“Eric will be there,” Lauren baited her and brought her back to the present. “You know he likes you.”
Portia felt her cheeks flame and wished that her vampire side prevented her from blushing, but unfortunately only full-blooded vampires didn’t blush. As so often before, she covered her insecurity about guys with an offhanded remark. “You know he’s not all that hot. I’ve been with more exciting guys before.”
What a big lie that was! She’d never had a boyfriend, but not even Lauren knew that. Despite the fact that they were friends, Portia still hadn’t been able to confide in her that the prospect of getting naked with a guy not only made her nervous, but terrified her.
“Not hot? You’re kidding me. Eric is pretty much the number one heartthrob on campus.”
“Shh, not so loud,” Portia cautioned. “I don't need everybody hearing us talking about him.” She cast a nervous look over her shoulder, hoping none of Eric’s friends were close.
Lauren put her hand on her arm, making Portia halt in midstride. She turned to look at her friend, wondering why Lauren suddenly gave her this penetrating look. “What?”
Lauren’s eyes bored into her. “Oh, my God, why didn’t I see this earlier?”
“Hey, move along, or get out of my way,” an impatient voice ordered from behind.
Portia stepped aside to get out of the person’s way when Lauren dragged her into the closest doorway.
“What are you doing?” Portia protested.
“We’ve gotta talk,” Lauren insisted as she darted cautious looks down the corridor as if about to reveal a big secret. She opened the door to a small study room and, finding it empty, virtually pushed Portia inside, shutting the door behind her.
“Lauren, I’ve got another class in five minutes.” Portia glanced impatiently at her wristwatch and hugged her bag to her chest. “I’ve already told you that I can’t go to the party because of that criminal psychology test. Honestly, I’ve been to plenty of parties in my life, and they’re all the same. It really gets boring after a while. So don’t be a nag.”
Lauren blew out an impatient breath. “Forget the party. This is more important.”
More important than a party when all Lauren lived for at present was entertainment? Listening to this was definitely worth being late for her next class. “What changed your tune?”
“Tell me about your last boyfriend.” Lauren’s casual tone belied the intense look in her eyes, as if she were a tigress waiting to pounce on her prey.
Portia furrowed her forehead, wondering what her friend was suddenly so interested in. “There’s really nothing much to tell. Why do you want to know about him?”
“Just answer the question.”
“He was nice. We went out for a few months, we broke up, I moved. End of story.”
“Oh, yeah? How was the sex?”
Instinctively, Portia’s body tensed, and she pulled her bag closer to her chest. “It was fine.”
“Fine, huh? Not hot, not exciting, not sweaty, not earth moving?”
Unease crept up Portia's spine at Lauren’s insistent question. “What do you want, Lauren?”
“You’ve never had sex.”
Portia took an instinctive step back, crashing into the desk behind her. She quickly steadied herself, forcing her face into an indifferent mask she used when she wasn’t prepared to exposed her feelings.
“That’s ... that’s ludicrous. Of course, I’ve had sex.” Admitting that she hadn’t and that she was a total innocent, was just too humiliating.
“I can tell when you’re lying. Your eyes do this thing ...” Lauren made a circular motion with her hand. “Anyway, I know you well enough by now to have figured that out.”
Portia let out a sigh. Somebody had finally caught her in her deception. And there she’d thought she’d played this role well enough: she’d pretended to be worldly and sophisticated, and whenever the subject of guys and sex came up in conversation, she’d talked as if she knew everything about it. She’d gone so far as to read everything about it, and even to chime in when other girls talked about their preferred brand of condoms. What a huge lie all that had been. And she’d done it so that nobody would think her odd; so she’d fit in, when she knew she didn’t.
Lauren waited patiently and flicked a strand of her long chestnut hair over her shoulder, drawing Portia’s attention to her graceful neck and the pretty head that sat on top of it. Raising her eyes to meet Lauren’s, she collected all her courage. “I’m still a virgin.”