Page 87 of Catch the Sun

“Noted.” I twist my lips and track her as she flits around the room, tossing laundry into bins and stacking textbooks into piles. “How was coffee?”

“It was great. The barista there is super cool. Her hair is blue.”

“Impossible to be below average with blue hair.”

She throws me a small grin but then it dissolves. “Andy and some guys from school came by for coffee and entertained me with their lack of intelligence, so that was fun.”

My hackles rise. “Did you punch them in the face? Please say yes.”

“No. I enjoy having a clean record, thank you.”

“Self-defense, obviously. Their existence is offensive.”

A chuckle slips out. “In Andy’s mind, he was on good behavior, I’m sure. All he did was order a coffee with cherry syrup and make a comment about poppingmycherry.”

“He made a comment about wanting to take your virginity?” I stand from the bed, every muscle going rigid as I stalk across the room to where she’s standing by her desk. The top is littered with bookbinding accessories, ivory-and-cream paper stacks, and an assortment of multicolored crafts. It’s a little literary oasis of fairy tales and imagination.

I cross my arms and stare at her, awaiting her response.

Ella appears nonplussed. “Yep. I suppose when it comes to goals, you should always set the bar high. After the girl he’s dating scribbled the word ‘whore’ on my locker last week, I snapped and told them all I was a virgin. Now that’s the new angle—getting in my pants.”

“You’re, uh…not interested, of course.” I’m clearly fishing. I hover beside her as she aimlessly organizes her desk and then skips over to do the same with her bookcase. It’s like she’s trying to physically run away from the topic.

“Am I interested in losing my virginity to one of those creeps?” Disgust has her nose scrunching up. “Eww. No. God.”

Relief swims through me. I reach for her and curl my fingers loosely around her wrist, pulling her attention away from the scattered books. Her eyes flick to my hand, then up to my face. I have no idea what prompts the next statement, but it probably has something to do with the fact that I just saw her half-naked and now we’re discussing sex. “So…you are a virgin.”

She frowns. “Don’t act so surprised. I told you I was.”

“I didn’t know if the status had changed since you last told me.”

“That was only a couple of weeks ago, Max. And if itdoeshappen to change…you’d be the first to know.”

“I would?”

“Sure. Cross my heart. If I ever uncross my legs, there’s no way you wouldn’t know. Immediately. Firsthand.”

I sense some kind of hidden meaning, so I squint at her. “Why is that?”

“Because…” She sighs before looking away and then back to me. Nerves skate across her face as her cheekbones tinge a rosy shade of pink. “If I had any desire to lose my virginity, it would probably be with you.”

I stop breathing.

I think I make a choking sound.

Fainting and subsequent humiliation are bound to follow, so I swallow hard and inhale a shuddery breath. “Me?”

Blinking repeatedly, she pulls away and stalks to the other side of the room, now interested in a cobweb in the corner. Pulling a duster from a drawer, she swats the webs away. “That part is irrelevant.”

Excuse me?I chase her down. “It’s not irrelevant to me, Ella.” Her face isbeet red but she emits cool composure as she returns the duster to the drawer and turns her back to me. This girl just confessed in a roundabout way that she wants to sleep with me. There are a thousand questions teasing my tongue, but all I can muster is, “Why me?”

Ella clears her throat and offers a small shrug. “I mean…you’re basically my best friend. And I trust you.”

My heart beats like a caged bird longing for the sky. Her words are a shot of sunlight to my veins. Still, I try to act unruffled as I tilt my head and study her through narrowed eyes. I search her profile when she twists around, then fold my arms, trying to keep the smugness out of my tone. “Generally, sex involves some level of attraction. Are you attracted to me, Sunny?”

Her cheeks pinken further. “No, eww, never,” she rushes out. “Maybe it’s just something to do eventually and I might as well do it with someone I don’t find repulsive.”

“That’s so bleak.”

---