NINETEEN

I see him raise an eyebrow, but he doesn’t ask, letting me elaborate myself.

“We lived in a really small town in Iowa when I was a kid. Our cinema was just one room, like this one. I think I was fourteen, maybe? This boy, Brandon, took me to that Miley Cyrus movie, the romantic one.”

I could see he was grinning under the mask. “Any good?”

“It was so boring.” I laugh when he does, turning my eyes down to my fiddling fingers in my lap because when I stare for too long I’m painfully aware of how close he is. “I think he just assumed I’d want to see a movie like that. He didn’t really know me very well.”

“You said your cinema only had one room, there must not have been many options, to be fair to Brandon.” Even though Lex was defending him, he said the boy’s name with emphasis to tease me further. I can’t help giggling again.

“You’re right. I remember that Repo Men was playing though and how I would have preferred to see that. Maybe that wasn’t even possible though, pretty sure that movie was rated R.” When the look in Lex’s eyes shifts to judgment, I add playfully, “I had a huge crush on Jude Law.”

He’s too quick with his comeback. “So you have a thing for European men.”

I react before I can stop myself, elbowing him in the ribs, though the physical punishment does nothing but make him laugh, the arm on the back of my chair shifting closer around my shoulders when he flinches a little away from me.

“I’m sure your first date was nothing to brag about either.” I try to bring the actual topic back, and steer away from my preference in men.

He hums, considering, then shrugs. “I haven’t really been on a date before.”

“Yeah right. How is that even possible?” At his age? With the way he… looks. I mean, it was him who’d declared that we wouldn’t even be able to handle his stunning handsomeness hidden under the mask. I snort in disbelief, at the ridiculousness of both ideas.

He shrugs again, but I can tell he’s grinning. “I guess I’m shy,” he answers, quoting Mikey from the same conversation, back in the taxi. 

I can’t help but laugh again, but allow myself to accept that he’s telling the truth, then gasp after another moment of thought. “Wait. Does that mean…” I pause, and lower my voice before continuing, “Are you a virgin?”

I can’t help the emphasis I put on the word. Like it’s shameful. It’s not, of course, but I’m so shocked by the idea that I can’t help but feel like I shouldn’t just shout the question.

He chuckles at me, but lowers his head a bit to look at his knees, his face shifting under the mask just slightly. Have I embarrassed him? 

“I’m not a virgin. There’s been a few… opportunities for that.” He’s not as comfortable talking about this as he is other things, I notice immediately as his thigh bounces a few times with the shift of energy. He seems to find his boldness though after a moment, when he chooses to add coyly, “A couple of girls, and a guy.”

He’s already laughing at me when my expression clearly shows my shock. And now I’m the embarrassed one. Maybe that had been his intention, throwing the discomfort back to me to see me squirm a little. I bury my face in my hands and offer a groan at myself as I apologize. “Sorry, I just… I didn’t expect that.”

He brushes off the apology. “I don’t exactly announce it to people.” 

But he was telling me. Even if it was just to make me uncomfortable for a moment, he chose to share that. And my reaction matters, I can tell because his leg bounces again when I let the silence linger a little too long. 

I consider for a moment, while looking out at Nico and Mikey again, who seem to be acting out a scene from Top Gun now on “stage” behind where the film screen would have been. Finally, I smirk as a casual quip comes to me. “Any Stalkers?”

Seeming to put together my suggestion with where my eyes had lingered, Lex can’t help but throw his head back in a genuine laugh, his hand moving to his stomach to clutch his ribs. I grin with him, the reaction answering the question pretty definitively, but he confirms after getting a hold of himself. “No Stalkers. Yet.” 

He knows exactly what he’s done with his addition, because he’s already smirking behind his mask when my face shows my shock again. He could have let me sit with that a lot longer, but offers the punchline to ease my discomfort. A casual shrug of consideration, then, “If Mikey was down…”

I’ve buried my face in my hands again to stifle my embarrassment and giggles, only making him laugh harder at me. Shy, he says. Shy my ass…

Finally settling once more in my chair from all the joking, I can feel his fingers hanging over the back of it, and they graze my arm just barely. I try not to be so hyper aware of the touch, despite it making that whole side of my body warm. 

“Your turn.” He uses that hand to nudge me encouragingly, clearly aware it was there, but maybe not as aware of what it was doing to me. What this discussion was doing. I kind of wish I hadn’t brought it up. But I was insatiable curious as well. 

So, I offered a bit of myself also. He deserved it after that secret. “I’ve dated. I dunno though. It always felt more like just what’s expected. The relationships were always a bit hollow. I don’t think any of the guys I’ve been with have known me very well.” It all sounds more serious than I intend, so to dismiss his rather intense look with a smile and a shake of my head, adding, “Maybe that’s a bit my fault though. I think I’m still figuring myself out as well.”

“That’s why just sex is better because there’s no obligation in the morning for you to be the same person you were the night before.” His comment is clearly much more about defending his obvious issues with commitment, but he says it slyly like it’s another suggestion I’m meant to read into. 

I narrow my eyes and give him an unimpressed look, letting my skepticism leak out into the tone of my response. “Maybe you’re right. I should just sleep with someone. No strings. No pressure.” He glances out of the corner of his eye at me, but can tell I’m not serious due to my sarcasm so he restrains a proper reaction until I add my own punchline. “I’m sure Mikey prefers women…”

I feel the hand at my arm twitch, and I fight the smirk threatening my face. Lex recovers with his own sly retort, though. “I will literally fight you for him.”

“Mike–” I’ve immediately raised my voice to call for the other boy, intending to call Lex’s bluff in the process, but that twitching hand cups around my mouth before I can even get the full nickname out, and I’m cackling instead behind Lex’s tightly clasped fingers smothering my whole face.

It was enough to get Mikey’s attention though, and he turns to us from across the room, so Lex has to make an excuse. “I think Evie needs lunch, she’s getting those delusional giggles again.”