Forever Golden: Dark High School Bully Romance (Kings of Cypress Prep Book 3) by Rachel Jonas (books like beach read txt) 📗

She smiles and it’s warm, comforting. “You’re so used to being a grown up, you forgot how to let go. But I need you to promise me you’re gonna try.”

Hearing the truth in those words, I nod. “I’ll try.”

She pulls me into a hug that would’ve probably gone on forever if it weren’t for the knock at the door.

“Crap, he’s here,” she gasps, pausing to check my makeup before giving me the okay to leave.

With her seal of approval, I grab the leather jacket she’s loaning me. It completely undermines the formalness of this dress, but in an intentional, badass bitch kind of way.

I make it to the door, but when I open it, I swear my heart stops.

I’ve seen him in jeans and sweats. I’ve seen him in a football uniform, and even semi dressed up for Homecoming. But West golden in a suit is… a work of art. Especially one that’s tailored and incredibly well-fitting.

The dark fabric shows off those deliciously broad shoulders, cinches in at his waist, while also hugging his biceps and muscular thighs just a little.

“Well, shit.”

My reaction draws a smile from him. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I’m two seconds from telling him he can take it as a damn marriage proposal.

It takes a hard nudge from Jules to bring me to my senses, making me aware of having left West standing outside in the cold.

“Sorry. I’m ready. Just let me say goodbye to Scar.”

Jules has me by the shoulders again, stopping me.

“Text her. She’ll be fine. I’m here until whenever you get back, even if that’s not until tomorrow,” she adds with a wink. “Now, go.”

She gently nudges me out onto the porch, then closes and locks the door behind me.

West’s hand settles on my back and we walk toward the car. Stealing another glance at him, I swear he got even hotter since I turned away a second ago.

“You look… fucking amazing,” he says, eye-banging me so hard I’m honestly wondering if we’ll make it to this dance at all.

When he opens the passenger door and I step in front of him, I smile.

“Thanks. The dress is a bit tight, but with any luck it’ll loosen up some by the end of the night.”

His gaze slips lower until he’s staring shamelessly at my ass.

“I sure fucking hope not.”

Maybe that shouldn’t make me blush, but the heat blooming in my cheeks means I am. He offers his hand and I climb in, then watch as he rounds the hood of the car to join me. As far as ‘first dates’ go, I have a feeling this’ll be one for the books.

@QweenPandora: The big night has finally arrived, lovelies! Yep, you guessed it. It’s time for the annual Snow Ball! Whether you’ve been naughty or nice this year, I’m pretty sure everyone’s bells will be getting jingled at the end of the night.

Forget to buy a ticket? You can get yours at the door, but they’re charging double.

Guess that’s the cost of procrastination. Either way, I wouldn’t miss it if I were you.

Have fun, Peeps.

—P

Chapter 20

BLUE

My shoes came off an hour ago, my hair has lost most of its bounce, West has stolen every trace of lipstick off my lips, and I can’t remember a time I’ve had more fun. This is the first song we’ve sat out on since we walked into the gym, and I’m nowhere near tired. In fact, I’m practically buzzing with energy.

Guess I’ve taken Jules’s advice to heart and I’m living a little.

Resting his back against the wall, West grips my hips in front of him while we stare out on the crowd, hundreds of bodies moving to the same beat. Our whole crew is posted now, even Joss. As part of the dance committee, she’s spent most of the night working, so it’s cool she finally gets to chill for a bit. She and Dane share a laugh, but the music’s too loud to even guess what’s funny.

Gently grinding against West because the music still has a hold of me, I pan the room. Sterling’s standing to our left, wearing a suit that fits almost identical to West’s, but in navy blue instead of black. He slips one hand in his pocket and scans the gym, taking a slow drink from his cup. His head swivels a bit and I’m curious when it stops, following his gaze. I can only guess he’s just realized the tall blonde near the punchbowl’s been watching him.

I recognize her from one of the infamous X’s last posts. The woman is definitely Headmaster Harrison’s wife, filling the role of a chaperone tonight it seems. Only, she doesn’t appear to be interested in anything or anyone but Sterling. She’s beautiful, has the body of a woman who spends a fair amount of time in the gym, and the only thing that even hints that she may be up in age is that she’s married to Harrison. Otherwise, she’d pass for being in her late twenties, early thirties.

Whatever the case, she’s too old for Sterling, but doesn’t seem to care.

A slow smile spreads across her glossed lips and my eyes dart back to Sterling. His expression hasn’t changed, which gives the impression that he’s ignoring her. But when he turns without making a big deal of having had her attention at all, I’m now certain he means to ignore her.

My eyes lock with his, and the curious look on my face is likely what gives away that I caught the whole, strange interaction. When one corner of his mouth tugs up into a smile, silently acknowledging what only the two of us seemed to notice, he sets down his empty cup and weaves his way back into the crowd. Eventually, he finds a girl in the right age group to dance with and I glance back toward Harrison’s wife. Sure enough, her eyes are glued to him, causing me to see X’s post in a whole new light.

Apparently, the woman’s known