Page 3 of Practicing With My Tutor

“Not at all. I think it’s brave, following your passion.” I blurt it out before I can even consider being embarrassed.

But if he thinks I sound silly, he doesn’t show it. His piercing blue eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles. “Thanks. It’s nice to know you think so.”

The air suddenly feels thick and heavy. Have we been sitting this close the whole time? The heat and scent of him make my head spin.

He clears his throat and starts flipping through the class textbook. “So what do you want to go over?”

“Um,” I say, once again cursing myself for my short-sightedness, “maybe just the last lesson? We have another paper due at the end of the month, and I’m already kind of lost on what’s going on.”

“Can do,” he replies, a little smirk on that handsome face. It’s obvious he sees right through me, but thankfully, he doesn’t call me on it.

Blaine pulls up the slides from the last lesson and starts talking me through everything. All of the information is stuff I’ve already known for years. Early American history is my favorite subject. When I was in high school, I devoured every single book on the founding of the country and the following years that I could get my hands on. In fact, while Blaine’s going over one of the slides, he tells me the wrong date, and I can’t stop myself from correcting him.

“I thought you said you were confused about this stuff,” he says, giving me a curious look that makes me squirm.

“I am,” I lie, knowing my words aren’t confident. “I just remembered that part from class.”

“Right,” he says, winking at me and making it clear he knows what I’m doing. “How about we take a little break in the living room? I’ll grab you a glass of water.”

“That’d be great,” I say as I stand and follow him.

I have no idea why I’m so nervous walking to his couch. Maybe it’s the fact that there was something I couldn’t quite place in his tone. Is he about to let me down? I hope he at least goes easy on me.

When he comes into the room, he places two glasses of water on the table and sits closer to me than I think is entirely necessary. I become incredibly aware of my body and the fact that I dressed myself up. I don’t usually wear any makeup, so up this close, I’m sure he can tell that I’m trying harder than normal.

“You know,” he says, knocking his knee against mine, getting me to look into his stormy blue eyes, “I don’t think there’s anything I can teach you about history that you don’t already know.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I say, still defending the fact that I asked for tutoring. “You’re in grad school, and I’m still working on my bachelor’s degree.”

“I’m the one that grades your papers, and I’m confident that you have a great grasp of the subject material. I think if I gave you the final exam right now, you could pass it,” he says, reaching forward to grab his glass and take a sip. After he sets the cup down again, he gives me a mischievous grin and says, “So I think there’s another reason you’re here today.”

“W-what?” I stutter, unsure of what to say. Even if I wanted to deny the assertion, I don’t have any idea how. He’s right. There is another reason I’m here.

“You don’t need help with this class, do you?” he asks, the question clearly rhetorical.

I freeze, not sure where this is going. My eyes go wide, and my shoulders go stiff. It doesn’t sound like he’s upset, but I think he might be teasing me. I’m not sure if my fragile heart can take it. I’ve never put myself out there like this before.

“Can I ask you something?” Blaine says gently, speaking to me like he’s afraid of scaring me off.

I don’t trust my voice, so I nod, maintaining eye contact as best I can.

“Have you ever dated anyone?”

I shake my head, feeling my face burning as I do.

“That makes sense,” he chuckles as he reaches out to rest his hand on my knee. “But you came over because you wanted to be with me, right?”

“Yes,” I say, my voice nearly a whisper when I speak.

“Have you ever had sex before?” Blaine says gently, rubbing his hand up and down my thigh.

“No,” I say. “I’m a virgin.”

“We’ll go slow then,” he says, taking his hand off of my knee and using it to cup my cheek.

When our lips connect, I feel like I must have died and gone to heaven. I almost forget to kiss him back, but I quickly remember when Blaine rubs his thumb against my cheek. I’m self-conscious of the fact that I’m inexperienced, but he doesn’t seem to care.

After a few minutes of mostly-innocent kissing, his tongue presses at the seam of my lips. I open my mouth, trying to match his movements. I feel him smile against me, so even though I don’t think I’m doing a good job, I can tell he doesn’t care.

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