“He’s not into me,” I informed them, kinda gritting my teeth. I’d already told them so, many times.
For some reason, they didn’t believe me.
Plus, I hated that my ongoing virgin status had become open to group discussion at all times. Like the older I got and the longer I stayed a virgin, the more invested my friends seemed to get in whether or not I lost it and with whom… and when, where and how.
They were probably taking bets at this point.
“Thepigand I have a solid, hateful truce going on right now,” I told them, “and it works for us just fine. I’d like to leave it that way.”
Larissa actually laughed. Then she choked a little when I shot her a look.
“What?” I snapped.
“Um. Ladypants,” Shay addressed me. She only called meladypantswhen she was dosing me with #TheTruth, as she saw it. “Did you not just see him hovering over you? He may as well have just rolled out his dick and slapped it in your mouth.”
“Rolled?” Larissa said.
“You know he’s got a long dick. Hello? Drummer? Look at those hands.”
“Can you please stop talking about his body parts?” That was me, desperate to get them off this runaway train. The one my friends hopped onboard every time Xander came around, or came up in conversation. “It’s not like that.”
“Oh, he’s got a thing for you,fo sho,” Shayla insisted. “And it’s called an erection.” She took a swig of her blueberry stuff like she was congratulating herself on her observational skills.
“Uh, no. No, he doesn’t,” I corrected her. “I’m just a child, remember? One who doesn’t belong among the grownups. He told me so.”
Shay made an exasperated sound and rolled her eyes at Larissa. “Can you please talk some brains into her, smart girl?”
Larissa looked me over thoughtfully. Her gaze lingered on my blue bikini. “I don’t think it’s possible for any man, no matter what he thought of you previously, to still think you’re a child after he sees you in that. So, no matter what he thought of you, that’s done now.”
“Yup,” Shay agreed. “Done. Just like your virginity is gonna be by the end of the summer. Hashtag: prediction.”
I ignored Shay; I expected this shit from her. I frowned instead at Larissa. “Who’s side are you on?”
“Yours,” Larissa said. “But that doesn’t change facts.”
Shay sighed dramatically. “You’re the one who labelled him a slut—”
“Um, no,” I cut her off, “I think the female population at large awarded him that label.”
“And if that’s the case…” She looked me over. “Yeah. He’d do you in a second.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Becausehe doesn’t like me that way.”
“You are so old fashioned. He doesn’t have to like you to fuck you.”
“I think that’s true,” Larissa said, wrinkling her nose. “Unfortunately. But I think it’s better if he does. I mean, nothim. Just… in general.”
“You should put it to a test,” Shayla said.
“A test?”
“Yeah. Find out what he really thinks of you. You’ve got the power, babe, and it’s in your bra. Like, if I were you, and I had your boobs, I’d wear that in front of him,”—she pointed at my bikini, wiggling her finger at my chest—“and get close to him somehow. Put my nips in his face or something. See how he reacts.”
Right. What a great idea.