Chapter 2

It was during yoga the next day that she brought it up—something she’d been turning over in her mind since last night.

‘Why do you think you don’t have a girlfriend?’ Kayla asked without preamble, moving into downward dog.

‘Um—’

‘Are you shy? Worried you might mess up, get something wrong?’

‘Yeah. I guess so.’

Kayla looked at him. He did sound sort of shy. ‘Well, I do have no idea how to do anything—I’ve only kissed a couple times.’

They were quiet for a moment, moving through stretches, as Kayla wondered if she should continue with her plan today, or if it was an unwise plan.

‘You know, I could give you some pointers,’ she said. ‘I mean, I’ve had a few boyfriends—nothing really serious—but I could tell you stuff I sure didn’t like about them. And what I did like, of course. So you have an idea what to do.’

‘You’ll tell me about kissing?’ Tony asked.

‘Sure. Right after yoga if you want.’

‘Well, okay. I guess that would be okay.’

Inside, Kayla gave a sigh of relief. Phase One initiated...

They were sitting, cross-legged on the floor, still in their yoga clothes. Kayla had her knees pulled up to closer to her body. She was staring off thoughtfully.

‘You want to start out tender, usually. Like with a gentle kiss—touch her face, her hand, maybe her neck. Smooth her hair. Be gentle. Then, you’ve gotta deepen the kiss—increase intensity—’

‘Deepen?’ Tony interrupted. ‘What do you mean, deepen? Like French her?’

Kayla sighed. ‘No. Put some pressure. Don’t be as gentle. Then you might be able to convince her to French you, if she gives you the right signals—’

‘What signals?’

‘Well—’ Kayla flushed. She hadn’t realized this might embarrass her a little. She was suddenly aware of how close he was sitting next to her. She could feel his hot breath stir the little hairs at the back of her neck and shivered a little. ‘Well, if she moans a little, or her breath quickens. If she presses her body to you—then you can probably put your hand up and touch her breasts.’

‘WHAT?’ Tony looked gob-smacked. ‘That’s not really hard.’

Kayla raised her eyebrows with a little laugh. ‘Sure, it’s not hard—but only if you know how to do it properly.’

Tony groaned. ‘Great. Again, something I need experience in to be good at.’

Kayla’s breath caught. Could she ask him? ... should she?

Feigning a casual air, she turned to her brother, keeping her eyes lowered. ‘Well—look, it’s not so bad. And, you know, it really wouldn’t matter if I showed you—you know. You’re my brother. It’s not like it would mean anything.’ She gave a little shrug and a small, careless laugh, as if suggesting practicing making out with your brother wasn’t a big deal at all. (She’d heard that sometimes, in European countries—it wasn’t.)