The Romeo Club

“No. I mean, I was really pissed—because I was there, right in front of you all along and you never noticed. Do you know how sucky it is to be invisible to the one person you want most to see you?” He touched my face. “I just needed time to get things sorted. I’m sorry, I avoided you. That I treated you bad. You didn’t deserve it. You don’t know how many times I stood on your porch ready to apologize. Then I’d remember how crappy I treated you and thought there was no way you’d ever forgive me. It was Portia and Drake who finally nudged me and told me to get my head out of my ass before I lose you. Which, by the way I have to say, I think you should tell Carver Foster that you can’t hang out with him this summer.”

“Wait a second, you were eavesdropping.”

“Yeah.” He grinned, his breath warm on my face. “I love you, Del, and have since you shoved me out of the tree house in second grade—pretending you were a pirate queen.”

“Oh God, I forgot about that.” I buried my face in my palms.

He moved my fingers so he could see me. “I didn’t. It’s always been you, Delyla Denson.”

“Well, not always there was Portia.”

“I never really liked her.” He gave me a sheepish grin. “I-I was trying to make you jealous.”

“You were trying to make me jealous?”

“I’d tried everything else to get you to notice me, when that didn’t work, I knew I had to go big or go home. So when your brother told us about how you’d helped him with Chloe, I came up with the idea for you to help the rest of us. You were always the one I had in mind to impress, but when I filled out my list, I knew I couldn’t put your name down. So I randomly chose Portia.”

“So the whole Nerd Herd was in on it?”

“We prefer Romeo Club.” He teased. “But no, not at first. They didn’t get involved until after our fight. Drake realized how miserable we both were and put two and two together. He came by my house and asked what was going on. At first, I didn’t want to talk to him, but you know your brother, he has a way of making me spill things. Once he knew the whole story, he talked to C.C. and Kevin about fixing things. Between me, Drake, Portia, Kenadi, and the guys we devised a plan to get you here. You don’t know how worried I was that you wouldn’t show. Not after how many times everyone tried convincing you to go to prom and you said no. But I knew that you had to be here. With me. Or this night wouldn’t be complete. Like I said, it’s always been you, Del.”

He cupped my face in his hands then tilted his head. His mouth captured mine. My pulse sang in my ears, drowning out everything but him. My fingers laced in his hair, pulling him closer. His tongue grazed my teeth and I tasted a hint of cinnamon. His hands slid down my waist, pulling me closer until our bodies melded together. This was the moment, I’d waited my entire life for.

It was perfect.

The door whipped open to reveal the Romeo Club with their dates, plus Kenadi, Mikah, Rex, and Portia.

“We can come back later,” C.C. said, grinning. He started to close the door.

Trey’s arm shot out to keep it open. “Don’t you dare. I have to dance with my girlfriend. I mean, this is prom after all.”

My brow shot up. “Girlfriend? I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

He chuckled. “How about a friendly game of Dwarves of Iconia. If I win, you’re my girl.”

“Well, I guess you’ll be single a long time.”

He tugged me into his arms and kissed me again.

I’d finally found my Romeo. And he was a giant nerd. But I was okay with that. Because in truth, I was one too.

“I thought you two were going to dance?” C.C. said.

“Uh-huh. Just one more minute.” I shoved him away, without taking my eyes off of Trey.

“Make that two.” Trey shut the door.

“You realize you probably just locked us in again, right?” I rested my head against his chest.

“I don’t see what the problem is.” His kissed my nose. “I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather be locked in the closet with.

“Me either.” My fingers traced his cheek. “And Trey?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Del.”

For once, I realized that happy endings could happen, if not in the way we first imagined. And it was all because of a little thing called The Romeo Club.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS