Where the Road Takes Me
Page 59

   I smiled at his words, trying so hard to avoid tears of happiness.
   A slight smile graced his face as he lifted the corsage. “I got you this.”
   I raised my hand for him. “It’s beautiful,” I told him.
   He shook his head. “No, Chloe. I don’t think the word beautiful should ever exist unless it’s used to describe you,” he mumbled, his eyes narrowed, concentrating on securing the corsage on my wrist. I waited for him to straighten up before stepping forward and kissing him. I felt him smile against my lips, and then he pulled back, the smile still in place. He held his arm out, bent at the elbow, waiting for me. “You ready, girlfriend?”
   My smile matched his. “Yes, boyfriend.”
   I stopped us in front of his car, but he just laughed. “We’re not taking the car,” he stated, before pulling me with him around the corner and to the front of the hotel where a stretch limo was waiting.
   I gasped, long and loud. “Blake!”
   He linked his fingers with mine and continued over to the limo. “It’s not prom without a limo.”
   Blake
   I laughed as I watched her fiddling with all the buttons in the limo. She squealed when she found the one that operated the sunroof. She spent a good few minutes standing there, with half her body sticking out.
   She slumped down on the seat next to me and sighed. “This is so exciting for me.”
   “Really? I couldn’t tell,” I laughed.
   She threw an arm over my waist and moved closer to me. “What do normal teenagers do in a limo, then?”
   I raised an eyebrow. “You really wanna know?”
   She nodded.
   I leaned in and kissed her neck, then placed my hand on her thigh, slowly shifting her dress higher until my fingertips skimmed her skin. “Fool around,” I murmured against her skin.
   She laughed and pushed me away, her nose scrunched in disgust. “I don’t like pre-me Blake Hunter,” she said.
   I chuckled. “I don’t think I do, either.”
 
   When Jasmine said she was hosting the prom in her barn, I had imagined a run-down shack. What this was was the Hollywood mansion of barns. At least a hundred kids filled the barn, more than half of whom were dancing to a song I’d never heard before. Chloe froze next to me, her grip on my arm tightening. I watched as her eyes widened and she looked at me. “Wow,” she said. “It’s just like in the movies.”
   “You made it!” We both turned to see Jasmine approaching us, dragging a guy behind her. She stopped when she got to us and looked me up and down. “You clean up nice.”
   I chuckled as her boyfriend threw his hand out. “I’m Chase.”
   I shook his hand. “Blake.” I jerked my head toward Chloe. “This is my girlfriend, Chloe.”
   They barely had time to shake hands before Jasmine had a hold of Chloe. “You boys have fun,” she shouted over her shoulder. “I’m showing off Chloe.”
   Chloe looked back at me with a grimace.
   “Have fun,” I mouthed.
   “So this is really her first prom?” Chase asked, now standing next to me, watching our girls walk away.
   “Yup.”
   “Kind of hard to believe, considering she looks like that.” He paused for a moment, then added, “That came out wrong. I apologize. I was just trying to pay your girl a compliment.”
   My shoulders relaxed. “It’s fine. She wasn’t really all that social in high school.”
   Awkward silence filled the space between us. “So you wanna dance?” he asked. “I do a mean Hammer dance.”
   I laughed.
   “Come on, I’ll take you to meet the others.”
   He led me to a table far enough away from the speakers that I could actually hear conversation. He introduced me to three other guys with beers in their hands. Chase pointed at a chair and positioned it so it faced the dance floor, then pointed to Chloe, who was standing with the girls from earlier that day. I sat on the chair and watched as they huddled in a circle as they spoke to each other. Chloe threw her head back and laughed at something someone must have said, then Jasmine started to Hammer dance.
   “Dammit!” Chase said. “She always mocks my dancing.”
   I laughed and turned away from the girls. Leaning my elbows on the table, I said, “So you’re in college now?”
   He nodded. “Yeah, I’m at The Citadel—”
   “That military school?”
   “Yeah,” he said slowly, as if he was surprised I knew what it was. “How did you—?”
   “Do you like it there?”
   He nodded again. “It’s perfect for me, but it’s not for everyone.” He paused for a beat. “You just graduated, right? What are your plans?”
   I looked over at Chloe, who was watching me with a hint of a smile on her face. “Have fun,” she mouthed.
   I turned my attention back to Chase. “Right now? My plans are Chloe.”
   He just smiled and leaned back in his chair.
   After an hour of talking ball with the boys, I heard the music stop for a moment, and the atmosphere changed. The lights lowered, and the music started again. The song was slower, and half the people left the dance floor. The boys moaned, knowing too well what their fate was. Me—I’d been waiting for this moment all night.
   I stood and made my way over to Chloe, whose back was to me. I straightened up before tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around and smiled when she saw me. “Girlfriend,” I greeted her, and her smile widened. “Dance with me?”
   She nodded and gave me her hand. I led her to the middle of the floor and held her close to me. “I don’t know how to dance,” I whispered in her ear.
   She giggled into my chest. “I don’t, either.” She threw her arms over my shoulders. “So it’s kind of perfect.”
   I don’t know how many songs we danced to while I held her. She didn’t speak, and neither did I. But she was right; it was kind of perfect. We spent the next couple of hours sitting and talking with Jasmine and Chase and their friends. They were good people. The type of people I wish I’d had around me in high school. I told them about school, about Josh and Tommy, and about Duke and the army. Chloe listened to everyone intently and spoke only when asked questions. Jasmine asked her how we’d met, and she smiled and laughed as she retold the events of that night. When Chase asked her what the hell she was doing in a park in the middle of the night, she just shrugged and looked at me. “Maybe fate knew that I needed saving,” she said.