Page 146 of When Ben Loved Tim

He picks up one of the tuxes and holds it out for me to see.

I cover my mouth with my hands, resisting the urge to cry.

“Maybe I should go first,” Tim says, setting it down again.

He pulls off the T-shirt he’s wearing, and if the situation didn’t move me so deeply, I wouldn’t mind if he stayed that way. I start unbuttoning my shirt. Soon we’re standing there in our underwear, which makes me feel exposed, because glancing around, there are hardly any traces of Tim’s studio left. It really does feel like we’re in a public ballroom built for two.

“What about the security guard?” I ask.

“Vince is out of town,” Tim says with a grin. “Dude is on vacation! I couldn’t believe my luck. Otherwise I was thinking of renting a storage unit or something.”

The thought makes me laugh. I probably would have liked that too, but this place is special to us. We’ve made some memories here. Tonight we’ll add to them. We keep smiling at each other while putting on the tuxedos. Tim looks absolutely dashing in his, like a suave secret agent. I’m just happy that mine fits. “How’d you know my size?” I ask him.

“I have an artist’s eye,” he explains. “And an intimate knowledge of your body.”

That’s certainly true! Tim walks over to straighten my bow tie. Then he leans forward before hesitating, I guess because of my reluctance earlier. Ancient history! I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him. Tim picks me up, swings me around, and sets me back down again.

“Can I offer you something to drink?” he asks.

“Forget that!” I grab his hand and drag him to the middle of the room. “I wanna dance!”

“Yeah, okay,” he says. “Uh… Let me put on something slow.”

I shake my head. Along with my hips. “This song is great! Show me what you’ve got!”

“I’m not the best dancer,” Tim says self-consciously before starting to swing his arms.

He’s not kidding, as it turns out, but that’s all right. Tim already has so much going for him, and Iknowhe’s got all the right moves in the bedroom. I’m happy to outshine him for once. I prance circles around my man, shake my booty, and keep him laughing while he tries his best to keep up.

“I think I’m ready for the punch bowl now,” I say after a few songs.

We return to the table, where he cracks open a can of cola for each of us.

“Where did you get all this stuff?” I ask, looking at the paper moon, which doesn’t seem to be the type of decoration bought at a store.

“I’ve got an inside connection,” Tim replies. “Stacy is on the prom committee.”

“So it’s from the actual dance?”

“Mostly.” He follows my gaze. “Therewasa moon, but it wouldn’t have fit in here so I made my own.”

“Can I have it? I wanna hang it in my room.”

He laughs. “Yeah! Why not?”

“I might take those lights too,” I murmur before something occurs to me. “Wait, what was your excuse for needing everything? Stacy must have wondered.”

Tim cringes. “I said it was for a prank.”

“Like a bucket of pig’s blood?”

“Notthatkind of prank. I told her how my mom is obsessed with prom and said I wanted to decorate our living room.”

I snort. “So you could dance with her?”

“No, so she could go to prom with my dad.”

“Aww! How sweet!”