Page 34 of My Best Friend Prince Charming

13

Ryker

Sunday afternoon, I knocked on Shannon’s front door with a white box under my arm. Her mom answered the door.

“Is Shannon home?” I asked.

“Yep. You know you don’t have to knock. You practically live here anyway,” Mrs. Cooper said.

I followed her inside.

“What’s in the box?” Maddie said when I walked into the living room. She had her feet crossed at the ankles with her feet up on the coffee table.

“It’s a surprise for Shannon.”

Maddie’s face lit up. “Ooh! Can I see?”

“If Shannon wants to let you watch her open it, then I don’t mind you seeing it.”

“Shannon!” Maddie yelled. “Your man’s here with a present for you.”

Shannon’s bedroom door opened. “Ryker?” She had her hair up in a messy bun on top of her head, and a sweatshirt that had fallen off one shoulder. She came up to me and hugged me. She looked like she’d just been napping. She’d gone through a lot lately. It was no wonder she was exhausted. “You got me a present?” She eyed the large, white rectangular box curiously.

“Open it,” I said.

She lifted the lid to reveal a royal blue cocktail dress. She gasped, taking it from the box and holding it up to inspect the dress fully. “Ryker, this is beautiful. Thank you.” She hugged me and buried her face into my chest. “How did you know how to get my size right?”

“I came over when you weren’t home and swiped the red dress you wore to homecoming and took it to the dress shop on Main Street. They helped me find this dress for you.”

“It’s stunning. But what’s the occasion? This dress is too short for prom.”

“Oh, there’s a gift card at the bottom of the box for prom. That way, you can pick the dress out yourself. I know it’s a big deal for girls to go dress shopping together.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Shannon said, wiping away a tear. “I didn’t know how I was going to afford a dress for prom. How can I ever thank you enough?”

“All you need to do is agree to go with me to dinner tonight. That’s what the blue dress is for.”

“This dress is for dinner? It’s pretty fancy. Where are we going?”

“I got us reservations at Charter.”

“Charter?” Shannon squeaked.

I took her hands in mine. “You’ve been through a lot with the paparazzi, and that was because of me. I want to show you that dating a movie star isn’t all bad. There are perks too.”

“You’re incredible,” Shannon said.

“We have reservations at seven. Does that give you enough time to get ready?”

“More than enough time. I’m not a high maintenance kind of girl.”

“Perfect. I’ll be back to get you at six forty-five.”

Shannon planted a kiss on my lips. “I’m heading to the shower.”

“That was a really thoughtful thing to do,” Mrs. Cooper said after Shannon had disappeared into the bathroom. “She’s had a hard time with all this mess with the paparazzi. I can’t even imagine how tough it would be to have my privacy violated like that, and I’m forty. She’s only eighteen and is dealing with it like a champ.”

“I know she hides most of what bothers her. So if you can tell she’s having a hard time, it’s probably much worse than what you see,” I said.

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