Quinn coughs in his fist.What’d I say?
Farrow cracks his neck, silently gesturing to Akara. Who looks murderous. Not at me. At Jack.
I suggested swimming not fucking.
Jack wouldn’t overstep the production-talent boundary. I would tear him limb from limb.
He knows that.
Sullivan swings her head to the exec. “You swim?” Her eyes light up. The list of people she can race on her free time is short.
“Four years at Penn.” He gives her a smile and then flips a page in his notes. “Can I get personal with you for a second?”
Sulli uncaps a water. “Sure.”
“Would you want to discuss your virginity on the show?”
The room cuts in a tense silence. Sulli has shared pretty much a bucket ofnothingwith the public concerning dating or sex. She’s been private, and so everyone assumes she’s a virgin.
Their assumption is correct. For once.
“Um…” Sulli mulls it over.
“No pressure,” Jack says. “Since a lot of people talk about sex on the show, I have to ask.” He pauses. “Have you watched any episodes of the series?”
“Not really.” Sulli rests her hand on her squared jaw. “It’s kinda weird seeing your family on TV.” She’s not the only one who chooses to skip it.
Her best friend Beckett Cobalt hasn’t seen a single episode.
Sulli leans into Janie. “Do you talk about sex?”
Jane touches her chest. “Personally, I have to talk about sex. If another guy tries to chokehold me in bed, I will lose it.”
“That’s never happening again,” Akara says, side-eyeing me because he knows I’ll actually kill the person. I’ll commit murder.
Farrow wasn’t around Jane during that incident. One of the worst nights of my life—where I woke to a lamp crashing. Jane’s old bodyguard started knocking down her locked door. Standing guard because she brought someone over. I charged in her bedroom before security inched inside—and Itorea guy twice her size off her body.
I was all rage. My mind blared three notes:you’re killing her, you’re killing her, you’re going to die.My bodyguard had to restrainme.
Just to be clear, I’m not proud of that.
“Can I ask you something?” Sulli says to Jack. “What exactly would I say about sex? I’ve never had sex, the end. There’s nothing more.”
Jack closes his notepad. “Are you waiting to have sex until marriage or to fall in love?—”
“I’ve beensofocused on swimming. I just never made time for anything else, including sex or dating, and I’d do it all over again. I don’t regret it.”
“Have you ever been attracted to someone? Have you everthoughtabout hooking up?”
I swear they’re acting like they’re the only two in the room. They’ve blocked us out.
Sulli nods a couple times. “Definitely. A few…okay, several guys on the team were really fucking hot, but I wouldn’t let that get in my way. My mom always said she regretted not waiting for someone who made her feel comfortable and loved. Like my dad. And I want that too.”
He smiles. “Okay. Have you been kissed?”
She bites her lip. “No.”
Wait.
