When I shook my head again, she began to edge away from me. She looked so crushed and horrified, I had to stop messing with her. I grabbed her hand and tugged her back. “Because the number doesn’t even reach high enough to be counted on a single finger.”
My answer confused her—I could tell because she frowned and stared at me as if I made no sense. Then her head swished back and forth. “But...”
“Zero,” I said. “The number is zero.”
Her eyes flew open wide. “Oh my God. You’re a—”
My cheeks flushed hot as I slapped a hand over her mouth. This was so damn embarrassing.
City peeled my fingers off her mouth. “You cannot be a virgin. How is that even possible?”
“Hey, you’re one too,” I hissed, reminding her she had no more experience than I did and no right to bash me, even though, okay...I was the guy. I was eighteen. I should’ve scored by now.
“Yeah, but I’m...”
When she didn’t elaborate, I lifted an eyebrow, waiting for her to explain why it was okay for her to be a virgin and not me.
She cleared her throat and motioned at me. “You’re so...so gorgeous, and smart, and charming, and just...amazing. I would’ve thought girls were constantly begging to be with you.”
“I’m also Bruce Parker’s son.” I shrugged. “It kind of makes me a pariah in these parts.”
Her nose wrinkled as if she disagreed. “That doesn’t seem fair. A lot of girls are missing out on the awesome that is you.”
“It’s no less fair than having to be the innocent preserved daughter of the great and mighty Abbott Bainbridge. I bet no one’s ever touched you before because they’re all scared shitless of your father.”
I ran my fingertip down her soft porcelain cheek. She really was pure and untouched from the ugliness of life in a way I relished about her. Being in her blissfully happy presence always gave me hope in the world.
“You’re touching me,” she rasped, clearly affected by the path of my fingers as I stroked the side of her throat.
“That’s because I’m a trashy Parker who doesn’t know any better.” The soft place I’d been touching looked too delicious to resist, so I leaned in and kissed her there, right behind her ear.
She closed her eyes, tipping her head to the side to let me kiss her more. “Stop calling yourself trashy,” she reprimanded with no heat in her voice because she was too busy sighing. “You’re really good at that. I was so sure you’d had more experience.”
“I didn’t say I had no experience. I’ve just never had sex before.”
She pulled away, hurt and surprise brightening her eyes. “So...how far have you ever gone?”
I gulped, hoping I hadn’t just screwed myself and pissed her off, or worse, hurt her. “How far have you ever gone?” I countered.
She snorted. “Come on, Knox. You know how far I’ve gone. The day I bumped into you in the woods was the closest I’d ever been to a boy. I’d never kissed one before you, never held one of their hands.” She let out a self-derisive answer. “Heck, I’ve never even danced with one.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You’ve never danced with a boy before?”
“No,” she growled from between clenched teeth. “I have not. So now it’s your turn. How far have you gone before?”
I cleared my throat, suddenly leery. She was jealous, and I could already see the pain in her eyes. I was hurting her. But I couldn’t lie to her, so I glanced away and admitted, “Freshman year, junior girl, it was a night after a big basketball game win. There was a party, all these people were celebrating. I think she was drunk, but she came up to me and told me I was cute, so...” I shrugged. “We made out.”
“And?” City pressed. “You made it to...first base? Second? Third?”
My mind went blank, because I didn’t even know how to answer. “Well, I don’t technically know what happens at each base, so...”