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“They were fairly accurate, yes.”
“I was into it. Even the men. They looked badass.”
“They did. So gentlemanly.”
She opened another garment bag and paused.
“What’s that?” I asked, glancing at the pink fabric showing through. “Another costume?”
“No.” She zipped it back up. “This was going to be my prom dress.”
Oh, shit.
She set it aside. “I didn’t remember I still had it.”
I needed to say something. She shifted some of the clothes so she could keep sorting through them, but I could tell by her body language she was upset. The mood in the room had changed—even I wasn’t clueless enough to miss it.
But what the hell was I supposed to say? I wanted to go back to ignoring it; pretending it hadn’t happened. But it had, and it clearly still bothered her.
“Hey. Are you okay?” I ran a hand down her arm, hoping I could draw her in and kiss it all away, but she moved out of my reach.
“I’m fine. It was such a long time ago, there’s no reason for it to still bother me. It’s silly.”
I opened and closed my fists a couple of times, almost groaning with dread. I could take her I’m fine at face value and change the subject, but my gut was throwing danger signals I couldn’t ignore. It didn’t matter that it had been a long time. It had changed the course of our relationship for years.
And it was my fault.
I didn’t want something I’d done when I was young and stupid to get in the way of what we had now. I couldn’t ignore this like I’d ignored her for so long.
“Mari, can we just talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“Baby, you know.” I took her hand and turned her toward me. “It was a long time ago, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I hurt you and I’m so sorry.”
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. It felt like having an ice pick rammed straight into my chest.
She dabbed the tears away. “This is so stupid. I shouldn’t cry about it now.”
I wasn’t sure what else to say. Just let her cry? Hold her? Apologize again?
“Why did you do it?” she asked, her voice suddenly a whisper. “Why would you play a joke like that on me?”
“It wasn’t a joke.”
Her teary eyes lifted to meet mine. “I know it was just a high school prom, but at the time, that dance meant everything to me. My friends all had dates, but I was Marigold, the quiet bookworm who was too scared to even talk to boys. So of course no one asked me. And then, out of the blue, there you were. I had such a crush on you, I could hardly speak when you were around. And you, the boy of my dreams, my best friend’s big brother who seemed as out of reach as the stars—you were asking me to prom. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
She paused and wiped her tears again. I knew how this ended and I didn’t want to hear it.
“I was so excited. Mom took me shopping to buy that dress and she even let me get shoes to match. I got my hopes up that maybe you actually liked me. Maybe all those years we’d been around each other at your family’s house, you’d secretly harbored a crush on me. Just like I had a crush on you. And then Annika told me the truth. It was just a joke. Somebody paid you to ask me to the prom. It wasn’t real at all.”
“That’s not…” I trailed off, not sure what to say. How could I explain myself? It had been an awful thing to do to her, even if I’d never meant it that way. “It wasn’t a joke.”
“Then why?”
Closing my eyes, I let out a long breath. I’d made a promise back then and now I was faced with a choice. Break that promise, but tell her the truth. Or lie to her again.
I couldn’t lie to her.
