Page 50 of Cruel Devotion

But I was here. She wasn’t facing this alone.

“It’s just you and me here,” I told her, stepping closer and easing her into a dance even though we were on the outskirts of the actual dancing area.

“Not exactly.” She tucked in closer, her body slotting perfectly against mine as though she was made for it. “There are tons of people here. And a lot of them are looking at us. At me. Well, no. You clean up nice. Every woman here is looking at you.”

I chuckled, liking the bite of jealousy in her tone. “No. Everyone is looking at you.”

“Wondering why the hell you’re here with me.”

“No. The girls wish they could be you and the guys wish they could have you.”

The eye roll she gave me was the most epic one yet. “Hilarious.”

“Besides, it doesn’t matter.” I hugged her closer. “I only have eyes for you.” I kissed one cheek. “And I’m the only one who’s going to be here with you.” I kissed her other cheek. As I backed up, I spotted Preston in the background past her. He was surrounded by his friends, the usual group of wealthy assholes and fellow basketball players. Drake, the moron who smacked into the gear stick in that classic car, was with him. He noticed me looking at him, and he elbowed Preston to get his attention. Pointing me out, he made sure Preston realized I was here with Haley.

See?

We’re here.

I got her here.

In my heart, I felt like I got her for good. We’d hurried through a lot of intimacy so far, kissing and touching each other, but this was still so new.

I hadn’t wanted her to go down on me yet.

I didn’t intend to fuck her tonight, either.

She wasn’t ready. Besides, I wanted her first time to be special. I wanted to do right by her.

And I will.

After I met Preston’s gaze and knew he saw her here with me, I worried less about making sure I met that stipulation of the dare. Until I could figure out a good way to encourage her to come to that “famous” side room, I’d enjoy myself with her. And we did.

It was different to be out publicly with her when we were both more or less keeping this a secret. She didn’t want attention, and I respected that. I didn’t want to run the risk of my parents somehow finding out that I was with her, someone from a family they didn’t approve of, so I kept things private too. I didn’t take my phone with me when Finn dropped me off at her place that one evening. While I was with Haley during her aunt’s shift, Finn went to the gym, worked out, showered, and went to the store—all while keeping my phone in his pocket so the tracking would show me doing “normal” things.

We danced and snacked on the catered crap they had here. I didn’t drink, and neither did she, but we were already so drunk on each other that it wouldn’t have helped or hurt the evening if we had ordered a drink.

Eventually, her shyness faded. She got more comfortable with me and didn’t seem to need more reassurance that she could belong at this dance than just being with me.

A really lame song came on, something the DJ chose that made everyone go wild. I’d never cared for it, though, so with anoh, greatsmirk at Haley, who looked just as annoyed as I was, we laughed and left the main room.

Okay. This is it.

Holding her hand, I steered her toward the side room. As we went, I noticed Drake glancing at us and spotting our progress toward that room.

Oh, shit.What if they rigged it with a camera or something? I wouldn’t put it past them, not only to get proof that I was fucking Haley there as they expected but also to spy on any other couples who went there.

“Are you okay?” Haley asked, squeezing my hand.

“Yeah. Yeah. Sure.” I smiled at her.

“Because Iamaware of where you’re leading me.”

I shook my head, smiling. “No. That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Eli. I know how that rumor goes. Back in the fifties, the dean’s daughter tricked a teacher back here and got knocked up that night. The guy was deported, she miscarried, and they both killed themselves.”

I blinked my eyes open wide. “Holy shit. I didn’t realize it was that dark of a basis for the tradition.”

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