Free Kiss List by J. S. Abilene

eyes as he got out of the tub and changed into his spandex shorts and the jockstrap. After he had slid on mesh running shorts he told me I could look. “Hey,” he said as he rummaged through his bag. “Where’s my shirt? I could have sworn I packed my running shirt this morning when I left home.”
    “I didn’t see it,” I said innocently. “I just grabbed the bag like you said and I’m not going back in that locker room. It smelled really, really bad. You can’t wear your golf shirt, though; it’s too nice. Just go shirtless. I don’t mind at all.”
    David eyed me for a moment and then seemed to decide that I was not devious enough to hide his shirt. “So what’s the bet?” he said.
    “Bet?”
    “Yeah, you said you bet that you could ‘take a pretty boy wrestler down,’” David said. “I’ll teach you a few moves and then we’ll see what you’ve got. If I win, what do I get?”
    I shrugged. “What do you want?” I asked.
    He hesitated and then blurted out, “You have to go on a date with me.” His face got red as he said the words but he looked serious.
    I smiled. Inside, my heart was soaring. I restrained the urge to jump around and pump my fists in the air like I had after kissing Sam .. “Okay,” I said. “And if I win?”
    “What do you want?” he asked warily.
    I thought about it and then said, “If I win, you have to take your shirt off wherever and whenever I tell you to all month. And you have to go on a date with me.”
    David looked surprised. Then he said, “Dang, I should have thought of that.”
    “Why Mr. Reagan,” I exclaimed, “I thought you were too much of a gentleman to say something like that.”
    David shook his head. “You’re unbelievable. You took my shirt, didn’t you?” he said.
    “What can I say?” I said with upturned palms. “I’ve gotten fond of those abs.”
    Luckily, several gym mats were folded up against the wall so people could stretch on them when necessary. We unfolded the maps in the middle of the floor of the therapy room. Then we started with a basic wrestling stance. David taught me where to put my feet and hands and how to arch my back. He told me to bend my knees so I had a low center of gravity. Then he taught me how to do set up takedowns after doing something called drop steps.
    “Now I’ll teach you the double-leg takedown,” David said. “You’re going to do a drop step and then grab the backs of my thighs. Pull them towards you as you drive your head and shoulders into my waist. You’ll be pulling my legs and knees one way and forcing my body backwards. It’s an effective takedown maneuver.”
    Finally, and excuse to touch him. I wrapped my arms around the backs of his legs and pushed my shoulders into his hips. Nothing happened but I got to brush his lower abs with my cheek. They felt good. I tried to lift him up to throw him down but he felt like a ton of bricks and wouldn’t budge.
    David laughed. “You need to try harder than that,” he said. “Don’t worry, I won’t break. You’re not going to pick me up, just try to knock me over.”
    I took a step back and then threw myself into the drop step and takedown. I smacked into his waist hard and this time and I felt him sway backwards. I pulled up with my hands as hard as I could and he toppled over. I landed on his bare chest.
    “Good!” he praised me. “Let’s try it again.”
    I’ll admit that I took my time getting up and may have been a tad liberal with where I put my hands as I did.
    We repeated the drill over and over again until I could take David down with ease. Then the real fun started; he started teaching me different holds. David was mostly too shy to perform the holds on me and when he did he was always careful about where he put his hands. I was the opposite. If I was doing a hold on him I took the opportunity to feel as much skin as possible. I slid my hands over his rippling muscles with hidden glee.
    I have no idea how much time went by. I felt