Too Much To Hide || EDITING

c.17

      I attempt to feed James a clump of mashed potato while Nathan recites an adventurous tale he and Adrian experienced. The man is off on a roll, brandishing his spoon to show off his bravery.

      "Then you won't believe what he said," Nathan gasps as his spoon almost smacks Adrian in the arm. "If you weren't such a fucki—"

      "There's a child here," I say quickly, my brows creased. Nathan stops his story abruptly and stares at James, who innocently chews on his mashed potato.

      "Shame you had to go and do the devil's tango with that redhead." Nathan shakes his head and slurps a spoon of vegetable soup. 

      Adrian scowls at his best friend.

      "I suggest we move on from her," he mutters deeply. Deep voice equals angry Adrian.

      "Yeah, yeah, but come on, man. She was a sight for sore eyes." Nathan sighs and stirs his bowl of soup.

      Adrian frowns at Nathan, his look giving off a warning that scares me even though I'm on the opposite side of the kitchen island. Nathan seems to get the gist because he hastily clears his throat and turns to me.

      "So, uh, Liz," he begins and plasters a recovery smile, "got any sexcapades?"

      "Sexcapades?" I repeat slowly, trying not to laugh at the word.

      "Yeah—don't tell me you're a virgin." Nathan deadpans, his eyes widening.

      "God damn it, Nat!" Adrian shouts incredulously, highly disturbed by the conversation.

      "What?" Nathan says just as loud but with a challenging smirk on his face. 

      I laugh at the boys and James follows, giggling softly. 

      "Uh, no," I cough and blush at the subject, "I'm not a virgin."

      Adrian raises a surprised eyebrow at my confession, whereas Nathan whistles and claps encouragingly.

      "That's what I'm talking about, Liz! So, care to spill the details?"

      "Details?" My cheeks heat up as my memories come flooding back to me. I shudder.

      "You don't have to," Adrian growls while looking at Nathan.

      "Why doesn't she? It's old news," Nathan shrugs it off and looks at me expectantly.

      I laugh nervously. "Uh, well, I was eighteen,"

      "Cute," Nathan provides a goofy smile and rests his chin on the heel of his palm as he listens attentively to my story. Even Adrian has gone quiet, staring at me with an unreadable expression.

      "I went to a frat party with my sorority, since we were invited, and um, yeah," I chew my bottom lip.

      "What are the odds of that?" Nathan grins. "Well? What was it like?"

      "Nosy bastard." Adrian mutters, looking away from us. He rests his forearms on the counter but from where I'm sitting, I can see his knuckles curled up, whitening by the second.

      "Well," I snap out of it and shake my head. "I don't know. It was okay? That was my first and only time."

      "Safe or unsafe?"

      "Safe." My conscience is going into an override from recollecting all the memories of my tragic teen years. Beside me, James has made a mess of his meal, having flung most of it around and gotten it on his fingers.