Chapter 23

It was getting late when Otávio showed up at the house, acting all casual, saying he had no idea about Pedro. Obviously he knew, but we played along and pretended to believe him so we wouldn’t blow our cover. My mom was still rushing around getting ready, and I swear I’d never seen her so dolled up. I had no clue what kind of show she was heading to with my aunt, but it must’ve been a big deal because she was going all out. But whatever, let her have her fun — she needed it.

We had to keep up appearances. If Mariana got too cozy with Otávio right away, my mom would flip. So he hung out in the living room watching the game on TV with Mariana’s dad, and we headed up to my room.

As soon as we shut the door, I cut straight to the chase.

“Mariana, you’re a virgin — are you sure you wanna do this with Otávio?”

She shrugged, flopping back onto the bed.

“Ah, I don’t wanna die a virgin, no.”

I laughed at her total lack of romance. That was so Mariana — practical even when it came to losing her cherry.

“You got condoms?”

“I got two. You got more?”

I went to my closet and pulled out a little pack.

“Got these from school. But I plan on using ‘em…”

She arched an eyebrow, staring at me.

“Plan on? Changed your mind?”

I went quiet for a second. Hell, I didn’t even know. I sighed, tossing the condoms back in the closet.

“I don’t know, but if I do it, I gotta have ‘em, right?”

Mariana laughed, then her face lit up with surprise.

“Now it hits me… We’re both losing our virginity on the same day and time, cousin!”

We locked eyes for a second, and out of nowhere, we started celebrating like a couple of idiots. It was like we’d won a prize — we jumped around laughing like it was some big achievement.

Finally, we collapsed onto the bed, catching our breath.

“Okay, now let’s set up the table for Uno,” I said.

She laughed, knowing that was the biggest lie of the night. That game was never gonna happen.

My mom was finally ready, and before she left, she gave this whole lecture. She rattled off an endless list of rules and warnings, talking about my responsibility, telling me to check the house, not do anything stupid, and out of nowhere, she threw in a “don’t do drugs!” My uncle, Mariana’s dad, just chuckled at her over-the-top stuff, nodding like it was all necessary.

“Okay, Mom, go before the show’s over!” I grumbled, shoving her out the door.

The second she went through the gate and disappeared, the switch flipped. Mariana and Otávio, who had been on their best behavior, jumped each other without even trying to hide it. I didn’t even have time to process. When I looked again, they were already making out right in front of me, in the living room.

And it wasn’t some lame little peck. It was a hot kiss, a real one, the kind that makes noise. A fucking kiss you could almost taste in the air. Mariana was in Otávio’s lap, legs wrapped around him, body fitted just right. And grinding in a way that, oh my God! I glanced to the side and did what any self-respecting person would: grabbed my phone and called Pedro.

If Mariana was gonna ditch me for my room and leave me high and dry, I was already gearing up for Plan B. But even with the phone to my ear, my eyes stayed glued to the full-on action in my living room.

She had her hand shoved up under his shirt, scratching his stomach slow, that naughty little caress women do when they’re already picturing where the hand’s gonna end up. Otávio, meanwhile, was going after her tits, planting kisses on the sliver of skin peeking out from her top, sliding down real slow like he wanted to push the fabric aside with his mouth.

And me? I was getting hot just watching.

The worst part was she probably didn’t even realize how hard she was rubbing her pussy on his dick. Like, straight up. She was rolling her hips slow, thrusting forward, pressing without a shred of shame. And all I could think was: “Mariana, girl, the boy’s in agony already — any second now

Half an hour passed and nothing. Mariana shot me this look like “What now? Can I go fuck?” and I just got up and headed to the kitchen. She, smart as she was, followed right behind.

In there, we had to switch things up.

“And him, nothing?” I asked, hands on my hips.

“Nothing! He won’t pick up this damn thing. I’ve been calling since earlier and zilch! Called his house, him, his dad — no one knows where this asshole is!”

“That’s weird…”

That’s when the phone rang.

“It’s HIM!” Mariana almost yelled.

I looked at the phone hopefully and put it on speaker.

“Hey, little miss, everything good? I got back from my trip early — thought I’d come see you.”

“Hey, mister, all good?”

Mariana gawked at me in shock, mouth hanging open like a fish out of water, totally lost. She didn’t even know what to do. A new option had just dropped right in my lap.

“Your mom wouldn’t mind you grabbing pizza with me?”

“She went out — to the show with my uncle and she’s not back till tomorrow. Probably not even checking her phone…”

Mariana’s eyes went wide and she whispered so loud it was like a muffled scream:

“You idiot, he wants to come here!”

I covered the phone’s mic and held back a laugh.

“Mister, hold on a sec…”

I hit mute and turned to Mariana.

“Ah, Pedro’s not coming anyway!”

“But what if he does? You gonna give your ass to one and your pussy to the other, you jackass?”

I burst out laughing.

“You trying to talk me into it?”

“Fuck… if Pedro shows up, he’s gonna be pissed. And the bus guy’ll find out you got something going with Pedro!”

That’s when I got an idea.

I unmuted the phone and, with the fakest, most convincing voice ever, I said:

“So… I could invite you over, but I got a cousin, you know? We used to hook up and the poor guy’s still got hopes. If he sees you here, he’ll be super bummed.”

I muted again and looked at Mariana, grinning like I’d won.

“If Pedro shows, I won’t answer the door.”

Mariana rolled her eyes, totally pissed.

“Then he’ll call your mom, dumbass.”

My face fell right then.

“Oh, yeah…”

She crossed her arms.

“And Otávio’ll tell Pedro you were screwing someone else.”

Holy shit, now the mess was real.

I unmuted the phone again.

“Sorry, my cousin’s here chiming in, and she’s an idiot, poor thing.”

Mariana smacked the side of my tit so hard I saw stars.

“So can I swing by? Just to give you some kisses and head out. If your cousin’s there, I’ll bounce.”

“But it has to be quick! If my mom finds out about some strange guy here… Half hour, okay?”

“Sounds good — I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?!”

“Yeah, I’m real close!”

“I’ll be waiting — bye.”

Mariana stared at me with saucer eyes, doubting this would work. Hell, I didn’t believe it either. My heart was pounding — I honestly had no idea what could go down and I was super nervous about the whole thing. Basically, I’d set up dates with two guys at the same time.

This was gonna blow up.

But I had a plan.

I turned to Mariana, grabbing her shoulders like I was giving military orders.

“Mariana, pay close attention, ‘cause Otávio can’t know. When the doorbell rings, I’ll grab the guy and take him to a corner, and you hole up with Otávio in the room and don’t come out.”

“And if Pedro shows up?!”

“Say I got tired of waiting and went next door! He hates her, he’ll text me all mad. Then I’ll loop around, ditch the guy, and meet him — got it?”

Mariana crossed her arms, shaking her head, totally not buying it.

“You must be losing your mind, girl…”

And yeah. It was the plan that had every chance of going to hell.