“YOU LOOK SO HANDSOME, MY son.” There were tears in Dad’s eyes. I tried to ignore the faint burning in mine by checking myself out in my dresser mirror. When my dad got emotional, I got emotional. We were a sensitive bunch, us Novas.
“Thanks, Dad.” I adjusted the tie at my throat nervously. Never thought I’d see the day I wore a suit. Lucky for me, Dad had a friend who let me borrow his son’s. A pair of old dress shoes that only pinched my feet a little out of my dad’s closet and I was golden.
I looked pretty good even. The gray three-piece suit seemed a little over the top when I first saw it, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. I’d put it on hoping it wasn’t too ostentatious, but it actually really suited me. And it fit me like a glove. I knew Liv would love it. I got a haircut, shaved, gelled my hair back, and even put on the cologne I knew drove her crazy.
It had only been a few weeks since our night in the planetarium, but I found that every chance I got, I liked to make her crazy for me. I think she liked it as much as I did. There weren’t very many opportunities for us to be alone and I couldn’t sneak her into the planetarium any time I liked. I didn’t want to risk my job, but the few stolen moments we had alone, we usually spent tangled together, my hands in her soft hair, my lips fused with hers. We couldn’t seem to get enough of each other and every day it seemed I loved her a little more.
She made me dream, that girl. I’d long since stopped thinking we could never work out. No matter the fact she lived on Saint Ashley’s and I lived in Madison. It didn’t even matter that her family didn’t approve. My dreamer of a girl had me dreaming. It was the happiest I’d felt in a long time, having the ability to dream again. She’d even somehow convinced me to go to this damn cotillion with her. But who was I kidding? I’d die before I let anyone else take my girl to the dance.
I hugged Pops bye and with Raven’s keys in my hands, I walked down the steps to the front of the building where I had it parked. I was nervous as hell about meeting Liv’s family, so I stood outside the apartment building and smoked two cigarettes. Raven would kick my ass if I smoked in her spotless car.
The drive over was as agonizing as one might think, but when I parked in the driveway and walked up the front steps to her doorway, I felt the usual excitement I did when I knew she was going to be near.
I pressed the doorbell and already I needed another cigarette. There was no answer, so I rang it once more on restless feet.
Eventually the door opened only about two feet and there stood an older woman with blond hair, painted and dressed to perfection.
“Can I help you?” she asked in a proper Southern accent.
I smiled and pulled at the collar of my shirt nervously. Here goes nothing.
“I’m Adam.” I pushed my hand toward the crack in the door. “I’m here for Livingston.”
The door opened further and the woman I could only assume was Liv’s stepmother stepped out onto the porch and closed the door quietly behind her, never taking her eyes off me.
“I’m sure there’s been a mistake?” she questioned.
The back of my teeth ached from this fake ass smile I had glued to my lips, but I kept it firmly in place when I responded with, “I’m Liv’s date for the debutante ball.”
I understood why Liv hadn’t told her I was coming just by looking at the pure outrage on her face. The form-fitting white dress she was wearing looked really ridiculous against the stark redness of her face and neck. Her eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of her head and I might have laughed if I didn’t feel like I needed to impress this woman to keep seeing my girl.
The door opened suddenly behind the woman. She nearly fell backward but caught herself on the doorjamb.
Liv stepped through the doorway and past the blond woman to stand right in front of me on the porch. And God she was a sight. She had a pale pink silk dress on that made her skin look angelic. It was strapless and revealed the expanse of her shoulders and tops of her breasts. My mouth watered as I took in the tight fit of the top. The bottom flared out into a huge bell. Her cheeks were pink and her hair was up and off her shoulders in some kind of intricate twist at the back of her head. Small curls hung around her beautiful makeup free face. She looked like a damn princess.
She gave me a weary look as she turned toward her stepmother. “Georgina, I see you’ve met Adam.”
Georgina straightened from the doorjamb and stared me down before saying, “I don’t understand, Livingston. I thought you were having Braden escort you.” She pulled at the pearls around her neck and I was grateful I wasn’t the only one uncomfortable as hell. Shame burned through me. In that moment, I wanted more than anything for me to be good enough for Liv’s family. It wasn’t about social status or money. I wanted them to approve.
Liv didn’t seem to be the least bit nervous when she turned to Georgina and said plain as day, “I told Braden no thank you. Adam will be my date tonight.”
Pure class, Liv. She didn’t lose her temper. She didn’t get upset.
Georgina gasped and all of a sudden the whole Southern clutching her pearls thing wasn’t just a saying for being aghast as hell. “But you can’t. Braden will be here any moment.”
Putting her arm through mine, Liv said, “You shouldn’t have invited him to take me. It isn’t very fair to him.” I could see she was sad for Braden. “Let’s go, Adam. I don’t want to be late for my big night.” She pasted a smile on her face as we walked down the sidewalk, but I could see the embarrassment in her eyes.
“Livingston Rose Montgomery, don’t you dare get in that car!” Georgina yelled from the front porch. Liv stopped on the sidewalk and turned back to Georgina with a sigh that told me how tired she was of all of this and not just this moment, but of all of this woman’s shit in general.
“I will not have you going to the ball with that…” She paused and stared at my neck where the tattoos peeked out from the collar of my suit. She looked at me like I was shit on her shoe. Like I was a piece of trash in her perfect fucking yard. A weed in her garden. “Hoodlum!” she finished.
Liv’s chest flushed red. Her eyes glared daggers. She looked positively murderous. “Then I guess you won’t have me at all.”
She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car, stomping in her heels every bit of the way. I was sure her stepmother had said something, but it was hard to hear a word over the rustling of Liv’s big dress as she hustled us to the car. I pulled the door open for her. She climbed in and slammed it before I had the chance. I raced around the vehicle, anxious to get in the car before Georgina chased me down.
I got in the car and cranked her up and pulled out onto the street in record time.
The car was quiet except for Liv’s angry breathing. I could tell she wanted to scream. “I’m sorry, Adam. So sorry. I honestly didn’t think she’d be so ugly.”
I placed my hand on her thigh and made a right turn toward the party hall where the ball was being held. “It’s okay.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not okay. I should have been more upfront with her. I should have told her I was going with you.”
Squeezing her knee, I murmured, “But then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of being called a hoodlum.” I laughed. “What the hell year is it anyway? Hoodlum? Who the hell says that anymore?”
I could see her grin from the corner of my eye a bit before immediately sobering again. “It was mean.” She said the words like they pained her. Like she couldn’t bear someone being mean to me.
“Hey, look at me.”
She gave me her soft brown eyes that always made me want to kiss her senseless. “I have had a lot worse said to me in my life. Okay?” However, I couldn’t stop myself from asking my next question. “Now, who the hell is Braden?”
She rolled her eyes and slouched back against the seat. “Just some boy she wants me to date.”
“And does he want to date you?” I’d burn this island to the ground before she hooked up with Braden.
She raised her shoulders lightly and looked away, and I watched the road. That was all the answer I needed, but I wouldn’t ruin her big night with jealousy. We’d talk about it later. I wanted tonight to be about her. I wanted it to be special for her.
I rubbed my hand from her knee up to her thigh, the dress feeling smooth beneath my palm.
“You look beautiful.” And I meant it. She looked like one of those cartoon princesses from the Disney movies but only better because she was real life.
She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at me. “I look like a big pink cream puff.”
I chuckled under my breath because she wasn’t wrong about that.
“Princess Cream Puff,” I murmured, waggling my eyebrows at her. “We better hurry up and get there before I pull over just so I can eat you.”
Her cheeks turned the most delicious shade of red and she giggled as we pulled into the hall and I felt lighter. Like maybe this night wasn’t going to be such a shit show after all.
I couldn’t have possibly been more wrong.