Popping the Cherry Read Online Free Page B

my hand in his. ‘But everybody calls me Lena.’
    ‘Pleased to meet you, Lena,’ he said, bending from the waist in a bow. Cute
and
charming, but I felt nothing, no tingles or flutters, not even when Sean lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss onto the backs of my fingers.
    ‘You too, Sean.’ I could see why he was taking drama. Sean practically oozed charisma, definite actor calibre. In fact, he probably had a whole entourage of swooning groupies already, and judging from the sigh I’d heard behind me, Flick was more than willing to become a fully fledged member. My friends weren’t the only ones capable of playing matchmaker. ‘So tell me, Sean, have you been introduced to Felicity yet?’
    ‘No, I don’t believe I have.’ Sean followed the direction of my free hand.
    The moment his and Flick’s eyes met, I was all but forgotten. Excellent.
    ‘Sorry to dash off,’ I said, ignoring Gemma’s scowl as I stood and lifted my bag onto my shoulder. ‘I have to get a book from the library before my next class, but it was lovely to meet you, Sean.’
    ‘You too, Lena,’ he said.
    ‘Oh, I need to go to the library, too,’ Gemma said, leaping to her feet. Her smile didn’t fool me for a second. ‘We might as well walk together.’
    Oh goody!
    ‘Sure thing,’ I said, struggling to maintain my happy face. ‘Bye, then, see you all later.’
    ‘Bye,’ came the chorus of voices.
    Gemma pounced the moment we were out of earshot. ‘You haven’t really got to go to the library, have you?’
    ‘Nope.’
    ‘So what the hell was all that about back there?’
    ‘All what?’ I said, feigning ignorance. Gemma wasn’t buying it. ‘Look, it’s no big deal. Sean wasn’t my type, that’s all, whereas Flick was just begging to be introduced. Could you not feel the vibe coming off them?’
    Gemma slipped into her own thoughts for a moment and then relaxed. ‘Yeah, OK, I’ll give you that one. They did look pretty hot for each other. And all that hand-kissing stuff is right up Flick’s street.’
    Phew!
    ‘Precisely. It was only fair to pay it forward.’
    ‘So where
are
you off to in such a hurry?’ Gemma asked.
    And there was I, thinking I was off the hook.
    ‘I’ve got a free period, so I’m off to the baker’s. All of a sudden I could murder a pain-au-chocolat. I couldn’t possibly think why, though, could you?’
    ‘Uh-oh.’ Gemma came to a standstill and caught hold of my arm to stop me from walking off without her. ‘Lena, are we OK?’ she asked, all the aggression gone from her voice. ‘You’re not mad at me?’
    Wow, she seemed proper worried. Scared, maybe.
    ‘No, we’re cool,’ I said, drawing her into a hug. ‘It’s been a crazy couple of days, what with yesterday, and now this … this mission. I just need some time to process it all.’
    She did the single-eyebrow thing, as if she could tell I was holding back. ‘You sure that’s all it is?’
    ‘
No
.’ What I really needed to do was tell her how much I hated Operation: Popping the Cherry, but how could I when it had been her idea? ‘Yeah, I’m sure,’ I said instead.
    Gemma still didn’t look convinced. Her lips were thinner than usual, and she wouldn’t stop trying to use her X-ray vision on me. Time to change the subject before I cracked.
    ‘So can I get you anything while I’m out? I know it’s not a patch on Donovan’s but it still hits the spot.’
    She huffed out a sigh. ‘No, thanks, I’ve blown all my calorie allowance already. I don’t know where you put it all.’ Gemma checked her watch, then pulled me into another hug. ‘Right, I’d better get back inside before the bell goes. Talk to you later, yeah?’
    ‘Will do. Go on, you’d better run,’ I said, shooing her towards the main building. The bell rang right on cue. ‘Bye,’ I called out to her hastily retreating back. She tossed her hand up as a wave and carried on power-walking.
    Idiot that I was, I didn’t think to dump my text books