“Wow.” I can’t take my eyes off them. The gowns, the hair, them.
Them, Cooper?
This is not about a “them”. It’s about one girl. The girl you love.
“Cadee,” I say, taking her hand again. “You…” I have to stop and shake my head. “You are… breathtaking.”
“Hel-lo?” Isabella says. “I’m here too.” But it’s not a bitchy interruption. More of a playful one.
I smile at her. “You as well.”
“I can take a hint. You two kids have fun.” Then she points a perfectly manicured finger at Cadee. “Don’t wear him out too much. I get him later.”
I kinda laugh at that. And then stop abruptly. Because this is a little weird.
“Bye,” Cadee says softly.
Then we both watch Isabella saunter off in the direction of Lars. “Lars,” I say.
Cadee puts a flat hand on my chest. “Never mind Lars. He’s busy with Valentina and Selina, from the looks of things.”
She’s right. Lars also has two girls. But they are not dressed up like twin queens the way Isabella and Cadee are. And he is not wearing the regalia of the High Court King. So fuck him.
“Come on.” I take Cadee’s hand and lead her into the gardens. “This place looks amazing. Let’s check it out and get a drink.”
Cadee looks up and around in awe. And there is much to be in awe of. Over the past few weeks the landscaping team has been busy building pergolas and rearranging the gardens from their original designs. I could tell that this bothered Cadee at first. And I don’t blame her. These gardens are her real legacy at High Court. The only place that was truly hers.
Until the new Fang and Feather dorm, that is.
But she’s genuinely impressed with what they’ve done. While there have always been hundreds of rose bushes in the central garden, now the pea-pebble pathways have thousands of yellow petals scattered on them. There are fairy lights strung all over the structures. They all converge from the four corners of the garden and attach to a fifty-foot pole to form a shimmering canopy that makes even me feel like I’ve entered a magical place. A castle tower straight out of Rapunzel has been built around the pole and the school banner is waving in the breeze at the top.
You can’t have a High Court homecoming without a tower. Where would we lock up all our princesses?
I grab two champagne flutes going by on a tray, then hand one to Cadee.
She holds her glass up and the golden liquid sparkles in the fairy lights, and I find all that and more when I see the reflection in her eyes. “What should we toast to?” she asks.
“The future, of course.” I pause to really look at her. I want to burn this image of her in my mind forever. My girl in the woods. The one who has always been on the edge of things is now the only thing anyone can see.
Cadee smiles. “I’ll drink to that.” She touches her glass to mine and we sip our champagne. Just looking around, taking it all in. “I don’t even know what to focus on at first. It’s just all so… pretty. My father would’ve loved this design.”
“Yeah. I think he would’ve. But I’ve got one more surprise to show you. Follow me.” I lead her over to the tower built around the pole and open the secret door.
Cadee laughs. “What? It’s a real tower?”
“They’re always real.”
“I know they get built every year, but I never knew people could go up into them.”
“Only the King.” I bring her hand up to my lips and kiss her knuckles. “And his Queen.”
She blushes a little and I love that about her.
“Come on.” I keep her hand and pull her inside the door. Then we ascend the narrow wooden staircase. At the top there is just an opening, but no door. So we meet the crisp fall wind when we step back out into the night.
Above us are the fairy lights and the snapping of the High Court banner as it waves in the breeze. Down below people are dancing and the music is loud. Thumping and pulsating. There are tables and chairs and a bar on either end of the garden. But servers go by, so no one is standing in line for drinks tonight.
We pivot in place and I let her take it all in.
And then I realize something. “You’ve never gone to a school dance, have you?”
“Nope.” She gazes up at me like I’m her King. “I used to watch the homecoming though. Before my dad died. I used to help him set it up too.” She looks at the spectacle before us and sighs a little. “But I never did sneak in to any of the dances.”
“Not even once?”
She shakes her head. “Not even once. I was really intimidated. And anyway, my parents always took me up to Poplar Lake on dance nights because kids would be in the woods until all hours and they would often wake us up. So when you were having your dance, I was probably in front of a fire pit roasting marshmallows.”
The beat of the music shifts from thumping to something slow and acoustic and all the moving bodies down below are suddenly paired up, clinging to each other.
“Well, that’s a tall order to compete with,” I say. She giggles. “So I’ll have to make sure this is the best night of your life, Cadee Hunter. One you’ll never forget.” Then I bow and extend my hand. “Would you like to dance, my queen?”
She sucks in a breath and nods, placing her hand in mine.
I pull her close. The front of our bodies press against each other. My hands slide to her hips, then over her ass as she rests her cheek on the top of my shoulder and sighs.
Our swaying can barely be called movement, let alone dancing. The space up here is just enough for us to shuffle around. But none of what we’re doing right now is about dancing.
We’re quiet for the entire song. And I don’t know what she’s thinking about. Maybe what comes later tonight.
But that’s not what I’m thinking about.
I’m thinking about how much I love this girl. And how I don’t deserve her. And how one day, she might wake up and figure that out. One day she might understand that she is better than me. In fact, that’s almost a certainty.
When the song ends I take a small step back so I can see her face. “I have something else to show you.”
“Something better than this?”
“So much better than this. But you’re having a good time, right?”
“It’s definitely shaping up to be one for the books. I don’t even mind wearing the same dress as Isabella. We…” She looks at me and—is she blushing?
“You what?”
“We look kinda hot together. Don’t you think?”
“Kinda?” I laugh. “You two are stunning. I don’t know what to think about it, to be honest. I feel very lucky tonight.”
“You are lucky, mister. You’re escorting the two prettiest girls on campus.”
“Truth. But seriously, you’re not upset about having to share the night with Isabella?”
She rocks her head back and forth a little, thinking her answer through. “I’m not gonna lie. She said some weird stuff while we were being dressed. And the afternoon started out a little bit creepy—she kidnapped me.”
“Ah, shit. I forgot. I was kidnapped too.”