run after her, watching as my phone smashes into pieces.
Just like my heart.
Chapter Four
Billy
I leave the front desk and push out the doors, corsage in my hand.
And that is when I see her.
My girl.
My one and only.
She didn’t leave me.
“Bailey,” I say, running over to her. She’s in a sleeveless pink dress that hits her calves, a puffy skirt, and her hair is swept up in a bun. “You look beautiful,” I say, breathless as I take her in. There is a suitcase at her feet. “But what’s going on?”
She shrugs and blinks back tears, telling me about the eviction, a fight with her mother, the broken phone. She is trying to put on a brave face, but I see her lips tremble and my heart breaks for her as I pull her into my arms.
“Oh, Bailey, you’ve had one hell of a day.” I cup her cheek with one hand. “I thought you’d left.”
She shakes her head. “Never, Billy. I love you. And I’m not trying to put pressure on you when I say this, but I knew you’d come for me, and save me from this mess.”
“What have you been doing the last hour? Since your mom bailed?”
She smiles somehow, despite the day she’s had. “I snuck into the bathroom and got ready for my prom date.”
“You still wanna go?”
She sighs, taking my hand, lacing her fingers through it. “I want something good from this mess. And dancing with you seems pretty damn good, Billy.”
I slip the corsage on her wrist, and she beams up at me. “It’s beautiful.”
“Not too cheesy? I don’t know if they are really in style anymore.”
“It matches this dress I got at a thrift store perfectly. I think it’s waffle-y cute.” She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me and damn, I love kissing this girl.
My hands are on her waist, her arms around my neck, and it’s all I need right here, right now. This.
Her stomach growls and I pull back. “Let me guess — you haven’t eaten all day?”
She shrugs. “You know how it goes.”
“I’m not letting this happen anymore. You’re staying with me from now on.”
She sighs, her hands running over the lapels of my suit coat. “I wanted to hear you say that, but what will your dad think?”
“He knows how I feel about you.”
“And how do you feel about me, Billy?”
“I love you, Bailey — I love you with all my heart.”
She smiles up at me as if I am her dream come true and maybe I am. Because I know for certain she is mine.
“Let’s go get you some food, okay, sweetheart?”
She smiles. “I’m sure you got us reservations somewhere nice, but you know what sounds really good?”
I laugh, smacking her ass as we walk to the Corvette. “Let me guess, something waffle-y sweet?”
Bailey
Billy and I walk into our senior prom like a force to be reckoned with. Something has happened in the space of a week and it has changed my life.
“You look so beautiful,” he tells me, whispering in my ear as we move toward the dance floor.
Heat rises in my belly. He loves me. And he is here, wrapping his arms around me, holding me tight.
“I don’t want you to think I’m a weak girl who needs a man,” I confess, my arms wrapped tight around his neck as the music slows.
“I don’t think you’re weak, Bailey. You are stronger than anyone I know. Strong enough to stay when it was hard, and strong enough to leave when you knew it was time. And strong enough to let someone help when you need it.”
“You’re doing more than helping me, Billy,” I say. “You’re rescuing me.”
“Good — let me be your knight in shining armor. Let us make a fairy tale right here, right now, you and me.”
“When you talk like that,” I whisper, blinking back tears, “I get my hopes up, you know?”
“Good,” he says, smiling down at me, taking my hands and spinning me out, around, back into his arms. I laugh despite everything. “Let’s get our hopes up so high no one else can touch them. Let’s make them ours alone, Bailey. You and me.”
“God, I love you,” I say, kissing him again, the music changing to a faster beat. The lyrics are ridiculous and everyone around us starts grinding to the rhythm. It is so not me it’s not even funny.
Billy knows.
“What do you say, princess, wanna get out of here?”
I laugh. “As long as I’m with you, yes. I’ll go