Page 20 of Talk Nerdy To Me
“We partied with a Sterling last night and didn’t even know it,” he groans.
“Just learned that myself,” I say with a tight smile, deciding not to elaborate as I drop my guitar and start pulling up the gossip columns I know about.
I’m sinking low, but my head’s still spinning.
“I knew she looked familiar,” Taylor says from a seat in the kitchen as he mixes drinks.
Sure enough, Britt Sterling’s picture is in the socialite section. It’s showing her from last night, talking about how the virgin princess Sterling manned the city’s infamous Silk…
Virgin princess?
“There’s a better site that mentions her leaving with you and wondering if you were going to pop her cherry,” Sticks says with a grin.
“I’m sorry, what?” I ask, confused as hell.
“Any publicity for us is good publicity,” Sticks goes on, as if that’s the confusing part.
“You said she was gay,” Taylor tells me, sounding like he’s accusing me of something.
“She’s not?” I ask, a new smile forming on my lips.
“No, she’s a virgin. A legit virgin, who is obsessed with popping her cherry. Man, I’ve been following that story, expecting the girl to be a complete clinger or batshit crazy. I’m struggling to understand now why she’s a virgin, since she’s working so hard not to be one,” Sticks groans. “Why’d you have to see her first? Why is she one of those people who looks really different in real life than in a picture? I knew she looked familiar.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I say again, my smile gone and replaced by confusion once more.
Seems to be the theme of the day.
“She’s been trying for like two or more years, to pop her cherry,” Taylor explains, waggling his eyebrows. “But so far, no reports of any takers.”
Scratching my jaw, I shake my head. No way in hell am I taking her virginity. Surely she’s not really a virgin. That’s just some sort of PR spin or something for the Sterling family. Has to be.
It feels like cheating, but Britt Sterling is becoming a mythical creature right now, and not because of the elf ears. I feel like I need to know who the hell this girl really is.
I blame writer’s block for all the creepy shit I’m about to do.
***
After feeling like I’ve thoroughly violated her privacy by reading the numerous gossip tidbits—this town is obsessed with Britt Sterling and her obsession with losing her virginity, apparently—I sit back.
All her friends seem to be friends of her brother’s. She grew up with nothing, though there’s very little on her background other than the fact she was essentially homeless when Dane found her.
Studying a picture of her from one event, all I see is a girl with a fake smile and sad eyes, as though she’s trying her best to blend in instead of stand out.
Running my fingers through my hair, I can’t help but wonder why she doesn’t have any friends of her own. Why she’s an unwilling virgin. And why she’s smiling with sad eyes.
Then…for the first time in months, despite the loud party going on and the shrieks and squeals, I feel the stirrings of a song form with ease.
Which means I’m about to get really fucking creepy. I’m going to get punched by a Sterling before this is all over. Odds aren’t in my favor.
