Kiss List (Book I of the List Series)

Chapter 6 - David

Chapter 6 – David

“Boys,” dad explained, “are a lot like dogs. You need to train them and if they get out of control you need to walk away.”

The message behind his words was clear. Making out with a boy was bad. Making out with a boy in the boy’s car was really bad. I needed to get it across that I did not want to make out in the boy’s car. If the boy still wanted to make out, I needed to leave.

Interspersed into dad’s lecture were vivid descriptions of how boys were fundamentally evil and strong warnings for me to stay away from them at all costs – at least until I reached an appropriate age “like 30.” Unfortunately for my dad, I disagreed with the very premise of his argument. Where he saw vicious attack dogs waiting to rip my throat out, I saw cute and cuddly puppies. Kissing Dylan had just fueled my desire to spend more time with boys. Dad’s lecture only succeeded in persuading me to make sure he wasn’t around when I did.

The girls, of course, were furious when I told them about Dylan. “But we didn’t discuss him,” Olivia exclaimed. “We didn’t put together a Dylan strategy. You got a kiss but no pictures and now your dad has scared him off. You might not be able to get him back.”

“Never again,” Payton said. “Your lack of planning and horny, carefree attitude nearly got us found out. You need to buckle down if you want to shack up.”

Eventually, the girls let up and it was decided that I would go back to the original plan and try to make something happen with David. I had moved too fast with Dylan, they said. Moving in on a friend without taking precautions had introduced my home life - in particular my father - to the equation. I needed to take a step back and hone my skills on David.

Then we spent the rest of the night dishing about what a jerk Sam was.

It wasn’t hard to find out when the next cross-country meet was; the team captains announced it on the morning announcements. I managed to convince my soccer coach to let me do the strength-training portion of our afternoon practice before school the following morning so I could get off early. Then Olivia and I went to the meet.

We arrived just in time to see the varsity boys run. When the boys passed us at the three-kilometer mark David was in third place for the team and in 10th place overall. Not too shabby for someone just running as cross-training for wrestling. Olivia and I screamed and cheered as loudly as we could when we saw him but his face had a look of intense determination on it and I don’t think he even noticed us.

“Well,” Olivia said when they were gone, “this is a boring sport. All they do is run and we just get to see them for a few seconds. The boy better appreciate our effort. Let’s go find him. There were a few cute runners from our team, maybe we can find someone for me as well.”

We found David at the aid station after the finish line. He was downing water from a tiny paper cup and had a dissatisfied expression on his face. I knew that look. It was the same one I wore after a soccer game when I didn’t think I had done my best even if the team had won. Competitive athletes could be very hard on themselves.

I felt excited but nervous as I thought about walking up to David. I had already kissed two boys now but somehow I was still intimidated by David. He was normally shockingly good looking and he even looked hotter now after his race. His sweat made his blond hair curl at his temples and his skin shine, showing of the contours of his muscles. He was the kind of guy who did not realize just how attractive he was. He didn’t have Sam’s swagger or Dylan’s playfulness but his innocent, aw-shucks style made a lot of girls I knew want to do not-so-innocent things to him. Once again I felt like a little girl about to approach a perfect guy who was way out of my league.