Page 16 of My Sweet Cherry
I tilted my head, gently guiding them back to her lap. “Haven’t done what before?”
“Hooked up with anyone.” Then she dropped her voice to a whisper. “I’m a… um…” She bit her lip. She didn’t have to finish the sentence.A virgin.
“We can slow down,” I said, cradling her face in my palm. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
Beth grimaced. “I know, but…” She blinked, taking a deep breath before she opened her eyes back up, “what if you like me less?” She winced when I brought my other hand to her face and forced her to look at me.
“That’s not going to happen.”
“How can you be so sure?” Her eyes darted anywhere they could to avoid meeting mine.
“Because I’m not like these other guys. I like you because of the way you blush so easily and the way your eyes lit up tonight when you took the first bite. I like you because you’re different than any girl I’ve met, and because I can’t place my finger on why.” I put my forehead against hers. “But it’s definitely not because I thought you might put out. That never crossed my mind.”
She smiled and pursed her lips, tilting her head until they met mine. “I like you because you’re different too,” she said, and butterflies I hadn’t felt since my first date as a teenager made mealmost sick to my stomach. “And because you’re a really good kisser.” Beth giggled.
“I like kissing you too, and I plan to do a lot more of it,” I said, wiggling my brows and soaking in every congruent laugh. “Now what do you say we split this other piece of pie?”
Beth scrunched her nose like she had to think hard about the decision until her face lit up. Then she jumped up off the bed. “I’ll grab a fork.”
Chapter 15
Carter
“Where were you last night?” Benny asked. He looked like he had just woken up even though it was the middle of the afternoon. He probably had. “I thought you were coming out with the boys.”
I shrugged. I had completely forgotten about telling them that I would catch up with them. Even when I said it, I knew it probably wasn’t happening after I walked into that library. “I had a date.”
Benny almost dropped the box of cereal he was pouring into a bowl. “A date? With who?” As far as Benny was concerned, there wasn’t a better cure for a hangover than digging for details aboutmy sex life. I debated not telling him that I was out with Beth, knowing that he had taken her out already. Then I thought better of it.
“Beth.”
The longer Benny furrowed his brow and wracked his brain, like he was trying to remember who Beth was even though he had seen her more than once since he met her a couple weeks ago, the more frustrated I got. “Wait,” he finally said. “Like the virgin chick from the bar? Dude, why?”
“Don’t start,” I warned him. I knew the kinds of comments Benny usually made about women, and I wasn’t in the mood to hear any of them. I grabbed the finished tape I had spent the morning making for her off the counter, tucking it in my pocket and turning to leave the room.
“Wait, what’s that?” Benny set the bowl of cereal on the counter, suddenly more interested in the tape in my hands.
“It’s a tape.” I didn’t intend on explaining it to him, but his face widened in mixed shock and realization anyway.
Benny laughed, clapping his hands. “You made her a tape? Dude, you must be down bad.” Then he furrowed his brow and pursed his lips crookedly, like he was trying to look confused and bite back a laugh at the same time. “But for a virgin? You could have any girl you want, and you go for a freshman with no experience?”
I shrugged, thinking about her hair spread across her bed. “I don’t know, man. I can’t explain it. There’s just something about her. She’s sweet, probably too sweet, and there’s just something in her stare that’s difficult to look away from. Oh, and she always tastes like cherry.”
“Cherry?”
“That’s what I said.” The more I talked about her, the more I ran my fingers over the tape in my pocket.
Benny shook his head, laughing as he put his bowl in the sink with the other dishes he would claim he promised to wash later. “Yeah, whatever dude. You have fun with that.”
Chapter 16
Beth
“Tell meeverything,”Isabella demanded, emphasizing every word and making herself comfortable at the end of my bed. “And don’t tell me any of thatnothing happenedcrap because I can see right through that. You started blushing the second I said his name.”
My cheeks felt warm, so I didn’t doubt that. It seemed to be happening a lot lately. “We just made out.” I resisted the urge to trace my lips where his had been.
Isabella scoffed, and Amy stared at me like she didn’t believe it. “You went out with Carter Carlisle, probably the richest guy at Chicago University, and all you did was make out?” Amy asked.She scrunched her nose, confused. “I thought you always had to put out for guys like that. Did he buy you dinner?”
