Untouchable (Untouchables, 1)

“Perfect,” he murmurs.

Last year’s queen turned away to retrieve a big bouquet of roses from the table. She hands them to me now and I’m struck by their beauty. Ordinarily I believe the homecoming queen gets red roses, but these are white with gold glitter lining each petal.

“Wow, these are beautiful. Thank you,” I tell her, though I’m not sure who I’m supposed to thank. Never in a billion years would I have expected to be homecoming queen at this high school or any other.

The former queen leans in to confide, “Your boyfriend ordered ‘em special for you.”

Carter leans in to whisper jokingly, “Why are you giving away all my secrets?”

She smiles at me. “You’re a lucky girl.”

I do feel like a pretty lucky girl tonight. Even luckier, since my class didn’t pick me, I don’t have to touch the microphone or give any kind of “thank you” speech. Since I’m going to be dancing, I give the girl the flowers back and she tells me to make sure I come get them before we leave the dance. I assure her I will, and turn back to watch the principal finish up the crowning ceremony.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, the king and queen will have their first dance. After that, everyone is welcome to join them on the dance floor and dance the night away! Have fun, be safe, and don’t do anything your parents wouldn’t approve of,” he tells them, shaking a finger at the assembled audience. He gets a few polite chuckles, but there are a lot of blank stares, too.

Carter takes my hand and leads me down the steps. The spotlight follows us out onto the dance floor. Carter takes me in his arms, heedless of the rule about distance between dance partners. Ben E. King starts crooning Stand by Me from the speakers and Carter pulls me closer.

“She’s my queen every day, huh?” I murmur playfully.

Carter shoots me a mischievous smile. “You liked that line, huh?”

“Your audience sure did. You tryin’ to make all the other girls wanna steal you away from me?”

“Nah, I’m not a necklace; I can’t be stolen.”

“I can’t believe I’m homecoming queen,” I tell him.

“Perks of dating the king. Better get ready, come prom you’ll sweep up that crown, too.”

“I doubt that. Senior class picks that one, not you.”

Cocking a disbelieving eyebrow, he says, “You cannot honestly doubt my ability to get shit done at this point. Come on now, Zoey. I’ll make sure you win.”

I shake my head indulgently. “I don’t want you to fix it.”

“You want me to dance this close with some other girl, then?”

I pause to consider, then tell him, “Fine, you can fix it.” It’s not like he’ll need to break any rules, just wield his considerable influence and tell people what he wants them to do. I’m sure his minions will help him out. “What are you gonna do when high school ends and you have to start over at Columbia? You won’t have any minions to do your bidding.”

“Not right away, but it won’t take long to break some new ones in,” he says, confident in his leadership skills. “Besides, New York is home. I have plenty of friends there.”

“Any I’ll like?”

His lips curve up faintly. “One you might like a little too much. I’ll have to keep you away from him so he doesn’t try to snatch you up.”

“Impossible,” I declare. “I am also not a necklace.”

“Can’t be stolen, huh?”

I shake my head. “I’m all yours.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” he tells me.

“Well, until we live too far apart to be together, at least,” I amend, knowing he will hold me to that. “Will we see your friends on the visit?”

Carter shakes his head. “Doubt it. Only staying the weekend doesn’t give us much time and I want to show you the city.”

Smiling at the mental image of us walking the sidewalks in a crowded Time Square, I tell him, “I can’t wait. I think we’ll have fun.”

“You know when I think we’ll have fun? When this stupid dance is over,” he murmurs, bending his head to kiss my bare shoulder. “When I can haul you out of here and get you the hell out of this dress.”

“I love this dress,” I tell him.

“I love it, too. I’ll love it more when it’s on the floor and you’re naked in bed with me.”

“What kind of animal would put this gorgeous dress on the floor?” I demand, wide-eyed. “Surely there’s at least a chair we can lay it out across.”

“You’re focusing on the wrong part of this story,” he states.

“I’m aghast at your rough handling of my beautiful gown. You’re allowed to handle my body that way, but my dress? Over the line.”

Carter rolls his eyes. “Fine, we’ll throw the dress on a chair. As long as you’re naked, I don’t care where your discarded clothes are.”