Page 80 of #Awestruck

That made me laugh and tighten my arms around him. “So arrogant.”

“Maybe. But I feel like this is a topic we should spend more time exploring.”

“Your inflated ego?”

“Fantasies,” he answered with a wicked grin. “Specifically yours.”

“Shut up,” I told him, but even I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

I was going to the ball with Prince Charming.

My life was pretty awesome at the moment.

I should have remembered that when you believed everything in your life was perfect, that was the moment the universe liked to cut your legs out from underneath you.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

It ended up being easier than I’d expected to decorate for the reunion. The hotel did most of the work with the tables, chairs, and tablecloths. Aubrey and I, along with a handful of volunteers, came in to finish up the details. Balloons in the school colors, red and black, some strung lights, the floral centerpieces. All tastefully subdued and in line with Aubrey’s ultimate vision for the best reunion ever.

When I got back home, I called my younger sister to come over. Rory had already offered to lend me a dress that she’d said “will look amazing on you because it looks amazing on me,” and stuck around to help me get ready. It was a royal-blue cocktail dress that I thought would clash with our hair color, but she was right. It looked amazing when I put it on.

“It makes your skin glow,” Rory said, going through my lipsticks to find a good color. And it didn’t wash out my hair. If anything, it made it seem an even deeper red.

The dress was tight, as Rory was a bit shorter and smaller than me. I probably wouldn’t be able to breathe, but it was a small price to pay. It was bare on one shoulder and had a cutout in the short sleeve on the other. “Whatever you paid for this dress, it was worth it,” I told her as she helped zip me into it. There was a cute diamanté belt around the waist that I hadn’t noticed before.

“Really suck it in,” she told me, and I pulled in my stomach, holding my breath, and she managed to get the zipper all the way to the top. We both exhaled when we saw that it would fit. I added a pair of black open-toe high heels, again loving that I could wear these with Evan and still be shorter next to him.

“Are you worried about seeing all your former tormentors tonight?” Rory asked as I slipped my shoes on.

“Not really. I should probably be having, like, PTSD flashbacks or something, but all those years of therapy did do me some good. I’m not going to allow any of those kids to have any control over me or my life. I’m going to go enjoy myself, and they don’t get a say in whether or not I have a good time.” I had put most of that high school trauma behind me, and part of that was due to Evan. How protective he was of me, how much he believed in me. I didn’t have anything to fear from any of those people.

They couldn’t touch me.

“Have fun. But not too much fun because Evan’s not into that,” Rory teased, kissing me on the cheek. “I’m going to get out of here before he shows up. Unless you need a chaperone. And you might once he sees you in that dress.”

“Get out of here,” I told her, listening to her laugh all the way to the front door. There was a knock about thirty seconds later, and I figured she’d forgotten something.

“Rory, what—” My voice cut off when I saw that it was Evan.

Who was staring at me like I was the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

He looked amazing—I loved him in semi-formalwear. So clean-cut and sexy. Tonight he had on his dark-gray tailored suit and a tie that looked surprisingly close to the color of my dress. Like we were about to go to prom. My teenage self gasped in excitement. Then I wondered if Rory had sent him a text.

“Wow,” he finally breathed. “You look so hot that I’m afraid I’m going to burn my fingers if I touch you. You are stunning.”

“Back at you.”

He stepped through the front door and put his hands on my waist, gripping me tightly. “Are you sure we can’t skip the reunion and just stay here?”

“Do you want Aubrey to issue death warrants for the both of us? I have to do whatever menial tasks she has planned, and you are the star attraction. We have to be there.”

He nuzzled my neck. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind?”

If he kept doing that, he definitely would. “No. We have to go.”

With an exaggerated sigh, he let go and took my hand. On the car ride over, I told him all about Aubrey’s excessive attention to detail when it came to the decorations. “Like, they’re balloons and Christmas lights. It’s not that big of a deal.”

He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it. “I can’t wait to see it.”

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