The Cockney Canuck - 20. Chapter 20 Making Waves

“What’s the difference between a G-spot and a golf ball?” I said. There was an uncomfortable silence. “A guy will actually take the time to look for a golf ball.”

Okay, so that joke may not have been best suited for the dinner table, but I thought that it was still good enough to warrant a few chuckles here and there.

‘Now I know what they mean by getting a look like daggers’.

I was on the receiving end of those looks from Don, Sue and Nicola. Amy wanted to know what a G-spot was and poor Daniel was doing his utmost to stop himself from laughing and spraying everyone with a mouthful of potato salad. His face had turned an uncomfortable shade of blue and there was a solitary tear running down his cheek. Now it was his turn to be on the end of few uncharitable looks from his parents and sister.

‘At least someone appreciates my humour around here’.

As for the dinner guests, well I had no idea that the middle-aged man and woman seated opposite me with their cute fourteen-year-old son, were from the local parish. I didn’t even think that Don and Sue went to church. They hadn't been during the two months that I had been living there and they had never struck me as being particularly religious. Even so, I was sure that the Minister and his wife being married and all, probably found the joke quite funny and Don would probably be telling it to the guys in his office come Monday morning, so I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

“If I ever said something like that at the dinner table, I would be sent to my room and grounded for a month,” said Nicola the minute we got downstairs after clearing up. “Dad was really angry with you, I could tell.”

“So fucking what!” I mumbled as I plonked myself down on the sofa to watch TV. Nicola stood right in front of me, with her hands on her hips and a face like thunder. She was in the way of the screen, making it impossible for me to ignore her.

“WHAT?” I shouted.

“You’re an asshole,” she said as she stormed off back upstairs, probably to her room which I considered a good thing. I felt an uneasy sense of satisfaction knowing that I had pissed her off. It had become a popular pastime for me and it was almost too easy.

There were a few minutes of silence as Daniel, Amy and I watched whatever show was on television, without any real enthusiasm.

“I thought it was funny,” said Daniel quietly.

“I know,” I replied without looking at him.

“So did I,” said Amy, from the corner of the sofa. I looked over at Daniel and we both fell about laughing.

As expected, Nicola was the only one to pull me up over the joke, but if Don or Sue had of mentioned it to me, then I would have given them the old, 'Sorry, but I’m not used to living in a family' line. Even though Don wasn’t naïve enough to fall for it, they would have ultimately felt sorry for me and let it go. That was generally how things were at the time and I played it like a fiddle.

The truth was of course, I knew exactly what I was doing, and I did it to get a reaction from them. I suppose I was also trying to see how far I could push them. I wanted to know how much I could get away with and at the time, it seemed like I could get away with almost anything.

I never saw myself as being a particularly bad kid, but I knew at times, it was borderline and lately it felt like trouble was following me around. I had learned very quickly how to play the sympathy card to get what I wanted or to get out of what I didn’t want and it afforded me a lot more leeway than the rest. Nicola had been the only one to see what I was doing and challenge me, although so far, she hadn't been very successful.

Don and Sue definitely had their work cut out with me but this is what they had wanted and I wasn’t about to make life easy for them. Sue would call me mischievous but I think that sometimes, it was a little more than that. I found it impossible to resist an opportunity to stir things up a little, or throw a spanner in the works, just to cause a few problems. I honestly don’t know why I did this but at the time, I didn’t really give it much thought. I definitely wasn’t making it very easy for my adopted parents and there were times when I’m sure they didn’t know how to handle me, or what to say, but that didn’t stop me.

After a while, the minister’s son decided to come downstairs to watch television with us rather than sit around listening to Don and his dad put the world to rights. It was probably a wise move and Daniel made the kid welcome, while Amy annoyed the hell out of him and I totally ignored him.

Upstairs, Don had probably apologised to the minister for my little joke at dinner before giving them the old sob story about my unfortunate childhood. I had heard him do this before to such good effect.

He would explain how I had come from a broken home, had an abusive, alcoholic, father who died in car accident when I was eleven and then lost my mom to illness at fifteen. They had brought me over from England as an orphan, rather than see me put into care and had applied for adoption. It was a well-rehearsed pitch, from a very good advertising executive and it nearly had me sobbing when I heard it for the first time. It wasn’t a pack of lies, because everything he said was true, just wrapped up a little differently to make it sound worse than it actually was. Don did this kind of thing to great effect and it wasn’t lost on me.

At the end of the evening before the good minister and his family left to go home, Sue called us upstairs to say goodbye to them. I got a warm handshake, a pat on the back and a few well-chosen words of encouragement from the minister and some sympathetic smiles from his wife. Naturally, they had invited me to their church and a few local events that they were organising. There was a jamboree coming up soon and they were keen for me to go along. I had no idea what a jamboree was, but apparently, there were a few nice looking girls my age that would also be there. This wasn’t ever going to be an incentive for me to attend, but Don insisted on telling them that I already had a girlfriend.

‘If I could have some fun with that cute little son of yours then I’ll definitely be there’.

Despite my little misdemeanour at the dinner table, his dad seemed to take quite a shine to me. At times I got the feeling that the worse I behaved the more people liked me. Whereas Nicola, who had been ultra polite and hadn't put a foot wrong, was ignored.

* * * * *

The following week was Spring Break. A full week without school. In England, it was called half-term and I would have been longing to get away from school, but now I had mixed emotions. I wasn’t overly concerned about the possible interruption to my steady rise up the academic ladder. I was worried about the interruption to my extracurricular activities, namely, my obsession with two boys, one of whom I didn’t even know.

Boy X had stuffed notes into my locker on consecutive Mondays and it was just starting to get interesting. Maybe it was the thrill of being chased by another boy, knowing exactly what he was after. It made me nervous, but in a nice way and I rather liked the idea of being stalked by somebody who wanted to do stuff with me, as he had put it. Eventually, if this boy was genuinely interested in me then he would have to reveal his identity, perhaps when he was certain that I could be trusted. It was dangerous and exciting and even though I was aware of the risks, I still didn’t want whoever it was to lose interest. That would have really destroyed my confidence and left me hanging possibly forever, unable to find out his true identity. I had no idea what would happen next, or how these things generally panned out so I could have done without the interruption of a week off.

Spring Break also meant that I wouldn’t get the opportunity to stare into the beautiful blue eyes of the wonderful Nathan come Thursday afternoon. I had been doing this as regular as clockwork for the past seven weeks and it had become a much-needed part of my weekly routine. We only got to chat for a few minutes each time, which was nowhere near long enough to really get to know each other, but our brief conversations were always lively and entertaining. He was funny, as well as attractive and I loved his naughty humour, full of innuendos and double entendres. His birthday was soon, which meant that he was only seven months younger than me, but still a year behind me at school. We could never be in the same classes, so I rarely got the chance to see him at school and if I did he was never on his own. He had his own group of friends that he would generally hang out with, people he could trust to watch his back, including the ever present Ginny, who for some reason didn’t seem to like me.

I had managed to prise as much information as I could about Nathan from Daniel, but I was too scared to ask the things that I really wanted to know, like does he have a boyfriend. I was longing to see more of this boy and desperately wanted to get to know him better, but as usual, my fear of being discovered outweighed everything else.

* * * * *

On Monday, Daniel and I slept late and I would have happily laid in bed all day, had it not been for Nicola’s intervention. She had her friends coming over and wanted us out of bed before they arrived. She had already pulled Daniel’s duvet off him and was now involved in a tug of war with me over mine. I held onto it tightly, but she still managed to drag it and me onto the hardwood floor. She was laughing at me and I lost my temper.

“WHY DON’T YOU FUCK OFF,” I shouted, as I stood up, grabbed the duvet from her and threw it back onto my bed before telling her to get out and leave us alone. It didn’t even bother me that I was only wearing my boxer briefs, I was too angry at her to be embarrassed. She had wisely decided to back off and I slammed the door as she left, before jumping back into bed. I couldn’t sleep anymore though and after hearing Daniel walking around, I threw off my duvet and sat up in bed.

“We need to get some kind of lock on that door,” I said.

“She never knocks or anything,” he said. “She never has done.”

“Maybe if we told your dad, he’ll put a lock on the door for us.”

“Nope,” he said. “They won’t let us have locks on our bedrooms and they never tell Nicola off for anything.”

“Well it’s not nice,” I said, “she even walks in when I’m getting changed.”

Daniel started to laugh and then surprised me by walking over and sitting down on the end of my bed. He was in an unusually talkative mood, telling me what he had planned for the spring break, as I struggled to pay attention and sound interested. My mind had been drifting back to my capers with Fran when one word grabbed my attention.

“Nathan?” I said.

“Yeah, would it bother you if he stayed over one night this week?” he repeated himself.

I tried to mask my sudden excitement. “Of course not, why would I mind? He’s your best mate, isn’t he? I don’t mind how often he stays over.” I think that I made it clear to Daniel that I had no objections to Nathan staying and my mind was now consumed with the possibilities and with everything that a sleepover entailed.

‘Would he sleep in our room? I don’t wanna even think about that. Would I get to see him in his pyjamas, or even better his underwear, or even better…Shit don’t even go there’.

“What day is he coming over?” I asked.

“I haven’t asked him yet,” said Daniel. “Dad told me to check with you first, to make sure that you didn’t mind.”

“Me, mind, no not at all. You should ask him today. Call him now,” I said eagerly.

“That’s cool,” he said. “Dad is a bit funny when it comes to Nathan, because he’s gay. He doesn't really like me hanging with him.”

‘I know, he’s homophobic’.

“Really why?”

“I dunno, I guess he thinks that he’ll turn me gay or something. He doesn't really understand gay people.”

“Do you think that Nathan could turn you gay?” I asked with a laugh.

“No of course not, he wouldn’t even try. Don’t listen to Doug and Billy, Nathan and I are just friends.”

“I know that,” I said, “and I don’t see why your dad’s so concerned. Personally, I don’t care if Nathan is gay, I think he’s really cool and if it was up to me; he could stay over whenever he wanted.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll ask him today.”

I wanted to punch the air with delight, but chose to calmly get dressed instead, urged on by the sudden sound of girls voices on the other side of the door. Nicola’s friends had arrived and were outside in the family room watching TV. It meant that Daniel wouldn’t be able to walk around the house in his boxer shorts as usual or parade to the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. I wasn’t looking forward to making my way past the sultry Naomi, who definitely had a thing for me and at times had me running scared. I could hear her voice above even Nicola’s and she gave me a wolf whistle as I hurried out of the room.

I had the feeling that Nathan wouldn’t say no to Daniel’s invitation and I also thought that this just might have something to do with me. He must have seen it in my eyes, just like I had seen it in his. The connection that we had made on every occasion that we had met was undeniable. It was obvious in the way that he would look at me and I was certain that I had given him the same signals. I know I had, I had been trying my best to give him those signals, even before I knew who he was. I had no idea what I would do if Nathan made a move for me; all I knew is that I wanted him to stay over. I wanted to get to know this kid a lot better; I felt that I really needed to do that.

* * * * *

Tuesday was boring, Daniel went out for the day with Doug and although invited, I decided to stay around the house instead. My gamble paid off when Naomi turned up to take Nicola and Amy out shopping. With Sue and Don both at work, it meant that I would have the house to myself for at least a couple of hours. This was a rare event, so I decided to make the most of the opportunity by indulging in some much needed sexual release. Tom had spoilt me and tugging on my own todger was never quite the same afterwards but necessity prevailed and that’s what I was doing when my phone rang. I was lying on my bed with my pants and underwear around my ankles and I had removed my t-shirt, expecting to make quite a mess after a few days abstinence. I rolled off the bed and penguin walked across the room to my desk to pick up the phone, while cursing. It was Rory.

‘It better be good, interrupting me like that’.

He had called to ask me if I wanted to go to his place the next day to play some games and my brain went into overdrive.

“What kind of games do you have in mind, Rory,” I said slowly, hoping to pull him into the open. He was, after all, top of my list of possible suspects for Boy X and I was trying my best to make it as easy as I could for him. I was sure that this was part of the plan and that he was about to make his move.

‘Maybe he wants me to go to his house so he can own up to the notes and ask me if I want to mess around’.

“PS3” he said eagerly before reeling off a list of games that he had. If this was a ruse then he was very good at it, because he sounded so enthusiastic. I wasn’t interested in the bloody PS3, I wanted him to start talking a bit more like Boy X. If he had of asked me if I wanted to get naked with him, I would have been knocking at his door before he had even hung up the phone. I was already worked up to the brink of orgasm and was still stroking my dick as I sat down at my desk with every intention of finishing off while Rory talked to me.

“Is that all you want Rory?” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Is there something that you want to tell me?”

“I don’t understand.”

I was so close that I could barely string a sentence together. “Is there…anything else that you wanna do, are your parents gonna be home?”

“Are you okay dude,” he said, “you sound like you're in pain.”

“Yeah, I’m fine…Rory. Just a bit of cramp…fuck…that hurts.”

“Shit, that’s painful, why don’t you call me back when you're over it?” he said.

“It’s okay I got it under control,” I said. “Just keep talking…it’ll take my mind off it for a while.”

“What do you want me to talk about?”

“Oh shit, anything Rory. Tell me what you did yesterday.”

“I didn’t do much.”

“You must have done…something.”

“What do you wanna know? I got up, had a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast, the usual stuff I guess, how are you feeling now?”

“Ahhhhhhhh fuck.”

“Robbie are you okay, I can call the paramedics if you want, is anyone there with you?”

“It’s cool Rory,” I said slowly. “It’s over now, thanks mate.”

“Did I help any?”

“More than you could imagine,” I said.

‘Rory has to be the most innocent fifteen-year-old boy that I’ve ever come across. It’s hard to imagine him even wanking, let alone doing the kind of stuff that was written in those notes. It doesn't matter even if he is gay, I’m pretty sure that he isn’t Boy X’.

I removed Rory from my short list of possible suspects, at least I was making progress even during the holidays. I didn’t fancy playing PS3 all day so had to make up an excuse so that I didn’t hurt his feelings and called Fran to ask if I could use her pool.

“Of course you can, she said before quickly saying something to her mother in Italian, her mother replied and was still talking in the background as Fran came back on the phone. “Sorry Robbie, I needed to ask my mom if it was okay first.”

“In Italian?”

“Oh I’m sorry, I know that it’s rude to do that, but my mom prefers to talk in Italian at home, it’s a habit.”

“What did she say then,” I asked.

“Oh, she said yes of course,” she said.

It was a fairly long winded yes and I suspected that there were also plenty of conditions added that Fran wasn’t telling me, but I wasn’t bothered. Whatever her mom may have thought, I was only wanted to get into her pool, not her knickers.

“If you wanna come round tomorrow,” she said. “Then we’ll have the place to ourselves and you can swim as much as you want, my mom will be out for most of the afternoon and she’ll be taking the kids with her.”

* * * * *

The next day, I was at Fran’s house standing by the pool and looking out towards the still blue water. The sunlight that shone through the large roof top windows flickered and danced across the surface as if trying to attract me into the water. It was a sight that I knew so well and as always, I couldn’t wait to get in. I was on my own with a thirty metre heated pool all to myself.

‘How lucky is Fran? If it were me, I would be in it every day. Should I wait for Fran or just jump in? No need to wait’.

I walked to the far end, no sign of Fran still; she had gone upstairs to change, so I took up a starting position and gently pushed myself outwards into a graceful shallow dive. There was the familiar thunder of water in my ears and then through a mass of bubbles I focused my eyes on the tiles at the bottom of the pool and swam down to touch them, another superstitious habit that I had. It felt so good to be back in the water, I had spent much of my youth in a pool and I felt so at home in the water. Surfacing in the middle, I just lay on my back for a while and floated on the surface with minimum effort. I used to do this a lot as a kid, allowing myself to float in the water listening to the muffled sounds and voices of everyone around me. I stared up at the tinted windows through bleary, chlorine eyes, blinking at the bright sunlight. It was so relaxing; I could have floated there for ages.

I heard another splash followed by frantic movement through the water and then felt two slippery, wet, arms grabbing me around my shoulders, pulling me under. As I surfaced, I came face to face with an excited, fresh faced and out of breath looking Fran. We hugged and kissed while treading water together. She seemed to be equally at home in the pool, a result of having your own indoor swimming facility, I suppose. We swam to the side, where we continued making out.

“I’ll race you,” she said, as she broke away from our kiss. “Two lengths of the pool,” and with that she was off, leaving me behind. I laughed, before following her. It was a long time since I had raced anyone, but I soon picked up a rhythm and was able to match her stroke as she touched the side and turned very awkwardly. I did a neat tucked turn staying underwater for as long as we were normally permitted, before surfacing fractionally ahead. As Fran began to tire, her strokes became shorter and her movement less fluent. It was never going to be a fair contest, even with her head start and even after being out of the pool for almost five months. As I began to pull away, I relaxed knowing that I couldn’t be caught. She was a good swimmer, but I could see that she wasn’t a racer, mainly because of her turn, but also her strokes were not that clean. To be a fast swimmer you need to have long clean strokes and a lot of upper body strength. Fran was certainly fit and had a nicely toned body, but she didn’t look like a competitive swimmer. I had to work hard to catch her in the beginning, but it was easy for me after she tired and I was able to finish almost a full body length in front.

“How did you do that?” she said, gasping for breath.

“Years of practice.”

“I suppose it helps when you have an Olympic champion as your personal trainer,” she said.

“She wasn’t ever an Olympic champion, but yeah I suppose having someone that good to learn from is a real advantage.” I was still catching my breath but made a point of smiling when I said that. I wanted Fran to see that I could talk about my mom without becoming emotional.

“Well I have to admit, I’m impressed and you’re not even that out of breath, you must be fit,” she said as she moved her hands from the edge of the pool to rest them on my shoulders, before moving closer for another kiss. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly, before planting another kiss this time deeper and more sensual. She wrapped her slim legs around my waist and I had to hold on the side and tread water to keep our heads, which were now joined at the lips, above water. It wasn’t long before the extra weight became too much and I allowed us to sink to the bottom. We held our kiss for as long as we could, with a stream of bubbles coming from our mouths, before finally kicking off the bottom to the surface, where we gasped for breath more than either of us had done after our race.

Making out in a pool was fun and I wanted more of it, but there was something else that I was now ready to try and I was sure that I wouldn’t be waiting too long.

That afternoon we probably went as close as we could to having sex without actually going the distance. We were both aroused to the point where we knew we had to stop. She had even rubbed my dick through my shorts giving me a wide-eyed surprised look. Even though there was a layer of material between her hand and my penis, she would still have been able to get a good feel of exactly what was on offer.

‘Am I bigger than she expected, or is this the first time that she’s touched a dick’?

“Sorry,” she said as she pulled away from me red faced.

“It’s okay,” I said, “I don’t mind. You don’t have to stop.”

“I do and I’m sorry for getting you all worked up again baby,” she said. “I’m always doing this to you aren’t I?”

“Just a bit.”

“My mom will be back any minute,” she said as if looking for an excuse. “I’m sorry Robbie, I do want to please you in that way, but I’m not ready yet.”

“I understand,” I said, but I didn’t really.

“If it’s any consolation, she said. “I like what I found down there, I’ve never touched one before.”

“Never?”

“No, of course not, I’m a virgin, Robbie.”

‘I didn’t know that it applied to touching as well’.

“Do you want to see it?” I asked hesitantly and put my thumbs inside the waistband of my shorts as if ready to pull them down if she had wanted.

“NO!” she squealed, although I doubt if I would have had the courage to have gone through with it. Later as we kissed again I was treated to a quick grope of Fran’s tits, although it was more like a gentle massage, at least it was skin to skin as I slid my hand unopposed under her flimsy bikini top. I had expected to come up against some resistance, but she never said a word. Instead, her kissing became more passionate and she let out a few moans of encouragement. I had been wondering for a while what they would feel like. Were they soft and spongy or firm and hard? Fran didn’t have particularly big breasts, but they were definitely tits and after some examination, they felt much like I had imagined. I had always found pictures of women with enormous breasts to be quite a turn off. Even after convincing myself that I swung both ways, I still couldn’t understand how big tits were so attractive to men.

This wasn’t the day that she had set aside for losing her virginity, but if we continued to make this kind of progress, then it wouldn’t be far away. I knew that she wouldn’t do this unless she was certain that we wouldn’t be disturbed and was somewhere where we both felt comfortable. She wasn’t the type to go for a quickie around the back of the bike sheds. For her, it would have to be meaningful and I could understand that, although most boys that I knew didn’t share her opinion. There are no points awarded for the warm up, as long as you get to shoot your load that’s all that counts.

I was as eager as the next boy to get laid but I was worried in case certain things didn’t work the way that they were supposed to. What if I couldn’t stay hard or even manage an erection at all. What if I couldn’t finish, if I couldn’t get excited enough to cum. I had the feeling that it would be a lot easier if I was relaxed and not rushed. A quickie just wouldn’t work with me. Maybe after I had got used to it and had a bit more experience, but not yet. I knew that it could easily end in disaster and this would put pressure on our relationship, as well as on my own fragile sexual orientation and lead me back into bad habits.

Any hope that I had of making further progress that day was ended with the arrival of Fran’s mother, brother, and sister. We had heard the car pull up outside and started to swim gentle laps of the pool keeping as much distance as possible between us. I still found it funny that Fran’s mom found it necessary to make a lot of noise before walking into the swimming pool area, to make sure that neither she nor Fran’s siblings, were treated to anything other than the sight of us swimming. She looked to be slightly relieved when she discovered us doing exactly that, especially when Fran claimed that she didn’t hear her come in. You would have to be tone deaf not to hear all the deliberate noise that her mom had been making. After a tough start, I was beginning to warm to Mrs Giordano.

Before long, we were joined in the pool by Roberto and Claudia and things soon got a lot noisier. I was surprised at how well they could both swim although Roberto had a pair of inflatable armbands to help him. Fran made the most of this opportunity by getting me to demonstrate some swimming techniques to the kids and I obliged by showing them how to breathe correctly and how to float. This wasn’t exactly what Fran had in mind, nor the kids, who wanted me to show them a tuck turn or the butterfly stroke, which was spectacular, but not my best. I thought that it was more practical to learn the basics of how to survive in the water, before any fancy swimming strokes. I could still remember my mom explaining these simple techniques to me. It was an important part of learning how to be safe and confident in the water. It was also something that I had to learn when taking my life-saving course, which I had completed only last year. In order to save someone else, you had to first, be able to save yourself. Being a strong swimmer on its own just isn’t good enough, you also have to know how to get out of trouble, how to cope with injuries or cramp and how to swim with currents and waves, that could pull you out to sea. I loved learning all that stuff and was as proud as punch when I passed my course. The day I passed had been the last time before that day, that I had been in a swimming pool.

We had been in there for a good hour and a half, which was enough to satisfy my aquatic thirst for the time being and Roberto and Claudia had already got out and left to change for dinner. I promised to give them another lesson the next time I came around, which, I thought would also be a good way of booking me some more pool time.

“You don’t need to give swimming lessons every time you want to use the pool,” said Fran. “You can use it whenever you want, really, nobody will mind.”

I stood at the side of the pool and Fran handed me a towel, which I wrapped around my shoulders.

“So you’re also a qualified lifesaver,” she said.

“Yes, although it’s something that thankfully, I’ve never had the need to put into practice.”

“I’m guessing that it’s not easy to pass though.”

“No,” I said. “It takes a lot of work in and out of the water, but it was a challenge and something I needed to do.

As I dried my hair, I could see Fran blatantly checking me out, this time; she didn’t even try to hide her interest.

“Ahem,” I had to pretend to cough to get her attention. “See anything you like.”

“Oh I’m sorry, no, I mean yes, of course, silly, I was just admiring you, that’s all. I like it all, do you mind?”

“Well since you asked so politely I don’t see any reason why not.”

Fran looked around to make sure that we were alone before gently putting her hand on my chest and stroking it gently. “I was hoping that you were going to say that,” she said. Then she massaged each nipple with her forefingers before moving her hands up to my neck and the back of my head as we kissed.

“I’m not joking Robbie,” she said breaking our kiss. “You really have got quite a hot body, do you know that?”

‘Of course, I do, I’m not stupid, I have eyes and a mirror’.

“She held out my arms. “It’s such a shame, that you keep all this hidden from view all of the time.”

“Well, it’s kind of difficult to take your shirt off, when it minus twenty outside,” I said.

“I suppose it is,” she said giggling. “Maybe it’s better that you keep yourself covered up anyway or I’m sure that I would suddenly have a lot of competition from the girls in school.”

“I don’t even notice any of the other girls in school,” I said, it was the truth.

“Yeah I bet,” she said, “I know that there are some good looking girls there, and not all of them are as virtuous as me.” She grabbed me around the neck and pushed me against the door, which slammed shut as I backed into it. I knew that her mother wouldn’t be far away and she would have heard that.

“You, virtuous?” I said.

This earned me a slap on my bare back, which hurt, but it didn’t stop me from kissing her and grabbing her arms to pull her back towards me. Now I was the one controlling the situation, but I stopped as soon as she broke our kiss and spoke in my ear.

“Robbie,” she said breathing heavily. “I know how you feel. I’m not stupid; I know that guys have to do certain things.”

I pulled away from her. “I’m sorry Fran, I wasn’t trying to do anything,” I said.

“Robbie, you're almost too nice. It’s not wrong of you to try. It’s totally natural, it’s how we reproduce. It’s not wrong to feel those feelings.” Now I started to blush and she laughed before yet another, this time more gentle kiss.

“Sento che mi sto innamorando di te,” she said.

“What does that mean?” I said.

“It doesn't matter I’ll tell you another time.” Then she leaned in to kiss me again.

“No, tell me now,” I said, “what did you just say?” Now it was Fran who was blushing, which kind of gave it away a bit. “Did you just say something rude to me?”

“No, I promise it wasn’t rude,” she said.

“Then why won’t you tell me?”

“Because you’ll probably think that I’m being silly,” she said.

Now I really had to know, “I won’t think that you are being silly I promise.”

“Or it will scare you away.”

“It won’t do that either,” I said. We were still standing in only our wet swimsuits and it was starting to get a bit uncomfortable now that our bodies had dried off. Fran tried to move away as I heard her mother calling her from upstairs, in Italian.

“Okay mama I’m just waiting for Robbie,” she said but I held her wrists so that she couldn’t get away.

“I won’t let you go until you tell me what you said.”

She suddenly stopped giggling and looked me in the eyes very seriously.

“It means, I think I’m falling for you.” She continued looking into my eyes waiting for a response.

I didn’t know what to say after that and I was guessing that neither did she. I was almost hoping that her mother would come knocking on the door.

“We had better go upstairs before your mother goes ballistic,” I said.

“Okay,” she agreed, “I’ll leave you alone to change, but first I want you to know, that I think I’m ready now Robbie. In fact, I know I am.”

“Ready for what?” I really had no idea what she meant.

“Ready to have sex with you, Robbie,” she whispered as though we were in a public place.

“Fran, I don’t think that we have enough time for that now…ouch,” I said as she slapped me on the arm.

“I don’t mean right now stupid. I mean, when we next have some time alone, that is if you’re up for it.”

I don’t think that she really intended that pun, but I wasn’t going to let it just slip by without comment.

“Oh, I’m sure that I’ll be up for it,” I smiled.

She gave me a sexy look and smiled back, “You had better be, mister.” Then she wrapped a towel around herself and hurried upstairs to change.

I wasted no time in peeling off my wet shorts and drying off my bits, which worryingly despite having a nearly naked, hot, teenage girl all over me and making out had been relatively flaccid since leaving the pool.

‘When the time comes, don’t let me down please’.

* * * * *

Later that day when I got home, Fran called me on my cell phone. It was early evening and Sue was just about to dish up dinner. I was sitting at the dining room table helping Nicola put out the cutlery and table mats.

“Robbie,” said Fran, “you don’t think that I was being a bit too forward do you?”

“In what way Fran?” I replied.

“You know, what we were talking about earlier.”

“Oh that,” I said, “no not at all why?”

“I just didn’t want you to think that I’m too easy,” she said. “Girls aren’t supposed to say those things.”

“Why not?” I said, “I’ve never read any rules about it.”

“There are no rules,” she said laughing.

“Then why are you worried? All you said to me was that you’re ready when the time is right. If you’re not ready, then we’ll wait it’s not a problem, honestly. I don’t want you to do anything if you’re not ready.”

‘Shit did Nicola overhear what I just said, she must have’.

“Robbie you’re so sweet,” she said, “you’re almost too good to be true. Thanks for being so understanding. I know that I’ve been leading you on, but I needed to be sure and now I know that I’m sure. I won’t make you wait any longer, I promise. I’m going to make sure that it was well worth the wait, believe me.”

I swallowed hard and probably looked embarrassed. Nicola was putting the plates on the table and watching me with a curious expression. I knew that she couldn’t hear what Fran was saying but she could hear me alright, so I decided to finish the call downstairs.

“Robbie, are you still there?”

“Yes,” I replied walking away from Nicola’s gaze, “I’m still here.”

“Well did you hear what I just said?”

“Yes of course,” I said, I was half way downstairs where Amy was sitting on the floor watching cartoons with her friend from school.

“Well I mean it, I really do,” she said.

I wasn’t sure what else she wanted me to say, but there was something now that I needed to ask her. It was something that had worried me and now seemed to be very relevant. I waved over to Amy and her friend, before taking cover in the bedroom. Daniel was sitting at his desk working on his computer and I shut the door.

‘Is there no place in this house where I can have a private conversation without people listening in’?

“Fran,” I said sitting down on my bed and talking as quietly as possible. “You’re Catholic aren’t you?”

“Yes,” she said, “why?”

“I just wondered, I mean I know that Catholics don’t believe in certain things that other people take for granted,” I said. “And it’s something that I’m a bit, no, a lot worried about because I kind of know what my luck is like and I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me, if you get what I’m saying.”

“Robbie, have you been drinking?”

“No of course not, I’m just saying that Catholics don’t believe that it’s right to use things that stop babies.”

She was laughing. Nicola could probably hear her laughing.

‘It wasn’t that funny was it’?

“The word that you’re looking for is contraception, Robbie. You are such a prude sometimes, but I actually think that it’s very sweet that you wanted to ask me about it, most boys probably wouldn’t care, but not you. You’re different and that’s why I want to do this with you. You don’t need to worry, because I’m on the pill now. I did that for you Robbie.”

“You did?”

‘I knew it, she has everything planned. She is the most organised person I’ve ever met’.

“Yes,” she said, “so you don’t have to worry about becoming a father just yet.”

‘What did she mean by just yet’?

“I thought that Catholics didn’t believe in the pill.”

“They don’t believe in sex before marriage either,” she said, “but I’m going to break that rule as well.”

“Okay I get it,” I said as I heard Nicola outside telling Amy and her friend that dinner was ready, “I’d better go now, we’re just about to eat.”

I hung up just as Nicola burst into the room. “Didn’t you hear me shouting,” she said as Daniel and I looked at each other with blank expressions. “Daniel stop jerking off, put some clothes on and get upstairs, dinner's ready.”

“I’m not jerking off,” he said and I laughed.

“You too Robbie,” she said, “When you're finished having phone sex with your girlfriend.”

“There’s a place for you in the army,” I said. She just laughed.