Page 103 of Sweetheart

The bell rang, and as I was putting my list away, Sam asked, "You want to meet after school for another lesson?"

Translation: Did I want to meet Sam for more kissing?

Yes.

Every part of me yearned to say yes.

Unfortunately, I couldn't.

"Ican't today. I'vegot mentoring," I said. "We're adding sports to our session because the kids said they wanted to do something outside.So, our lesson will have to wait."

Instead of looking disappointed, Sam's eyes brightened. "Can I come?"

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"To mentoring," he said. "You said you're doing sports? That's right up my alley."

"Don't you have practice?"

"Not today," he said.

"Oh."

Sam looked at me expectantly.

"I just want to remind you that I work with young kids," I said.

"I love kids," he said back, "and I'm good with them. Just ask Betty and Bennet."

"Sometimes they can be hard to win over."

"I love a challenge. So?"

"Okay," I said,and he whooped. "But if they hate you, don't blame me."

Sam gave me his signature grin. "Who could hate me,Kent? I'm fantastic."

#

They loved him.

Of course, they did.

Sam walked in, carrying a soccer ball under one arm, flashed the kids a smile, and said, "Who wants to learn how to score a goal with their face?"

Hands flew into the air, and that was all she wrote.

After that, it was a mix of "Mr. Sam, is this right?" "Mr. Sam, can you show us that again?" "Mr. Sam, how do you do that without breaking your nose?" And "Mr. Sam, how did you get so cool?"

He'd shot me a grin over his shoulder at that one.

"Well, Trevor," he said, "I had to work at it a lot."

Little Trevor, who was only eight, said, "Do you think I could be as cool as you one day?"

"Oh definitely, you'll be even cooler."

The smile that split the young boy's face would've melted even the coldest heart. He'd lost one of his front teeth the other night and proudly pulled it out of his pocketto show people at every opportunity.As Sam patted his back, he beamed even brighter.

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