“Experiment? You think this is an experiment? That I got up this morning and thought, ‘I know, I’ll give my virginity to Zane and see what happens.’”
“Tell me you didn’t,” Nix groaned from the hall.
“You… you weren’t supposed to hear that.”
He murmured something under his breath before stepping into the room. “Does he know?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“What? No! Nothing like that. I wanted it. I just… I think he was drunk.”
“You think?”
Embarrassment curled inside me.
“I didn’t stop to ask. He seemed okay when I first got there, but then we… and he got all weird.”
I didn’t tell them what he’d said. That he’d left me on the cold, hard ground and walked away.
“And he definitely didn’t catch on that you were, you know…”
“I don’t think so. I tried to tell him, but things got out of hand. It’s not a big deal.” I shrugged.
Nix studied me, searching my eyes for the truth no doubt. But the truth was, I didn’t know what to feel.
Everything was a mess.
I thought I’d been in control of the situation. I’d wanted to meet Zane, and deep down, I went knowing what he wanted. Because I wanted it too. But now everything felt wrong. Harleigh was acting like everyone else in my life, with her preconceived ideas about what was or wasn’t good for me.
“Celeste,” she said, softer this time. “This doesn’t have a happy ending; you have to know that.”
“But—”
“She’s right.” Nix came and stood behind Harleigh, sliding his hand under her hair and curling his hand around her neck. They were so in sync, like magnets. “Zane isn’t the serious type. He doesn’t trust anyone. Least of all a girl from Old Darling Hill.”
“You’re wrong,” I said, defiance coating my words. “There’s something there, I know there is.”
“Even if there is, it won’t matter.” Nix gave me a sad smile, and for some reason his hurt a whole lot more than the one Harleigh had given me. “The only woman Zane has room in his life for is his grams. He’ll never choose you, Celeste.”
“But…” The words died, withering inside me like my heart.
My brain couldn’t accept it. It was like every logical argument I had evaporated the second Zane kissed me.
If it had been any other girl acting like this, I would have reeled off a ton of stats about failed relationships, rates of infidelity, and the rise of people entering non-monogamous relationships.
All the signs pointed toward the fact that what Harleigh and Nix shared was rare.
One of a kind.
It wasn’t the norm.
I could kiss ten, twenty… thirty frogs and never meet my prince. Instead, I’d be stuck with someone like Cooper Sinclair, a rich, pretentious playboy looking for a trophy wife.
“Come on,” Harleigh said, applying a dressing to my knee. “I’ll drive you home and Nix can follow in his car.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I sniffled, aware that she was already trying to get rid of me.