"—poundtown?" Tammie finishes for me, and the three of them lose it, clutching their stomachs.
"Ugh, you're all disgusting," I mutter, though I can't help laughing too.
Katie nudges my arm. "Yeah, yeah, but be honest, you'vethoughtabout it."
I grab my water bottle just to have something to focus on. "Maybe," I mumble.
Lucy gasps. "Aha! The blushing says it all!"
Tammie takes a long sip from her water bottle, then smirks. "Still can't believe Zach's moving slow. Never pegged him for a gentleman."
Katie snorts. "Please, that's expected from someone with zero experience. The guy's probably still trying to figure out the timing—like, 'do I take her shirt off now, or wait for divine intervention?'"
Lucy laughs, shaking her head. "Honestly? I don't think it's just that. It's not only Zach being inexperienced—it's the wholethemthing. They've been best friends since they were very young—it's probably weird trying to shift gears. Like, one second you're building pillow forts and the next you're wondering if it's okay to, you know, touch the fort builder."
Tammie grins. "Yeah, that's a tough transition. From Lego sets to leg-locks."
"Tammie!" I hiss, clutching my face as they all burst out laughing.
"I think Lucy's totally right." Katie says. "They're probably still in that awkwardis this too much? is this allowed?phase. First-time nerves and all that."
I groan. "Why are we even talking about this?"
"Because it's fun," Tammie says with a shrug. "And because you're the only one here with an actual love life."
I half laugh, half want to crawl into a hole. "Oh my God. Is this what having girlfriends is like? Just... unsolicited commentary on your nonexistent sex life?"
Lucy grins. "Pretty much."
Katie raises her imaginary glass. "Welcome to womanhood, babe."
I laugh so hard my stomach hurts. "You people are insane."
"Correction," Katie says, pointing at me with mock seriousness. "We'resupportiveinsane. There's a difference."
Tammie props her chin on her palm, giving me that mischievous glint that never means anything good. "But speaking of inexperience," she says, drawing it out like she's about to drop breaking news.
"I still can't believe that Zach—you know..." She throws the most dramatic conspiratorial look ever. "For someone who used to have areputation,that was a serious plot twist."
Katie laughs. "Right? The guy was basically a campus legend. Everyone thought he had a different girl every weekend. Half the guys idolized him like he was some kind of hookup god. And then he goes and announces he's still avirgin? Talk about arebrand."
Lucy grins, shaking her head. "No one saw that coming. I thought it would tank his image—like, poof, there goes his bad-boy mystique."
"Same," Katie says, leaning back. "I figured his 'cool' points would drop."
I can't help nodding in agreement.
Honestly, I thought the same thing. When Zach publicly admitted all his hookups were fake and that he'd never actually slept with anyone, I wassureit'd ruin his whole image. I expected people to stop drooling over him, or at least stop treating him like some hockey demigod.
But nope. I was wrong.
If anything, it made himmoredesirable. Suddenly, everyone's like, "Wow, he's loyal. He's deep. He's the kind of guy who's just been waiting for the one."And now half the girls on campus are out here writing sonnets about his purity arc.
Tammie snorts. "So basically, he's the Virgin Mary of Ridgewater."
Lucy giggles. "Correction—Saint Zachary of Celibacy."
Katie raises her imaginary glass again. "Blessed be the disciplined."
