Chapter Ten
Cole
I wasn’t sure what to do with my newfound information.
Allie was a virgin? What? I almost didn’t believe it, except I didn’t think that she would lie to me about something like that. And now, of course, I found myself feeling bad about this whole bet, doubting myself as to whether or not we should even continue on with it. That would be a pretty shitty thing to do, right?
Obviously, she had her reasons for not sleeping with anyone. Not even hooking up with anyone! She was attractive—more than just attractive—and she lived in the city, where there was no shortage of guys. There would have been plenty of opportunities for her to hook up with someone, or several someones, and she just hadn’t. That told me that it had been a conscious choice, and now here Ben and I were, trying to fuck that up.
Maybe Ben would be understanding of the whole thing, though I doubted it. First, he would probably think I was bullshitting him. Then, once he got past that, he’d see no problem in just keeping things exactly how they were.
I felt a little weird telling him, almost like I was gossiping or some shit, but seeing as what I now knew was affecting how I felt about going forward with this bet, I figured he needed to know.
“She’s a virgin,” I said. It was Sunday night, and we were sitting out on the deck, drinking beer.
Ben guffawed. “Yeah right.”
“That’s what she told me. Why would she lie about that?”
“I don’t know, probably to make herself seem pure or some shit. Can’t you check her for that thing? Just tell her you’re a doctor and you’ll give her a free exam, and then see if she’s got that thing, what’s it called? The uh... the...” He frowned.
“Hymen?” I said.
He snapped his fingers together. “Yeah! That’s it. If she’s allegedly a virgin, she should still have that, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “No,” I said. “That is a complete urban legend.”
“That girls have them?”
“No, they have them, but most wear away by the time they’re teenagers.”
Ben made a face. “Wear away?” He gave me a skeptical look. “I don’t know, man, are you sure about that? Maybe you should examine her just to be sure.”
There was no way in hell I was going to tell him that I had already done that, so I just shook my head.
“So does this change anything?” Ben mused. “With the bet? I don’t think it should. Unless you feel as though deflowering a girl is not within your skill set.”
“I’ve definitely slept with more virgins than you have.”
“Oh, yeah? Like who?”
“I’m not naming names.”
“Names, or it never happened. I don’t think we should change a single thing about this. If anything, you just have the added glory of taking someone’s virginity. And she’s 24; I’d say that’s even more impressive than a 16-year-old or something.”
“I’m not going to sleep with a 16-year-old, for fuck’s sake.”
“Yeah, I know you’re not; that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying bagging Allie would be better than bagging some 16-year-old.” He laughed. “Shit, we’re getting old. I still feel like I’m 17, though.”
“I do too, sometimes. But we’re not teenagers. Maybe though... maybe it would be better if we just called the whole thing off.”
“What? Why? You really don’t think you can pull it off, do you?”
“That’s not it at all. It’s just... it’s a little fucked, isn’t it? This whole thing? For her to lose her virginity because of some bet? That seems like something we would’ve done when we’re teenagers, and, since we’re not, maybe we should just call the whole thing off.”
“You’re just trying to get out of it,” Ben said. “You, who supposedly loves a good bet and doesn’t think he can lose, you are just looking for a way to get out of this because you know deep down that you can’t do it. Ha!”
“That’s not it, you fuckwad,” I said. “It just seems that someone who has managed to hold onto her virginity for this long should maybe not lose it just based on a stupid bet.”
“What are you talking about? There are plenty of girls walking around who are Allie’s age—and older—that are still virgins. I just saw one at the store the other day. She was about 40 pounds overweight and had a serious moustache.”
“Stop,” I said.
“I’m serious. And not only that, she also had—”
“I believe you,” I said, “I just don’t need you to elaborate about it anymore. What if we call it off, but I’ll still take you to whatever fucking game it is you want? How does that sound?”
“That sounds great, but it also sounds like you know that you’re just not going to be able to pull it off.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know, it just seems...it seems like a shitty thing to do.”
“To sleep with her? Fuck, man, you must suck in bed.”
“It just seems like when she loses her virginity it should be, you know, special.”
Ben let out a hoot. “What is this, a Lifetime movie or some shit? Are you one of those people who secretly believes that you should only have sex if you’re really in love with the person? Because if that was the case, I’d probably still be a virgin, too.”
“I’m not saying it has to be this huge, romantic, in-love sort of thing.”
“Oh, yeah? Because that’s what it sounds like. Are you really that concerned about it? I think the real thing that’s going on here is the fact that you just don’t think you can win. The fact that she’s a virgin means she’s spent a shitload of time not being with any guy, and she doesn’t really seem like that attitude is going to change. At least that’s the impression I got from her when we hung out. And I think you’re realizing that you’re just not going to be able to do it, either. Which is fine and all, but I think we should acknowledge the fact that this is ending not because you’re being a gentleman about it, but because you know you’re not going to win.”
The thing was, though, I knew I could actually do it. One hundred percent knew it. And I couldn’t stand the fucking smirk on his face. Ben was my best friend, but I hated that he was sitting there thinking that he had won something, that he had found something that I couldn’t do. I should be the adult here, the grown-up, the 31-year-old man, not the 17-year-old that was apparently still residing inside of me, too, but that part of me simply couldn’t back down from a challenge like this, especially since it’s one that we had already agreed upon. It would make me look like I was the scared I wouldn’t be able to do it, even though that wasn’t the case at all.
“Fine,” I said. “We can keep everything exactly how it is. Nothing changes.”
He grinned. “Atta boy,” he said. “Now, you’re talking.”