Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
“I’m not lying to you,” she snaps right back. “When I say never, I literally mean never. As in not once. I’m as clueless as a church-born nun.”
“I don’t believe that.” My eyes flick to her lips, to her sleek, slender neck with a candy necklace tightly wound around it, the ice cream pendant I gave her for her birthday years ago hanging beneath it, to the inviting indent of her creamy collarbone, and the arc of her soft, silky breasts. My eyes settle on the deep dip of her waist. “Not for a fucking second.”
“It’s the truth.” Her hands find her hips and she straightens. “I’ve gone to the movies and dinner and other places with friends or in groups over the years, where I maybe gave my attention to one person for the night, but that’s it. I’ve never gone out with someone, one on one, with the potential of naughtiness following. I might as well be wearing a chastity belt ’cause I’m beginning to believe every guy sees one when he looks at me anyway.”
“Not a chance.”
“Then what makes me so undickable?”
“Stop,” I rush, dragging my hands over my face. “I need a fucking drink for this shit.”
“Okay, you’re obviously getting stressed out, so let’s take a breath and regroup, start simple. With the basics.”
Almost afraid to ask, I turn to look at her. “Basics?”
“Yes.” She steps backward, holds her hands out and does a slow spin. “Okay, go.”
I blink. “What?”
“You know, tell me what you see. It’s always best to start with the root of the problem. If we do that, we should be able to break it down in a way that makes sense, analyze all components, and put it back together more effectively. So, look at me, and tell me what’s wrong with what you see.”
“You’re not some class project, Davis.” My voice is rough. Hard.
She says it so matter of fact, so emotionless, I want to grip her and shake her. Yell at her.
Davis flicks her eyes to the ceiling. “Oh my god, come on.” She laughs. “It’s called problem-solving. You agreed to help solve my problem.”
“No, I agreed to find someone who will.”
“It’s the same thing, Crew! Same outcome. I got you, you get guy, I do guy, and right after the big fat equal sign of the equation, in gorgeously golden ink, it’ll read ‘hymenless.’”
“Fucking Christ.” I drop my head back, a low growl working its way up my throat.
She’s fucking with me. Has to be.
“Let’s not play games, okay?” she suggests. “It gets us nowhere to tiptoe around. It’s not like you’re being mean by answering. I’m literally asking you a direct question. That’s it. Promise, I can handle it.”
Angry, I turn my body so it’s facing hers again, crowding her in. Her hands fall to her sides with my approach, her neck cracking up to keep our gazes connected.
“First of all, there’s nothing wrong with you. Second, I don’t know a single man, pun in-fucking-tended, who wouldn’t fuck you if given what I guarantee is the pleasure of doing so, so do not stand here and pretend if you wanted to have sex right now, you couldn’t walk into any damn bar in this town, leave with a man in mere minutes, and wake up without what you’re trying so hard to be rid of.”
Not that I’ll let you.
With that, I jerk away, taking two steps at a time until my hand’s wrapped around the doorknob, but right as I yank it open, she shouts at my back.
“I’m afraid!”
I tell myself to keep moving, to slam the fucking door and get the hell out because the shit she’s saying, what she’s said, it’s too much. Instead, I look back at her.
“There, I said it. I’m scared, okay?” Her shoulders slump with defeat, and she glances off. “Crew, I’ve… never done anything with a man. Or a woman, for that matter, but seriously I…” Hesitantly and clearly embarrassed, she finally meets my gaze.
“I have kissed two people in my life and we both know who one of them was. I’ve never touched a man, never seen below the trunks of one, other than in a movie or two, so, yeah.” She nods, her arms crossing as her cheeks grow bright red. “Maybe it would be as simple as throwing myself at a stranger at a bar, but I’m afraid. I don’t want to be, and I don’t know why, but I am.”
Davis begins pacing the short space between the couch and kitchen table, and all I can do is stare. From the jerky steps she takes to the way she chews her nails. She’s a ball of anxiousness.
“It’s annoying and I don’t get it.” She shakes her head, working through things out loud. “Nothing’s ever happened to me before, and I don’t know anyone who’s been assaulted or anything like that so it’s not that. I’m on birth control for girly reasons, so it’s not fear of pregnancy.” She pauses. “Maybe it’s because all I ever did was focus on school. Guys’ll get you grounded, grades’ll get you to graduation,” she mimics her dad’s voice as best as possible, rushing into her next words without a break. “Maybe I didn’t put myself out there enough to allow myself to get comfortable with a man’s attention. I mean, I did spend all of high school following you and Memphis around, and you guys were too psycho to let me out of your sights, so I stood no chance then.” She stops suddenly, leaning her back against the wall.