Happenstance 2 (Happenstance #2)(16)
Author: Jamie McGuire

“You don’t have to. Just tell her I asked you to prom.”

“I don’t dance,” I said, squirming.

He held my necklace between his thumb and index finger. He leaned down and kissed it and then moved up to my neck.

I sighed, moving my chin to the side, stretching my neck just a tiny bit to give him better access.

He pulled away and frowned.

“What?” I asked, surprised at his reaction.

“You don’t smell like ice cream.”

I chuckled. “I was barely at work today. Patty took over my shift, and my hours have been cut to give me more free time. Julianne’s request.”

One side of Weston’s mouth turned up, and then his mouth stretched into a full-blown grin.

“Thank you, Julianne.” He looked down at my lips and then moved toward me, kissing me softly at first. His mouth opened, and I welcomed his tongue with mine.

“Please go to prom with me,” he whispered against my mouth. “I don’t want to go by myself. I don’t want to go with anyone but you, and it’s my senior year. I don’t want to miss it. Even if we only stay long enough to pose for a stupid picture.”

“I understand your dilemma, but I really don’t want to go.”

“Well,” he said, his lips moving to my ear, “sometimes we have to do things we don’t like to do. It’s a good life lesson.”

“You’re right. If you break the news to your dad about Duke, then I’ll go to prom with you.”

He sat up, shocked at my proposal. “That’s not fair, Erin.”

“You just said—”

“I know what I said. But prom and pissing off my dad are not exactly the same thing.”

“It’s close.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’ll go to prom if I tell him I want to go to Dallas? What if he says no?”

“That’s between your dad and you. But if you tell him, I’ll go.”

“Deal.”

“Really?” I said, suddenly feeling sick.

“You better start looking for a dress now.”

I swallowed.

We stood, and Weston intertwined his fingers in mine, walking with me down the steps and out to my car.

“Why don’t you follow me home? My parents won’t be home for a couple of hours.”

“Remember what Sam said?”

He nodded. “He said to keep my hands off someone else’s wife. But you’re not going to be someone else’s wife.”

“Slow down, speed racer.”

“You know what I mean,” he said, opening my door.

“I’ll see you in a minute,” I said, ducking into the BMW.

I lay there, resting against Weston’s bare chest, wrapped in his arms. The ceiling fan was whirling above us, the picture he’d drawn of me just overhead.

“I love that you wear this every day,” he said, touching my necklace.

“I love that you gave it to me.”

“I love you.”

I sat still, wondering if what he’d just said was really what he’d just said. He’d alluded to being in love with me before but never actually said it. Not so direct. Not out loud.

“Erin?”

“I’m glad.”

“You’re glad,” he said flatly.

I closed my eyes, knowing I’d upset him. “I want to say it. It just feels weird.”

“Would you mean it?”

“I think so.”

“You think so.”

“Stop doing that,” I said, sitting up and pulling my arms through my bra straps, and then my shirt over my head.

He sighed, clearly regretting the turn of the conversation.

“It’s scary, Weston. Even if you go to Dallas, you’ll be five hours away. We’ll live separate lives. No one stays together when they go to different colleges.”

“You don’t know that.” He frowned. “Why do you have to be so negative? We’re going to see each other as much as we can. We’ll talk on the phone every night. We’ll stay together, and then you’ll come visit me and fall in love with Dallas, and you’ll move there after you graduate.”

“Is that so?”

He sat up against the headboard. “Yes.”

“I’m not being negative. I’m being realistic. I don’t want either of us to get hurt.”

“If we don’t stay together, it’ll hurt. It’ll tear me up. I don’t want anyone else.”

“Weston, you’re eighteen. You don’t know what you want.”

He stood up and slipped on his jeans. “You definitely don’t know what I want.”

I finished dressing and tied my shoes. “It’s just common sense. We live in a fishbowl here, but there are thousands of young, beautiful women in Dallas.”

“There’s only one you.” We were standing on opposite sides of his bed, staring at each other. He shifted his weight, nervous. “Are you…are you saying this because you plan on meeting someone new in Stillwater?”

“No!”

“Sounds to me like you’re keeping your options open.”

“God, Weston, that’s not it at all.”

His breathing faltered, and he looked around on his floor, then saw his inhaler on his nightstand and grabbed it. He shook it, then took a puff.

“Why are you getting so upset? Why do we even have to talk about this now?”

“I’d kind of like to know if the girl I love sees me as temporary.”

“Blackwell is temporary.”

“I’m not even staying here!”

“I know! I’m just not making any promises I can’t keep.”

“Well, that’s just great. Thanks, babe.”

My shoulders fell. He was fighting dirty. “I have to go home.” I walked around his bed to his door, but he stood in my way. He took a deep breath, touched my arms, and pressed his forehead against mine.

“Homework?”

“Sort of.”

“What does that mean?”

“I want to read Alder’s earlier journals. I want to know why they quit talking to me.”

He stiffened. “I thought you weren’t going to read them anymore.”

“I changed my mind. Julianne kind of doesn’t care.”

“What?” he yelled.

I leaned away from him, stunned by his explosive response.

“They’re none of your damn business, Erin. It’s wrong, and you know it!”