that need to burst out with the truth again, "but you'd think you'd want people from other departments besides English. Don't you feel like you have too many of those? It's like those pageant girls."
Chase blinks. "Pageant girls?"
"Girls who do beauty pageants. How they’re all elementary education majors."
His face is suddenly stoic. "My sister was a pageant girl."
Uh oh. "Oh, mine too," I say quickly, breaking my promise not to lie. My sister Aubrey's peppy name fits that image, but that's where it ends. She wears way too much black eyeliner and one of those necklaces that could double as a deadly weapon. "Well, no," I admit. "She wasn't. Sorry."
Chase's look of offense morphs into amusement. "You’re not a very good liar."
"Apparently not."
"I can't lie, either. My sister got her degree in Elementary Education."
"See?" I relax a little as Chase lets out a laugh-- and something in me catches. In all of his interviews, I've never heard his laugh. It's melodic. Delightful, even. Makes his whole face light up.
God.
“I lost my virginity to an Elementary Education major,” he says. “I forgot about that until just now.”
“Was she one of your sister’s friends?”
“Sure was. Back of a minivan when she came home with my sister from college.” Chase gives me a long look. “How about you?”
“What about me?”
“Your virginity. How did you lose it?”
“Uhh.” I’m not sure how to answer this without sounding ridiculous. “It’s dumb.” I set my wine down on the table, hoping it will signal to him that a change of topic is in order. But Chase Brooks is just getting started.
“It can’t be worse than the back of a minivan.” He’s leaning forward now, closer, and his thigh brushes against mine.
“It’s… it kind of hasn’t happened yet.”
Chase leans further forward, eyes now two huge blue pools. “You’re a virgin?”
“Is it that shocking?”
“Kind of.” He’s still wide-eyed. “You’re so beautiful, I’d think you’d have been unable to resist at least one of the many offers I’m sure you got.”
I feel my face heat up. “It’s like that Amy Schumer quote. ‘I can catch a dick anytime I want.’ And I have. I just haven’t taken full advantage yet.” I can feel my face is beet red, and I wipe my hands on my jeans, the humiliation intense. Chase Brooks has been with countless movie stars and gorgeous women, and here I am, talking about how I haven’t even been with someone as pedestrian as a frat boy.
“It’s not a bad thing,” Chase insists, noticing my embarrassment. “Just surprising. Is there something in particular you’re waiting for?”
“In my good girl form, my answer would have been ‘love,’” I say. “But now, I think maybe just… a sexy situation. The right situation.”
“Oh? Like?”
“I dunno. Like… like Bryce Bowker in Spain, when he had sex with that redhead on the grand piano.”
“I watched Pretty Woman before I wrote that.”
“I figured.” I swallow. “Why are you so interested in my first, anyway?”
“Because it would be a tragedy if you didn’t get an epic first time on a piano.”
“I’d settle for a fabulous first time somewhere else.” The words are out of my mouth so fast I can barely register that I said them.
He pushes closer to me, until he’s right next to me on the couch, his body pressing against mine. I hope he can’t hear my heart thudding. “And what kind of guy would you want, Addison? For your fabulous first time?” His voice is low, sexy, and I feel myself getting wet.
This isn’t fair.
“Ridiculously good-looking,” I say.
“And?” He reaches down and touches my chin gently, tilts my head until I’m looking him in the eye.
“Smart. Definitely smart.”
Chase gives me a look so deep that I think he can read my thoughts. “Interesting.”
I can’t help it. He’s so sexy, and that way he’s looking at me right now… I can’t handle it. “Someone like you,” I burst