Page 34 of Blindsided
“Shut up, you cow,” I whisper, feeling a prickling sensation erupt all over my skin at his tender touch.
Mac shakes with laughter, and I feel it squarely between my legs. “But subjectively or objectively, I think you’re beautiful, and it would be my pleasure to make your first time special.”
“Just as friends?” I ask, turning to eye him with nervous curiosity.
“Best friends,” he replies, his eyes becoming more serious and less sexy. “But you should give it some time and think about it.”
He stands up from his seat, and I stare up at him, my mouth agape. “What?”
He shrugs, completely breaking the heated moment I thought we were sharing. “It’s a big decision. You’ve held onto your virginity this long, so you should be sure that you’re ready.”
“Um, I’m damn near thirty. I think that makes me overly ready.”
Mac offers me a lopsided smile. “Sleep on it. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He leans down and presses a kiss to my head and then pauses for a second, his hand moving to my chin and raising my face to his. He brushes his lips with mine, and says, “Night, Cookie.”
“Good night?” I breathe out on a sigh, and all I hear is Mac’s infuriating laughter as he lets himself out of my flat.
What a fucking cow.
“Ineed to talk to you about something, but you have to promise not to breathe a word of it to anybody. Not even Allie.” I eye my roommate seriously the next morning as we find ourselves face to face in the kitchen. I’ve caught Roan in a rare moment when his fiancée is nowhere in sight, and I’m going to take full advantage of it.
“Okay,” Roan replies curiously. He’s got a bowl of oatmeal in his hand and his spoon is frozen midair. “Should I sit down for this?”
“Don’t be daft,” I scoff and lean back against the kitchen counter and cross my arms over my chest. “But you can’t do that thing couples do where they think they don’t have to keep secrets from each other because they’re in love and they share the same mind. I genuinely don’t want you to tell Allie about this. Can you promise me that?”
Roan puts the spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth and moves to set his bowl down on the counter to give me his full attention. He crosses his arms over his chest to match my pose. “What the hell is going on, Mac?” he says around a full mouth.
I exhale heavily. “I offered to take Freya’s virginity last night.”
Roan begins choking on his oatmeal. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not lying,” I state seriously. “I didn’t even know I was going to do it until all of a sudden, I was in her lift offering to take her maiden tag.”
“Her what?” Roan exclaims, beating his chest to get the last bits of food down his throat.
I shrug. “It’s what she calls her virginity. It doesn’t matter. Do you think I’m a fool? Do you think I’ve ruined everything?”
Roan barks out a laugh and hoists himself up onto the counter opposite me, trying to shake off the obvious shock he has over this recent development. “That’s a loaded question, man.”
“I know,” I reply and grip the back of my neck. “What do you think, though?”
Roan grabs his glass of water and takes a sip before saying, “I think it depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you love her.”
“Love her? What do you mean?” I snap, annoyed that he’s going in this direction with his advice. “This isn’t about love, Roan. This is about my friend thinking it’s wise to just go out there and have sex with some stranger like Santino because she doesn’t want to be a thirty-year-old virgin with no date for your bloody wedding.”
“Oh, I see,” Roan says knowingly. “So you’re planning to take her virginity as a charity project.”
“Fuck off…that’s my friend you’re talking about.”
Roan’s brows lift knowingly. “Mac, if you’re trying to tell me that you taking Freya’s virginity is some selfless act that you’re doing just to be a good mate, I’m going to have to call you a liar. You wouldn’t have offered to have sex with her if you didn’t have feelings for her.”
This brings me pause. “I don’t have feelings for her…not like that at least. I mean, aye sure, I’ve always thought she’s bonnie and recently, there’s a new sort of attraction between us that’s been growing.”
“An attraction?” Roan lowers his chin and eyes me with curiosity.
