“I hope it’s okay that I’m wearing your hoodie,” she says. “I was cold when I woke up and got out of bed. All my sweaters are dirty.”
I clear my throat. “Yeah, of course. You can wear any of my clothes. Whenever you want.”
Her mouth curves up in a shy smile. “Thanks.”
She’s quiet again. We go back to sipping our coffees and looking everywhere but each other.
I think about everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours. How we went from flirting with each other to her telling me that she’s a virgin to this awkward silence we’re sharing in my kitchen.
I think about how excited I was last night. It felt like all those flirty comments and looks we exchanged were a clear sign that we were headed into “more than friends” territory.
I wonder if she still feels that way about me…If she wants to be more than friends anymore.
I quickly shut down the thought. I shouldn’t be thinking about that. She’s clearly not. She’s distraught and upset.
Guilt hits me like a sucker punch. Instead of fantasizing about flirting with Briar, I should be focused on being her friend. On giving her the support that she needs.
“So, um, about last night,” Briar says after a moment, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I’m sorry for how I stormed off. I just needed some time alone after telling you…what I told you.”
“It’s okay, Briar. You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yeah, but it was kind of rude of me to storm off.”
I hold her gaze. My chest aches at the pained look in her pretty green eyes.
“You needed to be alone. That’s okay.”
“You’re really not mad at me?”
I shake my head. “I could never be mad at you, Briar.”
She blinks, and the pain in her eyes starts to fade. That ache in my chest loosens. I feel like I can breathe again.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin, Briar.”
She crosses her arms. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re not a virgin anymore.”
“Yeah, but I used to be. We all were at one point.”
She looks up at me, her big eyes curious. “Is this weird that we’re still talking about this?”
“No.”
She tilts her head like she doesn’t believe me.
“It’s not weird, Briar. We’re best friends. We can talk about anything, remember?”
She gazes at me for a long moment. “Best friends,” she says quietly.
“Yeah.”
She looks like she’s working up to say more, but she stays quiet.
“You think you being a virgin is going to scare me off from wanting to be your friend? It’s gonna take a lot more than that to get rid of me,” I say, a hint of joking in my tone.
She starts to chuckle. When I see that beautiful smile spread across her face, warmth puddles in my chest.
“You’re gonna have to become a serial killer for me to stop being friends with you.”
