Epilogue

epilogue

A SLOW DANCE

M onths of planning all comes down to me not fucking up.

It’s my plan.

Of course I am central to it. I am the second most important piece of the plan. Because no one can do the job I have to do.

Which means I absolutely can not fuck this up.

I already fucked up asking her to be my girlfriend officially. Not again.

This time, we’re going all out and no mistakes will be made. Even if my palms are sweaty. God, I really wish they would stop doing that in important moments. My own hands are attempting to sabotage me.

Deep breath, Alexander. We got this.

There’s too much to carry in one trip. Normally I would be a one trip or die kind of guy, but not when so many things can go wrong. I grab the bouquet of sunflowers and roses, teddy bear, and the bag first and carry it up to her front door and let them rest on the bench before heading back to the car and grabbing the box .

I open it and triple check the vintage heart-shaped cake is still in perfect condition asking one important question. A huge weight is lifted from my shoulders when I find it still in perfect condition. I was having horrible flashes of getting here and the cake being smashed to pieces.

Adjusting my suit, I pick up the cake and head back to the door.

Emery’s dad should be here distracting her so she doesn’t come to investigate before I’m ready.

Okay, man. Don’t drop anything now.

I open the box so she can see the question written across the top. Oh so carefully, I pick up the bouquet of flowers, take a deep breath, and ring the doorbell.

It takes only a few moments for her to open the door but each one stretches out until it feels like an hour has passed when she finally answers.

She beams when she sees me, but surprise flickers across her features as she notices my attire and the stuff in my hands. Finally her eyes land on the cake and they widen when she reads the question.

“Xander,” she breathes. “I can’t go to prom.”

I would wave her off if I could, but my hands are kind of full. “Forget about all that and trust me. Emery, will you go to prom with me?”

Her smile slowly spreads across her face, almost as beautiful as her blush does. “I would love to,” she answers and I beam back at her. Thank fuck. Cause a lot of work went into tonight.

I hand her the bouquet and her dad comes out from behind her, his eyes suspiciously watery as he claims his allergies must be acting up. He grabs the cake from my hands and takes it inside while I grab the bag for Emery and the teddy bear I couldn’t resist buying for her when I was planning this night .

She laughs. “Xander, what is all this?”

“You need a dress,” I tell her as I hand her the bag. It has everything Megan and Colby agreed she would need inside. They wanted to figure out a way to be here before me coming to ask and have her already ready, but every plan we came up with gave away too much.

We wanted Emery to be surprised.

“How did you do this?”

A knock comes from the front door. Damn, were they waiting at the bottom of the driveway? That was so fast. I turn around to push it open and reveal the girls. “With help, of course.”

Emery’s eyes water as she stares at all of us incredulously. “What is happening right now?”

“We’re getting ready for prom together,” Megan says with a cheeky grin and the other three follow her in, each with their own bags.

“Megan,” she breathes, astonished. “You have your real prom tonight.”

Megan waves her off with a roll of her eyes. “Why would I want to go to that one when we planned something so much better for my best friend?”

Tears spring to Emery’s eyes, and I know how much those words mean to her after everything she’s been through. “I don’t want you to miss out on anything.”

Megan is already shaking her head. “The reason I bounced from group to group is because I never really found my ride or die. Never really felt like any group were my people. Now I have. I’m not missing out on anything, Em. Promise.”

The girls hug and I’m glad they’ve found each other.

I kiss Emery’s cheek. “I’ll be back to pick you up in a few hours.”

She hasn’t stopped smiling once since I opened the door, as surprised and bewildered as she seems. She’s happy. And it makes my heart race a little faster to be the one to bring that expression to her face.

“You have to change your suit,” Beau argues as I bat away his hand from attempting to strip me once more.

“My suit is fine,” I argue for the hundredth time while we finalize the directions.

He groans, running his fingers through his hair and looking to Tate for help. “Em has already seen you in this one.”

Tate snorts and I have to agree. What the fuck does that matter?

“It’s bad luck,” Beau explains and James doesn’t even bother to hide his laughter. He’s more of a shit stirrer than I thought he was when we first met. I thought he was a golden boy like Tate. Nope. Shit stirrer.

“That’s weddings,” I argue. “And the bride’s wedding dress, you idiot.”

Baylor and Wells stand back, admiring the banner they just hung. It’s slightly off center but I agree with Baylor it’s good enough. Wells won’t have it though and attempts to fix it.

Baylor loses interest and decides to pipe in on the topic of my suit. “He looks nice. What’s wrong with his suit?”

Beau groans. “Black is good but a navy would look better with Emery’s dress.”

“I don’t have a navy suit,” I point out.

His grin turns feral and I’ve made a mistake. Somehow I’ve stepped right into his trap. “I took care of that.”

All the guys stop what they’re doing and exchange worried glances. Beau has taken on the rare tone he sometimes gets but always spells trouble.

I can’t even be surprised or upset–I am, however, speechless–when he reveals not only a suit jacket for me, but one for each of the guys. Matching velvet ones.

Tate, Beau, and I all have matching dark blue suit jackets. Zac and Wilder’s are black. Wells’s and Baylor’s are green, and James has the sole red one. Each jacket has the same black lapel, making each work with black pants.

“It worries me how perfectly this fits,” Wells comments as he puts his on.

James looks in the mirror. “Why am I the only one wearing red?”

“Colors were picked on a combination of what I thought looked best on everyone and what their dates were wearing.”

I want to tease him. I really do. I clap my hand on his shoulder. “Thanks for putting so much thought into this.”

He wraps me in a hug and dammit. I should have been a prick about it.

“I knew we were going to be best friends.”

We make quite the entrance in our matching suits and Emery’s dad can’t help but crack up. But we look damn good and I know Emery is going to lose her shit.

The girls come into the living room in a cloud of tulle and sparkles and I don’t even know what else. The click of their heels against the hardwood announcing their presence.

Emery isn’t the only one shocked speechless when their eyes land on us. All five of their mouths drop open, before giggles start. Damn right we look good .

“Maybe you guys should head to Tease instead,” Torryn jokes, wiggling her brows at Baylor.

“You want me to strip for you, Trouble?”

Emery’s dad clears his throat and Baylor jumps away from Torryn like she caught on fire, making everyone else laugh.

I remember the corsage I bought for Emery as well, wanting her to have every part of her prom experience. I slide the white and yellow flowers on her wrist, kissing her hand before I release her. She’s wearing the blue dress Megan sent me months ago after getting Emery’s approval of it.

She looks like a goddamn ice fairy in it and she steals my breath away. “God, you get prettier every time I see you.”

“You clean up pretty nice yourself.” Her fingers run over the velvet material of my suit and she smiles so softly. “I have no idea how you put this all together.”

“A lot of help,” I repeat my answer from earlier, kissing the tip of her nose. “And we aren’t done yet.”

Her dad takes about a million pictures of us, but everyone is laughing and smiling through it. Emery’s eyes grow misty several times and the girls keep hissing at her to cry later and not ruin her makeup.

When we get outside and she sees the limo, she stares at me like I’ve lost my mind and like I hung each star in her sky all at the same time. All the planning and arguing over the details is worth it for the look of pure bliss on her face.

Music blasts on the car ride home, and everyone sings along to the songs, laughing and teasing each other. Isla brings out the polaroid camera that seems to follow our group everywhere now and it gets passed around as people snap photos. They’ll be added to the growing collection around the house.

My eyes never fall away from the most important person in my life. Her smile never dims .

Tate bumps my shoulder and he gives me a nod of approval.

Our plan was a success.

We get back to the house and Emery doesn’t even question it anymore. Climbing out of the limo behind me and taking my hand while I escort her up our walkway. It isn’t until I start leading her down to the basement that her eyes search mine for answers.

One of the guys hits the lights and the basement comes into view as Emery stands at the top of the stairs. She laughs in disbelief at the transformation. I have to admit, I’m impressed with ourselves.

The couches and televisions we had down have all been pushed to the side and covered with black cloth in a way that’s easy to forget they’re even there. Every inch of the palace has been decorated with flowers, fairy lights, and streamers.

The girls really took charge here and the lights add the perfect glimmer to make the whole space feel almost magical.

“I can’t believe you did this,” she whispers.

“I’d do anything for you, Em.”

Music starts softly playing and it’s the slow song I picked just for me and Emery.

“Emery Moore, may I have this dance?”

“Always.”

See the Westbrook Wolves again in Rink Rumors…..