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Popping The Cherry
Aurelia B. Rowl
You only get one first time…From driving tests to relationships, Valentina Bell thinks she’s a failure, with a big fat capital F. At this rate, she’s certain she’ll be a virgin forever. So Lena’s friends plan Operation: Popping the Cherry to help her find the perfect first time. Yet somehow disastrous dates with bad boy musicians and fabulous evenings with secretly in-the-closet guys aren’t quite working out how Lena planned.Soon Lena’s avoiding Operation: Popping the Cherry to spend time with comforting, aloof Jake, her best friend’s older brother ,who doesn’t make her feel self-conscious about still clinging to her V card. But could Jake show Lena that sometimes what you’re looking for most is right by your side?A Forever for the 21st CenturyPraise for Aurelia B Rowl'Popping the Cherry stole my heart for Lena and Jake’s hilarious, heart-melting and crazy romance. I highly recommended Popping the Cherry for getting your forever love the first time.' - I Heart YA Books'Popping the Cherry didn’t disappoint, it exceeded expectations – a lot!' - Luna's Little Library'From the minute I began reading Popping the Cherry I was hooked, I love that the book is so British, even down to all the British swear words and slang. The characters were instantly likeable and believable, and I found myself falling into the pages and not wanting to come up for air.' - Much Loved Books'From the minute I began reading Popping the Cherry I was hooked, I love that the book is so British, even down to all the British swear words and slang. The characters were instantly likeable and believable, and I found myself falling into the pages and not wanting to come up for air.' - Much Loved Books'a fun, quick read' - Page After Page'a cute and fun romance.' - Always YA at Heart
You only get one first time …
From driving tests to relationships, Valentina Bell thinks she’s a failure, with a big fat capital F. At this rate, she’s certain she’ll be a virgin for ever. So Lena’s friends plan Operation: Popping the Cherry to help her find the perfect man first time.
Yet somehow disastrous dates with bad-boy musicians and fabulous evenings with secretly in-the-closet guys aren’t quite working out how Lena planned.
Soon Lena’s avoiding Operation: Popping the Cherry to spend time with comforting, aloof Jake, her best friend’s older brother, who doesn’t make her feel self-conscious about still clinging to her V card. But could Jake show Lena that sometimes what you’re looking for most is right by your side?
AForeverfor the twenty-first century
Popping the Cherry
Aurelia B. Rowl
Copyright (#ulink_490aeb05-7a02-597f-9100-98c544226935)
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2013
Copyright © Aurelia B. Rowl 2013
Aurelia B. Rowl asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
E-book Edition © June 2013 ISBN: 9781472018052
Version date: 2018-07-23
AURELIA B. ROWL lives on the edge of the Peak District in the UK with her very understanding husband and their fantastic son and daughter, now aged six and four, along with the mad mutt who is happy to be used as a sounding board and writing companion. They are all used to her getting too caught up with her latest writing project … or five! … and she is guiltily counting down the months until she has both kids at school full-time. Her debut contemporary romance, Christmas is Cancelled, was released in December 2012 with book two in the series expected November 2013. She cannot wait to share her YA/NA story, Popping the Cherry, with you and hopes you’ll love the characters as much as she does.
I would like to express my deep appreciation for my husband, and thank him for his unwavering support. Life can be a bit chaotic as stay-at-home-mum to our two (mostly) wonderful children, but my husband is always ready to pick up the slack. Huge thanks must also go to my ABCs – my BETA readers and critique partners—for always being available and for keeping me on track and always having something positive to say. There are too many to mention individually but I couldn’t do it without them.
Thanks also to my editor, Anna Baggaley, for her brilliant vision and encouragement. With Anna’s guidance, this story turned out even better than I’d imagined, way back on that chilly afternoon on January ninth* (#ulink_eb96ac02-042f-5ebe-8619-44ccb2ba473e) but most of all, I’d like to thank Anna for taking a chance on me and my characters. I am proud to be an author with HQ Digital, the new digital imprint for Harlequin UK, and I look forward to a tantalising future with this dynamic, forward-thinking publisher.
I would like to give a special mention to Steven Mather, whose rather handsome face you will come to know if you follow me online, and also to Margaret Rowles, PR officer for Beaulieu Enterprises; I only wish I could have included more detail on a truly stunning location.
And on one final note, if you are over fourteen, or a parent/carer of a teenager, and you are looking a real and relevant guide to sex and relationships, please check out www.bishuk.com; there is even a free book you can download. I didn’t discover this fantastic resource prior to writing Popping the Cherry but the two seem to go hand in hand. Shame they didn’t have this kind of thing when I was a teenager!
* (#ulink_645af007-82a0-521f-8290-76dd396c8d62) There I was, happily unloading the dishwasher before heading off on the school run, when the plot bunnies viciously attacked me with a fully formed story, complete with beginning and end, and then wouldn’t let me write anything else.
This book is dedicated to my wonderful husband—I couldn’t have completed it without him—and also to my children, just because they’re both awesome and make me smile every single day.
Contents
Cover (#u20f49a7d-832a-5a97-a589-b1709ad38ebe)
Blurb (#u6dd42c26-a538-5dc4-87e6-f9166afdf922)
Title Page (#uf5fe00f0-458a-5144-a7e1-d7ee87de7182)
Copyright (#ub70708bb-9f7d-57eb-a089-7ebeadde33a3)
Author Bio (#u1a9a7b7c-feb0-5600-86f7-839a8e636e07)
Acknowledgements (#u8d52a93f-89f8-5dc0-8270-ebb5b44de523)
Dedication (#u0e60a814-26bf-58de-b9d3-a1403a8d9501)
Chapter One: Dumped (#u3891bd1e-8bf1-5998-9722-338ef3b33e7b)
Chapter Two: Intervention (#u5b520474-2dc8-5242-b2d0-decba203bfc4)
Chapter Three: Stranded (#ueca24aa4-df53-5c9b-8aec-66b6fa37fab4)
Chapter Four: The Chase (#u685d3e70-0cf7-5805-a3bf-b986cffb4e8e)
Chapter Five: Rescue (#u9c4fa35a-4e1d-5fe0-8706-a0d1a51b2703)
Chapter Six: Crush (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven: Propositions (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight: Candidates (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine: Kiss (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten: Apology (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven: Driving (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve: Date (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen: Panic (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen: Family (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen: Police (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen: Revenge (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen: Respite (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen: Confrontation (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen: Beach (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty: Torn (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One: Defeated (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two: Halloween (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three: Hero (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four: Busted (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five: Peace (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six: Tinkerbell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Waltz (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Gift (#litres_trial_promo)
Endpages (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
DUMPED
I, Valentina Bell, am a failure.
A failure with a big, fat, capital ‘F’ if today was anything to go by.
First, I failed my driving test, after skipping my last class to take the damn thing. English literature is my favourite class too, and it was my turn to read the part of Catherine in Wuthering Heights. Second, my boyfriend of four months and twenty-seven days dumped me, and then refused to drive me home because he didn’t want to waste another minute with me. Bastard! Third, I ended up missing the bus. Barely. The driver even gave me a snarky wave as he pulled away from the bus stop like it was the highlight of his day.
Great. Just great. Really!
It was gone ten o’clock at night, pitch black, frigging freezing for the beginning of June, and I had to try really hard not to cry. I didn’t want to give tossers like Damian and the bus driver the satisfaction, even though they couldn’t see me. More to the point, if I started, there was no telling when I’d be able to stop, and then my face would go all red and blotchy, my mouth would puff up, and I’d get a runny nose. I knew for a fact I didn’t have any more tissues because I’d used the last one to clean the dog crap off my shoes, which is what made me miss the goddamn bus in the first place.
Yeah, my life sucks.
Because screaming like a banshee would probably get me arrested, I groaned instead and stared at my mobile phone out of habit. At least I’d had just about enough battery left to get a call out to Gemma to come and pick me up. I didn’t even get chance to tell her why before my phone died; I’d run most of it down earlier, bitching to her about the rotten driving test.
Stupid examiner.
This was all his fault. If he had passed me, I’d be cruising home and everything would be fine. I had a perfectly good car stuck on the driveway at home—nothing flash, it was my seventeenth birthday present from my parents a couple of months back—and it’s just sat there, waiting for me, taunting me. But, then, if Damian had taken me home, as any decent ex-boyfriend would, it wouldn’t have mattered, so it was his fault too.
Well I hope karma turned around and bit them both on the backside.
Hard.
A set of car headlamps drew nearer so I dragged myself away from my one-girl pity party and lifted my head in time to see a purple Corsa drive past me on the opposite side of the road.
At last.
I pushed away from the wall of the bus shelter and watched the car turn off the main road into the next side street on the left, swing in a wide arc, then drive back towards me. It pulled into the bus stop, coming to a stop right in front of me. The window nearest to me rolled down and the cute brunette leaned across the vacant seat to speak to me.
‘Hey, foxy lady, do you take I-owe-yous?’ she said, smiling brightly.
Typical Gemma, always trying to be funny.
‘Hey, Gem.’ I reached for the handle to open the door, then flopped into the seat. ‘Thanks for coming to get me.’
‘What are best friends for?’ she said, flapping her hand at me. ‘But, umm … speaking of which, what am I doing here?’ Her grin faltered. ‘Weren’t you supposed to be at Damian’s tonight?’
Straight to the point. Something else I could rely on Gemma for.
‘I was.’ I busied myself with the seatbelt to avoid her searching gaze. ‘Until he dumped me.’
‘What? No!’ Gemma yanked up the handbrake and slipped the car into neutral. ‘Why?’
‘Because …’ I sighed and pretended to study my nails. ‘Because I wouldn’t sleep with him.’ There, I’d said it. Out loud. And it sounded pitiful.
‘You’re kidding me.’
I shook my head.
‘What a dick!’
‘Yeah, that about covers it. He called me a …’ A flush worked its way up to my cheeks until I was grateful for the open window. ‘He called me frigid and told me he was going to go and find a “real girl” instead, so he could “get some pu—”’
‘No, don’t say that word, I hate it,’ Gemma spluttered. ‘Nobody in their right mind still uses it,’ she said, her voice getting louder with each syllable. ‘It’s vulgar and horrid. God, you’re better off without him anyway, Lena.’
‘I know,’ I said, but my tone lacked conviction and tears welled in my eyes.
‘Look, just forget him. He’s a moron to let you go, and he’s so not worth your tears. You deserve much better.’
‘Thanks, Gem. What the hell did I ever see in him?’
‘He was kinda cute. You weren’t to know he was a prize twat. At least you found out now, not later?’
