attention back to him when he begins to speak. “Elizabeth Penelope Fairchild. I have loved you since the first grade. The happiest day of my life is when you said yes. Yes to us. Yes to me. Yes to everything. My heart is not whole without you. My life is not complete without you in it. You are my soulmate. You’re my princess. And as your prince, I will lay the world at your feet and make all of your dreams come true. In the tradition of all of our next times, I want to forever promise you my heart, my love, and my soul. Will you wear my promise ring knowing it represents my promise to you for our happily ever after?”
Several sighs are heard around us from various girls. I hear Keith ask, “Does he do this stuff all the time?” Beth exclaims, “That is so freaking romantic!” and then I hear Celeste. “Why don’t you do stuff like that for me?
Jayson laughs at my expression of relief apparent on my face when I figure out he’s not really proposing. “I’m going to kill you Jayson Jameson. You about gave me a heart attack!”
