nowhere to be seen. I stood by the open door for several minutes waiting for him before I gave up and took a seat on the sofa. I had no idea what he was doing, but if he didn’t come find me soon, I was going to march back up to my room and take off the dress—favor or not. As time dragged on, I felt more and more ridiculous sitting on the couch like I’d been stood up by my date on the night of prom.
A whistle drew my attention to the doorway, and I jumped from my seat when I saw Elliot staring at me with large eyes.
“Damn, MJ, you look banging.”
I really wished he wouldn’t say stuff like that, but I smiled because it was probably the closest Elliot could get to saying I looked pretty. “Thanks, Mini Moore.”
He shook his head, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The longer he looked at me though, the more embarrassed I felt. Yes, my makeup was done and I was dressed up, but I was still the same girl he’d played video games with a couple of days ago.
I cleared my throat. “Any chance you know what your brother is up to?”
“No idea. He told me to stay in my room.”
I laughed. “And you clearly didn’t listen.”
“Clearly.” His smile was full of mischief, causing cute dimples to form in his cheeks. I bet all the girls in his year at school were crushing on him badly. I remembered they had all been obsessing with Aiden at a similar age. They still were.
“I thought I told you to stay in your room.” I turned to find Aiden descending the staircase. He was dressed in a tux, and my mouth went dry at the sight. Aiden was heartbreakingly handsome on an average day, but when he wore a tux, I could finally see why the girls at school all thought he was a god. He looked powerful, almost too attractive to look at directly. His chest filled out his suit in all the right places, and the loose collar at his neck gave him a slightly disheveled look.
I was speechless as he came toward us, only finding my voice as he stopped in front of me. “What are you wearing?” My voice croaked the words out, and my heart fluttered rapidly. I normally managed to overlook how handsome Aiden was, but right now, I could barely breathe. For once, his flirtatious smile was slightly nervous and his eyes were hesitant. He looked like a prince who had stepped right out of a fairy tale.
“This is my prom outfit,” he replied. “It seemed appropriate seeing as tonight is our iso-prom.”
“Iso-prom?”
“Yeah, prom in isolation. I was hoping you’d be my date…”
I’d only ever seen him look this insecure and apprehensive once before. It was the day he’d asked me out freshman year. I hadn’t been able to say yes because I was dating someone else. There was no boyfriend holding me back this time though. And, for once, I didn’t think he was joking.
“So, what do you say?” he asked. He slowly pulled a hand out from behind his back and revealed a corsage. The flower was a slightly lopsided daisy that looked like it had been plucked from the garden and tied together with some string. It was obviously a last-minute job, but it was just about the most beautiful thing anyone had ever given me.
I smiled warmly at him and reached out to take the flower. “I’d love to.” It was far too easy to say yes to him, and I was surprised by how much I wanted to say it.
He grinned widely and moved closer so he could tie the corsage around my wrist. Once Aiden was standing close to me, I could smell the heady scent of his aftershave. His hands were warm and slightly unsteady as he lightly linked the string to my wrist and moved the flower into place.
“There,” he murmured.
I smiled and looked up at him. The static energy that always seemed to zap between us had gone into overdrive, and my whole body buzzed at his proximity. I didn’t totally hate the feeling.
“I get to come to iso-prom too, right?”
I’d almost forgotten Elliot was in the room with us, and at the sound of his voice, I quickly stepped back from Aiden. Elliot didn’t seem to have noticed the moment I’d just shared with his brother. Instead, he was staring at Aiden with