All I've Never Wanted(83)

And the night had barely begun.

“My friends,” he said slowly, like she was too dense to understand the two words. Which she probably was.

Roman glowered at Zack, who seemed to be all fine and dandy with his date, a willowy redheaded model from Idaho or Iowa or one of those states.

The Scions usually brought models to school functions, if they went at all, because it was less hassle and they wouldn’t have to deal with the clinginess of Valesca girls afterward.

That is, until Parker decided to go with Adriana—which had been surprising but fine—and Carlo decided to go with Maya. Which was decidedly less fine.

Roman set his jaw at the thought. Out of all the people in the world, Carlo had to go with her.

What’s so great about her anyway? he thought furiously. She was upsetting the balance of everything, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Oh, I think that’s them!” Zack pointed to the Rolls-Royce limo that had just pulled up.

“It’s about time,” Roman grumbled, stiffening a bit as he waited for his friends to get out.

Maya’s little redheaded friend and her date were the first to get out, followed by Parker and Adriana.

Roman tensed when he saw Carlo. The Colombian held out his hand to the last person in the limo, and a second later, Maya came into view.

All the air whooshed out of his lungs. Roman swallowed hard, rooted to the spot as Maya started walking towards him. Her dress fluttered behind her from the wind, and she looked more gorgeous than he’d ever thought anyone could look.

As he watched, she laughed at something Carlo said. In response, his friend wrapped an arm around her waist and said something that made her laugh again.

The scowl reappeared on Roman’s face as he resisted the urge to rip Carlo’s arm away from her.

“Hey, guys,” Maya chirped when she finally reached them. “You all look great.” Her eyes flickered over Solange before quickly looking away.

Narrowing his eyes, Roman reached out to grab his date’s hand. “Maya, I don’t believe you’ve met my date, Solange,” he said coolly.

Maya’s smile tightened a bit. “It’s nice to meet you,” she told the Brazilian politely.

Everyone else quickly introduced themselves, but Roman’s blood practically boiled at her indifferent courteousness. What the hell happened to the fiery-tempered girl he knew?

Whatever. It doesn’t matter, he thought darkly, as they made their way into the hotel ballroom where homecoming was being held.

The dance was already in full swing, but instead of joining everyone else on the dance floor, Roman stomped over to the Scions’ reserved VIP table. The others followed reluctantly.

“You don’t want to dance?” Solange asked in her thick accent.

“No,” he replied curtly.

“Well, in that case, can you look after our bags for us?” Adriana asked sweetly, placing her silver clutch on the table.

“What do I look like, your butler?” Roman growled, but it was too late. Everyone else had already moved to the dance floor.

For the next half hour, he just sat there and fumed, getting more and more irked as he watched everyone else have the time of their lives.

Carlo spun Maya around and dipped her exaggeratedly, like they did in the movies, and she broke out into silvery laughter as he did so.

Roman grabbed a glass of water from the table and took a huge gulp before slamming it down, causing the other glasses to rattle a bit.


What right did they have to be so happy when he wasn’t? He set the standards!

Who does Carlo think he is anyway, Fred Astaire? he thought rather nastily.

“Roman, I’m bored,” Solange whined beside him.

“So, go do something about it,” he answered disinterestedly.

Solange huffed angrily and stood up, her chair screeching as she pushed it back. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

When she didn’t receive an answer, she stormed off, but Roman barely noticed. He couldn’t take his eyes off a certain couple on the dance floor.

Several songs later, his friends came back to the table for a rest, sweaty and out of breath. A disgruntled Solange had also returned, and though she didn’t say anything, he could feel the waves of annoyance coming off her.

“I’m going to freshen up a bit,” Adriana announced, grabbing her clutch. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you,” Maya offered, and Venice and Zack’s date, Cynthia something-or-other, echoed the same sentiment.

Apparently deciding another trip to the ladies’ room was preferable to sitting at the table not doing anything, Solange followed, leaving the boys to themselves.

They were silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” Zack asked Venice’s date.

The boy flushed, obviously unable to believe he was sitting with the Scions. “Gr-Grant.”

“Grant.” Zack frowned. “That’s kind of a weird name.”

Parker shot him a surprised look. Zack shrugged. “What? It is.”

“Oh, y-yeah. My grandfather was named Gr-Grant, so—“ The boy shrugged, turning even redder.

“Oh.” Zack sipped his water. “How do you know Venice?”

“We-we’re in Eng-English together.”