“Shut up.”
“I heard you talking with Alec.”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, I heard you tell him that you’ve never kissed anyone before.”
I ignored her and kept looking at Kayla. I didn’t want to talk about this with anyone, let alone a ten year old.
“You know, if you need someone to practice with, it can be me.”
“Why would I kiss you? I don’t even like you.”
“Well, who else are you going to practice on? It’s not like there’s anyone else around here your age.”
“You’re not my age,” I reminded her. “You’re just a kid.”
“So are you,” she said snapped. “Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you’re not a kid.”
“Whatever.”
“I’m just saying, I’ve seen my parents do it a lot. I even walked in on them in their bed once. They said they were making the bed, but I’m pretty sure that they were lying.”
I shook my head. I knew exactly what they were doing in bed. I had done a lot of googling in the last few weeks, and boy had my eyes been opened. The thing that sucked was the more research I did, the more I realized that most boys actually started thinking about this stuff a lot sooner than me. But I had been dealing with other things, and honestly, this stuff just wasn’t on my mind.
“Anyway, are we going to do this?”
“Do what?” I asked, pretending that I didn’t know what she was talking about. I just wanted her to go away.
“Reid,” she said testily.
Sighing, I turned to her, but I wasn’t expecting her to leap toward me and smash her face against mine. It was weird and not at all what I thought it would be. I didn’t feel anything like I did when I imagined Kayla kissing me. Caitlin pulled back and quirked her head at me.
“So, what did you think?”
I wiped the spit from my face and grimaced. “I don’t know. It was sloppy. You spit all over me.”
She turned beat red, but then threw her hands on her hips. “Well, you didn’t pucker up your lips like you’re supposed to.”
“I didn’t know you were going to kiss me!”
“Well, you’re never going to get Kayla to want to kiss you if you kiss like that.”
“Oh, and I suppose you know how I should be kissing. Because you’ve kissed so many boys.”
“Well, I think I would know a good kiss if it happened. Come on,” she said, snatching my hand. “Let’s go back to your room.”
“Why?” I asked, jerking my hand out of her grasp.
“Because that’s where people kiss. Duh.”
She snatched my hand and started dragging me through the hallways toward Alec and Florrie’s suite. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be doing this, but she had a point. I wasn’t ready to kiss Kayla, and I wouldn’t be if I didn’t practice. And it’s not that I wanted to practice with a ten year old, but Caitlin didn’t exactly act her age. She could take me down in the ring and she certainly acted like she was old enough to be in the same class as me.
She led me into my bedroom and closed the door behind us, moving over to the bed. “Alright. I think you should put your hands on my shoulders,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because, there should be some kind of touching, right? I mean, it feels weird if we’re just pressing our lips together.”
“I guess,” I shrugged.
“Okay, now I think we should keep our mouths closed for now.”
I nodded. That definitely sounded like a good idea. “Okay, I’m ready.”
She leaned forward again and pressed her mouth to mine. It was more gentle this time and her lips were soft against mine. I put my hands on her shoulders like she asked, but it still felt weird.
“You’re not closing your eyes,” she said, pulling back slightly.
“Am I supposed to?”
“I think so.”
I nodded and this time when she moved in, I closed my eyes and let her kiss me. It was nice for a third kiss. It wasn’t sloppy like the first time, and it was definitely better than the second. If I could practice a few more times with Caitlin, I might actually have a shot with Kayla.
The door flew open and I jumped back from Caitlin. Alec was standing there with his mouth hanging open. His eyes flicked back and forth between Caitlin and I before he stomped over and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her out of the room.
“You are going back to the training center, and we are never speaking of this again. Do you understand?”
Caitlin nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t see what the big deal is. We were just kissing.”
“Just kissing?” Alec laughed. “Sure, I’ll let you tell that to your dad. Wait, don’t do that. Don’t ever say anything to your dad, understand?”
“Okay,” Caitlin chirped before running out of the room.
Alec turned to me and shook his head. “We’re gonna have to have a talk.”
CHAPTER SIXAlec
I was nervous as hell right now. Cap had called me to his office, but hadn’t said why. I hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to Florrie yet, so she had no clue what was headed our way. Brushing my hands on my thighs, I shook off my nerves and headed into Cap’s office. What was the worst he could do?
“You wanted to see me, Cap?”
He glanced up from his desk and stared me down for a minute. I swiped my hands down my pants again, waiting for him to lay into me.
“You nervous about something?”
“Uh…” I cleared my throat once, but it didn’t help, so I cleared it again. “Uh…not at all. What would I have to be nervous about?” I chuckled.
He leaned back in his chair and assessed me shrewdly. See, the thing about Cap was that he could always sniff out a lie, and
