She pauses, lips pressing together in frustration because she knows her pulse just betrayed her. I saw that faint sparkle in her eyes, like my words dismantle and lift her up all at the same time.
“Go bother someone else,” she says gruffly, brushing past me so I can feel the heat of her body calling to mine.
My gaze tracks her all the way out the door, heart thumping wildly in my chest again. It’s the push and pull of our dynamic that has me so entranced by her. I feel a pull to her I haven’t felt with anyone else. And that pull is enough to keep me coming back for more.
Morgan suddenly appears again, and if I had to guess, she was eavesdropping on our conversation.
She places a very flirtatious hand on my chest, lightly squeezing my pecs. “So, Wesley, about prom?”
I nod, looking into her big green eyes that are begging for an answer.
“You got yourself a date, Morgan. Make sure you look extra pretty prom night, okay?”
She giggles, pressing up against me even closer. “Oh, the dress I have picked out is short, pink, and very, very revealing.”
“Sounds like my kind of dress.”
Then she moves in and runs her lips along my jawline. “Hopefully, it won’t be on me all night, if you know what I mean?”
And I do.
But I’ll never find out what she looks like without it on. I saw how jealous Poppy got when Morgan was talking to me earlier. If anything, Morgan is nothing more than a way to make Poppy jealous. I have no intention of fucking her after prom.
Not when Poppy will be there with Tony.
Nope! That stupid jock might have scored Poppy as his prom date, but I’ve got her attention.
And right now, that’s enough for me.
Chapter Three
Poppy
Prom
(Two months later)
The gym is unrecognizable.
Black and gold fabric cascades down from the rafters, along with strings of lights, glittering like stars that have been plucked from the heavens and trapped indoors. Masks of every kind hide familiar faces behind lace, feathers, and sequins. Some girls are wearing plastic crowns, pretending to be something more elegant than they are, as a band plays something slow and dramatic I’ve never heard before, a strange blend of electric violins bleeding into bass-heavy beats.
It feels like a lie dressed up as magic.
Pippa twirls in front of the photographer one last time, her bright fuchsia dress hugging all her curves. She picked her dress on purpose, enjoying how her boobs practically pop out of the strapless top. She’s wearing an elegant sequined mask adorned with gigantic bright pink feathers that stick up on the left and flawlessly accentuate her perfectly pinned hair like she just waltzed in from the nineteen twenties. Daniel, our next-doorneighbor for years, hovers behind her, straightening his tie for the fifth time, looking awkwardly devoted as she poses for their seventh photo in ten minutes. He’s not a bad-looking guy, with his mousy brown hair flopping over his forehead and muscular frame that’s toned from being on the track team, but he definitely doesn’t hold a candle to Pippa. She loves the camera, and the camera loves her.
“You look incredible,” he compliments her, for what’s probably the hundredth time since we got here.
She smiles, but her gaze flicks past him, focusing on the couple who just waltzed through the door.
Eddie and Amber walk in together, both looking radiantly beautiful in the casino’s overhead lights. It’s a new relationship, but one that looks right. Effortless.
Eddie’s hair is slicked back, and I can’t believe he’s actually wearing a tuxedo. Next to him, Amber’s in all gold, her arm looped through his, her blonde curls hanging down her backless dress. She looks absolutely stunning.
Pippa’s smile tightens, but Daniel doesn’t seem to notice. He’s too busy falling even more in love with her. Like a gentleman, he offers her his arm, and the only reason she takes it is because it’s there. She’s not there to fall in love with the boy next door; she’s there to make Eddie jealous and steal him away from Amber.
But you can’t stop true love. From the moment Amber and Eddie met, it was like kismet personified. Each of them was equally attracted and pulled by something no one could have predicted.
They just don’t see how much it’s hurting Pippa.
