Page 24 of The Prom

As he heads inside, it leaves me with more curiosity than nerves, and I take my chance and follow him inside. Drake is hiding something and I won’t leave until he opens up to me because if I am going to help him, I want to know who I’m dealing with first.

TWELVE

DRAKE

This was a bad idea. I should have kept her at a distance. My decision to invite her for pizza was a stupid one and now I’m paying the price. Imogen is an intelligent girl and won’t swallow my lies easily, and yet the truth could blow this entire thing apart. I wasn’t meant to engage so closely. But I can’t help myself. She’s a magnetic force I can’t resist, and even sitting beside her on the bench was torture.

I’m shocked at my reaction to her and worried if I’m honest. She is off limits and I have a hankering to cross the line and be damned. And I would be—damned that is because actions have consequences and I’m fully aware of what they are concerning her.

“Tell me.” Her determined voice cuts through the air in the room as I peer into the fridge and my heart sinks at the determination in her voice.

I close the door and set the pie on the counter, noting how she leans against the doorjamb, watching me with a hard glare of distrust.

“I don’t have to tell you anything.”

I attempt to regain the upper hand and remove the knife from the drawer and slice the pie into quarters.

She heads toward me and the sweat trickles down my back as my body reacts to that one simple act. I can’t tear my eyes away from her flashing blue eyes, the steel in them shocking me a little. For such a sweet girl, she sure has fire in her veins and as she stops at the counter, she fixes me with a determined, “Why are you really here, Drake?”

Her question catches me off guard and she leans closer, the air between us filled with tension and something else way more destructive.

She holds my gaze and whispers, “Why me?”

There are so many things I could say right now and the truth definitely isn’t one of them and for a few seconds, my mind races as I struggle to answer her.

I glance down at the knife in my hand and search for the answer in the gleaming blade and she forces more steel into her voice as she demands, “Look at me.”

I raise my eyes and her icy stare collides with mine as she whispers, “It’s all adding up to a mystery I want to solve.”

“What is?” Even now I attempt to deflect and she reaches out and grips my wrist, the blade falling as she applies pressure, and I chuckle softly. “That’s some move. I’m impressed.”

“I have many moves to protect myself, Drake, which is why I want you to answer my god-damned question.”

Despite the tension between us, I grin. Loving her determination, finally understanding the woman I am dealing with, realization calming the situation.

“When we met in the hall on the first day–” I attempt to explain and she nods, “I remember.”

I clear my throat. “Well, it shocked me a little.”

“Why?” Her hand is still on mine as she pushes it down on the countertop, facing me with a determined glint in her eyes.

I pull my hand away and lean back against the fridge door, almost hoping the ice inside calms the situation.

“It gave me inappropriate thoughts concerning you and it shocked me.”

“Oh.”

Her eyes widen and lose a little of their fire and I swallow the sigh of relief that almost escapes.

“When I found you in the woods, I followed you. I was out jogging and saw you in the distance and couldn’t help myself.”

I run my fingers through my hair and smile apologetically. “You must think I’m a crazy stalker.”

She shrugs, a little of her guard rising as she absorbs what a psycho I am.

“I chose you to be my prom advisor. That much is on the record. There was no other student I wanted to spend time with, so I seized my chance.”

My admission has knocked the questions from her eyes and I breathe a sigh of relief. For now, anyway.

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