ELLIE

HE’S GOING TO do it tonight, I just know it,” I moaned, putting my head in my hands.

Stacey sighed and rubbed her hand across my shoulder supportively. “Jesus, El, he’s not going to dump you! Get a hold of yourself. You’re ruining your makeup and we’re going to prom in an hour!” she scolded, prying my hands away from my face with her other hand.

I looked up at her and willed myself to believe her, to listen to the words that she’d been repeating over and over for the last week—but I couldn’t make myself believe them. Jamie was going to break up with me soon, I just knew it. He’d been incredibly distant lately. Everything was changing between us.

“Stace, seriously, we’ve barely even spoken lately. He just goes off daydreaming all the time and gets this look on his face that tells me he doesn’t want to talk about stuff when I ask what’s wrong. He jumps every time his phone rings. He told me last night that I can’t stay at his place tomorrow night because he has, and I quote, ‘plans with Connor,’ yet I’m sure he mentioned last week that his boss, Connor, was going away with his family for a few days and wasn’t back until next week!”

Stacey shook her head and plopped down onto the bed next to me. “Ellie, just stop thinking about it. Whenever I see you two together you’re laughing and flirting. You’re constantly talking on the phone. Do you know how rare that is, for people to be able to just talk on the phone to their boyfriends for ten minutes without losing their interest? Yet you and Jamie can talk for an hour and still have more to say to each other. I can’t do that with Paul, not even close. You’ve probably just got your weekends mixed up. This Connor guy is probably going away some other time and you’re just reading too much into things because you’re getting scared.”

No. Something was wrong. I knew it. What possible reason could there be for Jamie being so distracted and distant lately?

“I’m not getting scared,” I countered, frowning.

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you are. I know for a fact that you’re crazy about that boy and that it scares the life out of you because of how Miles turned out. You’re scared to let yourself fall for him, so you’re making up excuses so that you don’t get too close. You’re hoping to convince yourself that it’s going nowhere so you don’t end up getting hurt in the long run.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. I wasn’t just being scared—sure, I was scared to fall for him because Miles had started out great too in the beginning, but that wasn’t what this was at all. Jamie was acting different at the moment. Not like the usual, attentive, loving Jamie that I was indeed falling for.

“I’m not scared.” I opened my eyes and looked at Stacey again, forcing a smile so that she wouldn’t see how upset this was making me. “I guess we’ll see who’s right eventually. Either he’ll break up with me, or I’m being stupid and this is all nothing. There’s nothing I can do about it either way.” My own words hurt.

She smiled and raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Actually, there is something we can do about it. We can make you look drop-dead gorgeous tonight, and maybe he’ll cancel his plans with Connor and chain you to his bed for the weekend instead,” she suggested, grinning wickedly.

I laughed and rolled my eyes at her crudeness. “I do have a pair of killer heels that he’s going to love,” I admitted, smiling at the thought.

* * *

I stood in front of my full-length bedroom mirror and gulped. Stacey had spent almost an hour curling my hair for me, then scooping one side up off my face severely so I had a mass of curls going over one shoulder. My makeup had been reapplied after my freak-out, and the eye shadow and mascara that she’d plastered on me made my gray eyes look wide and excited. My skin appeared soft and buffed; my nails were perfectly polished.

My eyes headed farther down and skimmed the bluish-gray satin dress I was wearing. It looked like something straight out of a magazine. It had turned out even better than I’d imagined.

My eyes flicked to Stacey in the mirror as she spoke. “It’s beautiful. The neckline, the little mesh bit at the top, so beautiful. You did such an amazing job, El,” she gushed, shaking her head in awe. Her arm linked through mine as she smiled happily, smoothing the formfitting bodice of her red satin dress. “We’re gonna own that prom.”

The doorbell rang, and my mom immediately shouted for my dad to answer it. As we bustled out of my room, I heard dad stomp into the hallway, grumbling something under his breath. He stopped as he spotted us standing at the top of the stairs, his eyes widened, and his mouth twitched with a smile.

“Wow, you two look beautiful,” he said, looking at us both in turn.

Stacey laughed and nodded, while I frowned and tried not to squirm because he was seeing a dress that I’d made myself—not that he knew that, of course. “Thank you, Michael,” Stacey purred.

I sighed and shook my head, squeezing her arm a little tighter. She had always had an old-man crush on my dad, it was gross.

My dad smiled up at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back because of how proud he looked. “I need to find my camera,” he stated, heading over to the sideboard and rummaging through the top drawer.

The doorbell rang again. “Maybe you should get the door first, Dad?” I suggested, laughing as we headed down the stairs to him.

He nodded and walked to the door. From the hallway, I heard both Paul and Jamie’s voices greeting my dad. My stomach immediately tingled in anticipation of seeing my boyfriend in his tux. I was going to be the envy of every girl in school tonight when I walked in on his arm. Jamie was incredibly handsome, all the girls agreed on that from meeting him at parties and such, but he had something even better than his looks—he was just a beautiful person inside. So thoughtful and selfless; he was incredible. I was going to have serious heartache when he broke it off with me tonight.

“You’ll have her home by midnight, are we clear?” my dad said sternly from behind me.

“Absolutely. You can trust me with Ellie, you know that,” Jamie answered.

A smile crept onto my face as their voices approached. I turned and waited. As soon as Jamie stepped around the corner I fought my urge to swoon. The rented black tux fit him perfectly, showing off his strong, broad shoulders and tapering in at his toned waist. His gaze settled on me and his eyes widened as his lips popped open in what seemed like shock. I tried not to squirm as his big brown eyes slowly glided down my body, seeming to take in every inch of me before his eyes met mine again and a beautiful smile stretched across his face.

“Shit … wow,” he breathed.

My dad punched him in the arm playfully. “No cussing,” he scolded, while Jamie just laughed sheepishly, his eyes not leaving me for a second.

“Hi,” I whispered nervously.

He stepped closer to me; his gaze seemed to trap me as he grinned happily. I couldn’t look away from him as I prayed with every bone in my body that he wouldn’t break up with me. I was totally crazy about this boy, and Stacey was right, he did scare me. He scared me because I didn’t want our relationship to end up like mine and Miles’s had, I didn’t want him to change like Miles had. I was definitely falling for Jamie, and falling hard.

He reached out, catching one of my curls and rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger gently before stroking the back of one finger across my cheek. There was an almost awed expression on his face. I memorized him as he looked right now. I wanted to be able to capture this moment perfectly so that when it ended and he never looked at me like that again, I could still picture it.

His smell enveloped me, that scent that made the hair on my arms stand up. It was indescribable, it was just purely Jamie, and I loved it. “Ellie, you look … so beautiful,” he said quietly, so that no one else would be able to hear him. His smile showed me the truth to his words, and my face instantly warmed up because of the intense way he was looking at me. “This dress, it’s incredible. You just look …” He gulped. “Wow,” he finished.

I chewed on my lip as I raised one hand and stroked the lapel of his jacket. “You look wow, too,” I admitted.

“This old thing?” he joked, winking at me. I laughed and he brought his hand from his side, holding out a little plastic box containing a white-and-green corsage. “Got you this.”

“Aww, Jamie, that’s adorable,” I murmured. The thing was beautiful. I smiled at him gratefully as I took the box, popping it open and gingerly taking out the delicate flower bracelet.

He smiled and took it from my hand, helping me put it on. As I looked back up at him, he bent down and captured my lips in a sweet kiss that made me sigh in contentment. I’d never had a boy treat me with so much kindness and adoration before. Miles was never romantic like this; if I had been going to prom with him tonight he would have turned up and grunted a “Hey, you ready to go?” before nodding at the door. He wouldn’t have looked at me the soft and gentle way that Jamie was.

“Any time this week would be great, guys.”

Startled out of the moment, I suddenly remembered that we weren’t on our own in the hallway. I nodded sheepishly. “I’m ready.”

Jamie’s arm slipped around my waist, pulling me closer to him as he turned for the door. “You have your dancing shoes on?” he asked, grinning at me.

I raised one eyebrow as I tugged up the hem of my dress slightly and lifted one foot from the floor so he could see the three-inch open-toed black stilettos I was wearing tonight. “Yep,” I confirmed, smirking at him as his eyes widened and his fingers dug into my waist a little. Jamie definitely had a thing for heels.

“Oh yeah, those are nice,” he growled.

I smiled and let the dress drop back down again, pulling out of his arms and heading over to my dad, kissing his cheek. “Bye, Daddy. Don’t wait up for me, I have a key,” I stated. Then I can sneak Jamie in with me tonight and you won’t even know …

“Let me get a photo before you go,” he said quickly, plucking the camera from the drawer and fiddling with it.

I stepped back to Jamie’s side, leaning into him, both of us smiling as the camera clicked and clicked. Finally my dad seemed to be satisfied that he’d taken enough, so we were allowed to leave.

Paul was driving tonight and had borrowed his dad’s Jaguar, so we were riding in style to prom. I sat in the back with Jamie; he held my hand the whole time as we chatted about the dance. I already knew that he was nervous about coming with me tonight; I was pretty sure he’d gotten it into his head that this would be a posh party with an old-fashioned string quartet or something. He was going to be pleasantly surprised.

When we pulled up and headed into the school gym, he laughed. The place had been decorated with streamers and balloons, with food laid out. The normal lights were off and white fairy lights covered the ceiling instead. A local band was already set up and playing warm-up songs.

I turned to Jamie and grinned, pulling him into the gym. “Drink?” I offered, nodding toward the drinks table. “The punch will already be spiked, I would imagine, so if you want alcohol then I’d go for that.”

A small frown lined his forehead. “I don’t want an alcoholic drink tonight. You can if you want, though” he offered, following me over to the table.

I shook my head and grabbed two cans of Pepsi and two plastic cups. “Nah, I don’t want to be too drunk to take you out of your tux,” I teased, raising one eyebrow suggestively.

His frown was back as he smiled apologetically. “I actually won’t be staying at your house tonight,” he replied, taking my can and opening it for me, pouring it into the cup.

I resisted the urge to pout as I took in what he’d said. I couldn’t stay at his place tonight because my parents would know I was there; it would be too obvious if I went to the dance with Jamie and then didn’t come home. So instead I had been hoping to be able to sneak him in with me tonight. He could just leave after my parents went to visit my nana, like he used to in the old days before he moved into his new place.

“Why not?” I pressed.

I already knew the answer to that question. He wasn’t planning on staying at my house because he was planning on breaking up with me instead. I had a feeling it would happen as soon as prom finished. No doubt he was being the gentleman and waiting until after the dance so that I would still have someone to go with. It really wasn’t Jamie’s style to leave a girl stranded, and since he’d committed to coming with me, he probably didn’t want to break his promise. I gulped a few times, trying desperately not to cry about it.

He shrugged. “I can’t sneak into your place, your dad will know. He likes me, and I don’t want to ruin that by betraying his trust,” he answered, not looking at me.

I decided not to push it; I needed to have some dignity. I’d had a fantastic couple of months with him, and I wouldn’t have changed that time for the world. I decided then and there not to dwell on it and ruin our last night together. I’d just forget that my time with him was limited and make this night fun for us both.

“Well, in that case, I’m having the punch,” I stated, not taking the cup of Pepsi that he offered me. Instead, I ladled a spoonful of the punch into an empty cup, downing the contents before pouring another. The alcohol burned my throat a little, but I welcomed it so that I would have something else to think about other than the fact that I was probably going to wake up single.

Jamie smiled and bent forward, kissing my cheek softly. “Let’s get this party started then,” he whispered, smiling and tugging me toward the dance floor.

* * *

Two hours later I was already overly tipsy. Jamie steered me toward an empty table and pulled out a chair for me to sit on, but I wasn’t having any of that. Instead, I pushed him into the chair and plopped myself into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“You know, you look mighty fine in your tux. Kinda like James Bond,” I flirted, playing with the collar of his shirt.

He laughed. “But without the British accent?” he teased, shifting me on his lap and getting more comfortable as I tucked my face into the side of his neck, breathing him in.

“If you had a British accent I would have to jump you right now in front of the teachers, so it’s pretty lucky you don’t,” I countered, giggling.

He laughed and kissed the top of my head. “I could totally pull off the accent,” he joked. “Well, ’ello there, miss. Would you like some crisps and biscuits?” he asked, sounding like the guy from Mary Poppins instead of James Bond.

I burst out laughing and pulled back to look at him. “Sexy,” I confirmed, still laughing.

His cell phone rang for what had to be the millionth time and he sighed as he pulled it out of his pocket, disconnecting the call and tapping in a text instead. Frowning, I moved into my own chair, downing the last of my drink, trying not to glare at his phone, which seemed to be getting more attention than I was tonight. So much for making the most of my last night with him! I was seriously contemplating stealing his phone and “accidentally” dropping it so the damn thing would stop going off. It beeped again and he ground his teeth before sending another message, frowning angrily at his screen.

“I’m going to dance,” I mumbled, pushing myself to my feet.

He looked at me and smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I’ll be right there, okay?”

I nodded and tried not to huff as I headed across the room to where a group of my friends were dancing. I joined in with them, discreetly keeping my eyes on Jamie. He was talking on the phone now, and he looked a little angry. He kept glancing at his watch and waving his hand around as he spoke, like he was having an argument with someone.

“Ellie?”

I turned back around only to find Miles standing next to me, grinning. I bit back my groan. Things between us were still beyond awkward. It had been ten weeks since the night we’d broken up, yet he still hadn’t given up on us. He’d been sleeping around—from what I could make out, it seemed like he went home with a different girl every week after the game—but he still asked me all the time for another chance. I was bored of it already.

“Hi, where’s your date?” I asked, looking around for whoever he was with tonight.

He frowned. “I came on my own. I didn’t want to bring someone to prom if it wasn’t you,” he replied, shrugging.

I winced and silently hoped that Jamie didn’t come over right now; I didn’t want trouble between them. The atmosphere when they were near each other at the postgame parties was so tense that you could almost cut it with a knife. “Oh” was the only thing that I could think of to respond to that remark.

He smiled sadly. “Want to dance?”

I laughed and waved down at myself and the group of people I was dancing with. “I’m already dancing.”

He nodded off to one side, suggesting that we would be dancing together instead of just part of a group. “On our own?” he clarified.

My eyes jumped to Jamie again. He was still on the phone, running a hand through his hair. He looked stressed. “Um …”

Miles sighed and took my hand. “You’re allowed to dance with another guy, I’m sure,” he scoffed.

I shook my head and looked at him disbelievingly. If we were still dating there would be no way he would allow me to dance with another guy, so that statement was just ludicrous. I had no clue why he hadn’t given up already. Ten weeks was a long time to pine after someone. Before I had time to reject the dance offer, an arm snaked around my shoulders. I jumped and looked up to see Jamie; he was frowning in Miles’s direction.

“Thanks for looking after my girlfriend for me,” he said.

Miles’s jaw tightened. “No problem, she was looking a little neglected. Important phone call, was it?”

Jamie seemed to stiffen as he nodded. “It was, but I’m done now.” He turned to me and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, little girl. I’m all yours now, I promise.”

He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. I knew this was for show, for Miles’s benefit more than mine, but I kissed him back regardless. Everything else faded away when Jamie kissed me. My eyes fluttered closed. I literally could have been anywhere, and it wouldn’t matter so long as his lips didn’t leave mine. I crushed myself to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, wanting to melt into him and stay there forever. But as with all good things, it had to end sometime. He pulled out of the kiss and smiled, stroking my face with his thumb. Glancing to the side, I saw that Miles had already walked off, probably so he didn’t witness us kissing. No doubt that had been Jamie’s intention.

His nose trailed up the side of mine. “Sorry,” he whispered.

I shook my head dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. Is everything okay?”

He sighed and nodded, his smile fake. “Yeah, fine. Want to get some fresh air or something? I have a headache,” he replied, motioning toward the gym doors.

I smiled sympathetically. It was probably the music that was giving him a headache; it was pretty loud in here. “Sure.”

As I followed him outside, he slipped off his jacket, wrapping it around my shoulders. He walked over to the little brick wall and sat down, taking my hand and pulling me toward him gently so I was standing between his legs, our faces level. He gripped the edges of his jacket, pulling it closed around my body as he pressed himself closer to me, keeping me warm. My eyes locked on his and I seemed to get caught in his gaze. We didn’t speak, I just looked at his handsome face and memorized every inch of it. The music playing in the background, the stars shining down on us, the solitude, all of it was perfect and almost magical.

“How are you feeling now?” I asked after a couple of minutes, stroking his cheek with one finger.

He blew out a big breath and shook his head, rubbing his forehead. “It’s pretty bad actually. Right above my eyes,” he replied. “You don’t have any pills for it, do you?”

I shook my head apologetically. I usually carried painkillers on me, but I only had that silly little clutch purse with me tonight. “No, sorry, I don’t. Maybe we could try to get you something from the first aid room?”

He sighed deeply. “Ellie, I’m gonna have to go home, I’m sorry. My head feels like it’s gonna explode,” he moaned.

I nodded quickly; I didn’t mind leaving now, actually. I would rather just leave if he wasn’t feeling well anyway. “Okay, let me just find Stacey and tell her we’re leaving, and then we can call a cab,” I replied, turning back for the door we’d come out of.

Jamie’s hand covered mine, squeezing gently as he pulled me to a stop. “I’d rather leave you here with Stacey. That way you can enjoy the rest of the night.” He stroked the side of my face, looking at me apologetically. “I really wish I didn’t have to go. I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” he whispered, kissing me again.

I smiled against his lips. “Stop apologizing. You’re not feeling good, that’s nothing that can be helped. Go get some sleep,” I instructed.

He smiled and pulled the jacket tighter around me. “You keep this; it’ll be cold later, when you leave. Stay inside, and don’t go wandering off in this hot little dress, it’s way too tempting for guys not to ravage you when you look like this,” he teased, winking at me. I laughed and he kissed my forehead. “Want to meet me for lunch or something tomorrow?”

I frowned. “You still going out with Connor tomorrow night?”

He nodded, his gaze dropping to the ground, shifting on his feet. Jamie was a terrible liar. I refused to allow myself to think about what he’d really be doing tomorrow night—maybe meeting another girl, or maybe he just didn’t want to see me and he was going to break it off with me tomorrow at lunch instead …

“Okay, yeah, lunchtime then. Call me in the morning,” I agreed, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“I will. See ya,” he replied, squeezing my hand gently before he turned and walked across the parking lot. My eyes stung with tears as I caught the lapel of his jacket, stroking the material. Jamie had basically confirmed my suspicions, it really was over.

“You okay?”

I turned to see a smug-looking Miles. I nodded in response, forcing a smile so he wouldn’t know I was upset. “Yep,” I lied, turning and heading inside. Miles kept pace with me as I walked straight over to the drinks table and downed another glass of punch.

“Think maybe he’s gonna go meet that chick he’s been texting all night?” Miles asked at my side.

Oh God. Why had it never even entered my head that it might have been a girl who was distracting him all night? I swallowed and poured myself another drink. “No. He’s gone home to bed. He’s not feeling well.” Even I could hear the doubt in my voice.

Miles laughed. “Yeah, sure,” he agreed sarcastically. “Want to dance?”

I shook my head. I just needed to go home now too; I didn’t want to be here without Jamie. There was no point in waiting for Stacey and Paul; my night was ruined already so why stretch it out for another hour?

I pushed myself away from the table and headed over to Paul, gripping his sleeve. He smiled down at me. “Hey, I think I’m just gonna get a cab home. Tell Stacey I said bye, okay?”

He frowned and shook his head adamantly. “Jamie will have my balls if I let you leave here on your own. I’m supposed to be driving you home. You know what he’s like,” he rebutted.

I shrugged nonchalantly. “He won’t know if we don’t tell him. I’ll be fine. See you Monday. Tell Stacey that I’ll call her tomorrow.” I headed off quickly before he had a chance to stop me. He was right, Jamie would be seriously pissed if he found out I was leaving on my own. He was very protective like that.

As I walked through the crowd I tugged his jacket around me tighter, cloaking myself in his scent.

Once outside, I leaned against the wall and dialed the local cab company, but the lady told me they didn’t have anything for an hour. I debated calling my dad and asking him to pick me up, but it was now past eleven and he was probably in bed already.

Pushing myself away from the wall, I started walking toward my house. Thank goodness my heels were comfortable. I figured it’d only take me twenty minutes—thirty, tops.

After about three minutes, car headlights lit the road next to me. The car slowed, keeping pace with me. I swallowed my unease, walking a little faster, trying not to look, silently wishing I hadn’t decided to walk. This was a decent area, but it was late, and dark, and I was in a stupid little dress. I should have put a sign over my head saying DEFENSELESS, SLIGHTLY DRUNK TEENAGER, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ATTACK ME. My stomach clenched as I began to think of all the things that could happen to me. When the car’s horn blasted, I yelped, startled, and flicked my eyes up to it without slowing my pace. It was too dark for me to see properly, plus the headlights were on full, hurting my eyes.

Gritting my teeth, I pulled out my phone, getting Jamie’s number up on the screen, ready to call him. I knew he would help me; even while sick he would race here and pick me up if I called him and told him I was frightened. I snuck a glance at the car to see that it was still following me, just about three feet behind me, slowly creeping along.

“Shit,” I muttered, stopping for a split second to rip off my heels in case I needed to run. In my mind I planned out where I would go. The school was the closest place; if I darted down the next street I could double back and run there.

In my hand, my phone buzzed and started ringing. I frowned, seeing Miles’s picture flash in the darkness. “Miles?” I answered. Maybe he could come and meet me if I told him I needed him.

“Yeah. Ellie, will you stop walking? Why are you ignoring me?” he asked incredulously.

“Huh?” I mumbled, sneaking another look at the car, but it hadn’t started up again; it was just stopped where I had stopped seconds before to take off my shoes.

“Ellie, just get in the car and stop behaving like a drama queen. You shouldn’t be walking home in the dark.”

“Car?” Without easing up on my run-walk, I looked at the car again and squinted through the glare of the lights to see that it was black, sleek, and expensive looking. The air whooshed out of my lungs in one gust as I realized that it wasn’t some deranged ax murderer who was following and honking at me, it was Miles! Laughing with relief, I disconnected the call and sprinted toward his car with my shoes knocking together in my hand. As I threw open the door, I had never been happier to see Miles in my life. “Oh God, you scared me,” I scolded, climbing in and punching him in the arm.

He laughed and rubbed his arm, looking at me like I was crazy. “I honked at you. You forget what my car looks like already?”

I sighed and rested my head back on the headrest. “I couldn’t see, it’s dark!” I protested, smiling because my heart rate was starting to slow down to a normal pace again.

He laughed and put the car in drive. “Put on your seat belt,” he instructed, pulling out again and heading in the direction of my house. We didn’t speak during the ten-minute drive. I sat there uncomfortably, hugging Jamie’s jacket around myself. When Miles pulled into my driveway, he smiled at me. “Think I could use your bathroom? I need to pee. Drank too much soda, I think,” he said, already taking off his seat belt and killing the engine.

I frowned but nodded anyway. I didn’t really want him to come in, but after he’d just driven me home I couldn’t exactly say no. He quietly followed me inside the darkened house. He headed to the downstairs bathroom while I went to the kitchen to see if there was any food for me to eat.

Finding some leftover pizza in the fridge, I pulled out the plate and sat at the kitchen table to snack on it. Miles came in after a couple of minutes and smiled. “That looks good. Can I have some?” he asked, nodding at the plate.

I shrugged and pushed the plate in his direction as he sat down next to me. “Thanks for the ride home. Even though you did scare the crap out of me,” I said, grinning and blushing at my stupidity.

He smiled and bit into his pizza. It was a little awkward. Conversation had never flowed easily between us, and talking hadn’t been one of the key points of our relationship—then again, there weren’t actually many key points to our relationship at all. I’d loved him in the beginning, but then it just kind of fizzled out, but by that time we’d been together too long to just give up on it, so we stayed together and the relationship turned a little sour.

“So, what are your plans for the weekend?” I asked politely.

He shrugged. “Not sure. My dad wants me to go into his office tomorrow and help him prepare for a big case he has coming up; nothing interesting really. What about you?”

“I’m seeing Jamie tomorrow afternoon. Got nothing else planned, though.”

“Want to catch a movie or something tomorrow night? That actor that you like has a movie out, I think.” The hopeful tone to his voice was obvious.

I squirmed in my seat. “Um … Jamie took me to see it last week.”

“Oh. Well, maybe we could see something else? Or have dinner?” he asked, giving me the little-lost-boy look.

I smiled sadly. When Miles wanted to, he could be sweet … but this nice-guy act never lasted long. He would be nice right up until I wore something he didn’t like, or spoke to someone without his being there, or even accepted a drink from someone at a party. He was crazy possessive. If he was thinking I’d forgotten the reasons that we broke up just because he suggested we go see a chick flick together, then he was very much mistaken. Even if Jamie did break up with me, there would be no chance that I would ever go back to Miles.

“Miles, I’m with Jamie.”

A frown lined his forehead as his eyes hardened. “Ellie, it’s not right that we’re not together! We were a great couple. Just give me another chance, please?” He hopped off his stool, stepping closer to me.

“You should go. Thanks for the ride home, I appreciate it.” I eyed the door as I stood too, signaling the end of the conversation.

He obviously didn’t get my signal, though, because he gripped the tops of my arms, pulling me against his body as his lips crashed against mine, kissing me fiercely. I whimpered and squirmed, turning my head to the side to break the kiss, but his grip tightened on my arms, his fingers digging into my skin as he kissed me again.

Somehow, I got my arms between our bodies and shoved him as hard as I could, causing him to stumble back a couple of steps. Swiping at my mouth with the back of my hand, I glared at him. “Just get the hell out,” I growled quietly, not wanting to wake my parents or sister.

“Ellie—” he started, but I held up a hand to cut him off.

“Leave. Now,” I ordered, marching out into the hall and wrenching the front door open.

He did follow me out there, but he didn’t look happy at all. His jaw was tight; his eyes were piercing into mine as he stomped over to the open door. “I love you, Ellie. Sooner or later you’ll realize that you’re dating a loser, and you’ll come begging me to take you back.”

I snorted and shook my head, not looking at him as I opened the door wider to prompt him. He sighed, and before I could stop him, he bent forward and kissed me again for a second before heading out. I growled in frustration and closed the door, wanting nothing more than to scream and kick the wood in frustration.

After locking up and throwing the rest of the pizza back into the fridge, I headed upstairs. Just as I got to the top, my mom came out of the bathroom, crossing the hallway, heading back toward her bedroom. She smiled at me; the little glint in her eye told me that she’d witnessed at least some of that little exchange between me and Miles.

“Hello, Ellison. How was the dance?”

I sighed and shrugged. “It was okay, I guess,” I replied. “I’m going to bed. G’night, Mom.”

“Good night, honey.”

I ignored the smug smile on her face and headed into my room, practically ripping the dress off over my head and flopping down on the bed in my underwear. I buried my face in the pillow and tried my hardest not to cry. I refused to think about Miles kissing me. If I started thinking about him, then I’d end up getting angry about it and then I’d never get to sleep. My thoughts turned to Jamie. I silently wondered if he’d made it home okay or if he needed me to go there and play nurse for him. I longed for him to be here with me, to fold me into his arms and kiss me good night. I missed him like crazy. I was both excited to see him tomorrow and scared at the same time because I was dreading the moment that he would say what I knew he was going to say—that it was over. How was I going to cope with that when he said it? My best guess was that I wouldn’t handle it very well at all.