Page 35 of Hard Rock Love

11

Being a tutor was easier than I thought.

I was placed in a study room with one other volunteer and tasked with watching about a dozen kids doing their English homework. They were a studious bunch. There was chatting and teasing and joking around, but for the most part they kept to their work. I was busy answering their questions and helping out whenever they ran into problems or got stuck.

The time got away from me and before I knew it the kids were packing up, getting ready to leave. As the last one filed out of the room, I let out a small breath of relief. I had survived without any mishaps.

“Thanks for helping out today,” the other volunteer told me as she left. “The kids like you. And they listen to you, which is the most important thing. Good work.”

My heart lifted. I hadn’t known what to expect going into this, but it hadn’t been so hard. Kids were just people, even if they weren’t fully grown yet. Maybe this tutoring thing would end up being fun.

“Knock, knock,” Seth announced brightly as he appeared in the doorway and rapped his knuckles against the frame. “You ready to go?”

I’d almost forgotten I’d agreed to go get dinner with him. My insides tumbled over in a mixture of nerves, but I pushed it down. We’d already agreed to forget about the kiss and continue on as friends like normal. What did I have to be so nervous about?

“Where do you want to go?” he asked. “I know your sister has a thing for sushi, but I’m not all that fond of fish.”

“How do you feel about burgers and fries?” I asked.

“Now you’re speaking my language,” he replied. “I know of a great place nearby.”

As we left the youth center, Seth held open the door for me to go first.

“After you, my lady,” he said with a low, sweeping bow.

“It's a little too late to try and impress me with your manners,” I said. “I already know what a hellion you are.”

“Damn, and here I thought I could trick you into thinking I was a proper gentleman.”

“There’s nothing proper about you,” I said.

“Hey, I’m a perfectly respectable guy,” he said. “I’m clean-shaven, no piercings, only a moderate amount of tattoos.”

“You play drums in a rock band, you party too hard and you apparently like to ride motorcycles into swimming pools.”

“It was one time!” he protested. “I’m never going to live that down, am I? It’s not like I dive off roofs into swimming pools or anything.”

“Is that too wild, even for you?”

“I’ve seen Gael almost break his neck from doing dumbass stuff like that,” Seth said. “I may be a maniac but I’ve gotsomelimits.”

“I can’t imagine doing something crazy like that,” I said. “Was he trying to kill himself?”

“He was trying to impress Jessie,” Seth said.

“Did it work?”

“Not at the time,” Seth said. “She thought he was being a dumbass, too. But they ended up making it work. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she still thinks he’s a dumbass,” Seth added. “But she loves him anyway. And he thinks she hung the moon.”

“I’d like to meet the rest of your band,” I said. “They sound fun.”

“Fun. Insane. Workaholics. Egomaniacs.” Seth grinned. “There’s a lot of words that describe Cerise and the guys.” He stopped and nodded across the street. “That’s the place,” he said. “Let’s get some grub.”

The burger joint we ended up at had this retro vibe with bright red booths and vintage art on the walls. They even served ice cream floats and milkshakes in old-school glasses with whip cream and a cherry on top.

“That’s what I’m getting,” I said upon laying my eyes on the menu item. “A strawberry milkshake to go along with my burger.”

“Good choice,” Seth said approvingly. “Maybe I’ll have a chocolate shake with mine.”