Empire High Betrayal(23)

God. How was my dad going to keep me safe? How could he protect me and my friends?

I heard a noise in the hall. Shit. I went to shove the nightstand drawer shut but a velvet box tucked into the corner caught my eye. I glanced at the door to make sure Matt wasn’t coming in. And then I reached into the drawer to grab the box.

It was a jewelry box. I flipped open the velvet top. Oh. Wow. There was a huge circular diamond in the middle, surrounded by smaller diamonds on the silver band. I’d touched expensive ball gowns and tiaras, but they were nothing compared to this. It was beautiful. It didn’t look new. There were scratches along the band that made it look like it had been worn in love already. For some reason, I thought it would have looked lovely with my mom’s blue dress. My heart ached. I’d never know. My dress was gone. And this ring certainly wasn’t mine. But God, it was beautiful. I ran my thumb along the glistening band. Vintage. That was what Justin would have called it. I liked vintage more than new.

“Do you like it?” Matt asked.

I looked up at him. Crap. When had he come in? “Oh. No. I mean yes. It’s beautiful. But I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…” I went to put it back in the drawer, but he caught my hand.

“Do you want to try it on?”

“What?”

He pulled the ring out of the box and lifted my left hand. “Just to see if it fits.”

My eyes locked with his. He wanted me to try it on? I couldn’t. “I…” my thoughts trailed away when he slid it onto my ring finger.

“A perfect fit,” he said.

For just a few seconds we were both silent. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing. It was so beautiful that it hurt.

“I guess you should just wear it then.” His hand slid off mine.

I laughed. “Wait, what? I can’t.”

“Why? I’ll be giving it to you in a few years anyway.”

Oh, Matt. My heart was beating faster and faster the longer I wore it. Like it was so happy it was about to explode. “Then we should wait, right? We should…”

“Haven’t we done enough waiting? I heard you loud and clear, Brooklyn. I wasn’t loving you out loud. What’s more out loud than this?”

“This is…this is very loud.”

He laughed. “You don’t like it?”

“No, I love it. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” I looked down at my hand. But I didn’t deserve it.

“It was my aunt’s.”

I looked back up at him. “Really?”

“My mom gave it to me. To give to the woman I want to marry one day. That’s you.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Forever, remember?”

“Matt, I can’t…”

He leaned forward and kissed me. Usually our kisses were frantic, like we were running out of time. But this was one slow. Torturously slow. And somehow it was even better than the frantic ones.

“I can’t wear this,” I said against his lips. “It’s an engagement ring, Matt.”

“Hmm. True.” He pulled back and got down on one knee. “Brooklyn…”

“We can’t be engaged. We’ve already had this conversation. We’re sixteen.”

“Think of it as a promise then. That one day, I’ll make you mine officially. It doesn’t matter whether your last name is Sanders or Pruitt. Because you’ll be a Caldwell soon. We’ve also already talked about this. I’m going to take all your firsts.”

“Right. You’re going to be my first husband.” I was smiling so hard it hurt.

He laughed. “I really don’t like that joke.” He put his hands on my knees and spread them apart.

I swallowed hard.

“Your only husband,” he said as he leaned down and kissed the inside of my thigh. My very naked thigh.

Holy shit. I tried to close my legs. It felt too good. It was too overwhelming. But he kept my knees spread apart. If anything, he forced them open wider. And I have no idea why I did it, but I reached out and put my hand on top of his head so he wouldn’t move.

He laughed against my thigh and kissed me higher. And higher.

“Matt,” I moaned. I stared at the ring glistening on my finger, tangled in his hair.

He wrapped his hands beneath my thighs and pulled me to the edge of the bed, his hands settling on my ass.

Fuck.

His breath was warm on my thigh. His lips soft. His tongue… God. My fingers tightened in his hair the higher he went. And I stared at the ring he’d slipped on my finger and I felt…at war with myself. I felt wonderful because of his lips on my skin, but horrible because of the secrets I was keeping from him. “Matt.” I pushed on his shoulders. “Stop.”

“What?” He lifted his head. And I must have looked horrified because he pushed himself away from me. “I’m sorry. I thought…fuck, I’m so sorry. I thought you were ready.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Brooklyn, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s not that. I want…I want more of that.”

His Adam’s apple rose and then fell. “Me too.” It looked like he was going to pull me back into his arms, so I slid away from him on the bed.

“But…I…I did something bad.” God, I wanted to keep my secrets. I wanted to wear this ring. I wanted to be a Caldwell. I wanted him to keep kissing me. Holding me. Loving me. But he wouldn’t. Because I knew if the roles were reversed, I probably wouldn’t forgive him. Just thinking about his box of condoms being used on someone else made it hard to breathe. I chose him. I wanted him. But I’d taken too long to figure it out. I closed my eyes and pulled off the ring.