“It’s not about stopping,” he tried to explain.
“Lesson one?” I straightened my posture and pulled out my phone to open the notes app.
Leo reached over to nudge my phone down from my face. “No, I’m not trying to teach you right now. I’m trying to tell you I don’t think you can learn this in a summer.”
“Well, I only have the summer to absorb as much as I can,” I told him.
“What’s the rush?”
“I’ve missed two college application deadlines,” I confessed, not able to mask the deflated tone in my voice. “I refuse to miss the next.”
“There’s nothing wrong with taking your time to make the right decision,” he comforted.
“I’m not taking my time. I’m just being a little too much,” I mumbled. “Anyway, the second reason is you’re leaving for school come September.”
“Right.” His voice sounded a little strange as he agreed. I brushed it off as him just trying to digest everything I was saying.
“You’re the only person who knows me, but not enough to really know me,” I told him. “Which makes you the perfect teacher. You can be harsh where others would treat me with kid gloves.”
“I’m not going to be mean to you, Kira.”
“But you have to be harsh,” I practically begged, and leaned closer to him so he could see the seriousness in my eyes. “Or, at least brutally honest?”
“Honesty. I can do that.”
“You sure? Promises aren’t meant to be broken. I might have to curse your family this time. That’ll definitely give your brothers something to goad you about.”
He laughed. The sound brought a feeling of lightness back into the conversation. “Most definitely. Letting you down isn’t an option this time.”
My heat flashes were back, thanks to the seriousness in his last sentence. Leo grabbed my hand, stopping me from leaning away as he wrapped his fingers around mine. He brushed his thumb across my knuckles as he asked, “Pinky swears probably mean little to you now. At least, when they come from me?”
“They’re a bit hollow,” I confessed in a low voice.
Leo brought my pinky to his lips, giving it a gentle kiss. My breathing was shallow as I went back and forth in my head about what this meant. Because guys don’t do that stuff like that for no reason. Or maybe guys like Leo could? But thinking of him going around flippantly kissing the hands of girls seemed unrealistic.
Leo wasn’t a player. He barely dated in high school and when he did, you wouldn’t find him doing grand gestures or kissing his significant other in public. He was the phrase ‘low-key’ incarnate.
“Tell me this is just you being a little extra nice.” I looked down at my hand to make sure he knew I was talking about the kiss.
“Is that what you need to hear?” He kept his gaze on my hand, thumb tracing where he placed his lips.
I blinked. “Yeah. I… think so.”
Leo shrugged and brought my hand up to kiss me again. This go around, he glanced up, making eye contact the entire time. “I’m just being a little extra nice, Kira.”
“Stop messing with me,” I whispered with a racing heart.
“How is telling you what you asked to hear messing with you?” he wondered with a charming grin.
“You know what you’re doing.”
“I’m doing what you asked. Did I do it wrong?”
I chewed on my bottom lip. How was a human’s voice so damn smooth at the age of twenty? You’d think he’d need more life experience to perfect such a cadence.
“If I did it wrong, you could teach me,” he offered, speaking the words slowly.
“I don’t…Teaching you…” I stammered, tongue suddenly feeling too heavy for my mouth.
