Virgin(68)

I smiled to myself, realizing how far I’d come in the past few weeks. I, Ellie Kolstakis, no longer hated looking in the mirror. I was finally leaving behind my teenage angst and blossoming into womanhood.

I bounded down the street, high on life. There was nothing that could make this evening better, other than an emergency girl chat with Lara. But she was still being weird and hadn’t texted so I was going to:

     Get on with my life

    Be grateful for the few friends who still spoke to me, and . . .

    Have the most important night of my adult life with Jack



He was sitting in the pub, waiting for me. He was wearing simple dark gray jeans, a white T-shirt and a navy hoody. I breathed a huge sigh of relief that was heavily interlaced with lust. When I walked in, his face lit up and he stood to give me a hug.

“Ellie, hey,” he said, kissing me. It was a brief peck but to me it was the height of sophistication. I was finally one of those girls who was “seeing someone” and was greeted with kisses. On the lips. In public.

I sat down, glowing. I picked up the glass of wine he had already bought for me. It was a far cry from his counting out the change on our first date. He must really be falling for me. I sipped it gratefully and listened as he launched into an account of his week.

“I’ve been looking forward to this so much,” he announced as he sank into the worn couch. “I’m so fucking sick of my job. They’re all such pretentious wankers sometimes and they go on and on about being ‘cutting edge’ and ‘avant garde,’ but at the end of the day, they conform just as much as the next company.”

“As much as you?” I offered, grinning at him so he knew I was kidding.

“Ha ha, Ellie,” he said, nudging me playfully. “If you think I’m pretentious, you should have a look at these guys . . .”

“Oh no, I couldn’t bear it,” I said, wincing in feigned pain. “It’s bad enough spending time with one of you.”

“Yeah, yeah, you know you love hanging out with me. No one else is as infuriating or charming as I am.”

I burst out laughing. “Mate, could you be any more arrogant or deluded?” Ugh, why did I have to call him “mate”? Talk about putting him in the friend zone.

He laughed. “We’re all deluded, Ellie. Haven’t you read any Camus?”

“Um, sure?” I said hopefully, batting my lashes at him.

“Ellie, are you fluttering your eyelids at me?” he asked curiously.

“Oh my God, no,” I shrieked, humiliated that he’d caught me out. Boys weren’t meant to comment on the lash-flutter. They were barely meant to acknowledge it. Maybe I was doing it wrong.

“Okay.” He grinned. “Clearly I was wrong. Although I could have sworn there was some major fluttering.”

I bit my bottom lip while a flush spread over my cheeks. He smiled at me and leaned in to give me another kiss. I kissed him back, surprised, and tried to calm my nerves. I was ridiculously excited, but also terrified. I just wanted our little pub session to be over so I could stop flirting so appallingly and get home so he could bang me.

He seemed to read my mind. “So, how do you feel about gulping our drinks down and heading back to yours?” I jolted. I didn’t think it would sound so seedy out loud. He saw my expression and quickly added, “That definitely came out wrong. Honestly, I have a surprise for you that I want to show you. Oh man, that came out wrong too. I promise I’m not a total creep and there is a very wholesome reason why I want to go back to yours.” He grinned. “And also some not very wholesome reasons . . .”

I smiled. “Who knew you were so romantic?” I asked, wondering what he could have on him that he wanted to show me.

He gave me another kiss on the lips. “I’m so romantic I’m going to pay for a black cab for us to get all the way there.”

I looked at him in mock astonishment. “Oh my God, you’re going to pay for us to go all the way up the road? You’re surprising me more and more with everything you say.”

We finished our drinks, flirting outrageously, before we finally left. We tried to get a cab, but all the drivers refused when I explained I lived a thirty-second drive up the road. We ended up walking back to mine, laughing all the way. I nervously let him in and we went upstairs. I couldn’t remember the last time my heart had pounded so much and wished we had stayed longer in the pub. I was still way too sober to lose my virginity.

When we arrived, we sat down on my bed and I asked him, “So, what’s this surprise you have for me?”