Virgin(79)

I yawned and got out my phone to see if Jack had messaged me, but then Emma walked in. She was wearing a sparkly silver dress with shoulder pads and looked stunning. She was holding Sergio’s arm. He looked different out of his waiter’s uniform.

“Ellie!” she shrieked, not caring who turned to stare, even though Luke was definitely too preoccupied to hear her shriek. She enveloped me in a big hug and pulled Sergio’s sleeve to get his attention. As if she’d lost it. “Serge, you remember Ellie, right?”

“Hey,” he said warmly, giving me a hug as well. I hugged him back stiffly.

“So, where’s Lara?” asked Emma impatiently. “I can’t wait to finally meet her. Also, I’m so glad you guys have made up and I promise I’ll love her.”

I sighed and pointed across the kitchen to Lara and Luke. “She’s already hooking up with someone.”

“Lara!” Emma said delightedly, tapping her shoulder and beaming. “I probably don’t need an introduction, seeing as I’m Ellie’s only other friend who isn’t you, but I’m Emma.”

Lara spun round and grinned. “Emma, of course,” she cried. As they hugged, I realized my two best friends were both blond and thinner than me. I was also starting to realize why the prosecco had been reduced to half price. I ran to the sink, pushing past Luke, and helped myself to a glass of tap water.

I downed it quickly and refilled it. I turned back to the girls. “So nice to meet you at last,” said Lara, smiling prettily, totally oblivious to Luke making puppy eyes behind her.

“You too,” said Emma warmly. “We already have so much in common and I’m so impressed you managed to pick someone up within three minutes of getting here. You know, Luke’s been staring at your arse this whole time,” she added matter-of-factly.

Lara let out a burst of shocked laughter and whirled around to see Luke turning a deep shade of mauve. “Fuck off, Emma,” he muttered, and walked out of the kitchen, shaking his head.

I turned to face them all, feeling sick. “I don’t feel very well,” I announced.

“Yeah, you don’t look great,” confirmed Lara.

“Well, you’d better make yourself look a bit better,” Emma told me, “because Mr. Lover Boy has just walked in.”

I turned around to see Jack standing in the entrance of the kitchen, chatting to Eric and hugging Hannah. He hadn’t seen me yet. I faced the girls, my eyes wild and bright. “Oh my God, that’s him,” I whispered, panicking. “Do I look disgusting? Lara, do you think he’s fit? Oh my God, has he seen me? Help!” I said urgently as I grasped both their forearms.

“Seriously, what is this thing you have about hurting my arm?” whined Lara as she pulled her arm away and stroked it. I stared at her angrily.

“Oh, all right,” she said calmly, flattening her hair with her hand. “You look fine, he looks fine and you’re going to be totally fine. Turn around and go get him.”

Emma nodded her assent and leaned against Sergio’s tall, silent body as I nervously walked towards the kitchen door. Thank God he had come. My nerves started to fade away and I forgot about the prosecco bubbles that had been defying gravity by making their way up my esophagus.

“Jack, hey,” I said, trying to sound sexy and mysterious and cool as I tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around and his face lit up. I pulled my lips into a pout to stop them from turning into a ridiculously wide smile. “Ellie,” he said, wrapping me in a hug. I closed my eyes and grinned as I thought about the last time we had been so close. Without any clothes between us. And his penis inside— “How have you been?” he asked, pulling away from me and bringing the hug to an abrupt end.

“Good,” I replied with what I hoped wasn’t a needy smile. What sort of things did girls say to make boys ask them out? I racked my brains. “I finished my dissertation.”

“Right, hence the ‘end of dissertation’ party.” He grinned. “Hey, you should come meet Eric.”

“Okay,” I said happily. He was willingly introducing me to his best friend. Hel-lo, progress.

“Eric, this is Ellie,” he said, and Eric turned around to look at me. Except he didn’t just look at me. He looked me up and down, taking in every inch of my outfit. He was testing me.

“Hey,” he said coldly. The tone of his voice suggested I’d failed part one. I knew I should have worn something vintage. “Jack told me about you,” he continued. “So, do you know my girlfriend, Hannah?”

Okay, a question. That was definitely a second chance. I gave him my most winning smile. “Yeah, we do English together. She’s in my Chaucer module.”