Page 90 of Queen Rose

Beau also seems to catch onto something. “You’re fucking kidding me.”

Griff gives us a shit-eating grin. “Nope. I’m graduating early with all of you losers.” He holds his fist out to his brother for a bump. “And at the same time Dad was working on helping Nate, he had Coach Randolph look at my footage, too.”

Xander huffs out a laugh. “Oh, shit. That’s amazing. Congratulations.”

Daphne smirks. “Well, now I understand why Max hasn’t been sad at all about leaving you behind, Griff.”

“He couldn’t get rid of me if he wanted to.” Griff winks at Max before pressing a kiss to his lips.

“Holy shit. You know what this means? We’re going to have the most lethal fucking football team ever.” Micah throws back his head and laughs.

Aria grins big and leans against me, but she tenses as the microphone screeches to life again.

“Okay, here we go, everyone! The final votes are in and this year’s Rosehaven Academy Prom Queen is none other than Aria Warrington! Aria, come on up to the stage!”

Our table goes bonkers. Everyone stands up, clapping. Aria remains seated for a second, clinging to my arm, clearly surprised. “Oh. Um.” She blows out a breath like she’s bracing herself. I stand and help her up, then kiss her lightly on the cheek. She reluctantly lets go of my arm to make her way up to the stage. She looks so nervous, and I can only hope the assholes in the room keep their comments to themselves. She told me that things have been awkward since returning to school, and she’s felt on edge.

I catch Xander’s eye, and he shakes his head, as if to say, Nope. Things are under control. No worries, man. My gaze wanders the crowd. He appears to be right.

And damn, Aria is gorgeous up there as she graciously accepts a sash and a crown. She hesitantly smiles and waves as they take a few photos of her.

“And this year’s Prom King is Xander Grey!”

He shrugs his shoulders with a little smirk, gives Scarlett such a hot kiss that it makes the student body roar. Jogging up to the stage to join Aria, he winks at her before accepting his sash and crown as well and posing for photos.

As the woman announces that they’re going to have their dance as king and queen, Xander leans over and whispers in Aria’s ear. They descend arm in arm to the dance floor, but veer off to the side at the last minute. Xander crooks his finger at Scarlett, who hurries into his arms, while Aria sets her sights on me. She smiles big. “Let’s go, Nate. I need my king. My Romeo.”

* * *

As we’re exiting the school later that evening as a group, we hear the sound of heels clicking quickly over the pavement behind us, then a breathless, “Aria. Hold up. Can I talk to you for a second?”

There’s a collective groan from our friends.

It’s Farrah. Her eyes flick up to the crown sitting atop Aria’s head, then slide over the prom queen sash crossing her abdomen. She bites her lip.

I roll my eyes but let Aria take the lead.

“Sure. We have a minute, don’t we Nate?” Aria’s fingers dig into my arm. That’s the only hint I have that she’s not one hundred percent in control.

“Um. So—” Farrah looks decidedly uncomfortable. “I, um… I heard that you got snatched when you went upstairs to change. At the party, I mean. You know, after I dumped my drink on you.”

“That’s when it happened, yes.” Aria stares steadily at Farrah. “Is there something else?”

Farrah closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Look, I wanted to say I’m sorry. I wanted you knocked off the throne, not, like kidnapped and almost murdered or whatever. I didn’t—”

“You couldn’t have known.” Aria begins to turn away, but Farrah apparently isn’t done.

“But it was my fault. Aria, what can I do?”

With a deep sigh, Aria shakes her head. “It wasn’t. Truly. But if you want to do something that would mean something to me, to prove you aren’t being fake right now, there’s a women’s shelter in Laramie that you could volunteer at. I’ll text you some information.”

Farrah’s eyes widen. “Oh. Uh, okay.”

“Maybe I’ll see you there.”

That’s my girl. Dignity and grace. A true queen.

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