I should have known Aelius Carter Hayes was a trickster at its best. He was ever annoying and ever-consistent when he made a decision. And in this case, he had made up his mind to ruin my chances with other guys as my kissing tutor while tricking me, yet again into believing that he would be the one.

"You must be kidding me," I gritted my teeth crumbling up the sheets of paper he had handed me out before jumping into the pool.

When he promised to teach me the basics of kissing, I expected him to demonstrate it. But instead of that, I spent all afternoon solving integration only to be awarded handouts of kissing techniques googled out from the internet. What the hell!

The How-to-Kiss Guide

1. Make sure you and your partner are ready for it. Consent is the key to a heated build-up and a euphoric first kiss.

2. Don't rush into the act. Be gentle and take it slow. Enjoy each other's touch and let your breaths mingle together, syncing your heartbeats. Tilt your heads to the side and let your lips fit perfectly together.

3. Take a step further by making sure you are ready to extend your kiss into long make-out session. Use the tip of your tongue to seek permission, nibble, bite or tug-

My mind stopped working at the third point. I clenched the sheets tightly, jumped up from where I laid on the sun lounger, and walked towards the pool.

"What are these?" I shouted at the boy, waving the white papers full of his mockery towards my situation.

"That's the basics of kissing," Aelius replied, not stopping his trained laps in the crystal blue water of his pool. His voice muffled against the sound of the loud splashing. He looked almost like a professional swimmer while doing it. "Thank me later, Eve."

"Stop toying with me, Hayes," I said, frowning at the papers in my hand, then looked up at the boy cutting through crystal blue water, his taut biceps and shoulder muscles flexing with each stroke. "When are we going for the practical?"

"When you are through with the basic rules of kissing," he spoke innocently. His surprisingly soft, pink lips drew my attention as he twisted them up in a subtle mocking grin, snapping me from my reverie. "We don't want you to choke to death while trying to perfect the art of kissing."

I rolled my eyes, pushing away the strands of hair falling on my face. "I've never heard anyone die during a kiss."

"I can't believe you actually thought about that. Of course, you won't die while kissing." A low laugh rumbled through his chest as he threw his back on the water and started doing backward strokes like an expert swimmer.

And I couldn't help admiring - all the stupid deals aside - I admired Aelius for being so good at everything without even making it a big deal. He was a flirt when needed, funny most of the time, and his sense of awareness about the emotions and feelings of people close to him, made him stand out from the crowd.

I fascinated him from the very beginning. Only I never acknowledged it. His presence made me feel some time of way, giving me weird thrills. The guy never did anything half-assed. When he set his mind on something, his attention flew wholeheartedly.

I wondered if kissing lessons from him would be like the Pre-calculus lesson. Would he bring the same amount of focus and technique?

As soon as curiosity infiltrated my mind and soul, I realized I had been staring at him the whole time while he expertly exhibited his swimming skills as a swimming champion for three years straight. I both admired his natural-born talent and envied it.

I lost all my reasoning the moment my heart picked up at the sight of those wet midnight curls damp around his face. His full lips slightly parted as he breathed through the strokes. I gulped down the dryness forming in my throat and snapped at him. "Enough of this game, Aeli."

Aelius stopped in the middle of the pool, turning towards me with a frown, pushing back those wet black curls and sending chills down my spine. "I don't think these google dumps will be of any help for me. So, you can keep them for your revision. I'm so done with this deal."

I said it loudly, and a cute little, half-asleep Ginger lifted her head from her comfy curled-up position on the floor by the pool. She barked as I tossed the kissing notes in the pool and shot Aelius a glare.

He snorted when I turned to leave. "And where the hell are you going now?"

"To collect my bag and head back home." My harsh response echoed in the silence as I picked up Ginger and walked inside the house, knowing it was the second time running away from him. Not because I was angry with him but because I was scared of the heat flowing through my veins whenever I thought about kissing him.

And it was getting more and more difficult to keep the kissing lessons that I sought from him as a skill-gaining process. 

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