“Wait, wait, wait,” I say hastily.
He ignores me.
Firmly, I grab his bicep and pull him back onto the bed. “Stay with me tonight, please.”
He stares for a moment, then looks away.
“Jack, listen, it hurt more at the end, but it was perfect. Is this because you said I love-?”
His eyes widen in absolute horror. Just as quick, his expression shifts, darker and contemptuous. He snaps:
“Whatever preacher-fuck you marry will know you aren’t a virgin now. You realize that, don’t you?”
I have to blink a few times to process his brash words.
Jack being Jack.
That brick wall I loathe is building right before my eyes.
I swallow and nod. “I’ll tell him my hymen ripped while jumping on a trampoline.”
He gives me a dismissive glance. “Stupid.”
“Or from riding a horse.” I smile playfully and shrug. “I heard it happens.”
“Or my fat cock,” he says sternly, and places a pillow over his face. “Fuck, Morgan. Why did you have to be so tight and do all that dumb shit? Moan the way you do. Your body.” He tears the pillow off his face and glares at me. “This is all fucked up.”
“Wha- why?”
He’s up again, pacing. “And I’ll tell you another thing. If you didn’t hurt so bad, I would’ve fucked you till you wentcross-eyed. That preacher will never screw you better than me.”
Ohhh.
Maybe he’s jealous. Weird, considering I didn’t bring up someone else.
“And what the hell are we doing?” he growls, and puts on his shoes. He shakes his head and talks to himself. “A virgin. Of course it would feel different. She is different.”
Different.
The word stings more than any insult.
He heads toward the door.
Panic spikes through me, sharp. My chest tightens. The room feels colder already, emptier. I don’t want him walking out like this. Not angry and unfinished.
I speak before I think.
“If you leave, I’ll call Blake. He’ll sleep with meandstay.”
Mid-stride, he stops. Turns. The muscles of his jaw tick and his eyes narrow.
“What did you say?”
My pulse hammers. I should take it back. I should apologize. I’m not this person. But desperation and fear twist together.
“I’m not a virgin anymore. It was easier than I thought, and Blake’s a man of the cloth. Sex with him will be a holy union. Divine. You wouldn’t understand.”
“A holy union...” His voice trails off.
