Page 27 of The Prom

“I wasn’t talking about washing the sweat off, baby, more along the lines of creating some more.”

I dismiss his words with a toss of my eyes. “Down boy. I’m heading inside—alone. I’ll catch you later.”

As I leave, my face burns because what the fuck? Even the mere idea of Jesse’s hands on me set my teeth on edge, which is a new reaction that caught me off guard.

As I head to my room, I meet Siri coming in the opposite direction and she smiles broadly. “Hey, there you are. Cassie wondered if you fancied grabbing a girl’s night. We’re all out tomorrow and wanted some time without the guys for once.”

“Sure. I’m up for that.” I smile, the relief hitting me hard.

She laughs softly. “I doubt Jesse will be happy. He’s been looking for you and, by the looks of it, he has other plans.”

“He’ll live. He’s always taking off and not explaining where, so he can suck it up and put in the work before he reaps the reward.”

“Good for you, girl.” Siri high fives me and then lowers her voice. “Seriously though, something’s off with him. Jack hoped The Claiming would focus his mind a little. I mean, you’re one hot chick, and why would he go anywhere else?”

“But he does.” I remind her and sigh. “The thing is, Siri, all the time Jesse’s mind is elsewhere I’m not interested and under the rules of The Claiming, we are meant to be together. I’m not ready for that level of commitment if he’s not on the same page as me, so I don’t know where I stand with that.”

Siri’s worried frown doesn’t help and she sighs. “I see your problem. The Twist ceremony is months away, and that’s a long time to be with the wrong guy. Maybe have a word with Frankie and tell him of your concerns. He may grant you an exemption.”

“It’s worth a try, I guess.”

I shrug. “I really should shower. Where are we meeting?”

“The basement. Cassie told the guys it’s out-of-bounds tonight and they must entertain themselves.”

“Great. I’ll see you there in–” I raise my eyes and she glances at her phone.

“Thirty minutes. We’ve ordered pizza. It will be delivered round about then.”

As she leaves, I shake my head. Fuck. More pizza. I’m going to look like one at this rate.

When I head into my room, I’m careful to lock the door behind me because I wouldn’t put it past Jesse to try his luck, despite my obvious knock back.

For the first time since meeting Drake, I am alone with my thoughts and as I wander across to the window, I glance outat the tree line and a small smile lights my lips as I remember exactly what happened back there. I kissed my freaking teacher, and I liked it and, more importantly, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I meetthe others in the basement bang on thirty minutes and Cassie’s smile is bright when I walk into the room.

“Hey, where did you go?”

“For a run.” I avoid her eyes because Cassie knows me better than anyone and would instantly see there is something different in my smile.

“Pizzas arrived.”

Summer heads down the stairs, balancing boxes in her hands, and Siri races to help her.

Cassie pours us each a glass of wine and as we settle down, loud music plays out from the hidden speakers.

It gives me a moment to collect my thoughts and as I eat my third slice of pizza this evening, I cast my mind back to the last one I ate. Fuck Principal Constable. I wonder what would have happened if we hadn’t been interrupted. Would things have moved on? I like to think so.

“So, the prom.” Cassie is excited. “Does anyone know what the theme is yet?”

“The Roman empire.” I add, and Siri gasps with excitement.

“Who told you that?”

I shift in my seat and shrug dismissively. “My history teacher asked for my help and I suggested it. As he’s in charge of coming up with the theme, I guess you can thank me for that.”

Several pairs of stunned eyes are trained on me and Cassie is the first to voice her thoughts.

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