Page 79 of Talk Swoony to Me
“You wouldn’t?”
Drew shifts to sit next to me on the door. “I’m not getting it from anyone right now. It hasn’t even crossed my mind.”
“It hasn’t?” I ask.
“Of course not.”
“Then you don’t want to do it… with me?”
He grins. “Oh, I would very much like to do it with you. In fact, a significant portion of my days lately has been reserved to imagining that in very vivid detail. What I meant was that I haven’t thought about doing it with anyone… but you.”
My lips twitch. “Really?”
He takes my hand. “Am I used to a certain type of girl living in the Delta Xi house? Sure. But don’t think that’s who I want you to be. If I wanted to date girls like that, I’d be dating girls like that. There’s nothing about you so far that I don’t like, so you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. She wouldn’t be nearly as interesting as you are.”
“I’m not that special,” I say.
“You’re sweet,” he says. “And talented. And adorably silly and awkward, but that just makes me like you more.”
I deflate. “I’m a virgin, too.”
Drew nods. “Yeah, I sort of figured as much when you dug your nails into my scrotum.”
I cover my cringing face. “Oh, god…”
He laughs as he guides my hands back down. “Heidi, I don’t care that you’re still a virgin.”
“You don’t?”
“No. Can I tell you a secret?”
“What?” I ask.
He leans in close. “I was a freshman virgin, too.”
My mouth sags. “No, you weren’t.”
“Yup.”
“You?”
“I didn’t really date much in high school,” he says. “There were people who were interested, I guess, but they never seemed interested in me. I was always Glenn’s kid or Melanie’s little brother. That’s one reason why I didn’t want to keep living at home for college, even though my parents literally live like ten miles from campus. I moved out and into the dorms and I was just… Drew.” He looks at me and smiles. “It was nice, you know? No bias. No expectations. I could just… be me.”
“That sounds nice,” I say, thinking of me and Jenna. “So, when did you…?”
“About two weeks into the fall semester,” he answers. “Some girl at a Delta Xi party, actually. Rush week.”
“That’s… nice.”
“Eh.” He shrugs. “If I could go back… I’d probably do it all again. Who am I kidding?”
We chuckle.
“But it wasn’t anything special,” he says. “I don’t even think I was ready for it. I just did it to do it.”
I exhale hard as I glance at my still prominent cleavage. “Well, after tonight, I can definitely say that I am not ready for it, either.”
“That’s okay with me,” he says. “Honestly, I’m a little relieved. I’m not ready, either.”