Veil of Scars Read Online Free PDF Page B

go then?" I tried to get up, but Charlie put a hand on my thigh.
    “Damn it, Sam!” She set her jaw and gave him the same look she'd given him when he’d tried to quit the swim team our junior year because we’d gotten a new coach. She’d sat him down and told him that he would be better because of it and that he was not allowed to quit.
    Now I knew it was serious.
    My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I settled back into my seat.
    "You wanted this." She glared at Sam as he walked over like a kicked puppy and took a seat in the chair facing us.
    "If you two need to talk this out, I can come back." I played with my lip ring, wishing I had gone to the library or something.
    She patted my thigh. "No, babe. You didn't do anything wrong. Sam is nervous." She shot him another look, but he kept his eyes on his hands in his lap.
    "About?"
    "We wanted to talk to you about sex."
    I screwed up my face and shot her a look. "Is this about the other night? If so…" I looked at him, and he vigorously shook his head from side to side.
    "The other night?" She looked at her boyfriend then back to me.
    We both avoided her eyes.
    Charlie went on when we didn't answer. “No. We wanted to ask you how you feel about sex.”
    "Ummm, I know my parents are kind of fucked. I never got the talk, but I know how it works." I didn't know what she was getting at, and the pit in my stomach told me I needed to bail.
    "I figured you had that much, but you've never dated anyone or had a girlfriend." She paused for a second and looked at me with those warm, welcoming eyes. "Or a boyfriend." Now I knew Sam had told her about my confession, and I grew red hot in the face.
    I pushed the heels of my hands into my eye sockets and wished I was anywhere else. "You really don't need to do this. I screwed up. Can't we just go back to the way things were?”
    "That's not what this is about," Sam offered.
    I let out a slow breath. "Then why are you guys giving me the third degree about sex?"
    Charlie’s porcelain cheeks pinked up. I narrowed my eyes and gave her a hard once-over. Was she embarrassed?
    "We want to know what you think about it.” She turned a little, angling her body so she could look me in the eyes.
    "I've told you before. I've never really seen the appeal." I half shrugged because it was true. I’d thought about what it would be like with Sam after I realized how I felt, but that was still so new. There was some pleasure to be had, but I didn’t get the point. The idea didn’t turn me on, but the thought of being so close to Sam was the draw.
    "Have you ever tried it?" Charlie asked before I closed my mouth.
    “No. But I would have, like everyone else, if I’d wanted to."
    "How do you know you don't like it unless you try it?" She was running point like a detective, and it didn’t surprise me one bit. "Sometimes you need a kick start."
    "Dating is too much work." I shook my head. "I want to focus on school."
    "What if it was easy and with people you trusted?” she said, her voice softer this time.
    Something seemed to settle in my mind, and an uneasiness began to grow as I looked between the two of them. "What do you mean?”
    "With us." Her voice had dropped to an almost whisper.
    I glanced over at Sam who had sucked his full lower lip into his mouth and was biting down on it. His eyes spoke something that wasn't said as I held his gaze for a long moment. He nodded slightly and shrugged.
    I turned back to Charlie. "Whose idea was this?"
    She rocked in her seat and looked down at her Converse. "Well, it was Sam's."
    I knew it. I put my face in my hands, unable to make eye contact with either of them.
    "But we've been talking about it. Since we've only been with one another, we both don't want to share unless it's with each other, and who is safer than our best friend? So I thought it was a good idea," she continued.
    But I had a hunch there was more to this than either of them were letting on. I couldn't believe that Sam had really