18 year old virgin, please help

I’ve been dating my boo for 9 months now, he’s 22 and I’m 18.. Of course when we’re kissing and things are getting hot he goes to unbutton my pants or take my top off but I always stop him, this has been going on for awhile and I know he’s not going to wait forever, I want to have sex with him and I think I’m ready... It’s just, I haven’t told him that I’m still a virgin... I’m afraid of what he’ll think. Because of the age difference I don’t want to seem young and inexperienced, like I don’t want him to look at me differently. I’m just nervous to lose my v card because I always read crazy stories of how much blood it will be and how bad it’ll hurt. I just don’t wanna tell him. I’ve been thinking about just having sex and pretending it isn’t my first time but will it hurt that bad!? Will I be able to even fake it? At what point does sex stop hurting? Ugh