As I hold Rosy’s hand in my Bronco on the way to prom, I think about how my sisters have had a hand in keeping us together. Rosy’s parents don’t like me; they’ve made that clear every time I’ve been in their presence. Even though Rosy doesn't tell me what they say behind my back, I see it in the way they look at me and the questions they ask. Try as they might to push me away, none of it matters because I’m still here, right where I’ll always be. But for them trying to keep us apart, my sisters have somehow managed to make us closer. For that alone, I’ll forever be indebted to them.
“You look like you don’t want to go in,” I say as I take the key out and turn to face her. Rosy shrugs and looks down at her hands. “Hey,” I say, and her eyes find mine. “It’s my prom, too, you know.”
“Like you care.” She rolls her eyes, but I see the smile tug at her lips.
“I care about having a dance with you.”
“Really?” she counters, raising her brows in challenge.
“Really.” I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles. “We have to be able to tell our kids someday that we actually danced at our prom.”
She bites her bottom lip to hide the smile as I lean in and kiss her. I know she loves when I talk about our future, and I do too. We’ve got our lives planned out, and I’m ready to blow this school and get to it. But before then, I want to make sure we get all the experiences, including the ones we might not be too excited about.
We make it in and get our picture taken, then slow dance to a couple of songs. There’s no one else here tonight that we want to hang out with, and when Rosy tells me she’s ready to go, I nod in agreement. Maybe we should have done more to make friends, but after years of people trying to put us in boxes, we decided to create our own and keep everyone out.
“Amber told me she got us a suite tonight,” Rosy mentions casually as we drive away from the prom and toward downtown.
“Yeah.” I take her hand, but she doesn’t look at me as she keeps talking.
“She told me we’re staying the night.”
“You okay with that?” I ask, and she nods, her cheeks flushing. After a moment I squeeze her hand. “I got you something in the back.” She turns around and grabs the small black bag I have sitting on the seat behind us.
“What is it?” She bounces in her seat, and this is why I love giving her presents. She says she’s always so happy because mine are the best, but maybe I don’t have much to live up to. Her parents were always just giving her expensive stuff instead of the things she would actually enjoy.
“Look inside and see.”
She opens up the ribbon and then reaches inside. She pulls out several things and squeals with excitement until she holds up the last item.
“Darian,” she says softly as she looks at the silk and lace.
“The cozy clothes and shoes are for tomorrow when we leave the hotel. I didn’t think you’d want to wear your dress again, no matter how fantastic you look in it.”
“And this?” she asks, touching the lingerie.
“I wasn't sure how you would feel tonight, so I got you another option.” Rosy hasn’t ever been shy about her body, but we’ve never been naked together either. “I’ve never done this before…I mean, neither of us have, so I just thought, I don’t know, maybe it’s the wrong thing-”
“It’s perfect,” she cuts me off and places her hand on my thigh. “All of it, it’s perfect.”
My heart races as we pull up to the hotel, and she puts all of her gifts back into the bag. She smiles at me, and I hop out and wave off the valet as I go around to open her door.
We’re both quiet as we check in and completely silent on the elevator as we ride up to the top floor. It’s not that I’m nervous, I’m just so out of my depth on what to do that I don’t want to say the wrong thing and ruin the night. Rosy is so perfect and special, and she deserves everything.
As we get to the double door at the end of the hall, she takes the key from me when I can’t get the card reader to work. As soon as the light turns green we open the doors and then we stand there as we take in the space. The view of the city is incredible, but that’s not what has our attention. Because all over the floor and on every surface, the room has been decorated with rose petals and flowers.