Collin shoved his hands in his front jean pockets and shrugged. “Honestly, I think you did the best you could. I mean, how is someone who’s never been kissed supposed to write about love? It’s just not realistic.”
My gaze snapped up to his face while my jaw nearly dislocated. Was he serious? Was he really going to hold my regretful bathhouse confession against me? Collin gave me an innocent little blip of a grin and turned on his heels to stride toward his motorcycle.
Now it was my turn to run after him as I lugged my guitar along and cut him off. He slid to a sudden stop when I spread my fingers on his chest and growled. “That’s awfully judgmental of you. Just because I’ve never kissed a guy doesn’t mean I can’t write a love song.”
“Does it?” He smirked. “I’m assuming if you’ve never been kissed, you’ve probably also never been in love.”
“I...uh...” This wasn’t how I’d expected this conversation to go. Or any conversation with Collin, for that matter. “That’s personal.”
“Sure. Well, if you don’t want to work together on this, then I can just leave.”
He looked down at my hand still on his chest and I felt my cheeks heat. I hadn’t realized I was still touching him. Tearing my arm away, I grabbed ahold of my guitar with both hands and glared up at him.
“No, I’ve never been in love, mister know-it-all,” I said. “If it’s so important to know, have you?”
He laughed and rubbed a hand on the back of his head. “Mister know-it-all? Are we still in third grade?”
I pointed my finger at him. “Answer the question.”
The humor faded from his face and he fixed me with a steady gaze. “I can’t fall in love.”
A laugh croaked from my throat. “You can’t fall in love? Are you serious? How do you know?”
“Let’s just say, that kind of thing doesn’t run in my family. It’s never going to happen for me.” He shrugged and then frowned. “So don’t go falling in love with me, okay? You’ll only get hurt.”
I snorted and turned away, so thrown by the direction this conversation had taken that I couldn’t put two words together. Me? Fall in love with him? As if. Maybe that would’ve been a problem, if he hadn’t been the world’s cockiest, most infuriating specimen of the entire male species.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Collin encircled me, coming to a stop in my path and throwing me a grin that held a hint of cockiness. “Don’t you worry, raccoon girl. I’ve got plenty of other experience that should help us write this song.”
I wasn’t sure why, but my face flushed with heat at his words and I couldn’t help but avert my eyes. Those kinds of conversations seemed better suited for the locker room. Or late at night at a girls’ sleep over. Not in Kenwood Park with Rock Valley’s star quarterback. It was unsettling.
“Look, the bus is going to be here any minute,” I said, still avoiding his eyes. “Maybe we should pick this up again later.”
The way the palms of my hands were starting to sweat was a good sign that I needed to get out of there and far away from those seductive brown eyes. Keeping my eyes on the ground, I began to move toward the bus stop, forcing my feet to move slower than the all-out sprint that they desired.
“You know, if you want to fix that little problem of yours, I’d be happy to help,” he called.
I had no clue what he was talking about. Against my better judgement, I paused my retreat and turned to look at him. “What problem?”
“Your kissing problem.” He gave me a wide-mouthed grin and then his gaze flicked to my mouth. I felt heat rise from my face as he took a step closer. “I hear there’s a cure, and I might just have it.”
Nerves bounced around my stomach like a pinball at the arcade. There was no way. Not in this lifetime or the next, would I take Collin up on his offer. Not even for the performance. He was officially crazy.
“It’s not a fatal disease and I don’t need your help.”
“Are you sure?” He tilted his head to the side. “Seems fatal to me.”
“Maybe to you and...your kind.” I cringed at my choice of words, but it was too late to take them back.
“My kind?” His eyes crinkled with laughter and he snorted. “What is that supposed to mean? Are you an alien sent to study us, or something?”
“No.” I swallowed and lifted my chin. I wasn’t ashamed of my virgin kissing status. As my mom liked to say, we all blossomed in our own time. Mine just happened to be taking longer than others. “I just mean, that for people like me, there are more important things.”
Like keeping my spot on the cheerleading team. Or nailing the centennial performance that seemed to be a joke to him. Or most importantly of all, making sure my mom didn’t fade away into her sadness.
“Right.” His mouth snapped shut and he worked his jaw, his gaze flattening. “Because that’s all guys like me worry about. Football and hooking up.”
There was so much hurt in his voice that I flinched. Wasn’t he just the one offering to cure my fatal disease? All I’d done was try to defend myself. When had I become the bad guy?