Free The First and Last Kiss by Julius St. Clair Page A

small.”
    “Your stature is small, but your heart is out of this world in size.”
    It was the first compliment he had given her since they had started going out a couple weeks ago. She was going to accept this rare gem with great thanks.
    “I still don’t understand though.”
    “Playing football…that’s just a front. I only play it so I don’t have to be with so many girls.”
    “But that doesn’t make any sense,” she said, leaning back on his shoulder. “Football players get more girls than anyone, don’t they?”
    “It’s true, but usually those types of girls expect one thing. So do the football players. There is a mutual understanding on some level that their relationships will rarely go beyond a physical connection. So once I let a girl know I have no interest in having sex, she usually drops me.”
    “You mean all those girls…they all dumped you?”
    “Yep,” he laughed. “Of course, the rumor mill doesn’t churn it out that way. But it’s true. So by being a football star, I’ve actually had to deal less with the physical side of romance.”
    “But…it still doesn’t make sense. Why go through all this trouble? Couldn’t you just not play football and be on the sidelines, hidden in the background?”
    “Not really my style,” he said, melting her with his mesmerizing hazel eyes. “How am I supposed to meet the girl of my dreams by hiding?”
    “I still want an explanation for why you do it,” she said, fighting his gaze. “What’s so wrong about the physical aspect? Are you afraid of going too far? Because I won’t allow it. I don’t want to ruin this.”
    She leaned against his chest and caressed his neck with her right hand, feeling his muscles tense at her touch.
    “We haven’t been together long,” she said. “But I can already tell. This is something I don’t want to end. It’s just…I’m so attracted to you. Is it wrong for me to want to kiss you?”
    “Of course not,” he said, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. She felt a tingling sensation ripple all the way down to her toes.
    “Then what is it?”
    He hesitated to speak and this was alarming enough. Erin sat up and stared at him. There was something he was hiding.
    “Tell me, Nick. Please.”
    “If I tell you, can you promise to not speak a word of this to anyone?”
    “I promise.”
    “I can’t stress this enough, Erin. Can you promise?”
    “Yes. I can keep a secret.”
    “Okay,” he sighed, taking her by the arms and escorting her back to a sitting up position. Whatever this is. She thought to herself. This must be serious.
    “Do you know anything about my family?”
    “Not really,” she said, searching his eyes. “You’re adopted, right?”
    “Yes. My parents died when I was young, and I was adopted by my grandfather until he got sick. Seeing he was about to pass, he gave me emancipation at sixteen, allowing me to live on my own. S ince then I’ve been living with a roommate who’s older than me. Following?”
    “Yes,” she said, unsure of where he was going with his story.
    “What most of the world doesn’t know is that my family has a particular…um…problem.”
    “Okay.”
    “I don’t know what causes it – whether it’s a genetic thing or we’re just aliens or something…but…”
    Erin winced at the word “alien,” but she let him continue.
    “…I do know that we carry a trait that is passed down to our children and our children’s children and so on. And what it does is binds us to whomever we kiss.”
    “So…you’re saying that if I kiss you…what happens? You become enslaved to me?”
    “Sort of,” he said nervously. “I s till have free will but from what I hear, when it comes to matters of the heart, all you can see is them. All you can think about is them. You fall in love against your will and eventually you have no choice but to go wherever they go, because otherwise, you would live a lonely existence with scenarios running through your head