“You remember what I asked you this summer?” Blue asks, scuffing her toe along a crack in the sidewalk.
“About finding you a rich guy?”
“No,” she says. “About watching Olive if… You know. If I ever needed you to.”
“Yeah, sure. I remember. Why?”
“You’d keep her safe?”
“Of course,” I say, frowning at her. “I promise. What’s up?”
“I just… Worry about her. When I’m at work. Would you watch her while I’m gone, if I needed you to? I mean, if you’re home and you’re not busy and stuff. I don’t really know anyone else around here. I’d ask my aunt, but she lives in Oregon…”
“You know I would,” I say. “Just don’t leave her with my mom if I’m not around. She’s got all kinds of sketchy guys in and out of there.”
Blue nods. “Thanks, Harper.”
I want to ask her more, but I know she doesn’t need me prying on top of whatever else she has going on, so I finish the cigarette in silence before heading in to get ready. The Homecoming dance is tonight, so I take a shower and lay out a little black dress Preston bought me this summer. I wasn’t planning on going until yesterday, but I wouldn’t buy a dress to wear for one day even if I had known. This is fine for a friend-date with Gideon. Just to make extra sure it doesn’t seem too much like a date, I text him letting him know I want to meet him there. I don’t want to leave my car at home in case Mom comes back, anyway.
I’ve just pulled on my dress when I hear a knock at the front door. I still get a little burst of fear any time someone knocks, so I grab my knife before going to the door. I open it to find Royal Dolce standing on my doorstep in a tux. He looks so fucking good I’d melt if I didn’t know better.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m taking you to Homecoming.”
I cross my arms and glare up at him, not moving from the doorway. “I’m going with Gideon.”
“Like hell you are.”
I sigh. “We’re going as friends, but I already told him I’d go. Besides, I told you before, just because we slept together once, it was a mistake. We’re not together. You and me are not a thing.”
Royal just looks at me and holds up the tall bag he’s holding with a hanger at the top. “Go put this on.”
“Royal. I already have plans.”
“Cancel them.”
I glare at him, refusing to move. But I know he won’t back down if I fight him, so I try a different tactic. “I didn’t think you were the type to want to go to a lame high school dance even when you were in high school,” I say with a smirk. “Do you really want to go dance with a bunch of kids? Not to mention you told me you don’t dance.”
“If I want to dance, I’ll dance,” he says. “And I have no interest in lame high school anything. I have an interest in keeping a bunch of assholes’ hands off you. So if you’re going, then I’m going. Now, go get dressed.”
I look him up and down, trying not to fucking drool. His tux looks like it was custom made for him, hugging his huge, broad shoulders to perfection and practically screaming money. “Where’d you get a tux last minute?”
He smirks down at me. “You think this is the first lame function I’ve had to attend? I told you before, just because I have money, that doesn’t mean I do whatever the fuck I want. I’ve been going to shit like this since I was old enough to walk. I own a tux. Now go put this on.”
I hesitate before accepting the bag. “How do you know it’ll fit?”
“It’ll fit,” he says with a cocky little smile.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to make me look like a two-dollar hooker?”
“Because you underestimate me.”
I sigh and reach for my phone. “I need to text Gideon.”
“I’ll do it.”
I give him a hard look. “Be nice.”