I waited, not looking away from her, dying inside, but determined not to show it. Any second now she’d get this pained look and then a tiny bit of pity, then look away.
But it didn’t come. Instead, a small smile crossed her cute face, then blossomed into a full-blown grin. Then she—yes, Jane!—blew me a kiss.
And I took the first full breath of relief since the first time I kissed her.
I waved her over, and as she made her way, I once again thought, and even said out loud to the empty car, “Who are you, Jane Winters?”
Chapter24
Jane
It wasn’t likeI was saving my virginity for my wedding night or anything. And beyond all my big talk, I wanted to…cravethe guy who would be my first. I’d just never found anyone I wanted to tear my clothes off with.
Until Stick. And that day, up against the wall? The tearing of clothes couldn’t come quickly enough.
So, yeah, I was no longer a virgin. And in the next week and a half, we stamped out any remaining doubt.
It wasn’t that I was necessarily holding out for Prince Charming the past few years. Let’s face it, Stick was nobody’s idea of Prince Charming. And of course I’d had opportunities. But I’d never been that tempted.
Before Stick. So, maybe he wasmyPrince Charming.
The goodbyes in Lot H were more bittersweet now—a parting after an exhausting afternoon/evening of very good sex.
At least, I thought it was good. I didn’t have a lot to compare it to, but Stick seemed to suggest by his groans and occasional “hell yeah”s and “that’s so fucking amazing”s that we were on the right track.
It wasn’t every day, and it wasn’t every time we went to Caro’s, but it was nearly that.
I went to the health clinic and got on the pill, but we still faithfully used condoms each time. I was stretching it enough by sleeping with a car thief townie, I wasn’t about to pull a Bristol Palin and walk across the campaign stage totally knocked up.
Two weeks after our first time together, Stick called and said we were going to go to dinner with Lily and Lucas, not out to Caro’s, and to maybe dress up a bit.
“You mean like a double date?” I said, stunned. I still hadn’t mentioned anything to Lily about Stick and me…being Stick and me. I had told her about my visits to Caro’s, and mentioned that she was not doing well. Lily was Grayson Spaulding’s daughter and could be trusted to keep that secret.
“Yeah, like a double date. I guess,” Stick said.
“Why?”
He let out that exasperated sigh that he sometimes gave me—usually right before he kissed me silly. “Because that’s what couples do.”
“We’re a couple?” I said without really thinking about it. I mean, yeah, we were sleeping together. At Bribury that didn’t mean much. And in theory I was on board with the casual sex thing, the meaningless hookups. But then, why had I still been a virgin before Stick?
“We’re not?” Attitude in his voice now. Understandable, but we’d never had any kind of “talk” about us. No talk of exclusivity or anything like that.
Not that any other guy interested me now that I knew what Stick could do to my body.
“I guess,” I said, with not much conviction.
“Jesus, Jane,” he said.
“What time should I be at Lot H?” I said quickly, trying to switch gears before he got pissed. Although a pissed-off Stick was a sexy-as-hell Stick.
Another sigh. “Not Lot H. I’ll pick you up out front. We’ll take my car so we all fit.”
“Seriously. Like, this is for real? A ‘pick you up, dinner with our friends’ double date?”
“Yes, Jane. Like a real date. A real double date.”
“And Lily and Lucas already know?”
