Winter formal. I insisted that Ki and I go because she's never went to prom in high school because her experience with the people, she went to school with already made her feel excluded and insecure and chose to be within the comfort of her own home.

I pulled out all the stops for her, I got her corsage, I hired a limo for our friends to ride with us, all that's left is the dress. I gave her my black card and told her – forced her to spend as much as she wants, and I don't care. Now tell me why she sent me the address instead of enjoying her time with her girls.

Anyway, I'm already putting a foot in my sneakers and putting on a jacket, ready to leave. I grab my car keys and phone and head out the door.

...

"Greetings, sir can I be of assistance?" The lady at the front desk asks me upon entry. I had to travel all the way to Beverly Hills, I know for a fact Sasha put her on and I'm glad because Kiana woulda just bought a regular dress that she would've gotten at the mall, in fear of hurting my pockets but I swear by spoiling her ass as long as she's gonna be my girl.

"I'm looking for my girlfriend, blonde curls, freckled face, really short." I describe her, using my hand to exaggerate how short she is, luckily the lady is not stuck up and gives me an amused smile, "she came with about three other friends right?"

"Yeah," I laugh. She laughs softly, "right, this way." I follow her as she leads me further into the boutique, "you look familiar, are you the young man who won the game last week?"

Ah, of course, "yes, I was." She opens double doors, letting me in, "nicely done. My son is a huge fan of yours." I been around this block a while that I don't even have to ask any further, "tell you what? Once my girlfriend picks something out, I give your son an autograph."

Her face practically lights up, "thank you so much, enjoy the rest of day shopping. You're gonna need it."

Oh, I'm aware, "thanks, I have a little sister, so I know the drill." The front desk assistant laughs, and I glance to the name tag on her blouse. Ramona. "Thank you for your help, Ramona." She nods in acknowledgement, closing the doors behind her.

I find the girls by the racks, laughing and giggling with flutes of champagne in their hands and multiple hangers with clothing outfits in the other, Kiana has her back to me and when she turns her smile only brightens when she see me, the smile that I can never get enough of. With the small sway of her body, I know she's tipsy. That's why she texted me.

"Hey, baby." I greet her, kissing her temple. "Hey girls." She kisses the side of my cheek, "hi, bae." Yeah, she's tipsy. "So do you have anything picked out?" She takes a sip of her champagne, and she jumps catches me off guard. She swallows, setting down her drink. "C'mon." She drags me with her, "you're gonna help me pick one."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that, does that mean I get a miniature fashion show?" I say, letting her drag me through the boutique. She pushes me down onto a fluffy pink armchair, "yes. Give me a minute, I'm a bit drunk and it might take longer to put on the clothes." She disappears into the dressing room shutting the curtains behind her.

"Got that right."

"I heard that."

I sit on the chair, tapping my fingers against the arm rests, the curtains reopen. Kiana has on a black dress, it reaches above the knee and it's glittery and has thin straps, it's cute but not the one.

I shake my head and she does the same, thinking the exact thing I'm thinking. She shuts the curtains and I hear her shuffling around before opening the curtain once more. She's wearing a purple two piece; the top has one shoulder, and the skirt sits perfectly on her hips as it hugs her curves its good but not for winter formal. I shake my head and she sighs.

She disappears behind the curtains again, then reappears wearing this deep blue dress with long sleeves and a revealing neckline, I sit up and she twirls around in it, I love it, but does she love it? "You like it?" I ask her and she shakes her head no, "it's beautiful but it's too tight around my hips, I still wanna be able to drop it like it's hot on Saturday."

I cackle, holding my stomach, "okay, Snoop Dogg let's see something else." She smiles, closing the curtains. She opens the curtains once more and I stand now, the dress is like a cream colour with long sleeves and a long skirt, under the light it glitters and it has rhinestone like accessories on the body, she does a spin, and I can't help but look at her ass when she does. "Well, what do you think?" She asks me and I nod, "I think we might have a winner." This one has definitely upstaged the blue one.

"Yes, we do. Not only is it beautiful, but it's also not too constricting." She bends over with her hands. on her knees just to prove her point, if doesn't stop we'll be doing more than just trying on dresses. "Okay, okay. We'll take it, get changed." She smirks at me before closing the curtains for the last time. I check the time on my watch to see we spent nearly an hour and a half in here. Not bad, plus I thoroughly even having a private show. She re-emerges with all the dresses, and I take them as she holds onto the one she's purchasing.

She leads the way until we get to the front desk and one of the shop assistants takes the dresses off my hands, Kiana hands the woman her dress and when she sees the total her eyes widen, "cash or card?"

"Card." I answer before she can say anything, I nudge her and Kiana sighs opening her purse, taking out my black card and handing it to the lady who looks at the card in appreciation. "Pin is 4653." I whisper in her ear and her body shudders; I grin as she punches in the pin. "Do you need any accessories?" I ask her as they carefully bag her dress, Ki shakes her head violently, "no, no, no. I think a twenty seven thousand dollar dress is more than enough."

Considering this is the first time me spending this much on her in one day, I guess I can give her that, "okay, baby." Knowing very well, I'm gonna get her some jewellery to go with the dress.

...

"Okay, we're ready." Kiana announces and I'm highly alert. The girls decided to all get ready at Sasha and Kiana's apartment, to surprise us with their final looks, first is Sasha in a black silk dress, her hair is short with a wet look and a dark brown lip. Amaal is next in a simple white dress with a very dramatic side slit, her hair is tied up in a simple bun. I've never seen Amaal all dressed up before and I can see I'm not the one who's stumped because the boys do a dramatic clap, hooting and hollering at her entrance.

"Damn, Amaal. I didn't know you could clean up so well." Rome comments and Amaal gives him the middle finger as Luke scoops her up, planting a kiss on her lips. Cassie is next and if I was shocked before I was floored now, Cass is wearing a champagne coloured figure hugging dress that reaches the knee, she dyed her hair blonde once again and got extensions that reach her waist, Travis pauses on drinking his Corona and looks like a fish outta water when he sees her.

The room is totally silent at Cassie arrival, and she rolls her eyes, "alright, guys we're not in a funeral home."

"We just not used to seeing you like this." I say, Cassie's cat like eyes narrow at me, "like how?"

"Seeing you wearing something else other than sweats and Jordans?" Sasha says truthfully and I snicker, "fuck y'all this will be the last time I dress up like this." Cassie says, trying to be serious but we know she's only joking.

One person is short and when my eyes drift to the staircase, here she comes, carefully walking down the stairs. The dress she picked was a great choice, now with her hair done as well as her makeup she couldn't be more beautiful, I see she's wearing a few of the rings I had gotten, I can't help the triumphant grin, jewellery is one of Ki's loves besides ice cream so I knew she couldn't resist.

Her usual curls are straight and swept to the side, looking at her now I realise that it's my first time seeing her with her straightened since I've known her. She looks breath-taking but I'll always love her natural curls. I plant a kiss on her lips, and she kisses me back but however pulls back, "I got lipstick on your lips." She rubs her thumb across my lips, I shrug, "if I still get to kiss you, it's worth it."

She laughs softly, kisses me again. "Aight y'all I hate to break up the lovey dovey atmosphere but let's get in a toast." We hear Cassie say making me and Ki turn our heads at her, our lips stilled against one another. We move closer to the kitchen as Cass pours all of us shots, handing them to us.

"What do we toast to?" James asks, his arm securely around Sasha's waist, she leans into him, settling against him. "To a lit night." Amaal says.

"And to having friends who turned into fam." Rome adds.

"Amen to that." Kiana says, we raise our shot glasses and throw them back, I scrunch my face at the burning taste of the tequila, setting the glass on the counter.

"C'mon guys the limo's waiting." I say, intertwining my fingers in Kiana's, heading to the front door.

"Limo?" The girl's voices echo. I roll my eyes, "please don't tell me you was really under the impression we're take an Uber to winter formal right?" The looks on their faces tell me everything I need to know, "let's go y'all." I open the door and the gang begins filing out, Kiana is about to leave but I pull her back. She gives me look, "what's wrong?"

I shake my head, "nothing's wrong. I just wanted us to be alone when I give you this." From my pocket, I take out the container that holds the corsage I got for her two days ago. She brings her hand to her mouth as I open it and put it on her, "you said you never went to prom, so I wanted to give you the experience you never got."

"So, you went and got me this?" She can't stop admiring it, I sigh in relief at her reaction, I didn't want to bring up some unpleasant memories for her. "Yeah, you like it?" I went with a plain white flower corsage so that whichever dress she picked it would still go with it. "I love it, thank you." She looks at me now, "you're welcome."

She kisses my cheek then my lips, "I love you."

"I love you."

...

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is the end of WTR, I hope you loved their story as much as I did. BTW, because I changed the plot a lot, those who have read the older version of worth the risk please don't spoil for others and if you see your comments deleted it's not because I don't like you or something I just don't want other readers to be put off reading because of the spoiler comments.

See you in the next one!