My roommate and best friend rubbed at angry red eyes and accused, “Why did you let me drink?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Let you drink. You dragged me to that place last night.”

Megan rolled her eyes. “You never want to have fun. I'm surprised you lasted that long at the University of Maryland.” I hadn't, in actuality. “Now, they know how to party.”

She exaggerated the sentence like she had inside information.

“How would you know?”

She’d attended school here at McClain all four years.

She circled a finger in the air. “Oh, I have my ways.” She glanced at herself in the full-length mirror. “But I'll forgive you, you being homeschooled and all. Though all the other homeschoolers I know go ape shit crazy as soon as they get out from under their parents. Yet you…”

“I'm boring,” I answered.

“Yeah, but I love you.” She turned to face me, pinning me with big brown eyes. “Are you going to lay out with me today?” I sighed. “Come on. Maybe some sun will help take away some of that crabbiness.” When I didn't answer, she added, “Gavin might be down there.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes.

“It’s Gavin now? Who’s next?”

She poked out a lip. “I have to make up for lost time. That asshole took away three of my best years.”

The asshole was her ex, who she’d started dating within weeks of her freshman year. He’d decided that things were getting way too serious and wanted a break. Gavin was just the next distraction.

Lowering her voice as if she were sharing a secret, she added, “And that hot friend of his with that sexy scruff had goo-goo eyes for you.”

She clawed a hand in the air and made growly sounds to punctuate her words.

I rolled my eyes. The guy in question was so full of himself. Even if I wanted to go there with any guy, he’d be the last one on earth.

“I'm not interested.”

She blew out a long breath. “When are you ever interested? Are you a lesbian? You know it’s okay. I'm cool with it. I've kissed a girl once or twice.”

I pushed my hair away from my face so I could look her squarely in the eye. “I'm not a lesbian.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you a virgin, then?”

It wasn’t as though I was ashamed of my status, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

“Why the twenty questions?”

She shrugged. “I'm just curious. Gavin's friend was way hot. We had the best two guys in the bar and you didn't bat an eye.”

He was hot. Tall with a face and body that gave me butterflies—the top two reasons why I needed to stay far far away from a guy like him.

If he was single, it probably meant either he only wanted to hook up, or other girls realized he was an asshole. Either way, I wasn't interested.

Though I couldn’t admit any of that to my best friend. God bless her, she’d pounce with her need to help me and my nonexistent social life. She wouldn’t give up until I went out with him. So I gave her the only excuse I had.

“You know I have a loaded schedule so I can graduate. I don't have time for boys who probably rate low on the maturity scale.”

I angled my head to look down at my book, not meeting her eye. My hair spilled over my shoulder and shielded me from her view.

“You sound like my mother.” She pointed a finger at me. “You need to spend more time hanging out with people your own age.”

It wasn't as if I needed to fit in. At the same time, I worried that Mom's crazy had rubbed off on me over the years, which made it even more important not to be a total loser.

I wasn't a fan of the water. That made my choice in schools strange. It sat so close to the Chesapeake Bay you could walk to it. In the end, I decided to give in to her request.

“Fine, I'll lay out with you today.” If only to get her to stop asking questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

She beamed. “And you promise be nice if we run into Gavin?”

“I'll be nice, but that doesn't mean I'm hooking up with his friend. No judgment on whatever you do with Gavin.”

I meant what I said about not needing a guy in my life. In fact, it was the last thing I wanted.

Not to mention the incessant lectures Mom had given me over the years, warning me about the dangers of boys—and men for that matter—ringing in my head. Dad had to practically fight with her on my behalf to let me go live on campus when it was time for college. Although U of M had been a mistake, Mom's smothering had encouraged me to try again. This time I’d chosen a smaller school. With the help of professors and the school administration, I was on track to graduate on time. But I had no room in my schedule to spare.

“Reagan?”

Megan's fingers snapped in my face.

I blinked, lost in my own thoughts. “Yes.”

“Are you coming or what?”

Giving in, I moved to my closet to find a bathing suit to wear.