Kiss List (Book I of the List Series)

Chapter 35 - Right Paul

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.