“Reid, I’m not being silly. It’s been over four hours, and I still can’t reach Kennedy!”

She sounded frantic, and close to losing it. With a frown, I cleared my throat. “Jade?”

Her head whipped around, and her expression morphed into one of relief.

“Oh thank God! Reid, she’s here!” She ended her call, and crossed the floor to engulf me in a hug.

“Where the hell have you been?” She asked, her voice cracking. She pulled back, and looked at me with watery eyes. “I’ve been trying to call you for hours, and your phone was off, and I was worried sick, and why – what did you do to your hair??”

Jade switched gears from worried to shocked faster than I could blink, and I fought the laugh bubbling up in my throat. She was obviously worried, but I couldn’t understand why.

“I went into town. Didn’t you get my note?”

“No,” she sniffled, letting go of her vice grip on my arms. “I thought you went to class, and then when I couldn’t get ahold of you I panicked. Anyway,” she shook her head, “We have something more pressing to deal with right now. What’s up with your hair?”

My mouth tipped into a face-splitting grin. “Do you like it?”

Grady hadn’t spoken yet, but he rose from the sofa, and joined us where we’d congregated at the front door. “Honey bee, whatever the date with my brother did to you, it looks fabulous!”

“Good,” I replied confidently. “It was time for a change.”

And what a change it had turned out to be, for my hair at least. I’d gone to a salon, and after going through hair magazine after hair magazine, the hairstylist, Ziggy, had convinced me to be a little more daring than I’d originally planned. He dyed my hair what he called Marilyn blonde, making it look lighter than my natural hair color, and tinted the ends a light purple. I’d never been adventurous, but when I saw my reflection, I fell in love with the new look.

“Don’t you like it?” I asked Jade. Not that it really mattered. It was the first time I’d ever done something for myself, and while it might have seemed insignificant to other people, it wasn’t to me.

With pursed lips, Jade folded her arms across her chest, and replied, “I don’t know. I’m trying to decide.”

Grady rolled his eyes. “Ignore her. She’s grumpier than usual this morning. I’m still trying to figure out what crawled up her ass and died.” He sauntered to the kitchen, and started making a fresh pot of coffee.

I smiled, undeterred by Jade’s less than enthusiastic response, and placed my shopping bags next to the kitchen counter. “Does your mood have anything to do with why you drank so much tequila last night?”

Jade plopped down on the barstool next to me. “No. I just wanted to have a good time, why’s that such a bad thing?” She snapped.

“Whoa,” I put my hands up, “no need to bite my head off. I was just asking.”

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“I do,” replied Grady. He leaned against the counter, his jeans hanging low. He was still wearing his clothes from last night, but didn’t look nearly as bad as I’d expected after spending the night on our sofa. “You need to get laid, sweet pea, and we all know whose bed you want to be in.”

Jade glared at him, and I swear if she could, she’d make Grady blow up with that look. He smiled around the rim of his coffee cup, his eyes bright with mischief. They were having a silent conversation, but I could easily read between the lines. Something was bugging Jade. Or better yet, someone.

“You’re so lucky I like you, Ambrose, or I’d hang you over the balcony by your pubes.”

Laughter burst from my mouth, and I tucked my head into the crook of my arm to silence it. I didn’t want to get on Jade’s bad side when she was in this mood.

“Sorry toots, I don’t have pubes.”

Jade stared at Grady, taken back by his retort, and then burst into hysterics. His unexpected admission had broken Jade’s sour mood, and despite it being way too much information, I was glad something had made her smile.

“Where’s Ash?” I asked, once Jade had calmed down.

“She had labs,” she replied. “I’d hate to be her after the amount of alcohol she had last night.”

“Damn straight,” muttered Grady. “Girl sure knows how to put it away.”

Jade snickered, and then turned her body to face me. “So, you going to tell us what happened with you and Chase last night?”

In all my excitement and eagerness to get out this morning, I’d completely forgotten about filling Jade and Grady in about my supposed date. I wasn’t sure why, but for some reason I’d decided that not telling them would be better than having them rib me about what they’d expected to happen.

“Nothing,” I replied. “We ate burgers, spoke about stuff, and danced. That was it.”

Grady’s brows rose into his messy hair. “You’re telling me my brother, Mr. Charming,” he threw his hands up in dramatic flair, “didn’t try a move on you?”

“He was a perfect gentleman,” I said, trying not to sound too defensive.

Jade snorted, and I gave her a hard look. “I’m serious. It’s not like I was going to spread my legs for him or anything.”

Judging by the expressions on their faces, my friends obviously thought that’s exactly what I was going to do. Ha. As if.

“Seriously guys,” I added. “It wasn’t like that.”

Grady was the first to respond. “That’s a first for him.”

“Believe it or not, your brother is a nice guy, and by mutual agreement,” – of the nonverbal kind, I think – “we’ve decided to be friends, and nothing more.”

“Does this have something to do with the fact that you’re still a virgin? Did that scare him off?”

I gaped at Jade. “No! It has nothing to do with…that. And for your information, my v-card was traded in when I was in Georgia with my grandparents last year.”

I slapped my hand over my mouth. I had no intention of divulging that little nugget of truth to anyone, ever, and there I went just blabbing it out at the first opportunity.

“What?” Jade’s voice was shrill, and the pitch so high it made my ears ring. Holy cheese on toast.

I shrugged like it was no big deal, but in actual fact, it was. Unlike most girls my age, the story of losing my virginity was actually a sweet one. As uncomfortable as it had been, it happened with someone I’d grown to care about, someone who had helped piece me back together after my world had burned to the ground.

“How do I not know this?” Jade looked genuinely hurt, and even had her hand on her chest for effect.

“It’s not something I wanted to share,” I replied softly. “It’s too personal.”

“But I’m your closest friend. You can tell me anything.”

Jade’s eyes started to grow wet, and something akin to guilt flourished inside my chest.

Grady took her hand in his. “Jade, are you sure everything’s okay, sweet pea? You’re crazy emotional today.”