The Kissing Tutor

by Sally Henson

  “Mm-hmm,” Cayla hummed. “Bad boys do have more experience.”

  I stared across the field at Max and Jerrick. “Okay, I might be able to get behind this idea.”

  Cayla snickered. “We need a few options. Who else do we put on the list?”

  4

  The sliding glass door of Roan’s house opened and closed. I looked up from the float I was lying on in the pool and saw him hobble to the hot tub and slide the top off.

  The movement drew my eyes to his abs as they flexed. I moved my gaze to his cloudy golden eyes. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was a rough game, huh?” I asked, keeping my eyes on his face while I paddled toward the edge of the pool. Well… I tried not to look at his bare torso, but he was more defined than most baseball players on his team.

  Roan winced, lifting his leg over the side, and it made his pecs dance.

  I forced myself to look away. It was all Cayla and Madi’s fault. All that talk about hot guys had messed with my head.

  “Nope,” he answered.

  I looked back at him as his other foot plunked into the water. He sank into the steam until his wide shoulders were immersed. “Why didn’t you come with Cayla and Madi Saturday?”

  I thought he dropped this yesterday. He knew why I didn’t go. Everyone in the universe knew why I didn’t go. I ignored his question and asked my own. “How’d you let that guy steal on you in the eighth inning?”

  He lifted his hand out of the water, held up three fingers, and grumbled, “Three times. And I don’t know. If I keep this up, they may not want me at Tennessee.” Roan rested his head back on the ledge and closed his lids. Tennessee offered him a scholarship, as did several other colleges, but his grandparents said he couldn’t commit until the end of school.

  I scaled the side of the pool and dripped all the way to the hot tub. Roan and his grandparents didn’t seem to mind that I made myself at home in their pool whenever I wanted. When he texted me after the game to come over, I was happy to do so. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to ask for his help.

  “What did Coach Rojas have to say?” I skipped the steps, hopped up on the edge of the tub, and spun around.

  Roan’s eyes popped open as I dipped my toes in. He watched my body slide under the water and said, “The usual. Get your head in the game. React faster. Watch my signs.” He mimicked coach’s drill sergeant voice. “I don’t know what the deal is. I played better after I heard you though.” A small smile played on his lips. “I think you’re my good-luck charm.”

  I gave him a genuine toothy grin, shaking his leg with my foot. “Aw, I’ve never been a good-luck charm before.”

  He ignored my sweetness. “My stance must be off or something because my knees are killing me.”

  Being off…that I could definitely associate with. “Yeah, Coach has been on my case too.”

  “Pitch and catch in the morning.” He said it like an order, but that was just Roan. His eyebrows hung over his deep-set eyes in a glower.

  Being six feet-tall with thick shoulders made him seem intimidating to most people. To me? Not so much. Although, I had to say, when he bored his liquid caramel eyes on me, fog had a tendency to fill my head.

  I played copy-cat, mimicking his every expression, until he chuckled and told me to stop it. Making him smile seemed to excite my insides. I liked that feeling. Besides, he was too handsome to allow him to keep a scowl on his face.

  He raised his legs one at a time, resting his feet on top of my knees. “Your coach is right. You haven’t been focused.”

  I shrugged. “I’ll check out your position in the morning. You can tell me what I’m doing wrong then.” I reached a hand to my upper arm and kneaded around my pitching shoulder. “I’ve iced my shoulder after every practice this week. And Coach isn’t starting me tomorrow even when it’s my rotation.”

  “That sucks.” He motioned with his hand for me to sit next to him. “Let me feel your shoulder.”

  Roan was a little on the brawny side, including his hands. When it came to a pulled or strained muscle, or pain in my shoulder though, he had a magic touch. I crossed through the warm water and sat next to him, angling away so he could inspect my pitching arm.

  His fingertips touched my skin and, as it had since last summer, tingles radiated in every direction from his contact.

  Roan continued his inspection. “There’s no swelling. That’s good. Keep icing it.”

  I nodded.

  He raised my elbow and rotated my arm in a big circle. “Any pain?”

  “Nope. Just a sore, dull ache. Like I can feel my pulse in it.” I craned my neck to look back at him.

  He released my arm and slid to the corner, tapping the button for the jets. “I’ll check it in the morning before we warm up.”

  “Thanks.” I slid over to another corner. The jets were more powerful in the corner than the sides.

  The conversation with Cayla and Madi filled my head. With playoffs and graduation only weeks away, I didn’t have the luxury of time. It was now or never. Did I really want to be known in this town for the rest of my life for sucking James’ lips? Heck no!

  Roan had been there for all my dumb ideas and silly pranks. He’d been there every time Dad left and when I locked myself in the bathroom at prom. He had seen it all. “Roan?”

  “Hm?” he hummed.

  I glanced over to see his closed eyelids. One thing about Roan having a dark complexion and dark hair was being able to see his eyelashes. Mine were light like my hair. If I didn’t wear mascara, they seemed sparse and short. Almost nonexistent.

  “Cayla and Madi came up with an idea.” My stomach clenched. I knew my request would sound crazy, but I didn’t have any other options to fix my reputation.

  “What, hi-jack my pool?” He leaned over the side of the tub for his phone, which was laying on the table, and checked the time.

  “Um, no.” Not that Cayla and me lying around poolside would be unusual. I let Madi come sometimes. It’s not like we didn’t have a beach within walking distance.

  “We’ve been in here long enough,” he said, laying his phone back on the table.

  We both climbed out and jumped into the cool water of the pool. My body stiffened at the difference in temperature. He swam the length of it, and I met him at the shallow end.

  “I need your help with something. It’s embarrassing, but it’s the only way we can think of so I don’t go down as the worst kisser of Sweet Water High.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “Oh, this ought to be good.”

  I swallowed and turned toward the wall of the pool. “I need a tutor.” Ugh, admitting it out loud was more difficult than I thought it would be.

  “For what, pre-calc?”

  Pre-calc wasn’t my favorite subject, but I did okay in it. I acted like I was stretching my arm, hoping to tamp down the uptick in my heart rate. “I need a kissing tutor.”

  His whole face pinched together.

  “Do you think Max Yeager would be good? Or maybe I should go a different route with Jerrick Locke?”

  Roan stared at me as if I had grown two long ears, a long snout, and buck teeth.

  A growly whine came out of me. “Quit looking at me like a jackass.”

  He scoffed. “Quit acting like one.”

  I clamped my hands on my hips and asked, “Do you have a better idea?”

  “Toms,” he said in a masculine whine. His posture softened as he rested his elbows on the ledge behind him. Roan was the only person who called me Toms. It was short for Tommie Sue.

  “I can’t be that person who comes back to their high school reunion and have no one remember what a great pitcher I was or how nice and friendly and outgoing I was all four years. They’ll only remember one thing.”

  He stared off across the pool with his stupid, bored look, the one he wore when he didn’t like my comment. He didn’t utter a word.

  My knees held my weight against the floor of the pool even though I wanted to sink under the w
ater and hide my embarrassment. Instead, I folded my arms on the ledge and rested my chin on top of them. Tears pricked my eyes, and I didn’t want him to see them. “It’s not only that. I think I really need help. It was—” I sighed—“Is, obvious I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to kissing. It doesn’t help my cause that boys just don’t seem to like me that way. It’s like I have an invisible sign that reads, ONE OF THE GUYS.”

  “Sounds like drama to me.” He shook his head and said, “Guys don’t worry about that crap. You just need to man up and get back in the game.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal. It was like the hundredth time he’d said it was no big deal.

  A rogue tear spilled over my eyelid. I quickly wiped it away. “You know what?” I stood and stepped in front of him. “I’m not a guy.” I swung my arms out and spun around. “See? I have boobs and everything.”

  “Cut it out. That’s not what I meant.” He grasped for my wrist, but I tugged it out of his reach.

  My eyes burned with tears as they trickled out one right after another in a steady stream. I had to get out of there before he told me guys don’t cry. I waded to the ladder, climbed out of the pool, and snatched my towel off of the chair.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “See you in the morning,” I snapped. At least I tried to be as snippy and snotty as possible, but I think I came across exactly what I was.

  Pathetic.

  I planted my butt in the sand and leaned my back against the Surf Shack on the beach. My brother managed the business since last summer after graduating. He closed it up about an hour ago. With the overhanging ledge, it was the perfect place to watch the tide roll in without people noticing me.

  After leaving Roan’s house in tears, I knew I needed endorphins to get me out of the funk. Usually I’d do something fun like a cannon ball contest with Roan or go work out. Doing anything with him was out of the question, and I didn’t want to risk putting too much strain on my shoulder with weights. I planned to jog to the section where bonfires and cars were allowed. But when I got here, Logan, Esme, James, and another girl were playing around by the water, walking and flirting in the direction I was headed.

  Tommie Jenkins is a fun, upbeat person. At least I used to be. I wanted to be that person again, but I couldn’t seem to shake the flashing sign over my head that said, OPEN SEASON FOR LAUGHS.

  Sand flew across my toes. I glanced up and saw Roan and then focused back on the horizon.

  He sat beside me. Not that I wanted him to.

  It was high tide, and I liked the way the waves roared onto the beach. The noise level ticked up a notch and helped drown out the drama in my head.

  I finally asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “I was thinking, you should try to make the University of Tennessee’s softball team. My contact there said they usually hold back a scholarship for last minute. He thought their softball coaches did that too.”

  I pulled my knees closer to my chest. It wasn’t a terrible idea. I planned on living at home for the next two years, but running away from Sweet Water and bad memories of my senior year was tempting.

  Roan’s hand brushed my ponytail before he twirled it around his fingers. “I know you wanted to live at home and go to Sweet Water College, but it would be fun for us to go to Tennessee together. Don’t you think?”

  The bad mood Roan put me in took a hit from his sweetness sledgehammer. It wasn’t possible, but the thought made me feel better. A corner of my mouth lifted. “It would be fun, but I can’t even start on my high school team. There’s no way I could make the team, let alone snag a scholarship to Tennessee.”

  “Your coach is just trying to motivate you.” His fingers released my hair and slid over to my shoulder, pulling me against his strong frame. “Y’all have a chance to go to state and she needs you to focus. Whether or not you believe it, you are a team leader.”

  Things had shifted the last couple of weeks. I wasn’t a leader. Not anymore. Backstabbing and gossip had taken my place. It didn’t seem like the baseball team ever had to deal with stuff like that.

  “What was that?” Roan asked with a playful tone. “I’m always right? You’ve finally acknowledged my brilliance?”

  I chuckled and tossed a jab at his abs. Not one word about him being right had slipped across my lips. He was teasing.

  He clutched at his shirt and acted like I caught him off guard, but it was my go-to when he teased me like this.

  “Tommie, girl,” he growled, pulling me on top of him and then flipping us over with my back pressed into the sand. “I can’t let you get away with that.” He grinned, and the way his eyes smoldered stopped my breathing for a second or five. He had the most beautiful caramel-colored eyes I’d ever seen.

  He dipped his mouth next to my ear and whispered, “Two words…tickle monster.”

  I gasped for breath and shrieked, “No!”

  Just as the word left my mouth, his fingers dug into my sides, causing uncontrollable giggles to pour out of me. I squirmed underneath him and tried to push his hands away, but any progress I made was short-lived.

  “Who’s brilliant?” he asked, offering me a way to stop his tickling.

  I shook my head and managed to squeak out, “Me.”

  His eyes widened with his smile. “Wrong answer.” He reached one hand back and squeezed right above my knee.

  My legs flailed and kicked, but he was better at this game.

  “Toms,” he sang, “who’s brilliant?”

  If I could have breathed a little better, I would’ve held out, but I had to give up. “Roan,” I squeaked out and took a breath. “Roan Martin.”

  He stopped tickling but held me in place. We both laughed, and he was breathing as heavily as I was.

  He did that thing with his eyes again, leaning nose to nose. “Don’t you forget it.”

  It caused my belly to dip, but I laughed right in his face so he didn’t notice what he’d done.

  He shook his head, wearing a smile, and stood, pulling me up with him. “Now I have sand in my shoes.”

  “Good,” I shot back, still full of laughter. The way we acted sometimes was juvenile. But when you grow up together, it’s easy to revert to the silly kid stuff.

  He looped his arm around the back of my neck and put us in motion toward the road where his truck was parked. “Let’s go get some chili cheese fries at the Burger Bar.”

  I hitched a shoulder. “Okay.” The good thing about getting food there was I didn’t have to get out of the truck.

  “And then we’ll go back to your house and you can check out Tennessee’s softball team.”

  The thought of being out on my own, away from my family scared the crap out of me. Although I didn’t think I would miss my little sister much. It wouldn’t be so bad if I knew what I wanted to do with my future. “Roan,” I said in a half-sigh, half-whine.

  “Toms,” he mimicked my voice. “I’m serious. It wouldn’t be a bad thing for us to go to the same college. Get away from here.”

  Going to school away from home wasn’t a terrible idea. I could leave the prom drama behind that way. If I had a good friend going too, all the better. But leaving Mom or Juju? And what if Dad got leave, came home, and I didn’t get to see him? “I’ll think about it.”

  5

  Roan and I came to school early for pitch and catch. He pointed out my stride was off and caused my arm to overexert. I noticed his footing was too narrow and he didn’t have his toes pointed outward. We were good like this.

  He didn’t mention anything about helping me find a kissing tutor though. And I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, so I left it alone. He went straight to his coach’s office when we walked into Sweet Water High.

  Cayla stood by my locker, waiting for me. “Did you practice this morning?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Just pitch and catch with Roan,” I said as I flipped the combination on my lock and opened the door.

  She leaned her head close to t
he opening and asked, “Did he say anything this morning? What exactly went down yesterday?” Cayla asked in her exasperated voice. She used it quite often when it came to Roan. “I need to figure out if we should wait on him or not.”

  She sent me a message last night, wanting to know how it went. I couldn’t bring myself to type the words of why I stormed off from Roan’s house yesterday. Anyone could see that I wasn’t the most girly-looking girl. But I lived with it every day. It wasn’t necessary for Roan to point it out to me. And after he came looking for me at the beach, I didn’t want to think about it anymore. So I told Cayla we’d talk this morning.

  I shut the door as students surged through the hallway. Maybe I should ask her the truth. If I did look like a boy, there was no hope of finding even one person who was willing to be my kissing tutor.

  We stopped at her locker. Roan’s was just a couple down from hers. I glanced around. If anyone heard what I was about to say, I would never be able to come back to school. I leaned close so only she could hear me and said, “I left. I couldn’t take another reference to me being a guy.”

  A crease formed between her eyebrows as we moved to her locker. “He said,” she glanced around before mouthing the words, “you were a guy?”

  “He might as well have. Tell me, honestly—pinky swear truth—do I?” I turned three-hundred-sixty degrees as I had with Roan in the pool.

  “Not that again.” Roan’s voice hit me from behind.

  I rolled my eyes and leaned against the locker next to Cayla’s. Roan didn’t bring up my request last night or this morning when we were practicing. He’s methodical, and I was trying as hard as I could to be patient. There wasn’t much school left, which meant I needed to act fast or forget the whole thing.

  Roan stepped beside me, resting his forearm on my shoulder.

  Cayla narrowed her eyes at him, pulling her lip up in a snarl. She moved her gaze back to me, cocking her head to the side. “No dude should have a figure like yours. You have plenty of girly attributes.” She nodded to my boobs. “I wish mine were that nice.”