Empire High Betrayal(73)

And Matt literally slid into the ballroom in his socks. He was wearing a dress shirt without any pants.

He didn’t dress up as Danny Zuko!

“Oh my God, he’s doing the Risky Business dance!” Kennedy said.

Matt spun around and pretended to sing into a candlestick. Then he ran over to one of the huge fake pumpkins and jumped up on it.

Everyone was cheering and clapping. I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. Kennedy was snapping pictures of the whole thing.

I stepped around Isabella to get a better view.

Matt jumped off the pumpkin, landing on his knees. The fog on the ground dispersed around him as he pretended to play an air guitar.

And when he got up, he locked eyes with me. He tossed the candlestick to the side of the room before sliding across the floor, grabbing me around the waist, and dipping me low.

Everyone was whistling and applauding like crazy.

And I was laughing so hard that it hurt. I kept laughing as he lifted me back up and pulled me into his chest.

“You look beautiful, baby,” he whispered in my ear.

“You’re not wearing any pants,” I said through my laughter.

He stepped back, keeping our fingers intertwined. “Huh. How ‘bout that?”

“You’re amazing.” I smiled up at him. Matt had all the confidence in the world. And I was pretty sure if anyone else had dressed up in the same outfit as him, he wouldn’t have cared. “That was quite the entrance. I thought you were lying about needing one.”

He laughed. “I know how much you like when I make a fool of myself.”

“You never make a fool of yourself. Everyone in this room loves you. But I love you most.”

He smiled down at me. “I love you most.”

I stood on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek, but he turned his head and captured my lips with his. A few people whistled again. Matt was definitely winning best male costume. And I didn’t care if I won too. I’d already won, because I had him.

“Come on,” Matt said. “Let’s dance.” He grabbed my hand and Kennedy’s hand and pulled us onto the dance floor.

He didn’t acknowledge Isabella’s Sandy costume. I wasn’t sure if he just didn’t notice because he was too busy dancing with me and Kennedy. Or because he really cared about Isabella so little. Either way, it was a win for me.

Matt broke out a weird robot dance move and then pointed to Kennedy. She moved her arms robotically too and then pointed at me. I took a few straight-legged steps and bent over, doing the best robot I could.

And the three of us couldn’t stop laughing.

Matt was a great dancer. Me? Not so much. But I’d never had so much fun. Tonight couldn’t be more different than homecoming. That disaster of a night, I’d been torn between Matt, Miller, Felix, and even James if I was being honest. But tonight? I only had eyes for Matt. I didn’t just have a boyfriend now. I had a fiancé. I was going to marry the boy pretending to rain water on my head in the middle of the dance floor. And I’d never smiled so much in my life.

A slow song switched on and he pulled me in close.

“Brooklyn, you’re the most beautiful girl in the room.”

I was tempted to look to see where Isabella went.

It was as if he could tell because he put his hand on the side of my face. “Always.”

I smiled up at him. And I realized I almost forgot to tell him the good news. “Justin agreed to help us with our wedding.”

Matt smiled. “That’s great. I know you really wanted his help.”

I literally couldn’t do this without Justin. I had no idea what needed to be done. And Justin knew everything. “I’m going dress shopping in a few days.”

“Can I come?”

I laughed. “No you can’t come dress shopping with me. It’s bad luck.”

“I think the two of us have had enough bad luck. Just smooth sailing from here.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Hey look.” He nodded his head toward his left.

I followed his gaze. Kennedy and Felix were slow dancing together. Finally! “They’d make a cute couple, wouldn’t they?” I asked.

“And it would mean Felix would stop flirting with you.”

“He’s already stopped. We’re just friends. I only have eyes for a certain someone who isn’t wearing any pants in public.”

Matt laughed. “Speaking of pants…are you hungry? I’m starving.”

What kind of segue was that? He’d had me laughing so much all night that my cheeks actually hurt. “I’m starving.” I had completely forgotten about eating tonight. “Let’s go track down a zombie.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him over toward one of the waiters.

Matt had no sooner lifted up one of the hors d’oeuvres when Kennedy came over and grabbed it out of his hand.

“Thanks, I’m so hungry,” she said and stuffed the whole thing in her face.

“What is it with you and always stealing my food?” Matt said. “There’s trays of them going around everywhere. Get your own, woman.”

“But it’s so much easier to take yours,” Kennedy said.

They both laughed.

I remembered when Kennedy had insisted that Felix, me, and her were the three amigas. That hadn’t exactly worked out. But Matt, me and her? Yeah, we kind of were. I was glad that they got along so well. Because I wasn’t sure what I would do without either of them. Together they had somehow pieced my broken heart back together.