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“Zane, we can’t—”
“Okay, lovebirds, let’s not get thrown out of the dance because Z can’t keep his hands off his girl.”
“Kye,” Celeste gasped. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking good, Celery.” He winked.
“Celery?” She gawked at him before swinging her eyes to me. “What does that—”
“Don’t ask.” I chuckled, drawing her closer, breathing her in. “We all came.” Turning her a little, I pointed over to where Nix and Nate stood with Harleigh and Chloe.
“I can’t believe you did all this.”
“A wise old woman told me I needed to make a grand gesture. So here I am, at a fucking DA school dance, for you, babe. Only ever for you.”
“I don’t know what to say, Zane. I’m speechless.”
“I don’t need you to say anything right now.” I moved my mouth to her ear and whispered, “But later, I’ll need to hear you scream my name.”
Her breath caught as she pressed into me. “You said something about our first dance?”
Celeste gazed up at me with nothing but lust and longing in her eyes. It hit me then, that this is what it felt like to find your person. The one person who saw past all the armor and bullshit. The one person who wanted you regardless of your flaws.
“I did.” I tugged her onto the dance floor, wrapping my arms around her and swaying us to the sultry beat. Other couples and groups of people danced around us, finally bored at my surprise appearance.
After a little while, our friends joined us. Nix danced with Harleigh, while Chloe danced with Nate and Kye, the three of them laughing and joking. We were proof it didn’t matter if you were from The Row or Old Darling Hill, we were all teenagers with our own baggage, dealing with our own shit. Sure, we might have been different, we might have had different experiences of the world, but cut us open and we all bled the same.
“I’ll warn you now,” Celeste said, grinning up at me like a fool. “I’ll probably fall in love with you, Zane Thackeray Washington.”
Her words fisted my heart, squeezing the air right out of my lungs. “You think you might fall in love with me one day, Einstein?” I barely got the words out over the giant fucking lump in my throat.
She rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. “I think it’s a real possibility, unless you keep calling me that. Then all bets are off.”
“Is that so?”
“Don’t test me, Zane. Or I might run.”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if you run, I’ll come after you. Always. You’re mine now.”
Celeste Rowe was mine.
And I didn’t plan on ever letting her go.
* * *
“I gotta say it, Z, I never thought I’d see the day.” Kye slung his arm over my shoulder as we stood over by the buffet table, watching the girls dance.
“You’re telling me,” I grumbled, tugging at the collar on my shirt. The thing was so fucking tight I could hardly breath. “How much longer until we can leave?”
He barked out a laugh. “Aww poor baby, feeling a little out of your depth?”
“Fuck you, asshole.”
“She’s worth it though, right?”
I watched Celeste, arms thrown in the air, a smile painted on her goddamn beautiful face. “Yeah,” I said, swallowing hard, trying to tamp down the urge of possessiveness I felt over her. “She’s worth it.”
“What are we looking at?” Nate and Nix joined us.
