So Many Boys (The Naughty List #2)(55)
Author: Suzanne Young

Dear Clients,

This is an important announcement regarding SOS and its future dealings. During the last few months, an imposter infiltrated SOS. The situation has been handled, and the proper investigators are back on duty.

In the meantime, the real SOS has reinstated its former leader and is getting back to basics. We are a nonprofit organization and exist only on donations from our benefactors. In addition, there will be no more revenge, although matchmaking is still a possibility.

We are also returning to our top-secret status, and you can be assured that all the information collected will remain confidential. Although we are still trying to get the previously loaded videos off of YouTube.

SOS is looking forward to salvaging our reputations and rebuilding your trust.

If you suspect your boyfriend in a cheat, please send a cheater request to 555-0101.

Keep smiling,

SOS ☺

SOS

Text: 555-0101 * Exposing Cheaters for Over Three Years

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

WHEN I HOBBLED INTO THE CAFETERIA (STILL minus a shoe), my emotions were completely tied in lopsided bows. I stood, looking over the student body, unsure of where to begin.

Maybe it was the paper flowers or homecoming ribbons on the walls or the alternating red and blue lighting, but this place was romantic. And I didn’t belong here. Not without Aiden.

I reached down to slip off my other shoe before making my way back out of the dance and down the deserted hallway. The sound of music slowly faded behind me, and I wondered where I should go. What I should do.

But going home didn’t sound glorious, and the Smitten Kittens were all inside, enjoying their nights. And I wouldn’t bring them down. Not when we’d finally solved the copy-Kitten crisis. Only they didn’t know the real devastation. I’d have to fake it until we make it. No matter how much it hurt.

I paused and looked through the glass window of the exit door. I could see the filled parking lot, the streamers hanging on the cars for the parade at the end of the dance. It was so peppy that I had to smile.

I pushed hard on the heavy metal door and had made my way across the cement when I spotted the football field behind the parking lot. I laughed at myself. How obvious—where else would a cheerleader go to think?

When I got there, I sat down on the cool metal bleacher, looking out at the pieces of confetti littering the football field to prep it for the celebration. There was a chill in the air, so I wrapped my arms around my torso and glanced up at the scoreboard. Wildcats vs. Ducks. Even though I hadn’t been a cheerleader in months, my school spirit had never faded.

I closed my eyes as a gust of wind blew through my hair, sending it back from my face. Behind my lids, I could feel tears, hot, salty.

Aiden was gone. He didn’t belong to me anymore, and really, maybe he never had. Maybe we just weren’t right, no matter how much we felt like we were. And even though I missed him, I didn’t miss the confusion.

And Kira. I shook my head, not wanting to think about what she’d done, the ways she’d betrayed me. After all of our time together, she’d written me off. She wanted to hurt me.

I put my hands over my face, trying to block out the questions. The lies. Suddenly I felt something warm wrap around me and I spun around to see Joel standing there.

“Sorry,” he said, smiling slightly. “You just look cold.”

“I am.” Inside and out. But it was certainly nice to see him.

He adjusted his coat around my shoulders before stepping over the bleacher and sitting down next to me. His thigh pressed against mine, and I wondered if he realized how close he was.

I slipped my arms into the sleeves of the jacket and used my fingertips to hold it closed. Even with company, my heart was still aching. Joel shifted next to me and I looked over at him.

The wind blew his brown hair around, and when he smiled, warm and imperfect, I felt myself smile back. “Hi,” he whispered, like we’d just started talking.

“Hi.”

“You left the dance,” he said, running his glance down the length of my dress to my bare feet. “Did you lose your shoe, Cinderella?”

I didn’t want to tell him that his girlfriend had freaked out and physically assaulted me. Instead, “I lost it in the gym.”

Joel nodded. “That’s sort of funny,” he said. I raised my eyebrow, not quite sure what could be funny about me walking around barefoot, holding my remaining shoe.

Joel reached over, and my heart sped up as he slipped his hand into the pocket of his coat (which just so happened to be against my body).

“I went back to the gym to look for you and…wait,” he said, close enough that his breath was warm against my face. “It’s not midnight, is it?”

“No,” I murmured, not sure how to move anymore. Because I was fairly certain I should pull back in some way. Instead I sat there, nearly lip to lip with Kira’s ex-boyfriend.

“Good,” he whispered. “I wouldn’t want you turning into a pumpkin or anything.”

Okay, if Joel was drinking, I would probably have been able to smell it on his breath at this distance. But he seemed completely lucid. Completely—

Just then he pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket (which, again, had been against my body the entire time) and held up a shoe. My shoe.

“I found your glass slipper,” he said with a huge smile on his face.

I looked between Joel and my yellow size six and a half and felt my entire body tingle. He shouldn’t be here with me. He shouldn’t be rescuing my shoe.

“Thank you.”

“Does this mean I’m Prince Charming?” he asked, licking his lips as he glanced at mine. “I can slay a dragon if you need me to.”

I stared into his soft hazel eyes, feeling both lost and safe. “No dragons in Cinderella,” I murmured, my breath quickening.

“Yeah.” He smiled. “I never believed in that fairy-tale bullshit anyway.” Joel leaned over like he was about to kiss me. Then he moved his head and gently pressed his lips to my cheek, touching me so softly that for a minute, I wasn’t sure if it was real.

I shut my eyes, aware that being this close to my ex-best friend’s ex-boyfriend in the bleachers of the football field was completely unethical, both socially and athletically. But the way Joel touched me was so right. It was exactly what I needed, maybe all along.

With a whisper of a kiss, he pulled back only to rest his forehead against mine, his warm breath tickling my face. “I’m such a chicken,” he said with a quick laugh.

There was another breeze and I felt the rush of air on my toes. Straightening up, I glanced at my high heel, still in Joel’s hand. I smiled. “Would you mind?” I asked, crossing my legs to hold my bare foot in his direction.