Tutor Me (10 page)

After school was the final test: Callum. I touched up the makeup in the rearview mirror of my car before ringing his doorbell. I felt confident after successfully hiding the hickey from everyone, but then again we’d be sitting right next to each other. And it would be odd to sit on the other side of him after all this time. I tried to keep my hair over my neck.

We’d made it through most of the session, going over the latest chapter, when Callum suddenly leaned closer to peer at my neck.
Oh here we go.

“A hickey, Jenny? Fucking classy.” He looked totally repulsed. I flinched, but decided to take the high road.

“None of your business. Let’s get back to work,” I said crisply, not making eye contact, hoping that would be the end of it.

But Callum wasn’t going to let me off the hook that easily. “Gift from Bryce?” he sneered.

I felt my temper rising. “Look, I’m not happy about it either, but it’s not a crime.  Don’t tell me you’ve never given a girl a hickey before,” I snapped.

“Yeh, when I was like, 13.”

“Drop it, Callum.” I spoke through gritted teeth.

We sat, silently seething next to each other for a moment, our eyes locked until I broke the stare to gaze down at the textbook. Just when I felt the tension calming down in the air, Callum spoke up again.

“Have you fucked him?”

“Geez! Pass, asshole. Anyway, what’s it to you?”

“He’s an arrogant sexist meathead, just like all those guys, and the girls who hang around them are either pathetic or bitchy. I don’t have time for any of that crowd.” Callum spat the words out.

“I’m in that crowd, so which am I, pathetic or bitchy?” My eyes had narrowed and I was so angry I felt like slapping him. 

“The verdict is still out since you’re new to the group. But guaranteed if you don’t come to your senses and drop them you will be one or the other.”

“OK we’re done.” I sprang up from the chair, grabbed my book bag and headed out of the kitchen toward the front door.

I had my handle on the doorknob when Callum called out, “Jenny, wait. I’m sorry.” His voice had lost its anger and he sounded genuinely contrite.

I paused, not looking around, my hand still on the doorknob. I wasn’t storming out yet but I wasn’t letting him off that easy either.

He was right behind me. “I was out of line, and none of that was any of my business, so let’s forget it.”

I nodded, my back to him. Certainly my anger had evaporated but I had a few things to say. I turned around and he was standing right there, his hands over his head hanging from the doorframe above his head, showing off his arms to wonderful effect.

My gaze was steady and my words came out more confident than I felt. “You are crazy judgmental, you know? And don’t you dare call me pathetic again. I might be bitchy sometimes but I am never pathetic.”

I expected to see anger in his eyes but instead they softened as I spoke, making me melt. He opened his mouth to speak when the doorbell rang. As I had been leaning against it, I jumped forward, startled. Callum looked surprised too. I stepped away and he pulled the door open. Who should be standing there but Noelle and another roadie chick, Jessica. She had a similar pale look to her but with jet black hair instead of white blond. Their eyes flicked to me dismissively then zeroed in on Callum.

“Lesson’s over, right? Send your tutor on her way and let’s party.” Noelle’s voice was low and sultry. She must have been relishing getting to dismiss me the way I’d dismissed her that first day. Now we all turned to Callum, who had the decency to look embarrassed.

“Girls, give me a minute”- To what, make amends with me so he could enjoy God knows what with these two after I left? Hell no. I cut him off.

“I’m outta here. I’ll see myself out.”

Callum made some sound of protest but I ignored him and walked out the open door. I couldn’t resist leaning into the girls as I passed and pointing to my neck. “Watch out. He’s all about the hickeys today.”

The girls’ eyes widened, not knowing what to make of my statement. Callum snorted. I called out, “you should see my back!” on the way to my car.

I repeated ‘manwhore’ under my breath the next day whenever I caught myself looking around for Callum. He made it to Calc, not that it mattered because he was a manwhore and I was going to
stay away
from him. He kept his hand off my desk and that didn’t bother me because he was a manwhore! Mr. Ferguson went over the format of Friday’s quiz. It had crossed my mind that in the tense tutoring session the day before we’d never talked about the quiz and if we were going to do any betting on this one. Well if it came up, and it probably would not, no way was there going to be a repeat of the last bet. No. Way.             

All this was going through my head as I left class. I collected my things at my locker. This afternoon I was planning to hole up and get some homework done- my social life was so active these days I was slightly nervous about my grade in AP Physics, a new experience for me. I was walking towards my car when Callum appeared next to me. He must have sprinted over.

“Hi,” I said, glancing sideways at him, my heart speeding up.

“Hey. You left class so fast I didn’t get a chance to talk to you.” He was walking next to me and we were at my car now.

I turned toward him. “About what?” I was impressed at how chill I knew I sounded.

“We haven’t set up a wager for the Calc quiz.”  His hands were in his jean pockets and he had tilted his head to the side, a quirky smile on his face. His upper teeth were scraping over his lip ring. He looked both cocky and a little unsure of himself at the same moment. Adorable!
Yeh right. Adorable manwhore
.

I straightened myself. “I don’t think we need to bet this time, do we? You’ll be fine.”

He frowned. “If you’re too nervous about it, no worries.” Was that condescension I was detecting?

“I’m not nervous, I just don’t think a bet is necessary.” My tone was clipped.

“It’s ok, I get it, you can’t handle it, can’t handle me.” He was goading me, and of course I was rising to it like a fish to bait.

“I sure as hell can handle it, and you, so sure, let’s do it. What’s it going to be?” 

He raised his eyebrows. “Well, what do you want to bet?”

I made a pretense of thinking about it, as if for the first time. “Hmm. Since I lost last time and my car still needs an oil change, I guess I’ll roll that over.”

I looked up at him standing in front of me. “What do you want this time?” I’d aimed for my voice to sound frosty but it came out low and husky.

Seeing me cave, Callum’s cockiness was now in full force. “Since we went to first base last time I was thinking, how about going for second this time?”

Annoyingly, I could feel myself go beet red. So much for keeping my cool! I paused for a moment, my eyes on the pavement, thinking this through. I could feel him looking at me but I couldn’t make eye contact. I knew I should say no but of course I would say yes and was just scrambling to think of the terms.

“OK,” I finally said quietly, my eyes meeting his. His eyes gleamed. “But you have one minute only, and you have to get a full A, not an A-.”

He grinned. “OK, deal. Let’s shake on it.”

We did, and I got into my car, my legs wobbly. What the hell was I doing? I needed to talk to Tina.

Tina, predictably, thought it was wonderful. “So cute!”

“Really?” I said. “I’m involved in a weird sex game with this guy who I’m not even dating. Isn’t there something wrong about that?”

“Look, you and Bryce are not officially exclusive yet, and a lot of sex isn’t about romance, it’s just about physical chemistry, but we’re too hung up on all the cultural expectations of true love. So what if he sleeps around a lot? This guy is scrumptious. Just go for it! (With protection, of course: who knows what diseases he has.) And besides, you know Callum better than some of the guys who have groped you in the past. Remember that time we went to the ASU frat party and”- 

I cut her off. “OK yes you’re right.” Tina always made me feel better.

Tina brought up some news that even pushed Callum out of my mind. “Guess what, I’m thinking of coming to visit you for the weekend in a couple weeks. What do you think?”

I whooped with joy.

On Friday in class I was so focused on the quiz that I didn’t notice when Callum left, and he was gone by the time I was done.

Friday night we had another away game and another party, and Bryce took me out on Saturday bowling with our friends. Whenever we were alone he was coming on strong. He was a good kisser and I loved his body but for some reason I was reluctant to go all the way with him. I’d only ever slept with Seb and I did kind of want to purge that guy from my memory, but I didn’t want to do it with Bryce unless we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend, and he didn’t seem ready for that. Not that I was handing out any ultimatums. So we just made out a lot and he went home with blue balls.

Bryce even showed up at the Y during my swim lessons on Sunday. Instead of being thrilled it kind of pissed me off because ‘my’ kids (as I thought of them) were finally making some real progress, and they needed my full attention. I sent Bryce home as gently as I could.

Monday rolled around and I was a nervous wreck. Lacey had called me on it at lunch but I blew it off, saying I was worried about my Calc quiz grade. This wasn’t true, I was only worried about Callum’s Calc quiz grade.

At the end of class Mr. Ferguson handed the quizzes back. “Very well done, Callum.” I heard him say behind me.

Did that mean an A? Mr. F’s comment could apply to an A-, surely. I swung around, realizing that as Callum’s tutor it would look odd not to acknowledge him. The other tutoring pairs were very chummy by now, high-fiving each other over grades. I looked at Callum, raising my eyebrow inquiringly, trying to do so in a ‘friendly-tutor-wishing-the-best-for-her-student’ way rather than a ‘I-hope-you’re-going-to-get-to-fondle-me’ way. Callum winked smugly, holding up his quiz to show me the A. Of course I blushed, but had the presence of mind to mouth ‘good job’ before turning to face forward in my seat.

Callum left while I was still waiting for my quiz but I received a text from him while I was at my lockers.

Can I collect now? Band practice is a bit later today. Come over.

Usually I didn’t like that kind of bossiness but somehow, knowing what we were going to do, his directness was hot.

Ok see you in 10
I wrote back. As I’d thought this might play out this way I’d dressed in the morning with the idea of what was to come later. I’d worn a button down pale yellow sleeveless blouse so I wouldn’t have my shirt stuck over my head awkwardly at any point in the procedure, and my favorite white lacey bra that latched in the front, again, to minimize my contortions. I also wore pale gray linen high waisted shorts, which I knew would be staying on.

After primping in the girls’ gym bathroom for a minute, washing my pits and reapplying deodorant when no one was around, I was ready. I got to Callum’s house drilling into my head the mantra that many guys had touched my tits so this was no big deal, nothing to get worked up about. But when he opened the door my pep talk went out the window, because he was standing there with his shirt off wearing only the khaki cargo shorts he’d worn to school. His chest was hard and muscular with a sprinkling of hair, his abs were the classic washboard, and the shorts were slung low enough to reveal the start of the sexy V below his abdomen. I swear my mouth fell open.

My stunned response to his body must have been obvious, as he gave me a lopsided grin. “I figured since you would be taking your shirt off it was only fair that I do the same.”

I tried to recover my coolness. “What with the lip ring and all, I’m surprised you don’t have any tattoos. Any visible ones anyway.” Tattoos seemed like a prerequisite for being in the roadies.

As I spoke he stepped back to hold the door open for me and stood sideways to make more room as I passed by him. I felt the heat radiating off his body, and the magnetic pull was stronger than ever. I wanted to lean into him as I walked past.

“My mom hated tattoos so I’ve never felt like getting one.”

“She must have been strong-minded.” I was now in the living room and had swung around to face him.

“You could say that. She was very sweet but she had these firm views on things. When it came to tattoos, she was unwavering. She’d say, ‘if you have something to say, show it by your actions, not by writing it on your body.’” He chuckled. “I know she’d have still loved me with or without a tattoo, but not getting one makes me feel more connected to her.”

“That makes sense. How did she die?”

“Cancer.” He didn’t elaborate, and I knew enough not to push further, but my heart went out to him.

He changed the subject. “Would you like a glass of water?”

My inclination was to say no but my throat felt dry and I would keep swallowing if I didn’t get some water. “Yes, thank you.”

He passed me on his way to the kitchen and again I felt the magnetism. I followed him, taking advantage of the opportunity to ogle his bare back as he walked in front of me. Strong and muscular like the front. I wanted to stroke it. Good God I needed to get it together.

“So, your dad’s not going to come home suddenly, right?”

He called out over his shoulder. “Nope, he keeps very regular hours at the bank. He will not be popping in on us, so you can relax.”
Relax? As if!

After he’d given me the water we returned to the living room. I drank a few sips and then set the glass down on a side table. He was standing a few feet away from me.

“It’s your prize to collect, so how do you want to do this? Should we sit on the couch or something?” My eyes darted to his but the look I found there had turned searing and I had to look away. Why in the world did I agree to this? I was way out of my depth.

He said in a low voice, “No. I want you to stand by that table. Then how about you remove your shirt and bra and I take it from there?” It was a question that came out like a gentle command.

I swallowed despite the water having coated my throat. Already we were in new territory for me. The other guys I’d been with, even Seb, had been right up next to me when the clothes came off, helping to remove them. Callum was asking me to strip. It was hot as hell, but made me nervous too.

I made one last attempt to assert control. “OK but I’m starting the timer as soon as the bra is off.”

He nodded, his eyes looking cocky again. I set up the timer function on my iPhone and placed it on the side table next to me, which came to waist height. I unbuttoned my blouse, looking down as I did it, anywhere rather than at Callum. I felt incredibly vulnerable but also aroused. I dropped the blouse off both shoulders at the same time. I risked looking at Callum’s face. His eyes had been locked on my bra but when he felt my eyes on him he looked up and met my gaze. The look in his eyes could only be described as predatory. I felt a shiver of excitement. His eyes returned to my breasts as I reached for my bra clasp. With two hands I tried to still my shaking and undo the clasp. I opened the two cups of the bra and dropped the straps off my shoulders and then to the ground, my breasts bouncing free. I heard Callum gasp. I knew I had nice tits- I’d been complemented on them way more than I’d cared for and since the age of 13 I’d observed men of all ages lose their cool at the sight of me in a bikini. But this, this was something else again. Having this particular guy staring at me was making me more turned on than I could ever remember. My breaths were coming out short and sharp, causing my chest to rise and fall.

I had the presence of mind to reach over and start the timer, and then I waited for Callum to pounce. But he didn’t. I ventured a peek and he was still staring at my breasts, a look of wonder on his face. The time was going fast and I found myself impatient. I wanted him to touch me. But I wouldn’t make the move. After what seemed like forever, he stepped forward. He reached out both hands and lightly cupped them, and my nipples went instantly rock hard, to my embarrassment. He glanced up at me, a twinkle in his eye mixed with the hunger I’d already seen. Then he swiftly bent his head down and clamped his hot mouth over my right nipple, suckling me in loud slurps. I cried out in surprise and, it must be said, pleasure. And yup I could feel the lip ring. Was this really just second base?

His right hand stayed on my left breast, while his left slid to my right hip. He licked and suckled for all he was worth in the seconds remaining, and I… well, I lost control. I grabbed his head and ran my fingers through his hair, pushing him further onto my breast as I arched my back, wanting him to take as much of me as he could into his mouth. Then the timer went off, like a slap in the face.

I released his head immediately, untangling my fingers from the hair I’d been grabbing, and Callum pulled back and stood up just as quickly. I was trying to get my breathing under control with little success. Callum had bent over with his hands on his thighs, and was turning away, but I could see the bulge in his shorts. I was pleased he was as worked up as I was.

I picked up my bra and blouse and turned my back on Callum while I put them on. There was suddenly silence and I realized the timer alarm had been going this whole time, and had now stopped. Callum must have turned it off. Further embarrassment: I hadn’t even been able to think straight enough to do that. Buttoning up my shirt hastily, I turned back around. He was seated on the couch, a cushion on his lap, watching me. I felt utterly awkward.