Page 75 of Scandal
“And you were afraid I was making it all up?”
“It’s not like it was your first interview,” I say. “I wouldn’t blame you if you just put on a smile and made a bunch of shit up.”
He sets his glasses aside, rises from his spot on the sofa, and walks over to crouch in front of me. I draw my knees in and set my feet on the floor so I can see his face. “There’s no need when I have plenty of wonderful, true things to say.” My heart starts to gallop. “Besides, I could ask the same of you.”
“What?”
“You answered a lot of those questions. Did you lie?”
“No. Not really.”
He gazes up at me. “So when Lana asked what you liked to do in your free time and you said?—”
I blush, remembering my answer. “I couldn’t tell her I liked to read smutty novels, could I?” I told her instead that I was consulting at my family’s music studio, which took up a lot of my free time…and was true.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not proper!”
“Fuck proper,” he says with a wolfish grin. “I’m a rock star with a recent sex scandal. They can handle my girlfriend reading a little cliterature.”
My cheeks flame. “You did not just say that!”
“I did, and so should you. It’s very liberating.”
“Oh my god, no. You’re insane!”
His grin turns downright devilish. “If you can say it out loud, how do you expect to act out some of these scenes in real life?”
My eyes widen as I imagine just that. My current read, a rock star romance, ironically—or maybe not?—had me reading a scene last night where the sexy rock star drives his girl to his secluded beach house for some much-needed alone time. Whenthey hit a bit of traffic, he decides he can’t wait any longer and slides his hand under her skirt.
The only person I want putting his hands on me in a moving vehicle is the one currently sleeping on the chaise sofa at night.
I clear my throat. “I don’t think I could ever have that kind of confidence.”
“It’s all about finding the right partner.”
I narrow my gaze on him, folding my arms across my chest. “But that obviously isn’t you.”
He rises, and I can see he’s already retreating, pulling back. “No.” I shake my head. “We’re talking about this, Asher. It’s been weeks since the lake, and you haven’t said a single word since I?—”
“Since you offered your virginity to me?”
I wince. “You make it sound so scandalous. You realize that the definition of virginity is an outdated concept used to control and manipulate women.”
“And yet you’ve been holding onto yours for years. Why?” he demands, eyeing me like he’s already five steps ahead. He’s always so perceptive when it comes to me. “Why not just have sex with some random boy in high school like everyone else? Why wait all these years if it’s not a big deal?”
“Because I wanted it to be you!” My eyes go wide as the realization hits half a second after my words echo through the suite.
I wanted it to be him…
Staring at the floor, I think back to my high school days. To all those times I thought I was putting schoolwork before boys, but now I realize it wasn’t the books or the grades.
It was him.
“I used to have this poster of you in my room,” I say, offering a half smile at the memory. “My siblings teased me relentlessly, mostly because it was so unlike me. I never hung posters on mywalls, so having you right there next to the pink, frilly comforter my mom picked out was strange, to say the least.”
“Not the first time, I’d imagine.”
