Page 316 of His Virgin Romance Series

GABBY

It was a nice, calm Thursday night and I was just leaving the library when a call came in on my phone. It was on silent, but I felt the vibration through my thin jacket and reached into my pocket to retrieve it. I glanced down and saw that it was Seth calling.

“Hi,” I said.

“Can you please tell me what happened?” Seth asked, for the hundredth time in as many days.

“Nothing,” I said, refusing to out his girlfriend.

Obviously, Cory hadn’t told him what had happened between us and I didn’t want to piss her off further by tattling. Of course, I didn’t think of it as tattling, but Cory certainly would, and I didn’t want to give her more reasons to hate me. I had to tread carefully here. I couldn’t just assume that Seth would see my side of things. I couldn’t just assume he would choose me over Cory. I didn’t know how strong their connection went and I didn’t want to risk my relationship with my brother. I loved him too much for that.

“If it was nothing, you never would have left.”

“I left because I wanted to sleep on a real bed as opposed to a couch,” I said.

“Bull… I know something happened between you and Cory because she was in a really pissy mood when I came home. And she keeps avoiding the question when I ask her why you left.”

I sighed. “Well… I don’t know what to tell you…”

“How about the truth?”

“I just didn’t want to be an imposition, okay?”

“Then you would have told me beforehand and you wouldn’t have left in such a hurry… without so much as an explanation.”

“Seth… you’re making too big a deal about this.”

“Did Cory ask you to leave or something?”

“No,” I said quickly. “She didn’t.”

“Did she say anything… rude to you?” he asked.

“Seth… can you please let it go?”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to cause trouble between you and Cory.”

“Can I ask you a very serious question?” Seth asked.

I tensed. “Okay?” I said uncertainly.

“Do you like Cory?”

I raised my eyebrows, and for a second, I was grateful that Seth was not in front of me. The expression on my face would have given away my feelings instantly. “If she makes you happy, I love her,” I said.

“That’s not an answer.”

“I disagree.”

Seth sighed. “You are so—”

I missed the last part of what he was saying because I heard a beep that told me that another call was coming in. I glanced at my screen and saw that Mom was trying to call.

“Oh, Mom’s calling,” I said quickly, jumping on the chance to get out of this uncomfortable conversation. “Got to go… I’ll speak to you later.”

“Don’t you—”

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