Playing With Fire (Tangled in Texas #2) - Alison Bliss Page 0,79

I lost my virginity a long time ago. I don’t know why you consider that such an affront to your masculinity, but if it’s such a problem that I’m not the pure woman you assumed I was, then I don’t need you.”

“So you expected to drop something like this on me and not allow me to have time to process it?”

“There’s nothing to process. My past experiences are my own, and unless you’re willing to bare your dating lifespan to me, then it’s none of your business what I did or who I did it with.”

“Fine!”

“Fine!” I yelled back.

He grabbed his hat off the coffee table, turned on his heel, and stormed out to his truck. Throwing it in drive, he peeled out, spitting gravel across my lawn while stirring up a cloud of dust. Stumped by his anger, I slammed the door and sank into my couch. Well, just great.

I’d thought the night would’ve ended differently. Prince Charming was supposed to sweep me off my feet and carry me to bed. But that just goes to show why I’d never believed in fairy tales to begin with. The prince isn’t always charming and the princess isn’t always a virgin.

The next night, Bobbie Jo and Emily squeezed through the crowd of the bar and hurried toward me. They took a seat at the little round table in the corner that I’d been holding for us.

“We got here as fast as we could,” Bobbie Jo said. “What’s wrong?”

“I just needed someone to talk to.”

“But you said to come quick,” Emily said. “What’s the big emergency?”

“Well, I…uh…” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I want to have sex with Cowboy,” I blurted out.

Emily laughed. “Who doesn’t?”

“No, let me rephrase. I’m going to have sex with Cowboy…er, well I thought I was, anyway.”

Bobbie Jo shook her head. “Oh, Lord, I can’t believe you drank the Cowboy Kool-Aid.” Guess Emily hadn’t filled her in yet.

“It’s always the quiet ones,” Emily said, grinning. “So I guess last night didn’t go as planned?”

I blushed, not knowing how to explain the situation to them and maintain any bit of dignity I had left. “I think I made a mistake.”

“What do you mean you made a mistake? What’d he do to you?” Bobbie Jo asked, looking like she was about to send out an all-girl mob to remove Cowboy’s testicles.

“He didn’t do anything. That’s the problem.” My cheeks grew hotter. “I tried to seduce him and…well, he rejected me.”

Both girls blinked, as if I’d just told them aliens had taken over the planet. “Really?” Bobbie Jo asked.

Emily shook her head adamantly. “I didn’t think he was capable of turning down sex. Are you sure he understood what you were offering?”

“Oh, he understood, all right. And he turned me down flat.”

“Well, then it’s his loss. Right, Bobbie Jo?” Emily paused, waiting for a response, but when none came, she elbowed her friend. “Bobbie Jo?”

“Really?” Bobbie Jo said again, clearly still not believing Cowboy shot down a female offering him sex.

I sighed. “Who am I kidding? Obviously, I’m the first girl he’s ever turned down. Whatever. It’s not like I would really know how to please a man like him, anyway.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Bobbie Jo said, her eyes filling with pity. “You don’t have to be embarrassed by your shortcomings in that department. We’ve all been a virgin at some point, Anna. It’s natural to want to—”

“Why is everyone assuming I’m a virgin?”

Emily keeled over with laughter. “Holy shit! You’re not?”

God, I wished I had a hole to crawl into. “You know, just because I don’t look like one of those centerfold girls doesn’t mean I haven’t had offers.” I rose from my chair and grabbed my purse. “Never mind. This whole thing is embarrassing enough without being laughed at.”

Emily looked like a dog that had done something terribly wrong. Her eyes widened as her mouth drooped into a frown. “Oh, Anna. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were this upset. Please don’t go.” Her warm hand captured mine. “I’m probably not the best one to talk to about this stuff. Maybe I should leave and let you talk to Bobbie Jo alone.”

I plopped back down into my chair. “No. It’s not you. I’m the one who should apologize. I guess I’m still a little worked up from my encounter with him last night.” And possibly even more on edge after finding another hostile note with horrid grammar in my mailbox earlier today: Bridges don’t burn theirselves. I