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I snort, but somehow, his words provide enough comfort for me to find the strength to open the passenger door and get out.
“Attagirl,” Luke cheers me on and follows my lead, hopping out of the driver’s side and meeting me at the back of the car. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and leads us toward the entrance.
As we walk across the snow-covered pavement, I spot several of my old classmates walking into the building and send up a silent prayer that tonight isn’t a miserable experience.
But just before we step inside, Luke pauses at the entrance and places his hand to the small of my back. “Ace, I have something very important to tell you.”
I lean back slightly to meet his eyes. “Yeah?”
“You look so insanely beautiful tonight,” he whispers. “I can’t believe I’m the lucky bastard who gets to have you on his arm.”
My heart is the balloon, and his words are helium, filling me up until I feel like I can fly. “Thank you for coming with me.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he says and presses a kiss to my forehead. “And just so you know, I’m not here pretending to be anything. To me, this is real. You and me and what happened last night and the way things are between us now, it’s real.”
“It’s real to me, too,” I whisper back, and a smile consumes his mouth.
“Now that we have that settled, the sooner we get this goat rodeo out of the way, the sooner I can take you back to your parents’ house and get you naked.”
“Luke London,” I chastise with a giggle. “You are bad.”
“Oh, you have no idea the things I have planned for tonight.” He winks, and then, like he didn’t just make my mind reel with all sorts of dirty thoughts, puts pressure to the hand at my back and gently leads us into the venue.
Well, hell, how am I supposed to focus on this stupid reunion now?“Hi, everyone!” Callie greets from the stage. Her silver sequined dress sparkles beneath the lights, and with her nose held high in the air, her face has that familiar I’m-better-than-everyone look. “I hope you enjoyed the wonderful dinner that was put together by moi,” she says and gestures toward herself with a curl of her hand and a confident smile on her lips. “Now, if you would please gather around for a very important announcement!”
No one really makes a move to follow her lead, most staying put in their seats at the various tables scattered throughout the dining area of the venue, but she will not be deterred.
“Come on!” She motions with her free hand, and eventually, everyone starts to get up from their chairs and walk toward the dance floor sitting just below the stage.
Everyone but me, that is.
So far, only an hour or so into the evening, my fifteen-year high school reunion lives up to all of my lowball expectations.
Callie is just as much of a backhanded bitch in person as she was in high school.
Most of my classmates are married with kids.
And while it’s been nice catching up with some of my friends from back in the day, I’d rather be anywhere else but here.
The only thing that’s been enjoyable about the evening is the fact that Luke has been by my side the whole time. Never failing to be affectionate and playful and sweet, he’s made the night worthy of attending.
Although, I’d venture to say that we could be anywhere and still have a good time.
We certainly didn’t need to come here to have fun together.
Luke grins at me from the seat beside mine, his hand resting comfortably on my thigh. “You don’t want to go hear what she has to say?”
“Uh…” I pause and snort. “I’m pretty sure I can hear it from here.”
“Well, okay then.” He laughs and slides his hand down to squeeze my knee.
I take a sip from my glass of punch and rest my head on his shoulder, settling in for the “big announcement.”
I watch on as Connie and Carrie—the two women who were part of Callie’s CiCi’s entourage back in the day—step onto the stage, smiling at their old clique leader.
With Carrie standing beside her, Connie takes the microphone, and Callie strides off the stage and into the small crowd that’s formed on the dance floor.
“I am excited to tell you that we have the official tally!” Connie says, and I scrunch up my brow, glancing at Luke in confusion.
“What tally?” I ask, whispering toward him.
He smirks down at me. “For the king and queen of the reunion.”
“Are you serious?” I question with wide eyes. “When were we supposed to vote on that?”
An amused laugh pops from his throat. “When we had to take these glorious name tags,” he retorts and glances down at his chest, where a “Hello My Name Is” sticker sits on his shirt.
