A Proscriptive Relationship (70 page)

“
Two,” Andy responded, putting a hand on his son’s head. “His birthday just passed.”

Paul stared at me, a goofy grin spreading across his face. “Hi!”

“
Hello,” I responded, catching his smile. “I’m Holly.”

Paul quickly hid behind his father’s legs, dropping his gaze. Andy laughed, giving me a sheepish look. “He’s not good around new people.”

“
That’s okay,” I responded, still enthusiastic about how cute his on was. “He’s adorable.”

Holly flashed me a smile. “Do you like children, Holly?”

I nodded. “Most of them.”

She smirked, sending Mr. Heywood a suggestive look. Immediately I flushed, understanding what she meant. He rolled his eyes at her, shaking his head. Andy looked confused, obviously missing the whole exchange.

“
Holly, do you want to dance?” Mr. Heywood suddenly asked, tugging me towards the dance floor. “Let’s go.”

“
Um, but—”

“
You two have fun,” Holly interjected, looking smug. “We have to go talk to more of our guests.”

Andy groaned. “But we’ve already talked to like a thousand people—”

“
You’re exaggerating,” Holly cut him off, rolling her eyes. “Bye Holly, bye Chris.”

I said goodbye to the new family and Mr. Heywood pulled me towards the dance floor, where Casey and Jeremy were still having a blast. Just as we stepped on the wooden flooring the song changed into a slow, calm one. Mr. Heywood gave me a small smirk, taking my other hand in his.

“
Perfect timing, right?”

I blushed as Mr. Heywood wrapped my arms around his neck and dropped his to my waist. “I feel like you knew the song was going to change.”

Mr. Heywood rolled his eyes. “I’m not psychic.”

“
I wouldn’t be surprised.” My gaze turned back to Jeremy and Casey, who were now, surprisingly, dancing just as Mr. Heywood and I were. “Hey, Chris, look.”

Mr. Heywood froze for a moment. I cocked my head questioningly. He shook his head, staring to move to the music again. “Sometimes it still throws me off guard when you call me ‘Chris.’”

“
That’s good . . . I think.”

He laughed quietly. “I don’t know if it is or not.”

“
Anyway, look at Casey and Jeremy. Don’t they look cute together?”

Mr. Heywood glanced at said pair and made a face. “Don’t even think about that, Holly.”

I pouted. “Why not?”

“
Jeremy having a girlfriend? That’s impossible.”

“
You never know.”

Mr. Heywood shrugged. “True, but come on. It’s Jeremy.”

“
You just don’t want him to have a girlfriend because—”

“
Holly if you make another gay joke I will not talk to you for the rest of the night,” he cut me off, giving me an exasperated look.

I chuckled, trying not to laugh too hard. Without any warning, I moved to my tiptoes, reaching just high enough to quickly kiss him. Once again he was nonplussed. He stood still for a moment, looking flustered. I smirked at him. He gave me a cautious look.

“
That’s not fair, Holly.”

“
You kiss me without warning all the time,” I pointed out.

He pursed his lips. “It’s different.”

“
No it’s not!”

“
Okay,” he said with a shrug. “But if I attack you because you do something like that, it’s not my fault.” As he said the last words, an amused smile appeared on his face.

“
Attack?”

He wagged his eyebrows seductively. “You know what I mean.”

Warmth spread across my cheeks and I had to look away from him.

“
I love you,” he said.

“
I know,” I replied.

He suddenly pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arm all the way around me, and squeezing me against his chest. “What?”

“
I love you too,” I corrected myself, mumbling into his shoulder.

He let me go, smiling in a satisfied way. “That’s much better, Holly. Much better.”

“
Mind if I cut in?”

In the blink of an eye I was swept into the arms of Jeremy. Mr. Heywood sent Jeremy and annoyed look, but dropped it when Casey was suddenly shoved into his arms.

“
Partner switch,” Jeremy sang, pulling me close to him.

“
We didn’t even have one dance,” I protested but still wrapped my arms around his neck.

He shrugged. “There will be plenty more.”

“
You could have waited.”

“
I’m impatient.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Obviously.”

“
What did you think of the wedding?” Jeremy inquired, slowly swaying side to side with the beat.

“
This is a really nice place for one,” I responded, smiling. “Holly looked really good in her dress.”

“
Do you want to get married?”

“
Some day.”

Jeremy grinned, suddenly letting me go. I paused, staring at him curiously. He suddenly dropped onto one knee, taking my hand in his. “Holly, would you marry me?”

There were a few gasps from around us, and I looked around to see the guests closer to us were all staring with wide eyes. A few of the women broke out into huge smiles, nudging their partners to look at us. A blush spread across my face as I glared down at Jeremy, who was also staring around in surprise. When his gaze returned to my face, he gave me a sheepish grin.

“
Say yes!” one of the young women to my right urged.

“
Yeah, do it!”

“
You’d have to be a bitch to turn him down here.”

I smiled wryly, trying my best not to glare at Jeremy. My gaze shifted, landing on Mr. Heywood, who looked extremely irked. Casey on the other hand, looked absolutely amused. She was trying her best not to laugh.

“
Why is she hesitating?” the same woman that had made the bitch comment whispered loudly.

Now annoyed, I sent Jeremy a hard look. “Yes, I’ll marry you.” There was no way I was going to be the bad guy here.

Applause broke out as Jeremy slowly returned to his feet, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. A few people came up to him and congratulated him, slapping him on the back. Some of the women sent me wide grins, but didn’t come over to me. I didn’t blame them. They didn’t know me.

Mr. Heywood suddenly appeared, going straight to Jeremy. He stopped about a foot away, putting on a broad smile. “Hey, congratulations man!”

Jeremy sent Mr. Heywood a heedful look. “Um, thanks dude . . .”

“
You really deserve a slap on the back.”

“
No that’s quite alright, Chri—Ugh,” Jeremy groaned as Mr. Heywood seemingly used all his force to slap Jeremy on the back.

“
I hope you live a long and happy life with
my
girlfriend.”

Casey burst out laughing, suddenly appearing by my side. I started, turning my head to her quickly. She gave me an amused smile, gesturing to Jeremy, who was still grimacing. Mr. Heywood came over to Casey and me, crossing his arms. After a few more moments Jeremy came over too, his hand clutching his back. “Holly, I think I’ll have to call this wedding off.”

“
That’s too bad,” I responded, frowning. “I was really looking forward to it.”

He grinned. “Maybe after you and Chris marry and divorce.”

“
We’re not going to divorce,” Mr. Heywood interjected, giving Jeremy an annoyed look.

Casey gave me a secret smile, obviously catching what I did. Mr. Heywood didn’t say we weren’t going to get married. Jeremy pursed his lips at Mr. Heywood.

“
You ruin all my fun.”

“
You’re annoying.”

Jeremy turned to Casey, a grin slipping onto his face. He was one resilient person. “Casey, will you marry me?”

Casey cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how I feel about men who buy women’s lingerie in Victoria’s Secret for themselves . . .”

“
I didn’t!”

“
I saw you.”

“
No you didn’t!”

Casey narrowed her eyes. “Are you calling me a liar?”

Jeremy’s face faltered. “No, but—”

“
But what?”

Suddenly I felt someone tug on my elbow, and I turned my head to see Mr. Heywood nodding his head towards the other side of the room. While Jeremy and Casey were distracted, we quietly snuck away from them. I laughed quietly; a bit surprised we had gotten away so easily. He slipped his hand into mine, pulling me past the rest of the dancers, towards the exit.

“
Where are we going?” I questioned as Mr. Heywood continued to drag me through the entrance hall.

“
To be alone for a moment.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Mr. Heywood suddenly made a right, pulling me to a side hallway. “Are we allowed to be down here?”

Mr. Heywood shrugged. “Maybe.”

The corners of my lips twitched into a small smile. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”

He suddenly stopped, causing me to run into him. He steadied me, an amused smile crossing his face. “Then I’ll make this quick.”

“
Make what quick?”

He shoved his hand into his pants pocket, suddenly looking a little embarrassed. “Well, you were in the hospital on Christmas so I never got a chance to give you your Christmas present.”

My heart skipped a beat in surprise. “You got me a present?”

“
It’s kind of both a Christmas present and a birthday present, since I didn’t get you one of those either.”

“
I don’t need anything—”

He shook his head, suddenly thrusting a small package in to my hand. “Take it, Holly.”

I looked at the poorly wrapped package in my hand and smiled. “You’re not good at wrapping things, are you?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Just open it.”

“
Okay,” I responded, sliding a finger underneath one of the flaps so I could open it easily. My mouth went dry when I realized it was a small, velvet box. That could only mean one of three things: earrings, necklace, or ring. I looked up at him, not sure if I wanted to open it.

He gave me an impatient look. “Just so you know, I’m not taking it back.”

My heart pounded in my chest as I slowly pulled open the top of the black box to reveal a necklace. The pendant was a beautiful, sparking blue gem shaped in a heart. Above the heart was a small diamond. The chain was made out of white gold.

“
The gem is topaz, your birthstone,” Mr. Heywood informed me, ducking his head. “It matched your eyes so I thought why not?”

“
This looks . . . really expensive,” I commented, barely able to form the words because my mouth was so dry. “It’s so pretty.”

“
I take it you like it?”

I looked up at him, giving him an “are you crazy” look. “Of course I like it! I love it!”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I wasn’t sure if you’d like it or not. Although I do believe your favorite color is blue.”

Grasping the necklace tightly in my hand, I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him tightly. “Thank you, Chris.”

He chuckled, slowly rubbing my back. “You’re welcome, Holly. Want me to help you put it on?”

I nodded, pulling away from him, and dropping the necklace into his outstretched palm. He gestured for to turn around, so I did, and I soon felt him pushing my hair to one side of my neck. Then he put his arms around me, laying the pendant face up on my chest, and pulled it tighter so he could clasp it. When he was finished he let the chain drop and the necklace lay against my chest high enough up so everyone could see. I smiled down at it, picking it up.

“
Thank you again,” I said, turning around to face him.

He smiled, slipping his arms around my waist. “Anytime.”

“
Should we go back to the wedding?” I asked.

“
Hmm . . . I vote no.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why not?”

He smirked. “I’d rather spend it out here with you. Alone.”

“
Oh,” I responded lamely, feeling my face heat up. “Um, I guess that’d be okay. But Casey—”

“
Casey has Jeremy to play with,” he finished for me, bringing his head closer to me. “Right?”

“
Right,” I mumbled. The proximity between us had my heart racing and I tried to calm it, hoping he wouldn’t hear it.

“
Right,” he responded simply, pushing me back a few steps so that I was against the wall. “Now we can stay out here and . . .” he trailed off, bringing his face closer to mine.

Immediately I closed my eyes, preparing myself.

“
Admire your necklace.”

My eyes shot open when I felt my pendant being lifted off my chest. Mr. Heywood gazed at it, a smirk playing across his lips. I stared at him, a little disappointed. When his eyes met mine, he cocked his head to the side.

“
You look a little let down.”

I blushed. “I—I do not!”

“
What were you expecting me to do?”

“
Nothing!”

“
Kiss you, perhaps?”

“
No!”

“
Like this?” he asked, quickly leaning forward and kissing me.

I glowered at him as he pulled away. “No . . .”

He chuckled. “I have a feeling you know what I’m going to say.”

“
Holly, you can’t lie to me,” I supplied.

He nodded approvingly. “You’re getting the hang of it.”

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the front of his tux. “Why don’t
you
shut up and kiss me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “It seems our roles have been reversed.”

“
Seems so.”

“
I guess I’ll let it slide for tonight,” he responded with a mockingly reluctant look. “Do as you wish, Ms. Evers.”