“You don’t get to tell me what to do! Sebastian invited me up here. I’ll wait for him to return.” I cross my arms over my chest as I glare at him. There. I did it. I told someone what I was thinking when I was feeling it. Mission accomplished.
Except Kade either didn’t hear me or is completely ignoring me as he pulls some clothes out of the drawer and slams it shut, making me jump.
He gradually turns to face me.
“You don’t want to lose your virginity to an ass like Sebastian.”
My cheeks turn a brighter shade of red. “How do you…” I can’t finish the sentence. It’s not like ‘virgin’ is etched across my chest. The only person who knows is Serena, and she wouldn’t tell a soul. He doesn’t know I’m a virgin. It’s a guess to get me riled up.
“I’m not a vir—”
He laughs. “Yes, you are. Now, get dressed.” He thrusts the clothes into my hands. I take them because I’m too shocked to think through any of my actions.
“I don’t know what my brother was doing with someone like you,” he says, under his breath.
But I hear his words. And they sting like hell. Someone like me. Of course, I’m not good enough for his brother. I don’t have a name worthy of this town. I don’t have a business waiting for me to be able to take over when I graduate. My parents didn’t donate thousands of dollars to the school. I’m a nothing. A nobody. And apparently, I’m not even worthy to fuck Sebastian for one night.
I want to yell. I want to scream. Tell Kade he’s wrong. That Sebastian doesn’t deserve me. But I’ve lost my voice. I can’t whisper, let alone scream.
I grab the white T-shirt and jerk it over my head as a pair of shorts falls to the floor. I march toward him, hoping I’m daring enough to speak when I’m right in his face. I open my mouth and nothing.
He raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms over his chest while he waits.
I hate his smug expression. I may not be able to find the words, but my anger has focused elsewhere.
I knee him hard in the balls and turn, unlock the door, and storm out. I hear him groaning in pain as I exit, and now it’s my turn to smirk.
A smirk that is wiped from my face as I hear his words, “Sebastian definitely shouldn’t be with a woman like you. You’re the kind who would get pregnant after one fuck, and he’d be yours forever.”
Tears. Damn tears.
No.
If there is one thing I’m good at, it’s not crying. Or caring. Or thinking about these foolish people. I don’t need their approval. I’m happy with who I am. I don’t want to be invited to their dumb parties. I don’t want one of their elites to be my first, or my second, or third.
Kade did me a favor. I almost made a huge mistake giving Sebastian something so precious. He would have ruined me. And not in the ‘now I have high expectations for sex’ kind of way. He would have torn my heart to shreds when he made me realize he only fucked me because I looked hot for a moment in a dress, and I was his new infatuation. Or the more likely scenario, he was drunk and he’d already fucked all the women at his party.
I’ll keep my virginity until I find a guy who thinks of me as somebody.
I storm down the stairs, and I feel everyone gawking.
Shit.
I’m only wearing a white T-shirt and my panties. I didn’t think to pick up the shorts I dropped.
I hear the snickers. This should be the most embarrassing moment of the night. It’s not. And I refuse to go back upstairs to put more clothes on. Not even to retrieve my dress and shoes I left upstairs. I refuse.
Instead, I keep walking through the crowd searching for Serena, but I can’t find her anywhere. I didn’t bring my phone. There was nowhere to hide it in my dress, and I didn’t want to keep up with a purse. So I can’t call her or an Uber to take me home. Not that I could afford an Uber even if I had my phone.
I should have waited for Kade to call me a car before I kneed him in the balls.
I grin again, thinking about how he’s going to spend the rest of his night with an ice pack to his crotch.
Worth it.
I step out into the chilly night, my arms wrapping around myself and my legs sprouting goosebumps. My feet tingle from the cold concrete. When did it get so cold out? It’s almost May. It’s supposed to be warm.
I look down the long driveway that leads to a dark street. I live four miles from here. It’s nothing, and if I jogged, I’d be home in twenty minutes.