Pretend I'm Yours (Pretend 1)

1

Larkyn

“I can’t do this,” I say, as Serena and I walk toward the front door of Sebastian’s party.

Serena cuts her eyes to me. “You can totally do this.”

I’m a twenty-two-year-old virgin. Tonight that changes.

I spent all afternoon scrolling through the ridiculously small number of men on my phone. Danny, Alan, Gavin, and Pat. None of them are great options to accomplish the deed. Danny is too short. Alan is too nice, and I think has a girlfriend. Gavin is hung up on Serena, and I don’t want to sleep with him so that he can make Serena jealous. And Pat is not an option for so many reasons. But I need to find someone. Hence, why I’m attempting to get into the most exclusive party of the year. To find Mr. Perfect. I will not graduate from college next month still a virgin.

Who am I kidding? I once thought it mattered who the guy was. I wanted the ideal guy, to be in love. I wanted flowers and a sunset, followed by wine, candles, and a man who adored me and wanted my first time to be special. After four years of dating and no guy coming close to the picture I painted in my head, I’m desperate.

I want sex.

Maybe my first time won’t be fantastic, but then I can experience a second or third time. And eventually, I’ll meet a guy to give me the toe-curling moment I only dream about now.

I stumble again in my heels, and Serena takes my hand and rests it on her arm. “Well, you can as long as you don’t fall flat on your face first.” She chuckles. “Although, if you fell and showed the bouncer you aren’t wearing any underwear, we wouldn’t have any trouble getting in either. So, it doesn’t matter what you do.”

I glare at her. “Well, that wouldn’t work because I’m wearing underwear. And I would like the school to not think of me as a laughing stock.”

“Who cares if they do? We graduate in less than a month, and you won’t have to see any of these people ever again.”

I take a deep breath, letting the air fill my lungs before slowly exhaling. Serena’s right. I can do this.

We strut, arm in arm, up the long driveway to the door. We get behind a group of loud girls chatting excitedly. I recognize them. They are in a sorority, and no doubt were invited. They are all in short, expensive dresses that accentuate their bodies and show how much money they are from. They don’t flirt their way in. They are invited in.

We are next, and my stomach is doing flips. My legs are shaky, and not just because of the heels my feet aren’t used to being shoved in. My heart is fluttering a million miles a minute in my chest. I should have taken a shot with Serena before we came.

“Name?” the tall man asks.

“Serena Toomer and Larkyn Day.”

He scans his list, not bothering to glance at us. Our plan isn’t going to work.

“Your names aren’t listed,” he says.

“Let’s go,” I whisper to Serena.

She ignores me, looking past the bouncer, who won’t be seduced since he won’t stop staring at his clipboard.

“Sebastian!” she shouts.

My eyes widen in fear. “What are you doing?” I hiss.

“Getting you in so you can get laid.”

Sebastian turns in our direction and grins at us goofily. He doesn’t know either of us, but Serena smiles at him and his eyes drag over my low-cut dress, and suddenly he’s walking our way.

“Hey!” Sebastian says, and my heart sinks. I bite my bottom lip to keep from drooling. He’s hot in his dark jeans and buttoned down shirt, which is open at the top, revealing his muscular chest. All he said was ’hey,’ and my body reacts like he said the most charming pickup line. I need to get laid, so I stop fawning over every guy like this.