AG: There was an incident on set of a campaign job when I was 17 years old—I haven’t told this story—and there was a photo assistant who was into me. He was like, “Hey, come here,” and he led me into a closet. And I was like, “What?” I thought he was going to show me something. And he pulled me in, and he pulled his penis out. And he was like, “Grab it.” And I was like, “No! That’s disgusting.” I freaked out. And thank God I was closer to the door, and I just bolted out.

"Being a girl who waited until she was married to have sex with her husband but who is also a Sports Illustrated model is confusing for people. But I set standards for myself. And I want my message to women to be 'Do what is right for you.'"

GLAMOUR: I’m so sorry. Did you tell anyone at the time?

AG: No. And sure enough, I’ve seen him at jobs since. I even knew a girl he dated. I didn’t tell her because there was a voice in me that said, “Maybe he’s changed.” It was my young mentality. But I told myself, ever since that incident, that I wasn’t going to allow someone at work to manipulate what I wanted to do on set. So any image that you see out there is one that I wanted to take.

GLAMOUR: One part in your book that surprised me was when you were 10, an 18-year-old boy made you grab his erection while he was over at your parents’ house. Do you look back at those situations and fully register that they were sexual assault?

AG: Now I know that. At the time I didn’t. Then, it was like, “Did I do something to provoke that?” Or, “Did I give them a signal that it was OK?” The insecure girl inside me was like, “Well, maybe I did something.” To all those girls out there: No, you didn’t do anything.

GLAMOUR: You talk a lot about sex and relationships in the book. Why did you make the latter such a big focus?

AG: Well, when you sit down with your girlfriends, what do you talk about? Dating. So to tell my story is to share my highs and lows of dating, finding Justin, and abstaining from sex [with him] before marriage.

GLAMOUR: What was behind that decision?

AG: There was a point in my life where I had dated a terrible guy. Our whole relationship was based on sex. And I was letting him dictate who I was by his behavior, drinking problem, and abuse. One night he chased me around the kitchen with a butcher knife, and I ran into the bathroom and called my mom. I feared for my life. I was like, “He’s going to slice my face open and I’m not going to have a career.” That was an eye-opening experience for me. So with my next relationship, I didn’t want it to be based on sex.

GLAMOUR: How did you know that Justin should be your husband?

AG: He was different. He was consistent. He’s safe and a little nerdy. But there’s nothing basic about him. He’s the adventurous one in the relationship. If we’re in another country, he’s pushing me to go hiking, and I’m like, “Can we lie in bed and order room service?”

Graham and her husband, Justin Ervin, on their 2010 honeymoon.

GLAMOUR: You and me both. [Laughs.] Do you have any rituals to keep your relationship on point?

AG: He tells me, “You’re the hardest-working woman I know.” And to hear it from your man is, like, a whole other thing. We don’t go to bed mad at each other. We play the Nice Game—after a fight, when we’re done arguing but there’s still a weird energy, whoever says, “Let’s play the Nice Game,” the other person has to say something nice about them. Then [we go back and forth and] we remember why we love each other. And we have a lot of sex. [Laughs.]