“You know what this reminds me of?” Cade asked, low enough for only the two of us. He always knew how to shrink the room, to bring the focus in so it felt like it was only him and me.
“Prom.” I smiled back at him.
My mind caught on a memory. About a month before the senior dance, no one had asked me to go with them. I was working up the courage to ask Cade to be my date. He was so easy to be with, and I knew we’d have a good time if we went together.
We continued to sway. “Tell me a secret?” he suggested gently. My fingers itched to reach up above his collar. I was dying to twine my fingers through the back of his wavy hair like I’d done so many times before. Would it feel the same now, shorn closer to his head than it was years ago?
In my low heels, we were nearly eye level. I took a moment to soak up his eyes, focusing on the muddy spot amidst the vast ocean that always drew me in. I could never resist divulging a secret to Cade.
“I was—well, I was working up the courage to ask you to go with me back then. To prom. Just as friends,” I clarified quickly.
“I know.” He smiled an incorrigible grin.
“You did?”
“Yep. You’d been hinting at it in our texts all that week. You’re not exactly subtle, Meadows. When you started to ask me, I cut you off?—”
“I thought because you saw where I was going, and you didn’t want to have to let me down easy. ‘BRB’isn’t exactly the response a girl wants to get when working up the courage to ask her best friend to prom.” I gave a wry chuckle. “But then you called...”
My eyes met his again.
“But then I called.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “‘Hey, B. I have a question for you. Will you come to prom with me?’” He imitated his tone from back then.
“You acted like we hadn’t been discussing it for a week. Like it had just popped in your head that you wanted to ask me.”
“I did want to ask you...and no way was I going to let you beat me to it.” He gave me a wink.
My brain processed the new information, squeezing it into the corners of the existing memory.
“May I cut in?” A voice at my side interrupted us. Brock. “Thanks for getting her warmed up for me.” He smiled pleasantly at Cade, giving him a dismissing nod.
Cade deferred, stepping away. “She’s all yours.”
As Cade backed away, I swore I saw a flicker of something in his eyes. Something that looked an awful lot like longing, and deep regret.
5
CADE
Islumped back into my chair at the table. For a few minutes, dancing with Brooke, it was like we were back there, slow dancing at prom—before all those moments and all those miles separated us. How different would our lives have been if I’d made a different choice just weeks after that prom? Would we both still be in Vermont? Would she still be in my life?
As I watched him hold her, sway her, watched her smile up at him, I felt my muscles tense, my mind rolling over details and becoming more and more irrationally angry.She’s not yours, I reminded myself a third time.
I’d always felt protective of Brooke. She’d always been strong and confident, able to stand on her own two feet. But I’d also always been there to defend her, to bandage her wounds, to wipe her tears. It might’ve been five years since I’d laid eyes on her, but that didn’t change the protectiveness I felt as I watched her. All night I’d searched for the typical Brooke fire to alight in her eyes, the competitor I’d seen on the volleyball court taking her team to victory. Instead, she’d seemed tired, resigned, her shoulders slumping just a bit more as the night wore on. She didn’t look like the victor—she lookeddefeated.
And the worst part was, herfiancédidn’t even seem to notice. He clearly didn’t even know her. How could she get engaged to a man who didn’t know she loved sunflowers, or that she dreamed of seeing the wildlife in Africa? The more I stared at them, the more my blood began to boil.
She deserves better.
No way would I sit idly by while she married this guy who, quite frankly, seemed like a self-important, rich douchebag. What did Brooke even see in him?
As the song ended, I watched as he leaned down to say something in her ear, then stepped away. I saw my opening and hopped up, quieting the inner voice warning me that this was actually a terrible idea. As she left the dance floor, I pulled her aside to a quiet corner.
“What are you doing, Brooke?”
She reared back as if I’d slapped her. She’d never been one to shy away when I challenged her. She’d always met me punch for verbal punch. But now...she just stared blankly at me, until I continued.
“How long has he known you, a MONTH?” I accused, gesturing wildly towards the exit where he’d left, probably to get their coats and their valet ticket.
