Page 62 of Crazy in Love

“You have plenty, Dad,” Hope said. “We’re leaving. See ya later, Faith.” She looped her arm in Rex’s and dragged him out.

From the open doorframe, Faith and her father watched them walk to the car. She threw an arm around her dad as Rex opened the car door for Hope.

“They grow up so fast, huh?” She swiped at a fake tear, and her dad laughed. It had been so long since she’d heard that she almost shed real tears. More progress toward healing.

Faith inhaled deeply. “Well, as much as I donotwant to do this, off I go too. Wish me luck.”

She drove the short distance to the high school and parked. With Nick’s departure only a couple of days away, she’d thought he might want to hang out that night but hadn’t heard fromhim. Inviting him to the dance crossed Faith’s mind, but she decided it was probably not his cup of tea. Misery would have no company tonight.

“Faith Sullivan.” The same principal who’d been in charge when Faith was a student met her at the entrance. Old then, he had to be pushing eighty now. “It’s great to see you.”

“Principal Booker,” Faith said. “Nice to see you too.”

“Come on in. The committee’s just finishing up with decorations, and the music should start soon. Doors open for the students in a bit. Feel free to dance and have a good time.”

As she entered the gym, a bajillion memories hit at once. Most involving her five best friends and this very basketball court. Her hands itched for a ball.

The lights dimmed, and a DJ started the tunes. Kids drifted in slowly, most Faith had never seen. Because GVF was so small, they coordinated with nearby towns and municipalities to put on a joint homecoming dance. None of them had enough students for a football team, so there was never an actual homecoming game.

Faith milled around the gym’s perimeter, periodically checking her watch. She stopped abruptly, and her mouth dropped open.

Principal Booker and his wife—a heavyset woman, also of considerable age—were in the middle of the crowd…dancing? Faith wasn’t sure it could be called that exactly. Arms flailed, hips gyrated, and heads bobbed, but not in any sort of rhythm. They were close enough to each other that it looked like geriatric dirty dancing. Terrible, uncoordinated, dirty dancing.

A deep voice from behind made her jump. “Is that legal, do you think?”

She bit her lip and felt Nick slide up next to her. “I don’t know what that is,” she replied, eyes still glued to the scene. “But I can’t look away.”

They watched until the song ended, and the star couple took a bow, wiping sweat from their brows.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

When she finally glanced over at him, saliva flooded her mouth. Hot guy in a tux alert. She eyed him up and down. “Oh me, oh my, sweet momma,” she muttered.

He chuckled. “Hope told me to dress nice, but I only packed jeans and shorts. Had to borrow something from my dad and his suits are too big. The only thing that fit was the tux he was married in.”

“Hope? What do you mean?”

“She asked me to chaperone. Said you were busy and couldn’t do it. That’s why I asked what you were doing here.”

“She askedmeto chaperone, and I said I would.” Faith’s eyes narrowed. “It seems we’ve been played. By a sixteen-year-old.”

“Iknewshe was lying about something. And that explains why she didn’t want me to tell you. You think she’s trying to set us up?”

Faith shrugged. “No idea what goes on in that pretty little head. I’m sorry. You can go if you want. I’ll have a talk with her.”

A commotion erupted on the far side of the gym. Girls screamed, and teens gathered around something. Nick was already on his way. Following, Faith noticed he didn’t have his cane, just favored his left leg heavily.

He shoved through the crowd, and as Faith pushed in behind him, saw that two boys were fighting, rolling around on the ground and throwing weak punches at each other. One had a bloody nose.

Nick grabbed the one on top by the collar and jerked, causing the kid on the bottom to swing at open air. The boy Nick had by the scruff of the neck gained his footing and turned his ire on Nick.

“Back off, man,” he growled. “This is none of your business.”

Faith went to the boy on the floor. It was Rex. She looked up to see a wide-eyed Hope frozen in place, hands on both cheeks.

“My business now,” Nick said. “And this is over.”

“You don’t tell me when it’s over.” The kid was almost as tall as Nick, but not nearly as muscular. And he either had a box of rocks for brains or was all hopped up on adrenaline, because he seemed to think he had a shot at winning a confrontation with Nick.

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