The Kiss List Read online

  I wasn’t sure how much time passed. I just kept on swinging, letting out all my emotions from the past few days.

  Dylan being the first to call if off.

  Wham.

  Saying I was a bad kisser.

  Wham.

  Pete mocking me.

  Wham.

  Mom not being there for me to talk to.

  Wham.

  My body overheated with every blow. When I’d run out of coins, and the last ball had been knocked to its destination, I stood there in the batting cage, panting for breath and letting my smile explode.

  It felt so good.

  I stepped outside the cage and shut the door. Taking off my helmet, I shook out my sweaty hair, running my fingers through it.

  “That. Was. Awesome,” Seth said. He looked at me with so much awe and admiration that it made me blush. Thank goodness my cheeks were already red from the workout.

  I held up a hand, and he high-fived it.

  “Seriously, Camille. I’ve never seen you hit like that.” He clasped his hands together. “Please tell me you’ll start playing softball again.”

  I opened my mouth to say something when a rich, smoky voice sounded behind me.

  “I agree.”

  I spun to find Alejandro Ramirez leaning against the chain-link fence, his arms and ankles crossed. He wore a tight-fitting baseball tee that showed off his muscles. His gaze traveled my body, and, despite the heat, I shivered.

  Seth threw up his hands. “See. Even this random guy thinks so. My sister is so good. But she got all stupid over her boyfriend and stopped being cool.” He glared at me, but it was in his adorable way.

  I put my hand on my hip. “I did not stop being cool.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Seth’s tone was incredulous, almost a little snotty. When I ruffled his hair, he slapped my hand away and smoothed it out. “Don’t mess up my game, sis.”

  “What game?” I asked.

  Alejandro chuckled. “The guy has game.” He winked at Seth, who beamed. “Camille, why aren’t you playing for our school?”

  Seth glanced back and forth between the two of us. “You know this guy?” He grunted. “Don’t go all boy-crazy for him. I can’t handle it. I just got you back five minutes ago.”

  Slapping my hand over my brother’s mouth, I pulled him into my side. “Please stop talking.” I looked at Alejandro and did my best not to melt at the sight of him. “What are you doing here?” I stopped myself before I could add, “After stalking you online, it didn’t look like you came here on Wednesdays.”

  A sultry smile tugged at his thick lips. They were more than kissable, and just the thought of them on mine made me want to fan myself. He swept his bangs to the side. “My reward for surviving another school year.” He quirked an eyebrow. “I didn’t see you today.”

  Seth ripped my hand from his mouth, but still held onto my hand. “She ditched. She’s a rebel like that.”

  “I needed a me day,” I said.

  Seth slumped. “Which didn’t involve me.”

  I hugged my arms around his throat and pulled his back into me. “I’ll make it up to you, Seth. Promise.”

  “You better,” he mumbled, his hands and chin resting on my arms.

  Alejandro tipped his head toward the batting cage. “You were good in there. Come to summer camp. The baseball team always plays a couple games against the softball team.” His gaze flitted to my lips for the briefest of seconds. “Things usually get interesting.”

  Seth tilted his head back to look up at me. “You should totally do that, Camille. You’re totally going to be the star player.”

  “What position did you play?” Alejandro asked.

  “Short stop.” Why did I sound so out of breath? I cleared my throat. “I can pitch, but I prefer short stop.”

  “What position do you play?” Seth asked Alejandro.

  He smiled at my brother. “Third base.”

  “Awesome,” Seth said. “So does Kris Bryant. He’s basically my hero.”

  Alejandro stroked his chiseled chin—so strong you could make a sculpture out of it. “Yeah, he’s really good. He’s no Jose Ramirez, but he’s good.”

  “We can agree to disagree,” Seth said.

  “Do you just like him because you have the same last name?” I asked.

  Alejandro licked his bottom lip. “Added bonus.”

  Seth bounced. “Are you related?”

  “I wish.” Alejandro pushed away from the fence and came closer, his musky cologne wafting toward me. “I better see you at summer camp.” He took out his phone. “Give me your number so I can make sure you sign up.”

  I swallowed, trying to work moisture into my mouth. “Doesn’t the team already have an amazing short stop?”

  “She was a senior this year,” he said. “There will be a battle for the opening, but it looks like you can handle yourself.” He held his phone out to me, and I took it, trying to conceal my trembling hands.

  I saved my number in his phone and gave it back to him.

  “See you at camp,” Alejandro said. He fake punched Seth in the stomach. “Keep on swinging. I watched you, too. If you work hard, you could be even better than your sister.”

  I laughed. “Good luck with that, Seth.”

  Seth flexed his tiny arms. “I got this.”

  We smiled and waved, parting ways with Alejandro. If I didn’t have Seth with me, and hadn’t promised him a shake, I would’ve stayed and watched Alejandro for a bit. He probably had the best form, and I could learn a thing or two from him. Or, I could just watch his backside.

  While Seth sang at the top of his lungs as we drove to get our shakes, excitement tingled under my skin. Everything was going much better than I had anticipated. I’d already had interaction with Alejandro, and had just been given the perfect chance to kiss him: at summer camp.

  I signed up as soon as we got home.

  Chapter 11

  After dinner, Seth and I helped Dad clean the kitchen. Mom still hadn’t gotten home from work. I was anxiously waiting for her to come home so I could talk to her about the camp, and about Dylan. I still hadn’t broached that subject with her because I hadn’t had a chance.

  Dad heard all about it the day after it happened. He did a terrible job of covering up his smile when I said Dylan and I were done. He followed that up by pulling IBC root beers out of the fridge and cheering to the single life.

  “Tell me how you really feel, Dad,” I’d said with a sigh that night.

  Dad had beamed. “I’m ecstatic, thanks for asking.”

  He was even more excited when I told him about softball camp during dinner. He looked at me like a proud parent, and I swore I saw tears glistening in his eyes. For someone so tough, he could be a softy.

  This childish part of me wanted my mom to have the same reaction, but I’d be lucky to get a reaction at all.

  While I waited for Mom to get home, I stalked my kiss list members online. Alejandro’s feed was full of smoldering selfies that would normally make me roll my eyes, but wow, he was hot. I had to reach over, grab a piece of paper, fold it in half, and use it as a fan, he was that sizzling.

  Most of his followers were girls, no surprise there. It might be difficult to stand out from all the other girls, but I had to try. I commented on a few of his photos, just so he’d get my name bouncing around in his head.

  Isaac’s were all photos of him DJing, or him trying new experiments with inventions he’d created. The guy was a gorgeous genius. Who also had a lot of female followers.

  The thing with both Isaac and Alejandro was that I’d have to be super bold with them if I wanted to stand out among the sea of girls swooning over them. They liked the aggressive type, which could get me in trouble. I was one to let things unfold naturally, but I didn’t have time for that. I just hoped they wouldn’t take my advances as anything more than what I wanted. I would have to tread lightly with them.

  Which meant never being alone with either of them. The kis
ses had to be public—well, not too public if I didn’t want to be labeled the wrong way—which could definitely work in my favor. Eyewitnesses were always key in these situations, especially if it showed Isaac and Alejandro being into the kiss. No way could they deny I was a good kisser if everyone saw their reactions.

  Mason would be a slower approach, which was good since I wanted to save him for last. I’d have to gradually work my way into his life. He didn’t have a lot of followers online, and the few females he had looked like his mom, grandma, and some other relatives. He was so cute with them that it made me happy he was on my list. I loved a guy who got along with his family.

  After skimming through his photos, I saw he worked for a local movie theater, which was perfect. Hayley, Kaitlyn, and I were planning on going to the movies on Friday, like we did at the end of each school year. It wasn’t the normal theater we went to, but I was sure I could convince them to try out a new theater if it meant contact with Mason.

  Giddiness swung on my nerves like a monkey in a tree. It was latched on, having the time of its life. This kiss list was looking obtainable, and I couldn’t deny the fun I’d have crossing off each name.

  Mom’s voice echoed in the hall. She was home.

  Slamming my laptop closed, I scrambled from my bed so fast that my legs tangled in the sheets. I lost my balance and landed back-first on the floor, letting out a very audible, “oof.” Rubbing my back, I stood and hobbled to the door.

  Mom’s back disappeared into her bedroom as she closed the door behind her. Normally, the closed door meant Mom and Dad’s room was off limits. But I could hear Dad watching baseball in the front room, which meant Mom was alone.

  With a deep breath, I walked with my head held high—hoping to build up some courage—and knocked on her bedroom door.

  No answer.

  I knocked again. I could hear her shuffling around inside, probably changing out of her work dress and into something comfy. I waited a full minute before I knocked again.

  “Mom?” My voice came out way quieter than I wanted. Clearing my throat, I spoke up. “Mom? I need to talk to you.”

  Mom’s voice sounded on the other side, so strong and sure, getting my hopes up. But then I realized she was talking on the phone.

  Glancing over my shoulder like I was about to do something against the law, I turned the doorknob to see if Mom had locked it. She hadn’t. I pushed the door open a crack and peered inside.

  Mom sat on her bed, laptop in front of her, a Bluetooth headset perched in her ear, her professional tone clashing with her baggy shirt and sweats.

  She looked up when I came in, a smile on her face. Only, the smile was for the caller, so she sounded attentive. Her eyes were just a blue lake of tiredness.

  Since she didn’t motion for me to leave, I took a seat on the bed next to her, waiting patiently for her call to finish. After ten minutes, I almost gave up but decided to wait it out.

  Another ten minutes passed before Mom finally ended the call.

  “Hey, sweetie,” she said, her eyes on her laptop. She pulled up her email and began clacking away at the keyboard.

  “Do you have a few minutes?” I asked, watching her fingers fly.

  “Uh huh.” Mom erased her last sentence and tried again. “What’s up?”

  I flexed my hand like I was trying to wring out excess nerves. “Dylan and I broke up.”

  Her gaze finally flickered over to me. “What? When?”

  “Saturday night.”

  Her eyes were already back on the screen. “What happened?”

  I shrugged, even though she wasn’t looking at me. “We just kind of fizzled out. It was overdue, but I’m still sad. He was my first boyfriend and first kiss, you know?”

  “Uh huh.” She swore under her breath as she read an incoming email. If I thought she’d been typing fast before, I was way wrong. If Olympic keyboarding were a thing, Mom would take home the gold by a landslide.

  I tucked my legs close to my chest. “I mean, I know it will be for the best in the long run, but it hurts so bad. There’s like a piece of me missing. I was Dylan’s girlfriend for so long, I don’t know who I am without him.”

  Mom reached over and rubbed my leg before her fingers found the keyboard again. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Things will get better. Just give it time.” She scoffed. “Seriously, Carl? This is not what we just discussed.”

  Mom was yelling at an email. Poor Carl. He’d get the live version soon enough.

  “I, uh, I signed up for softball camp,” I said. “I think I want to get back into it.”

  “That sounds fun, dear,” Mom said, her mouth in a frown as her eyes moved furiously back and forth, reading an email. She touched the side of her ear. “Carl? I told you my client won’t settle. I don’t know how you run things at your firm, but . . .”

  I tuned her out, not wanting to listen to Carl get scolded like a little child. I slid off the bed and headed toward the door, giving my mom a last look.

  She didn’t look up at me. With a sigh, I closed the door so she could spend the next twenty minutes berating Carl.

  Chapter 12

  At least Kaitlyn and Hayley were excited when I told them that I signed up for softball camp. Hayley said something to the extent of, “I’m so glad we got Dylan’s claws out of you.”

  I honestly thought everyone was overreacting. I hadn’t been that bad when I’d been with Dylan. I hadn’t.

  It wasn’t difficult to get Hayley and Kaitlyn to switch theaters for our yearly ritual: a triple feature at the movies. Thankfully, it was the time of year when all the good movies were out, so it wasn’t hard to find movies to see. Sometimes we had a hard time narrowing it down, which led to a double or triple feature on Saturday. When we were in school, we didn’t get to the movies all that often.

  We went all out. Popcorn, large soda, and tons of candy. Each. It cost a lot, but we’d been saving up for it, like every year.

  Kaitlyn wore track shorts and a basketball T-shirt. Hayley had her holey skinny jeans and a shirt with her favorite band’s logo on it. I’d opted for capris and a loose blouse hanging off my shoulder. It was something simple, which I thought Mason would appreciate. He didn’t strike me as the type who liked flashy.

  “So,” Kaitlyn said as we were in the concession line, “are you going to kiss Alejandro the first day at camp, or you gonna make him work for it?”

  I pursed my lips and batted my eyelashes. “Work for it, obviously.”

  Hayley pulled her red hair back in a stump of a ponytail. “I bet he’s going to be amazing.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt he will.” A wicked grin rested on Kaitlyn’s lips.

  Hayley and I exchanged a glance before we looked at her.

  “Experience?” I asked. She’d said before that she wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him, but she was acting like she knew.

  She bumped me with her hip. “Not with him. But Amy did at Prom, and she won’t stop talking about it.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I thought he went with Jess.”

  Kaitlyn scrunched her nose like she was holding in a giggle. “He did.”

  My heart sank the smallest bit. I didn’t want anything with Alejandro, just a kiss. But for some reason, the thought of him playing the field like that made a little bit of the spark I had for him disintegrate. I may have seemed hypocritical because I had a list of guys I wanted to kiss, but I’d never go to a dance with one guy, and then kiss another while we were there. A day buffer was required, at the minimum.

  “The tricky thing will be that Mason will also be there.” I’d forgotten he was on the baseball team until I’d perused his social media feed. “I’m going to have to keep them separate somehow.”

  “Next,” the guy at the counter said.

  “Speaking of Mason,” Kaitlyn said under her breath.

  Hayley adjusted my shirt so more of my shoulder showed, giving me a wink. With a roll of my eyes, I put it back how it was, ignoring her scowl. That wo
uld have worked better on the other guys.

  Hayley answered by pushing me toward Mason. I stumbled toward the counter, catching hold to keep myself from falling over.

  “Are you okay?” Mason asked.

  I straightened out my shirt. “Yeah, fine. Just clumsy.” I meant to stare at the menu, like I always did, pretending like I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to get, though I knew. But I couldn’t take my eyes off his. Mason Payne had this adorable, sexy quality about him. He kept his blond hair a little shaggy, but not too much that it covered his green eyes.

  A blush climbed up his neck to his cheeks. He shook out his hair, his eyes darting to the register. “What can I get you?”

  I thought about biting my lip to draw attention to it, but he wasn’t looking at me. “A bag of caramel corn and a large Dr Pepper.”

  His eyes briefly landed on mine before he stared at the soda fountain. “We only have Coke products.”

  I knew that; I just wanted him to speak again. He had a low vibrato that made me want to listen to him forever. “Cherry Coke will be fine, then.”

  “Ice?” He held a large cup in his hand, still not daring to look my way.

  “Yes, please,” I said. As he filled the cup, I spoke. “Have any big plans this summer?”

  He licked his dry lips. The guy could definitely use the moisture from my lip gloss. “Just a family vacation to Hawaii.”

  I’d always wanted to go there, but Mom never took a day off work. “Awesome! Have you been there before?”

  He set the cup and a straw in front of me. “Uh, no. First time.” He hurried to get the bag of popcorn and set it next to my drink. “Anything else?”

  I pointed at the glass container full of candy beneath me. “Licorice, Sour Patch Kids, and . . .” I tapped my fingers along the counter. “Junior Mints.”

  “Is this all for you?” he asked, his gaze sliding to the left. Hayley and Kaitlyn were probably watching the whole thing from the next cash register over. But if I looked at them, it would distract me.