hope in his eyes. He seemed so eager to be a part of this, and I knew I’d feel bad if we didn’t let him join.
Aiden chuckled. “Sure, you can join us. But first, I’m going to need you to take a photo of me with my date.”
Aiden threw his phone to Elliot before he moved in closer and lightly placed one of his hands on my back. My dress was backless, so his fingers brushed against my skin, making it tingle.
“Smile for the camera,” Aiden whispered in my ear. I shivered as I felt his breath against my neck but somehow managed to ignore the feeling and compose myself as I smiled.
Elliot pointed the camera lens in our direction. “Say Elliot is the best!”
“Elliot’s got no chest,” Aiden replied happily.
I laughed and glanced up at him. Even when Aiden was dressed impeccably and posing seriously for a picture, he couldn’t help but misbehave.
He grinned as he caught my eye. “What? It’s the truth.”
I shook my head before turning to his brother once more. “Did you get the picture?”
“Oh, I got it,” Elliot replied, with a grin, before he turned the phone toward me. He’d snapped the picture when I was looking up at Aiden and laughing, and he was grinning down at me. The photo was fun and natural, and anyone who didn’t know us would have thought we were a couple. It showed how deceptive pictures could be. Still, it was a really cute photo.
“I’m going to get changed,” Elliot said, passing the phone back to Aiden. “Don’t start iso-prom without me!” He bolted from the room before either of us could respond.
Aiden had his eyes locked on his phone and wasn’t paying attention.
“Can you send that to me?” I asked, nodding at the picture that was still displayed on the screen. “I think my mom would like to see us all dressed up for iso-prom.”
“Sure.” His fingers flashed across the screen before he looked up at me. “Done,” he replied. “Now, for stage two of iso-prom. It wouldn’t be prom if we didn’t sneak a little alcohol.”
He opened his jacket and pulled out a hipflask. He knocked back a sip before offering it to me.
“I guess one shot won’t hurt.” I took the flask and sniffed it. A sweet, tangy smell greeted me. “Do I even want to know what’s in here?”
Aiden laughed at the expression on my face. “All I could find in Mom’s cupboard was peach schnapps, so it’s really not too bad.”
I nodded and took a small sip from the flask. The peach flavor was nice, but the liquid still burned as it went down my throat. I passed the flask straight back to Aiden. “Okay, stage two is complete. Now what?”
“Now, my lady, if you would like to come with me…” He held out an elbow, and I linked my hand through it. It was a little old-fashioned, but I kind of liked how seriously he was taking it.
“Where are we going?”
“The grand ballroom,” he replied.
“Oh, of course, I should have known.”
Aiden shot me a smirk before he started down the corridor that led past the stairs. He guided me toward the back of the house, which was an area I hadn’t ventured into yet. I just thought it led to his mom’s bedroom, so I hadn’t bothered to explore it. But, as Aiden opened the door ahead of us, I jerked to a stop.
The room before me was large and completely dominated by a projector screen that took up one entire wall. Thick curtains covered the windows, and a huge sofa sat in the middle of the room. There was even a small bar area across the back wall. I couldn’t believe I didn’t know this was in the house.
I glanced up at Aiden. “You have a home theatre?”
He laughed as he took in my surprised expression. “And I thought you’d be more impressed with the decorations than the projector screen.”
As I looked back at the room, I noticed the decorations he was talking about. They consisted of three sad-looking balloons that had “iso-prom” scrawled across them in black marker.
“Well, the decorations are pretty impressive,” I replied.
“I definitely thought so.”
He let go of my arm as we entered the room and went over to a laptop sitting on a table near the projector. He fiddled around with it for several moments before soft music started playing through the speakers. Hearing the music made me suddenly nervous. Prom wasn’t just about dressing up