last thing he said, although I think he truly meant it.
“No, it’s not that,” I said as I started to feel a rush of embarrassment turn my cheeks warm.
Arlo held me gently in both arms and stared into my eyes. “Then what is it?” he asked.
I was so reluctant to tell him. Everything was so wonderful right now. Tonight had been such an emotional roller coaster, but now, finally, everything was perfect. Arlo, my friend for years who I had pined after but never actually thought I could have, was here, holding me in his arms and saying out loud that he wanted to make love to me. I was terrified that if I told him, he would change his mind. Yet I felt like I had to be honest with him.
“Arlo,” I said as I tried to keep my voice from shaking, “I haven’t been with anyone.”
He looked at me in confusion. I didn’t think it was hard to figure out what that meant, but I guessed it was hard to believe that a twenty-three-year-old woman could still be a virgin. He stared at me with a mix of both shock and awe.
“Wait,” he said softly as he lifted one hand to sweep a strand of hair away from my eyes. “Are you telling me that you’ve never slept with anyone? You’ve never had sex?”
I didn’t say anything. I wished that I hadn’t even said anything at all. I wanted to just forget about it now and go back to kissing him. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to sink right through the floor and disappear.
“Hensley, are you still a virgin?”
Well, that wasn’t really a question that I could avoid answering now. It was too late; the cat was already out of the bag. Even so, I didn’t need to say it aloud. Instead, I just nodded.
Arlo’s eyes opened so wide that I could almost see more whites in them than pupils. His mouth parted slightly as if he were just stunned and speechless. So, I did what I always do when I’m in a super awkward and uncomfortable situation; I started to ramble uncontrollably.
“I’ve had boyfriends and stuff. It’s just that all the guys I’ve ever dated turned out to be such assholes, and I didn’t really trust any of them, and I didn’t want to—”
Before I could continue with my disjointed and pitiful attempt at an explanation as to why my virginity remained intact, Arlo put his mouth on mine and pushed his tongue between my parted—and still talking—lips until he had wrapped me back up against him. This time, when he kissed me, there was a fresh urgency to it. This time, it felt like he was driven by a carnal instinct that tried to hold itself in check but was waning with every passing moment.
“Hensley,” he whispered against my mouth without pulling away. His lips brushed against mine as he spoke. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No,” I whispered back.
Arlo lifted me into his embrace, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him more as he carried me into the bedroom. I didn’t want ever to stop kissing him, ever again. I wasn’t sure what this was going to mean for tomorrow, or our friendship, or our new working relationship, but right now, I didn’t even care. I only knew that I wanted to be with Arlo in every possible way that I could. He set me down onto the bed and carefully lifted my shirt over my head. When I tugged at his shirt, he lifted his off as well. Arlo’s body was the most beautifully sculpted perfection that I had ever seen, and I ran my fingers along the muscular lines of his chest as if I were tracing him.
“I have wanted you since the day we first met and every day that we have been friends since,” I said, surprised that the words were even coming out of my mouth. “I just always brushed the thought away because I never thought that you could possibly be interested in me in that way.”
“Hensley, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. Once I realized what I was feeling toward you, I recognized that those feelings had always been there. Why do you think I’ve always been so protective of you? Or so unable to control my jealousy with Cai? Why do you think I want to talk to you every day, even if it’s only over a text?