My mom finished fastening the strand of hair and looked back at me through the mirror. I felt her take in a deep breath as she wrapped her soft, warm hands around my shoulders. “Are you ready?”
“I think so,” I replied. “Are you sure I look okay?”
“I have no doubt that you’re going to be the most breathtaking girl there.” I turned away from the mirror to face her, reaching to embrace her in a warm hug. “Just don’t let Paul pressure you into anything you aren’t comfortable with. He seems like a nice young man, but I know the kind of expectations that even nice young men can have on prom night.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. “Ew, mom. No way. Paul isn’t like that.”
She pulled away from our hug and looked me in the eye. “We never think they are, sweetie.”
For some reason I felt a small knot form within my stomach. “I’ll be careful, I promise,” I assured her.
My mother nodded and then kissed my cheek. “I’m going to see what your father is up to in the backyard . . . he better not be touching my flowers. Let us know when Paul gets here so that we can take pictures!” She was already down the hallway when she finished talking.
“I will,” I called out to her.
I took a moment to steal another glance at myself in the mirror, willing the onset of nerves to simmer down. I’d been officially—although in my opinion, not so seriously—dating Paul for about four months now. After Mackenzie and Eric started dating the summer before junior year, Paul had asked me to go out with him repeatedly for over a year and a half before I finally caved and gave it a shot.
Maybe I was a little naive, but I was a steadfast romantic at heart. I firmly believed in sparks and butterflies and old fashioned chivalry. Paul was always very kind—and he was undoubtedly attractive—but I’d never really felt a very strong chemistry with him.
We hadn’t talked about it directly, but I couldn’t imagine that Paul would be surprised by my feelings. I’d sort of assumed that maybe this was just something for us both to explore for the time being without any major strings attached. He was the first person that I’d ever dated exclusively, but I still hesitated to actually call him my boyfriend.
If my mother was right about his expectations tonight, he was going to be sorely disappointed. In the few months that we’d been dating, I’d only let him kiss me. Truthfully, I didn’t even see our relationship lasting much longer. Graduation was in less than a month and we were heading to different colleges, so it wouldn’t really make sense to continue with our relationship anyway.
I was looking forward to the opportunity to start fresh at CU Denver in the fall, where I’d be around new people and could hopefully even find a guy that I had a genuine connection with. I yearned to feel the pull that Mackenzie talked about feeling with Eric. The one that I’d felt that night eight months ago, when I’d picked up Logan from that downtown bar.
Unfortunately,thatpull didn’t actually take me anywhere. Despite our kiss being one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life, Logan seemed to think otherwise and had avoided ever talking about it with me, preferring to act as if it’d never happened. His avoidance hurt, and left me feeling totally mortified about the whole thing.
After a few weeks, we clicked back into our normal routine with each other and got back to the way things were before he kissed me in front of his grandmother’s house. I loved him immensely and I knew he loved me, too. But after that night, I felt so muchmore. I felt what we could be, beyond our close friendship, and it was still sometimes really hard for me to pretend like those feelings weren’t there.
I checked the time on my phone again and grabbed all of my makeup off of the counter to put away. With only ten minutes left before Paul was meant to get here, I walked out of the bathroom and made my way downstairs.
From the landing, I heard Adam talking to someone in the kitchen. Pausing before I entered, I listened to see who he might be talking to, knowing my parents were outside. As I stood there, I registered the deep voice that I would know anywhere.
Logan was here.
Adam was home from college for the weekend so that he could study for finals. His roommates on campus were a bit rowdy, which made it hard for him to focus on everything he needed to review before he took his last set of finals as an undergrad next week. As long as he passed this semester—which I had no doubt that he would—Adam was going to officially be heading to medical school in the fall.
Knowing how important studying was for him this weekend, I didn’t anticipate Logan being here. But hearing him on the other side of the wall sent a jolt of excitement through me. It had been a while since I’d seen him last, and there was a satisfaction in knowing that he would be seeing me all dressed up like this. With as much confidence as I could muster, I took a deep breath and then I breezed my way into the kitchen.
As soon as I entered, Adam and Logan both looked in my direction. Adam threw me a big smile and reached out to give me a hug. “Dang, Millie . . . you clean up nice!”
I wrapped my arms around my brother. “Thank you, Adam.” I looked over his shoulder at Logan, who was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
My god, the sight of Logan did things to me that even I didn’t understand. At twenty-one years old, he was straight-up dynamite. My mind reverted back to that night last fall—the taste of whiskey that his tongue spread across my lips, the warmth of his hands as they roamed under my shirt.
I’d give anything to see you in one of mine.
“Millie?”
I fumbled, realizing that Adam was looking at me, and met his gaze.
“Sorry, what?” I tried to keep my face casual.
“What time’s your date getting here? I want to make sure I give him a little brotherly advice.”
“Oh . . . uh, I don’t think that’s necessary, but thanks.” I looked back at Logan, who was ripping up a napkin in his hands as he stared at my dress, eyes moving down to my heels.
“Well, I do. He should be here soon, right?”
