Prologue

"I don't have to answer that."

Dallas was smiling now. "Come on, Ben. It's a simple question."

He ignored her stare and kept his attention on the video game.

Now she laughed. "God, you're such a guy. Just say no. It's not like I don't already know the answer to my question."

"Then why ask?" He asked as he gunned down another zombie.

"Just so we're clear, that was you admitting to a 'no,' correct?"

"I didn't say that."

"You know if the answer to my question was yes, you'd be bragging about it. Isn't that what all guys do?"

Benjamin shrugged. "You tell me." When she didn't say anything, he added: "Why are you so curious anyway? Do you ask everyone this, or am I special?"

"You said it yourself. I'm curious. So what's the answer? Yes or no?"

"You said you already knew the answer to the question. So why bother asking me?"

"Because I'm not 100% sure," Dallas revealed. "So are you going to answer my question or what?"

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"I have my reasons." She smirked. "Plus you're being so secretive about it. It makes me want to find out even more."

Benjamin groaned when a swarm of zombies ambushed him and he ran out of ammunition. He tossed the controller on the floor in front of him. Dallas hadn't been very good at the game and her character had died earlier. Her controller had been idling on the floor for awhile now.

"Fine," he stared at the TV, "no."

"No…"

"No."

"No?"

Ben's head whipped to the side to glare at her. "No!" he snapped impatiently.

Dallas laughed. "Okay, I just wanted to make sure. You know, I don't know what the big deal is. You could've just answered me right away when I asked you earlier."

"It's just weird," he supplied. "Besides, it's not really any of your business."

She slid off the orange beanbag chair to sit closer to him on the floor. "Why is it weird?"

"Cause I'm a guy. And that's just not right for a guy to say."

"Yeah," she said dryly, "maybe if you're like 50 or something. You're 14 and you've never had sex. I don't think there's anything weird about that. Although I do think it's weird that you think that's weird."

His fingers pinched the fluffy carpet beneath him. "I guess…"

Dallas watched him curiously for a few seconds. "I've never had sex."

Benjamin smiled and eyed her sideways. "I didn't ask."

"I know. But I just thought I'd be fair since you told me first."

"Yeah well, you didn't give me much of a choice."

"I guess I didn't," she allowed. She gazed at him again and his eyes fell to the carpet. "Do you want to?"

He couldn't help it. He gaped at her. "What?"

"Do you want to have sex?"

His face flushed and a hand snagged in his blond hair. "I don't know."

She was grinning now. "I think you do."

"I've thought about it. What guy hasn't?"

"I've thought about it, too."

His blue eyes nearly bugged out. "You have?"

"Sure," she lifted one of her shoulders. "Why wouldn't I?"

Benjamin wasn't looking at her anymore. "I don't know. I just didn't think sex was something that girls thought about."

"It sounds like you have a lot to learn about girls."

She didn't say anything after that and neither did he. When he couldn't stand the silence anymore he said: "Why are we talking about this?"

Dallas ignored his question. "I know you've kissed a girl. Megan Reynolds wouldn't shut up about it for a week."

Benjamin laughed. "We only dated for that one week. That's why she stopped talking about it after a week."

"How many girls have you kissed?"

"Three. And you?"

"Zero. But I have kissed three guys," she supplied.

Benjamin laughed again. "I did mean guys."

"Just thought I'd clarify."

"Do you always ask people questions like this?"

"No."

"Just me?"

"No."

He laughed yet again and ran a hand through his short hair. "You're a trip."

"Thanks." Dallas studied his face for a moment. "You're really cute."

"Um…what?"

"I always heard the girls at school talk about you. I mean, most of them are idiots so I never believed anything they said, no offense. But now I can see that they were right. You're definitely cute."

"Uh…"

"You don't have to look so uncomfortable. I'm just telling you the truth. You're good looking. That's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"I'm not embarrassed," Benjamin mumbled.

"Then why can't you look at me?"

He turned to face her. Her big brown eyes were staring back at him with the most amused look in the world.

"You're weird," he said at last.

"My mom says that, too. I've learned when to take her seriously."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Ooh, this is going to be good. I can tell," she predicted.

"Why did you want to hang out today? We graduated junior high a couple months ago. You and I were never really friends."

"Why did you agree? That's the real question, Ben."

"I'm not sure," he admitted.

"To answer your question, I kind of regret not talking to you in school. The only time we talked was when other people were around. Plus all the girls in school were in love with you. I've noticed that guys like that are automatically assholes, no offense."

"So if you thought I was an asshole, why did you want to hang out?"

"I didn't know if you were one. I just assumed. I wanted to see for myself."

"And…?"

"You seem okay to me."

Benjamin scratched the back of his head and grinned. "I'll take 'okay' over 'asshole' any day."

"You should. It's a compliment." She paused. "So, what are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"You said you've never had sex. What are you waiting for? Are you like one of those religious people waiting until they're married?"

"It's not like I'm choosing to stay a virgin. I haven't had the opportunity yet," he explained.

"I have. But I wasn't attracted to the guy." Her brown eyes traveled his face. "Do you find me attractive?"

He never knew what question to expect next. "Um, I..."

"I told you what I thought about you. I think it's only fair that I know what you think about me. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just curious is all."

"You're very attractive," he mumbled.

Dallas cocked her head to the side. "Are you attracted to me?"

He chuckled uncomfortably. "Isn't that implied?"

"Not really. You could find someone attractive and not be attracted to them."

Benjamin stayed silent.

"So, are you attracted to me? I'm attracted to you."

A girl had never been this forward before. He didn't even know how to react to her anymore. "Yeah, I guess I am attracted to you."

"That's good."

He dared a peek at her curious face. "It is?"

She brushed back her brown hair. "Do you think we should do something about it?"

"Oh," his blue eyes darted past her shoulder. How could she be so casual? "Um, I don't know. Do you want to?"

"Of course." She pointed her thumb at her chest. "Curious, remember?"

He scooted a little closer to her and she rested her hand on his knee. "Are you sure about this? We're not even dating. Don't you feel weird about this?"

"Yes. You don't have to date someone just to kiss them. No."

Benjamin shook his and smiled. "You're a trip."

"Thanks."

Normally when he kissed a girl it only lasted a few seconds. The girl would always pull away before he was ready to stop. Not this time. Her mouth expertly moved against his. This was definitely not weird. Her hand was still on his knee and he was soon very aware of the warmth it provided. He'd never made out with a girl before, and he was getting really hot really fast. He didn't think he would ever do it, but he was the one to end the kiss.

He was breathing hard when he pulled away. "We gotta stop."

Dallas removed her hand from his knee. "Why? What's the matter?"

"This is a bad idea."

She gave him a confused smile. "Really? Because this seems like a brilliant idea." She placed her hand on his chest and leaned in to kiss him again. Despite his words, he didn't resist. He kissed her eagerly as he pressed himself fully to her. One of her hands dragged from his hair down his neck. Benjamin shivered and abruptly ripped himself away from her. "Shit."

"What's wrong?" Dallas asked.

He adjusted himself awkwardly and tried to cover his crotch.

She laughed and covered her mouth. "Wait, I want to see!" She tried to move his crossed arms but he swatted her away.

"Stop it!"

"I'm sorry," she beamed, "but I've never seen this before. Well, in movies and stuff but not like this!"

"I think you should go."

She bit back her smile. "I don't mind."

"Yeah well, I do."

"You want to have sex with me. And don't even try to deny it." Her brown eyes wandered to his hands covering his crotch. "What if I told you I was willing?"

"Willing? You mean to have sex with me? We're not even dating."

"Didn't we already cover this?" Dallas shook her head. "Anyway, I told you I was a curious person. Remember? Besides, I'm attracted to you, Ben."

He eyed her suspiciously. "You can't be serious. We don't even know each other."

"So what? We're attracted to each other. We both think about sex. Why don't we do it?"

He could feel himself getting harder just thinking about the possibility. Why the hell not? "My dad has some condoms in his room."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Dallas got to her feet and offered her hand to help him up. Benjamin kept his hands securely in front of his pants. She grinned playfully. "You might as well stop covering up because I'm about to see a lot more of you."