“I would for you,” Stella admits.
“Bullshit. You’re too addicted to his cock.”
She gets this faraway look in her eyes as if she’s imagining bouncing up and down on it. “It is pretty magical.”
“Fucking hell,” I groan. “Want my advice, Cal?” I ask, not giving her a chance to respond before following it up with, “Stay a fucking virgin. It’s way less stress.”
Her cheeks heat in embarrassment and she looks down at her hands.
“Or we take our girl out this weekend and find her a hot one-night stand to banish the V-card for good,” Stella suggests with her brows wiggling in excitement.
“Even if I wanted to, I doubt Dad would let me,” I say, hoping it’s my way out of this.
Any other time, I’d be more than up for a wild weekend with my girls. Hell, even the guys. But after everything, I’m more than happy to hide in my room.
“Let me work on your dad,” Stella says with a wink, making a show of wiggling her tits as if they’re going to convince him.
“You’re a fucking nightmare,” Calli mutters. “He’s not going to fall for that.”
“We’ll see. I could really do with a glass of water. Anyone else?” she asks, climbing from the bed.
“Please try not to embarrass my dad too much. He’s old, his heart might not be able to take it.”
Stella salutes me before slipping from the room, leaving me and Calli falling about laughing.
“Tell me that she’s not actually going to attempt to flirt your dad into allowing you out this weekend.”
“Cal, I really, really want to say that she’s not going to. But this is Stella. And,” I add, “not many men say no to her.”
“Seb never stood a chance.”
“Girl, I’m just surprised she didn’t wrap them all around her little finger and end up with a harem full of mafia princes.”
Calli’s lips part to argue, but she doesn’t have one, because she knows I’m right.
* * *
“So Oxford,” Dad says the second I pull out a chair at the dining room table after Piper called up to tell me that dinner was ready.
Stella and Calli left about thirty minutes ago after handing me a stack of homework they helpfully volunteered to deliver to me.
“Don’t,” I sigh. “I’ve already told them I’m not going.” Reaching for the glass of water waiting for me, I take a sip as the scent of whatever Piper has been cooking fills my nose and makes my stomach growl, despite the two doughnuts I stuffed not long ago.
When he doesn’t say anything, I lift my eyes from the rim of the glass to find him staring at me.
“What?” I ask, sensing he’s got something he wants to say about it. “What did Stella do when she came down to talk about it?” I wince, imagining all the twisted ways she could have tried to convince him in the ten minutes she was down here.
A smirk pulls at his lips and I slump down in my chair.
“On second thoughts, don’t tell me. If I know how badly she embarrassed herself then I might never let her in here again.”
“She was fine, kiddo. She didn’t embarrass herself, or me.” I should probably feel a little relief, but honestly, my stomach is still knotted over this whole weekend situation.
“Oxford is a big thing for the sixth formers,” Piper chips in helpfully. “A rite of passage kind of thing.”
“Lucky for you I’m not the kind of girl who worries about that kind of stuff then.”
Silence ripples around the room. Aside from the sizzling of the frying pan in the kitchen, the only thing I can hear for a few seconds is my own heartbeat.