Red(41)

When Felicity heard the words “prom night,” her entire body shut down. She tried to roll away from Brent, but he grabbed her shoulder and gently turned her toward him. “Hey,” he whispered. “We don’t have to, if you don’t want. I just thought—”

“No, it’s not that.” Felicity struggled to a sitting position. Her shirt was across the room, so she gathered the covers up against her chest. Still breathless, she said, “I have to talk to you about something.”

“Now?” Brent’s expression was incredulous.

“I know. I’m sorry, but—” She couldn’t go any further. Brent looked at her, an adorable crinkle of confusion between his eyebrows. He was breathing hard, too, and the waistband of his chili-pepper-patterned boxers was sticking out of his jeans. He was so trusting, so vulnerable, and he wanted her so much. How could she possibly do what she was about to do?

She reached out and touched his face, and he leaned into her hand like an affectionate dog. “I need you to do something for me,” she said.

Brent’s worried look disappeared, and a grin took its place. “Ooh, okay. Is it kinky? ’Cause if it is, I’m up for—”

“No, not that kind of thing.” Felicity took a deep breath. “I need you to take Gabby Vaughn to prom.”

“What? Why? But I … How am I supposed to take both of you?”

“No, I mean, I need you to take her instead of me.”

Brent looked deeply wounded, and he drew back from her. “You don’t want to go to prom with me?”

“I do. I want more than anything to go to prom with you.” Felicity was suddenly afraid she was going to cry again.

“Then I don’t get it. Why do you want me to take Gabby? You’re not—Lissy, you’re not breaking up with me, are you?”

“No. No. Of course not. It’s just … it’s a hazing thing. For the prom committee. I want to be in charge next year, but Madison wants it, too, and I have to prove I care the most by doing something really self-sacrificing.” Felicity looked down at her polka-dotted duvet, unable to lie directly to Brent’s face. “Nobody asked Gabby to prom, even though she’s on the court, and giving you up is … pretty much the most self-sacrificing thing I could think of.”

“What’s Madison doing?”

“I don’t know. But I’m sure whatever she comes up with won’t be as bad as this.”

Brent stared at her, blinking slowly. “You’re still going to come to prom, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll still come. But Gabby has to be your date.”

“Do I have to hang out with her the whole time? I don’t have to do the prom court dance with her, do I?”

“I think you do, babe. If you’ll do this for me, I mean.” Felicity grabbed his hand and held on tightly. “I’m so sorry. I know how much this sucks. I’m really upset about it.” Voicing her emotions out loud made them more real, and a tear trailed down her cheek.

Brent wiped it away with his thumb. “If I do it, will you get what you want?”

Felicity thought about all the things she wanted. She longed for a perfect, fairy-tale prom night that would leave her with stars in her eyes and Brent in her bed. But much more than that, she wanted safety. She needed to be certain that Gabby wouldn’t bring her entire redheaded existence to a screeching halt just when the pageant prize money was within her reach. And that meant her secret had to stay a secret.

“Yes,” she said. “This will help me get what I want.”

Brent sighed. “Fine. I guess I’ll do it.”

“And there’s one more thing—nobody can find out I asked you to do this. So if anyone wants to know why you’re with Gabby, tell them it’s a community service thing for one of the athletic scholarships. Okay? Can you do that?”

He shrugged, defeated. “If that’s what you want.”

Felicity threw her arms around him, pressing her heart to his, and he cradled her against him. All the breathless, fluttery, expectant feelings from just a few minutes before had faded, but Felicity felt a flood of genuine affection for Brent that was more intense than ever. “Thank you,” she whispered.

And that was when Andy and Tyler burst through her door.

Felicity shrieked and grabbed a pillow to cover her chest. “Guys, you have to leave,” she hissed.

“Why?” Andy demanded. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you wearing shirts?”

“Um, we were—”

“—having a wrestling match,” Brent supplied.

Felicity stared at her boyfriend, surprised by his uncharacteristic display of quick thinking. “Right,” she said. “People in ancient times always wrestled with their clothes off.”

“Oh.” Her brothers nodded solemnly, filing this information away for later use. Felicity was sure there’d be naked twin wrestling on the living room rug within the week.

Brent handed Felicity her shirt, and she tugged it on, then knelt down in front of her brothers. “Listen, guys, you can’t tell Mom you saw us wrestling, okay? There’s no wrestling allowed in the house, and I’ll get in really big trouble. I’ll buy each of you a whole bag of jelly beans if you can keep it a secret. But you really have to promise.”