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He hadn’t said it to me because he knew I’d fuck him up, but he had to be thinking he was going to get laid tonight. It was prom night.
Over my dead body.
Cursing under my breath, I escaped the ballroom of the fancy ass club the school had rented for the night and found the guy’s restroom. I tried to shake off the black cloud hovering above my head before going back out there.
As I was leaving the restroom, however, something caught my attention in my peripheral. I turned toward the hallway that led to a closed off part of the members-only club.
There was Cupid. Sitting on the floor, knees to her chest, her arm around some girl I didn’t recognize as the girl wiped tears from her cheeks. Something inside me eased seeing her.
I leaned against the wall and watched Valentine as she comforted the blond at her side.
Eventually she pulled the girl to her feet, hugged her and then led her toward me. Val’s eyes brightened when she saw me. The blond blushed and hurried away from us both, joining the line into the girl’s restroom.
Val and I met each other in the middle. I tried not to check her out. It was really goddamn difficult. She’d designed and made her own dress, and she was a knockout in it. Lately, she’d become obsessed with this ‘50s kind of vibe. It suited her. Over the past eighteen months, her body had changed. I’d heard her complaining about it to her mom and it took everything within me to tell her she had nothing to worry about.
She was all tits and ass.
And the ‘50s vibe worked for her big time. It showed off her curves.
Like now, in her strapless dress that fitted to her like a second skin. It was cherry red. The hem stopped just below the knee. The neckline had a heart shape and showed off Valentine’s cleavage a little more than I’d like. I wasn’t too happy about that. Neither was her dad.
But the whole brunette Marilyn Monroe thing worked for her.
My gaze dropped to the floor because I couldn’t look at her without wanting to kiss the hell out of her. Instead, my eyes caught on her high heels. They were tall. They had an ankle strap. Her legs looked fucking amazing.
Shit.
“Cupid,” I cleared my throat, swinging my gaze back up to her gorgeous face.
Her dimples creased, her dark eyes glittering. “Hey. You okay?”
“I’m fine. What about you?” I gestured to the girl she’d been comforting.
“Oh, her name is Heather. She and I are just newly acquainted.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You just met but she was sobbing on your shoulder?”
“Yeah. Come on.” She tucked herself into my side, her arm around my back. I automatically curled my arm around her. Her head just came to my chest. To me, she was the perfect fit.
She smelled good, too. Always did.
As we walked toward the ballroom Valentine continued, “Heather’s a sophomore. Invited by that jackass junior, Steve Johnson. He’s danced with every hot girl since he got here and then started making out with another girl fifteen minutes ago.”
Some guys were morons. “Asshole.”
“Yup.”
“Where are her friends?”
Val shrugged. “I don’t know.”
This was why I loved her. When Valentine saw anyone in pain, stranger or otherwise, she had to stop to help. Even if it interrupted her good time. “You’re amazing, you know that.”
She grinned up at me, those dimples I’d wanted to kiss a million times, popping again. “You always make me feel that way.”
“It’s because it’s true.”
Something flickered in her eyes and I felt her tense against me.
Could she see it? Sometimes I wondered how she could not see it?
How much I adored her.
“Dance with me.” It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. But I didn’t want to stop it. I couldn’t make Valentine Fairchild mine. The Fairchilds were already constantly fighting their daughter about her future. They’d told her no serious boyfriends until college. She’d told them she wasn’t going to college. It was causing major tension between them. They saw me as a brother figure to her and the buffer that kept their relationship from growing too hostile.
If I suddenly announced I was in love with her, our entire family dynamic would implode. And I couldn’t risk hurting the Fairchilds like that. Not when I owed them everything.
But I could have this one dance with her.
Valentine smiled and took hold of my hand, leading me to the dancefloor even though I asked her. I tried not to notice the guys staring at her. The guys who wanted her. Or to think about the guy who would be lucky enough to have her.
To really have her.
All of her.
Instead, I pushed that agonizing thought aside and pulled her into my arms. Her sweet curves pressed into my body. Her fingers tickled the strands of hair at my nape. Her perfume drifted over me, dragging me deeper under her spell… until everything around us just disappeared.
