Kiss List (23 page)

Aaron walked to the passenger door. “Everyone out,” he said. Nate leapt out of the car like he was responding to an order from a commanding general and pulled the seat up so the three guys in the back could bail out as well. Then he pushed the seat back down and Aaron set me down on it and shut the door.

Aaron handed a key to Nate. “Go let yourselves into the dome,” I heard him say in a voice that was muffled by the closed window. “I’ll be along in a bit.” Aaron walked back around to the driver’s door and got in the car while the rest of the guys started walking down to the dome.

Aaron didn’t say anything as he drove the car down the hill to the parking lot by the blow-up dome that covered the turf football field during the winter. He parked the car and then turned to look at me.

I had my head buried in my arms, mostly from embarrassment. Aaron put his hand reassuringly on my shoulder. I finally summoned up the courage to lean back in the seat and look at him.

Aaron’s beautiful light blue eyes were filled with worry. His brow was furrowed. He seemed very concerned.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Seriously. I just slipped and felt stupid. I’m sorry to bother you.”

I started fumbling around for the door handle to let myself out but Aaron said, “Just wait a minute.” The worried sound in his voice stopped me. “What else is going on?” Aaron asked. “Talk to me. Is it something I can help with?”

“It’s sort of a personal family matter,” I said.

Aaron nodded. “I can understand that,” he said. “It’s okay if you’re not ready to talk about it. Let’s talk about something else for awhile.
How about Nate?”

“Nate?” I parroted in confusion.

“Yeah, my little bro,” Aaron said. “I need your advice. He’s got my last name and he sort of looks like me, so what he does reflects on me, but the kid is as dumb as a rock. I mean, this morning he tried to make himself eggs but he used a bread pan and put them in the oven like he was trying to bake a cake. Seriously. The eggs destroyed the pan and make the whole kitchen smell terrible. Then when I told him he was an idiot he used a Yo Mama joke on me. The doofus didn’t even think about the fact that we have the same mother. He pretty much forced me to towel-whip him. I’m worried that a simple towel-whipping is not enough, however. What other more extreme measures can I take to be a good big brother and knock some smarts into his tiny brain?”

I cracked a smile. I couldn’t help myself. Smiling and crying at once was a strange experience. I must have looked awful.

“The kid is so dumb,” Aaron continued, “I’d swear he would starve to death if I locked him inside a grocery store. He’s so dumb he would actually study for a drug test. That idiot would buy a solar-powered flashlight.”

“Do you have to dig to find his IQ?” I asked. “Sometimes I feel that way with my sister.”

I don’t know how Aaron did it but he made me feel better. Soon we were both laughing and talking happily. It felt good just to talk to someone about something other than my dad’s cancer. When my dad had told me that I needed to hang out with friends it was the last thing I wanted to do. I almost felt like I would be doing something wrong if I had fun while he was sick. I would never be able to completely get his illness out of my head but maybe he was right after all. If we all focused too much on the possibility of death we risked forgetting to enjoy life. Perhaps when I went home I would be re-energized and able to be more positive. I wanted my dad to feel okay leaning on me without him having to worry about whether or not I could take it. He had enough to worry about.

“Do you want to come inside and play football with us?” Aaron asked suddenly. “It’s just a relaxed game of pickup but you might enjoy it. Coach Harris let us borrow the key to the dome so we will have the whole place to ourselves.”

I thought about it for a moment. The enthusiasm on Aaron’s eyes and the cute look on his face were too much to resist. “Sure,” I said with a smile. “That sounds like fun.”

When Aaron and I walked into the dome I was greeted with a sight that immediately made me happy I had agreed to play football. Eight boys were tossing the football around. The four I hadn’t seen earlier must have arrived in another car. In order to keep the dome inflated, hot air was pumped in, making the temperature a little warmer than room temperature. Several of the boys had already taken their shirts off. I was secretly pleased to see that one of them was Nate; his abs reminded me of Aaron’s and they were almost as impressive.

There was one boy, however, whom I didn’t recognize. He was tall and had closely-cropped brown hair. His eyes were a beautiful dark brown color, like dark chocolate. His long shirtless torso, however, was what really got my attention. It was exquisite. His abs
were well defined and he had a lean, muscular build. His skin was surprisingly tan for the winter. He looked familiar and yet I couldn’t place him.

“Aaron, who is that?”
I asked as we walked towards the boys. I pointed at the boy.

“Him?
That’s Paul Stedman,” Aaron said.

My jaw dropped. I had known Paul Stedman for years but not this version of him. He had always been fun, popular, and cute in a little boy type of way. He used to be just a few inches over five feet tall and definitely had not gone through puberty. The guy in front of me looked to have grown a foot and was definitely not a little boy anymore. I remembered that his mother was from somewhere exotic so his skin was naturally a little darker than the rest of the boys – sort of Taylor
Lautner-esque. I wracked my mind for the last time I had seen Paul. I supposed it had been sometime last year. Paul had gone into the International Baccalaureate program and I hadn’t seen him around after that. Alyssa was in the program, though. No wonder she had added his name to the list.

I ended up on a team with Nate, Noah, and two other boys facing off against Aaron, Paul, and three other boys. I think the boys all expected me to be a detriment but I was not some girly-girl who couldn’t play sports. I was as fast as several of the boys and I had natural instincts on where the open space was and where the ball would be. I held my own and the boys were afraid to tackle me for fear of hurting me so I was able to use that to my advantage. I didn’t feel bad at all about it. I wasn’t made of glass; if boys were stupid enough to think I would break then that was their problem. In fact, I did my best to show that I was willing to get rough by tackling the boys at every opportunity. Of course, with several of them shirtless, I had other motivations for tackling them as well.

Throughout the first 15 minutes or so Aaron proved too fast for me to tackle, though I certainly tried my best. That changed when Aaron, drenched with sweat, finally took his shirt off. As his beautiful abs glistened in the dull light filtering through the dome tarp and from the neon lights, I realized I had just gotten the motivation I needed to make a superhuman effort.

While I waited for the right opportunity, I enjoyed watching Aaron and Nate compete against each other. Nate was extraordinarily athletic and easily the best player on our team. When he was being covered by Aaron, however, he was more or less useless. Half the time the two ended up in some sort of wrestling match or with Aaron pinning Nate down in a headlock. Seeing the two gorgeous brothers wrestle each other while shirtless was a very special treat for me. Noah yelled at me more than one time when I completely forgot about the play and became mesmerized with watching Aaron and Nate.

Finally, however, I got my chance to get a piece of Aaron. Aaron took a turn as QB and I immediately announced that I would cover him. The other boys on my team agreed. Our rule was that the QB could not run unless rushed and so I think my teammates figured I would not get into much trouble just standing guard and trying to block the pass with my arms. They didn’t know how much I wanted to get my hands on Aaron’s body.

Aaron smiled when I walked up and stood in front of him. “So you think you’re up to covering me?” he said jokingly with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I suppose anyone would be better than Nate. That kid is as slow as an old slug on a snowy street covered in salt.”

Nate retorted with something that one could not repeat in civilized company. Aaron grinned. “I’m going to take you down, boy,” he shouted at Nate. “Ready. Set. Hike!”

No one actually hiked Aaron the ball; he was just holding it down towards the turf. The minute he said “Hike” the boys on his team sprinted down the field. Aaron must have told them to go for the long pass. Aaron wheeled backwards and looked for an open player.

While I counted to “10 Mississippi” out loud I watched Aaron. He hadn’t backed up as far as he should have. He obviously didn’t think there was any possibility that I would rush him after I got to the last “Mississippi.” His blue eyes didn’t even glance at me as they scanned the field looking for an open player. I almost felt sorry for him.

“10 Mississippi!”
I shouted and then charged at him with the sudden burst of speed and energy that can only come from a teenage girl chasing after a hot and shirtless teenage boy. Aaron’s eyes widened in surprise and he tried to leap out of the way but I was too quick. I dove at his knees and managed to hook one arm around his waist. We went toppling down to the turf together.

I landed on top of Aaron. He looked up at me with his beautiful blue eyes and I smiled. “Yeah, I think I’m up to covering you,” I said. I let myself enjoy his intoxicating scent and warm body for a couple seconds. Then I got up slowly by pushing off of Aaron’s hard chest. I made sure to brush his abs with my hand. I enjoyed it immensely.

Nate, of course, was howling with laughter. “Dude, you got destroyed by a girl!” he roared. Apparently the idea was too humorous for him to take because he laughed so hard he fell to the ground and rolled around in the turf as his chest heaved with mirth.

I helped Aaron to his feet and he smiled politely to me, though I noticed that his cheeks were a bit red with embarrassment. Then he walked over to his brother, sat on him, and began twisting his nipples until Nate’s chuckles turned to screams of pain and apology.

We played for over an hour and I loved every moment of it. It felt astonishingly good to immerse myself in the game and not think about anything else. We were all just having fun and joking around. The eye candy was phenomenal. What more could a girl want?

The game finished when Nate was bragging to me about what a great soccer player he was. Unfortunately for him, Noah chose that moment to throw him the ball so we could set up for another play. Nate was still bragging to me and I noticed that his eyes were not meeting mine. He was definitely checking me out. His was so preoccupied with looking at me that he didn’t notice the ball sailing towards him... until it hit him directly in the groin. Nate fell to the ground instantly and curled up into a fetal position. Aaron and Paul decided to “help” their fallen opponent by giving him an opportunity to ice his injury. They grabbed Nate’s arms and legs and tossed the shirtless, sweaty, injured boy into a snow pile outside the dome. They held the revolving dome door shut for a while so Nate couldn’t get back in. By the time he did his skin had turned pink from the cold and his teeth were chattering. I hugged him and rubbed my hands on his arms to help him warm up. The rest of the boys got their turn to howl with laughter at his expense and he stared daggers back at them. It seemed that being a younger brother was a
dangerous endeavor. Nate could flash his gorgeous smile and act as cool and cocky as he wanted but Aaron and Aaron’s friends were more than happy to make him humble again.

We were all so tired by that point that we called the game and decided to go home. I suddenly realized that I had no ride and the idea of walking all the way home in the frigid cold did not appeal to me. Luckily, Paul said he had driven separately and offered to give me a ride back. I was a little disappointed as I had wanted to ride with Aaron so I could talk to him some more but Aaron had boys to drop off and I was not about to refuse a free ride.

“Do you mind if we stop at the school so I can pick up some tape from the therapy room?” Paul asked me. “I think I strained my ankle a bit at the end there and I am planning to run a 5K on New Year’s Day. I think the room will be open for the wrestling tournament.”

“Sure,” I said. “Actually, I meant to congratulate David Reagan on his win. Maybe I can still catch him.”

We parked by the west gym and headed in. I was relieved to see that the tournament was over. I didn’t see Missy, Graham, Alyssa, Gabriel, or even the elderly volunteer and that was perfectly fine with me. I was sure that I would have to deal with all sorts of worried and scolding voice mails from Alyssa. I didn’t need to deal with her in the flesh as well.

Paul got his tape and then I asked him if he would take a look in the boy’s locker room to see if David was in there. Paul returned a moment later. “Yeah, he’s in there,” he said. “He’s the only one left in the locker room and he’s already dressed, he’s just tying his shoes. He said he’s in a rush so why don’t you come in and say hi?”

The now-familiar locker room fumes hit me as soon as I entered. I wrinkled my nose. Smelly boys were the worst. I followed Paul to David’s locker and found him stuffing his wrestling shoes into his duffel bag.

“Hi David!”
I said. “I saw your match. You did an amazing job.”

“Thanks,” David said, glancing up at me. “I felt good and it’s always nice to beat Churchill. Thanks for coming.”

I stared at him awkwardly for another moment, not knowing what else to say. “When’s your next tournament?” I asked. “Maybe I’ll come watch.”

David shrugged. “It’s next week,” he said. “It was great seeing you, Sadie, but I’ve got someone waiting for me. Sorry, I have to go.”

I expected him to hug me or at least give me a smile and a thanks for coming but he walked the other way around the locker and was gone. I stared after him in surprise. Then everything he had said to Payton about being done with me replayed itself in my head. I realized that even though the experience with him while he was handcuffed to the playground pole had been personal and intimate for me, it had not been for him because his vision had been blocked by the beer goggles. As far as he knew, nothing had happened between us since I put the duct tape back on his mouth. Nothing had changed.

That thought suddenly made me feel sad again. I was turning into an emotional yo-yo.
I turned to Paul. “Let’s go,” I said.

Paul picked up on my change in mood immediately. “Are you okay?” he asked. He looked down at me with concern. It reminded me of the way that Aaron had looked at me when I had fallen. A girl could easily get lost Paul’s dark brown sensitive eyes which usually brimmed with excitement and humor but now resembled those of a worried puppy. He had put his shirt back on but it was impossible not to notice Paul’s strong physique under the material. He truly was sexy. He wasn’t Aaron but he was beautiful. More importantly, he was there with me.

I shook my head. The kiss list aside, Paul Stedman was the last person I needed to get involved with. He was gorgeous genius. I could easily fall for a guy like that and falling for a guy was the last thing I wanted to do. “I’m fine,” I said. “It’s nothing.”

My face must not have seemed as convincing as my words, however, because Paul caught my hand as I tried to walk by him. Then he pulled me in and hugged me. It was a brilliant move on his part. More boys needed to learn to hug a girl when the girl gets sad. Paul had no idea what was going on but he knew I needed a hug.

I lowered my guard for a moment and let him hold me, enjoying the feel of another warm and comforting person. Awareness of his hard, sexy body came next. By the time he started rubbing my back reassuringly with his surprisingly large hands, my heart was already beating faster.

“Your heart is racing,” he said worriedly. He was too innocent to understand the effect his body was having on me. He didn’t know how drained I felt from being on my emotional roller coaster or how that feeling was making me want a sense of security and confidence. As nice as Aaron was, he hadn’t looked at me with any sense of physical attraction. I yearned for a hot boy to find me desirable. Maybe if I was wanted I would feel better.

I slowly pushed myself away from Paul and looked up at him, hoping that he would kiss me. At first the concern remained in his eyes but then they changed to a look of uncertainty mixed with, perhaps, nervous lust. Good enough. I stood on my tip-toes and kissed him.

Paul was surprised at first but if I had learned anything about boys it was that they could be persuaded to make out at pretty much any time under any circumstance. Paul returned the kiss. His soft lips pressed against mine as his big hands settled on my hips.

I took out my phone and took a photo of us as we kissed. Who knew if I would get this chance again?

"What's that for?" Paul mumbled.

There was no way I could stop now to explain the kiss list. I was far too revved up for that. "I just want to remember this kiss," I said quickly.

After that our make-out session rapidly intensified. I put my hands on his
pecs and pushed him back into the locker. Then I wanted to feel more of his body. I began pulling his shirt up until I noticed Paul looked uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” I asked somewhat breathlessly. “This isn’t your first kiss, is it?”

“No, well yes, but it’s not that,” he said. “I, uh, have kind of been working out for an hour. I’m not sure how good I smell.”