Page 1 of Sweet Surrender

1

SIENNA

TEN YEARS AGO

Was it possible to die of nervousness?

My hands were shaking so hard I had to consciously tell myself to calm down before I ran them over the front of the ice-blue dress I had secretly bought and smuggled into the penthouse while the rest of the family was out.

I was a princess, right down to the full skirt and the intricate arrangement of curls pinned against the back of my head.

Everybody was going to lose their shit when I walked into the winter formal on Pierce Jameson’s arm. Nobody knew he had invited me. I hadn’t even told my best friend, Rose, and we told each other everything. But this was different. I didn’t feel like hearing Pierce was too old for me. Not only that, but I also didn’t want her to tell her brother Noah, who was best friends with my brother, Colton. I knew Noah wouldn’t be able to help himself. He would inevitably tell Colton, and I knew neither of them would want me hanging around them and the other upperclassmen like I would ruin their good time or something. And I probably would because I knew the sort of stuff they liked to do. They wouldn’t want to drink in front of me in case I tattled on them or whatever.

I didn’t care about any of that, though I knew they wouldn’t believe me. I only wanted to be with Pierce. Ever since we first started talking on Snapchat, it was like life had color. There was something to be excited about when I first woke up and something to smile about as I fell asleep at night—having a secret with somebody like Pierce, somebody I’d had a crush on ever since I first saw him during freshman orientation. He was so tall with thick, golden hair and the kind of smile that made me forget how to breathe.

And he wanted me.

“We have to be careful around everybody else. Your brother would be pissed if he knew we were talking.” He was right, which was why I always pretended we didn’t know each other when we’d passed in the halls at school.

Pierce being three years older meant we didn’t see much of each other, which made it easy. I could keep my eyes looking straight ahead instead of staring at him, offering a secret smile, looking for a sign that he remembered everything we shared when it was just the two of us messaging on the phone.

I smoothed a strand of chocolate brown hair behind my ear before reapplying my pink lip gloss. There was fear in my blue eyes when I met my reflection in the mirror over my dresser. Colton would probably be pissed when he saw me with a senior, somebody in his class. I was taking a risk, hoping he wouldn’t do something stupid like demand I go home or maybe cause a scene or whatever. For once, I needed him to behave himself and not act like a complete dick. Maybe if he saw how happy I was, he would leave me alone. We could deal with everything in the morning.

Mom and Dad were out at some dinner, and Colton had planned on getting ready at Noah’s, meaning there was nobody in the penthouse to think anything of me walking around in a ball gown. The heels of my silver shoes tapped the hardwood floors as I hurried around, checking my clutch to make sure I had everything I needed.

This would be fine.

Everything would be fine.

I was going to the winter formal with the boy of my dreams, whom I had spent weeks getting to know through dozens of conversations. Nothing would change once we were face-to-face. He would still be the same person—sweet, smart, and funny.

He knew so many things about me, the sort of stuff I never planned on telling anybody. When I was talking to him, it felt natural to share little parts of myself. I wanted him to know me as much as I wanted to know him.

From the bottom of my heart, I knew he would kiss me by the end of the night. My heart threatened to explode every time I thought about it. I only hoped it didn’t literally explode when he did—when he took my face in his hands, pressed his lips against mine, and made all my dreams come true.

“I promise I’ll be a gentleman, though I can’t promise I won’t want a kiss.” He had even said that to make sure I didn’t freak out. The memory made my skin tingle and warmed my face even days after he’d first sent that particular message. My heart fluttered whenever I imagined closing my eyes and letting him touch his lips to mine, and I had imagined it a lot.

He was supposed to pick me up at seven. I checked my phone and blew out a huge, nervous breath.

Only a few more minutes.

Did I put on deodorant? Oh, God, this was either going to be amazing or a complete disaster if I didn’t get my shit together. It wasn’t the first dance I had ever been to, of course, but it was the first time things had ever been like this. I would be the youngest person there, for sure, and I would walk in with the hottest, most popular guy in the whole school.

Was it possible to peak at fifteen? I couldn’t imagine life getting any better. “You’ve got this,” I whispered to myself in the mirror near the front door. “He likes you. He wouldn’t have asked you if he didn’t.”

And for all I knew, we would be telling this story one day. Maybe during our wedding anniversary—a big party for our twenty-fifth—we would describe how we’d connected secretly behind everybody’s backs and how we announced our relationship to the whole world at the winter formal.

All of that flew out the window when there was a knock at the door. I almost dropped my purse but managed to keep hold of it at the last second, taking a few deep breaths before squaring my shoulders and opening the door.

This was it.

This was when the rest of my life started.

Which was what made the sight of Noah Goldsmith so confusing. He was alone, dressed in a tux, and smirking as he looked me up and down. I was fully dressed but had never felt so exposed.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded. If it hadn’t been for his smirk, I might have been worried something happened to Colton. “Shouldn’t you be at the dance by now?”

Instead of answering, he let out a high-pitched whistle. “You look nice. What are you so dressed up for?”

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