“That sounds like code for something did happen, but you wish more had happened,” she said, speaking to Tanner like she was translating girl talk for him.
“Yeah, I got that. So what does not really entail?” he asked. “Did you two get naked?”
“Tanner,” Olivia groaned.
“We didn’t get naked,” I interrupted before a fight erupted between the two of them. “We just...kissed, and then he freaked out.”
Olivia crooked her head, trying to make sense of my story’s change in direction. “Freaked out how?”
“I told him,” I said miserably, digging out another spoonful of ice cream. Now that I was talking about Julian, I found myself wanting to get him out of my system. Not because I regretted tonight, but because I knew it wasn’t going to happen again. His reaction to my confession had made that clear.
“Told him what?” Tanner asked.
“You know, stupid,” Olivia hissed through her teeth.
“I don’t. What?”
“That’s she’s...” Olivia shot him a wide-eyed look of warning. “...you know.”
“I don’t see what could be so bad that–”
“I told him I’m a virgin,” I blurted out.
Tanner’s mouth formed an O-shape, but he didn’t speak.
“Yeah, the kiss of death, I know.” I sighed and abandoned the ice cream to our beat-up coffee table. “I just thought he should know if...” I caught myself before I said it, but it wasn’t soon enough.
“You were going to sleep with him?” Olivia clapped a hand over her mouth and did a little shimmy of happiness in her pajama pants.
“It’s about time,” Tanner said, but, at least he wasn’t dancing.
“You act like I’m some sort of freak of nature.” I slumped back against the couch and glared at them both. “I haven’t exactly had the time to meet anyone.”
“But you did,” Olivia said. She could find the bright side to any situation. Usually, I could, too, but tonight I was struggling to see the silver lining. “I just can’t believe it. Are you going to see this mystery man again?”
“His name is Julian, and no,” I said firmly. Then I remembered his dinner invite and frowned. I wasn’t going to take him up on that. I couldn’t after I’d slammed the door in his face. Right? “It was a temporary bout of insanity.”
“Are you sure about that?” Tanner had an annoying habit of knowing exactly what I was thinking.
I rolled my eyes and reached for the ice cream again. I might as well just commit to eating the whole thing now. It had been one of those nights. “I mean, I have to get my cello back.”
“If you don’t want to see him again, you could just ask him to have it delivered,” Olivia said gently.
I groaned, knowing she was right, but feeling all wrong about that idea. “I sort of dropped it. It was my fault as much as his. It feels wrong to just expect him to pay for it and not even say thank you.”
Olivia grinned triumphantly, and I realized I’d played into her trap. “You do want to see him again!”
“She let him inside her bedroom,” Tanner said with a laugh. “That’s the first suitor she’s had since we moved in here. Of course, she wants to see him again.”
“Suitor?” I repeated.
“Yeah, you make it sound like he’s from 1892,” Olivia backed me up.
I nearly choked on a bite of ice cream. If she only knew the truth. Tanner slapped my back helpfully.
“Careful there,” he cautioned. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He was studying me now with his intense, dark eyes. It was just like Tanner to see through my carefully constructed truth to the missing pieces I’d hidden from them.
I had no idea how dangerous Julian’s world really was, but I wasn’t about to drag my friends into this mess. “I will be. I’m just embarrassed.”
“So, he left because you’re a virgin?” Olivia pressed, bringing the subject back to his painful rejection.
“I guess.” I gave the ice cream to Tanner. “He acted like it was a huge deal.”
My roommates’ eyes met over my head.
“What?” I demanded when they remained silent.
“Thea, it is a big deal,” Olivia said. “You’ve waited all this time.”
“You make me sound like an old maid.”
“No one is saying that,” she added quickly. “But why wait and just jump some random guy...”
Because there was nothing random about Julian. He wasn’t just some guy. He was unlike any man I’d ever met. Precisely because he wasn’t a man. He was so much more than that. Just the thought of him sent the memory of his burning kiss to my lips. My fingers drifted to my mouth as I remembered.
“You really like him,” Olivia said quietly.
I snapped out of my trance. “What? No. He’s annoying and pushy...”
