Page 35 of Blue Moon Love

Her lids flew open, and the fire in them kept me from finishing my question. What had been hurt a moment before was now fury. Once again, my hands lifted in surrender.

“I’m not saying there’s anything wrong…I’m just…what about Greg?”

Her eyes were cast down as she let out a loud exhale. It was what she did when she was frustrated but resigned or defeated.

“I wasn’t his type.”

“That’s…impossible. You’re everyone’s type.”

She let out a forced laugh. “Yeah, right.”

Wait. Did she actually not know how fucking amazing she was? Had she been my best friend for this many years, and she didn’t know how perfect she was?

“You are,” I insisted with a chuckle of my own at the absolute ridiculousness of her reaction.

I could see the hurt in her eyes when her gaze met mine. “This isn’t funny.”

“I know it’s not, and I’m not fucking joking. You’re smart, hilarious, cool, sweet, and fiery. You never look for a fight, but never back down when one finds you. You are loyal and caring. You love your family and friends with breathtaking intensity. All of that, and you’re hot. Insanely hot. You are the epitome of a sexy girl-next-door. Literally, in my case.” Finally, saying some of the things I’d always wanted to say to her felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. But it fell right back down when I saw the look in her eyes.

“Stop.” She held up her hand, and I saw that it was shaking. “Just stop. I don’t want you to…I don’t need you to say that to try and make me feel better. And I’m not talking about not his type like he doesn’t like redheads; I mean, I don’t have a penis.”

“Oh. Oh, okay.” Not to stereotype Greg, but they met in musical theater; he took her to a Madonna cover band on their first date; they went to get color matched together on their second date; and he had posters of Bette Midler in his locker. I just chalked it up to him marching to the beat of his own drummer, which apparently, was one with a cock. “What about Rudy?”

Her eyes searched mine. I wasn’t sure why she was staring at me for so long. She looked genuinely confused. Baffled. “You remember Rudy?”

“You were with him for a year.” Twelve months and twenty-two days, to be exact, but who was counting?

I was.

“He was always drunk, and every time we tried to hook up, it didn’t work.”

“It didn’t work?”

“Yes, and before you ask, it was the same thing with Steve. But I fixed the problem, so now there’s no issue.”

“The problem?” Now, it was my turn to be baffled. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s none of your business.”

She said the entire phrase instead of shortening it to noneya, her abbreviated version, so I knew that this was serious.

“Kenna, what problem?” My tone was firm and final. It was the one I used on perps when I meant business.

Again, she inhaled and then exhaled loudly before looking around, I would assume making sure that no one was within earshot. We were very alone.

“I had an issue; um, it’s called an imperforate hymen. It made it impossible to, you know. But I had a procedure, and now everything is…fine. So, yeah. That’s all of it. You know everything. I don’t ever want to talk about this again.”

“So you really are a virgin?” I knew that’s what she was telling me, but I needed to hear it from her mouth.

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her purse. “I have to go.”

“Where? Where do you have to go?” What could possibly be more important than this conversation?

“I’m meeting Jonah for the tree lighting ceremony.”

Jonah. I hadn’t been thrilled about them hanging out before, but in light of this new information, I really wasn’t happy about it.

“We need to talk about this.”

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