Page 64 of The Pucking Kiss

Kathy rolled her eyes and ignored me, “I have a surprise for you later.”

“A surprise?” Romai said, getting excited immediately. “What have you planned?”

“If I tell you now, it’s not going to be too much of a surprise, is it? You’re just going to have to wait and see.”

“You’re making me nervous,” Romai admitted. “Can you at least give me a hint?”

Kathy flashed her a devilish grin, “You’ll find out soon enough. And you, too, Bryan. I’m sure you’ll like it too.”

“Kathy, whatever mind games you are trying to play here are not going to work,” I told her bluntly.

Just because Romai was being nice to her didn’t mean I had to be as well.

“Mind games?” Kathy smiled. “I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m just being a good friend.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t see how you’re suddenly so interested in being nice when you were the one who started this whole thing.”

“You don’t know anything,” Kathy squared me up.

I opened my mouth to respond, but Romai came between us. “That’s enough, you two. It’s prom night, and I do not want you both to be fighting like this.”

Seeing the worried expression on Romai’s face, I backed down. But I could just sense that Kathy was up to no good. Her smile and everything else about her seemed fake, and it annoyed me that Romai was falling for her tricks like this.

“Whatever, let’s go dance, Romai,” I pulled her by the hand and dragged her away from Kathy.

We did not need her toxic energy right now.

The dance floor was alive with couples, and the DJ had put on a romantic song. Romai put her hands around my waist, and we began slow dancing together.

“You didn’t have to be so terrible to Kathy, you know.”

“She probably deserves it,” I replied, not wanting to hear anything in support of her. “Besides, this moment is about us. Let’s focus on that for now.”

As we danced, I wondered if this was the perfect moment to confess my feelings to her. But I had planned a special surprise with Jake’s help later and decided to wait it out.

She looked so gorgeous dancing with me that the words almost slipped out of my tongue.

“This night feels perfect,” she said, snuggling her head onto my shoulder. “I always thought I’d be a loser who wouldn’t get a date to prom, but look at me now.”

“Romai,” I said, pulling her back so that I could look into her eyes. “You were never a loser.”

“Yes, I was. Even you thought so. Don’t you remember?”

I shook my head. “I was just being immature. I think I probably thought you were cute, and the only way I knew how to get your attention was to bully you.”

Romai was shocked. “I…”

“I mean it, Romai,” I continued. “You’re like the coolest person ever. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as you, and yet you never brag about how smart you are. You’re kind, and you’re forgiving even to those who don’t deserve it. You’re a really rare person, Romai. Don’t you ever forget that.”

“That really means a lot to me,” Romai’s eyes began to fill up with tears.

I kissed the top of her head, pulling her closer to me. But just then, the music abruptly stopped.

“What’s going on?”

All eyes were directed to the stage, where Kathy was standing. She had a mic in her hands.

“Sorry for the interruption,” she said, “But I had a special announcement I wanted to make.”