Cameron’s eyes squint at me in concentration. Apparently, I am horrible at teasing. Here I was, thinking that I was a tease by trade, but no. I’m not. I suck.

“Amanda.” He stretches my name out in a tight line. I think he is beyond frustrated, but I don’t get what he is trying to tell me to do. His instructions aren’t making any sense. If they were, I would be doing fine. This isn’t really my fault here. He is all to blame, really; it’s not me.

I let out a small whimper of apology, and he shakes his head. I’m glad this is lesson one instead of kissing. Imagine if I had to kiss him right now. If I’m this bad at teasing, I do not dare to think of how horrible I am at everything else.

“I just don’t understand what you are trying to tell me to do Cameron. I’m sorry, but I don’t get it.” Cameron lets his head fall hard onto my shoulder. Is it possible to kill someone from frustrating them to death? I wonder if it is if it would be considered murder. I wouldn’t think so. I’m not intentionally frustrating him. I tried to tell him this was a bad idea when we were in the kitchen, but no he was insistent. I can feel him physically brace himself before he leans back to look at me again.

“Just pretend that you want me to kiss you senseless, but you don’t want to initiate the kiss. You want me to, so you are going to ‘tease’ it out of me by giving me just enough to make me want more. Try it. Try anything. You can’t really go wrong here.” He rests his back against the wall, looking at me expectantly. Leave him wanting more. Wait, I remember reading something in a magazine about this once. Something about barely kissing that drives people crazy. Bracing myself, I begin my first assignment.

Running my hands gently through Cameron’s hair, I move my face closer to his. Starting at his ear, I make a trail of soft, barely there kisses right down to his jaw. Looking up into his eyes, I search for some kind of approval or disapproval, but I get nothing because his eyes are closed. Taking this as a good sign, I move my lips so that they hover over his. I breathe in and out deeply, letting my breath caress his lips before barely brushing our lips together. As I pull my face away, I take my hands out of his hair and lean back. The lustful look on his face tells me that I just passed my first quiz with flying colors!

Physically shaking himself, Cameron removes the effects of my teasing and comes back to his senses. He gives me an approving nod, but he doesn’t utter a word as he just stares at me. His eyes bore in to me, and that look he is giving me is illegal, especially the part where he licks his lips. Does this boy know how he affects me? I mean, the only reason I am even doing this is because I’ve been in love with him forever, and I would sort of like him to be my first kiss. I know. I know. He is my best friend’s brother, definitely in the no-no zone, but I can’t help it. One look into those arctic blue eyes and I’m mush.

Lost in Cameron’s eyes, I didn’t realize our faces had moved closer together. Now our lips are mere centimeters apart, and my heart chooses this time to practice the tarantella. On instinct, the closer Cameron moves the farther back I lean. However, this only results in me losing my balance and falling backwards so I’m lying down. Not one to miss an opportunity, Cameron lies down next to me, forcing me to face the smile that is splayed on his lips.

“Don’t be nervous Panda. We can stop our lessons at any time you know?” All words have left me. There is absolutely no way I can make any noises come out of my mouth. Even my mindless choking is gone now. Forcing my head to nod up and down, I finally act like a human with a brain, but it isn’t my brain that is having the problem. My thoughts are working just fine. It’s my tongue, and my vocal chords, and the rest of my body that is freezing up on me.

“Alright then. Lesson two: first kiss.” First kiss? FIRST KISS? Why is he rubbing it in? I know I let it slip, but no one knows about it. Not even Maria knows that! ARGH! This is bad, very bad. My body decides it’s time to begin working again, and I start to shift uncomfortably. Even if Cameron notices anything off, he is ignoring it and plowing on.

“First kisses should be polite, sweet, and delicate. You want to leave the guy thinking you are an angel who has fallen down to earth to do nothing but bestow sweet kisses on him.” I have to do all that with a first kiss? I don’t even know how to kiss, and he expects all of this! He is ridiculous!

“Now sometimes, in a relationship, when it is time for the first kiss, the guy is expecting more: like tongue. However, do not go down that road. If he tries for tongue, he isn’t worth your time. Got it?” I nod my head, smiling a big goofy grin. He probably thinks I’m crazy, but that’s okay. He was talking about first kisses in a relationship, not for a person. This is fantastic! He probably doesn’t even remember the part where I told him I’ve never had a real kiss.

“Okay. I’m going to walk you through my motions first, stopping before I actually kiss you. Then we will do it all over again, but faster and without my narration. Got it?”

“I think so!” Out of nervous habit, I bite my bottom lip while looking up into Cameron’s eyes which are quickly growing darker by the second. Weird, that’s almost the same shade they were that night in the—no. Do not think about that now. Letting out a shaky breath, I motion for Cameron to proceed with the lesson. He walks me through everything, and it seems pretty simple. All I really have to do is tilt my head in the opposite direction he tilts his and press my lips against his. That’s it. He will do everything else.

Taking a steadying breath, Cameron shuts his eyes before acting out everything he just said. Leaning into me, he brushes some hair out of my face and leaves his hand cupped around my cheek. Ever so slowly, he leans in closer and closer all the while sending sparks flying across my cheek as his fingers slowly caress it. If I thought my heart beat was going fast before, oh how I was wrong. That was nothing. There is no way that Cameron cannot feel that. It’s like the bass at a hip-hop concert in there. My body is shaking with the beat. I swear it. Unaffected by my dangerously strong, fast, and loud heart beats, Cameron begins tilting his head and closing his eyes as he moves in closer and closer.

Alright, here it is: the moment of truth. Wait. What am I supposed to do? He told me I had to do something when he closed his eyes and began tilting his head! I know it was important, but I can’t remember! UGH! If it weren’t for the fact that he was so freaking close to me, I might remember, but I can’t. Going on pure instinct, I close my eyes and let my body take over. The next thing I know, Cameron is pressing his lips against mine.

As soon as our lips meet, a heat spreads throughout my body, and I feel so alive. I just want to keep his lips there forever. I mean, people do that right? They kiss for hours on end. He is my teacher, and I do need the practice after all. All too soon, Cameron pulls away, but he doesn’t just stop there, he stands up and begins walking away without a glance back at me.

“Cameron!” I scramble to my feet and run after him, but I’m too late. He is already backing out of the parking lot when I get out there. He just gave me my first kiss and ran like it was no big deal. See, I told him there are such things as bad kissers, and he just proved to me that I am one.