White is for Virgins (59 page)

“Who is it?” Fox called, sounding preoccupied.

“Room service,” Lily chimed. We had to hold back our giggles as we heard fumbling with the locks on the door and stepped back a bit.

Nick opened the door lazily with a toothbrush in his mouth. His hair was gelled back to perfection, and his tux was somewhat in place. His champagne-colored tie was wrapped around his neck, unsurprisingly untied. The second his eyes landed on us, or Lily, really, he snatched the toothbrush out of his gaping mouth.

“Holy… If I had a ring, I’d be down on one knee right now, babe,” he told Lily, taking her in again. “You look gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunning. Ravishing. Amazing. Striking. Sexy… etcetera.” The twinkle in his eye as he listed adjectives melted my heart.

Lily blushed, pressing a lingering kiss to his cheek before pushing herself in.

“You look amazing, too, Emery,” Nick said once out of his trance and able to recognize I was present as well. I grinned, thanking him on my way in.

Nick went to the bathroom to rinse his mouth and tie his tie.

Lily and I peeked in; I found Fox all the way at the other end of the counter. Their bathroom was even bigger than ours – probably because they had two beds in their room while Lily and I had one. I watched wordlessly as he finished styling his hair, letting a few wisps fall in his face before washing his hands and applying cologne. He was looking at his reflection in the mirror once more and fastening his white and silver tie and buttoning his grey vest. The thoughts running through my head at the sight of him in black dress pants, a dress shirt, a vest and tie… freshly showered… smelling like… something unbelievably sexy… they were pretty PG-13.

I honestly considered the ‘after party’ suggestion he’d made before.

“Who was at the door?” he asked Nick as he clipped on his Rolex.

Nick smirked. “Some
fine
room service.”

As Fox moved to fold the sleeves of his dress shirt, he turned to the doorway and froze. I couldn’t help but smile at the complete look of awe and the extent of the paralysis that took over his body when he looked at me. Lily had already stepped over to Nick to fix up his collar, so I knew I had Fox’s attention. I watched as his emerald green eyes trailed from my face down the length of my body and back up at a snail’s pace.

A corner of his mouth turned upward the slightest bit and a sly look overcame his eyes as he took leisurely steps toward me.

“You are so…” he started gruffly, pausing to find the words. I arched an eyebrow in curiosity, blushing at the very thought of what he was thinking about.

I am so…?
He never finished that thought. Overpowered by a force greater than the need to finish his sentence and compliment me, he dipped his head and captured my bottom lip with his minty ones. My hands rested on his wrists as his hands cupped my cheeks and his lips moved to caress my top lip. I saw a flash, realizing Lily must’ve snapped a picture.

He pulled away and rested his forehead on mine. “You too,” I chuckled, returning his attempt at a compliment and reaching up to kiss him back.

“You’re just… incandescently beautiful,” he stated, stepping back to admire me once more.

“
Oooh, incandescently, huh?” I smirked.

He nodded with a satisfactory grin. “It was a vocabulary word.”

“Was it?” I teased back.

“Alright! We going to take some pictures now, or what?” Lily asked, clapping her hands excitedly.

The guys groaned.

“Actually,” I said, remembering something, “Nina wanted Fox and I to stop by the center for a couple of pictures… can we just meet you guys back here and we’ll snag a few couples to take group pictures outside by the fountain and the pool later?”

“Sure,” Lily nodded. “Do what you gotta do.” I couldn’t help but detect a suggestive tone in her statement.

Fox finished rolling his sleeves and put on his jacket before taking my hand and leading us to the elevators.

The evening had barely begun, and I already knew I never wanted it to end.

***

“Nina,” I sang, relishing the sound of my heels against the hardwood floor of the lobby. The center had been locked up in the front, strangely. We were able to enter from the back.

“Check me out,” Fox sang following my greeting.

“Check
me
out,” I laughed, peering into her office.

Empty.

“Hm.”

“What is it?” Fox asked, coming up behind me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

“She’s not here.”

“Bathroom?” he suggested.

“Probably,” I smirked. Fox pressed a warm kiss to my bare shoulder and continued his trail up to my ear. I shivered.

“Let me go check,” I sighed, collecting the material of my dress and walking to the restroom. After calling her name a few times and checking the stalls I found it empty.

“Anything?” Fox asked hopefully.

I shook my head. He quickly ran into the men’s room (just in case) while I checked the other rooms.

“Where the hell’d she go?” I wondered, watching Fox run up to me.

“Her car’s not even in the lot,” he told me.

“Then why the hell did she…” I pondered, completely confused.

“Maybe she forgot?” Fox offered lamely. “…You did tell her it was this Saturday, right? May 2
nd
?”

“Yeah I told her,” I nodded. “I don’t
understa– OH MY GOD.”

“What?”

I booked it, running like a track star to Fox’s car. He followed close by, repeating the question I was too stunned to answer.

I settled for an indirect answer as he started his car. “The hospital. Go.”

I didn’t have to tell him twice.

While he drove I quickly texted Lily to let her know we had encountered a slight change of plans.

“Do you think she’s okay?” I asked, biting my lip and drumming my fingertips against the armrest as Fox effortlessly managed to break every law I could think of in his attempt to get to the hospital.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” he insisted, sounding a bit nervous himself, “I mean, if she locked the front doors and got into her car she was pretty pulled together. You know Nina.”

“That’s why I’m scared. She’s just a little too independent. She probably refused a wheelchair from the nurse and marched herself up the stairs to the maternity ward – she’s such a stubbornass! She didn’t even call me!” I exclaimed, sighing at how ridiculous my friend was being.

“Emery,” Fox stated calmly. “Relax, alright? Maybe she just didn’t want to ruin her friend’s prom night, because she knew you’d rush right over and screw a dance to be with her.”

I had to agree with him on that one.

We arrived at the hospital and took the first parking space available. In the lobby, I asked if Nina had been admitted.

Imagine my relief when the secretary nodded and gave me the room number. It was the same secretary as before, during Nina’s fainting incident; she still assumed Fox and I were Nina’s siblings. That was probably why she gave us a weird look when we held hands and raced for the elevators.

“Nina Santiago!” I scolded at the sight of her in a hospital gown, writhing in pain and clutching her bulbous belly.

“Emery Price,” she growled in return, shaking her head at the sight of Fox and me. “You look absolutely gorgeous; like an angel. And Fox, handsome as ever.
Ai dios mio.
”

He nodded and excused himself. I saw his hand reach for his phone but I looked over at Nina again, ignoring it.

“You look like you’re about to have a baby,” I returned, pulling up a chair next to her. “Way to not tell me where you went.”

“You’re too smart, honey,” she chuckled, wincing slightly and getting off the bed. “You found me anyway.”

“Nina, should you be getting up?” I asked worriedly, walking over to help her.

“They encourage it,” she nodded, rummaging through her purse. “Plus, I can’t miss a photo-op,” she joked. She held the camera up and I stepped back with my hands on my hips, humoring her. A nurse conveniently walked in and took a picture of us together, posing like we were both going to the prom, before asking Nina to return to the bed.

“We have to check your dilation,” she said excitedly, as if being inspected if a fun event.

“Looks like you’re almost there,” she stated a few moments later, standing back up and writing a few notes down on her clipboard. “9 centimeters – shouldn’t be more than another hour or so at this rate. He’ll be out in no time.” She smiled before walking away.

“Emery,” Nina said suddenly, holding my hand, “you really shouldn’t be here. You should be with your friends, and your boyfriend–”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I corrected.

She gave me a look. I don’t know if it was just because she was hormonal and very pregnant and very dilated, but she really scared me with that glare. “He looks at you like he adores you. He kisses you like he adores you. He asked you to prom,
because he
adores
you
. He’s your boyfriend, Gem.”

I blushed as she continued, “But anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted – you shouldn’t be here. You should be dancing the night away. I can handle all this, honey; I’ve made it this far on my own… this is the easiest part, huh? He comes out and I lose 10 pounds right there! I’ll be good as new.” She chuckled, fidgeting in her bed as another contraction rolled through.

“Nina, did you even ask for an epidural?” From the looks of it, I judged the answer was no.

She shook her head. I was right.

“Nina! Are you really trying to make this whole ordeal as painful and miserable as possible?”

“No,” she breathed, groaning and clutching her stomach. She grew red in the face, and I noticed beads of sweat collecting at her hairline. “I don’t want to drug my baby,” she said painfully, holding back what looked like a scream as she clenched her fists and arched up a bit.