The Tutor's Break

"Do you have some time to chat?" Brian asks Christie through a phone text. "I was hoping we could clear a few things up."

"Absolutely!" she replies a few minutes later. "Come by the library around noon. I'll be in the conference room."

By the looks of the time on his phone, he has an hour to kill, including his commute, and decides to head out right away.

He entertains his drive with memories of his less than hand full of experiences with Christie and her friends as he attempts to solidify the questions he has come up with over the past few days, hoping not to forget any of them in her presence.

As he pulls into the library's parking lot, he notices that it looks fuller than usual for a weekend. Recalling that Christie said she'd be in the conference room, Brian doubts this has anything to do with her at first, however, upon entering the building, he sees a bunch of people seated near the conference room as if they're waiting to get in.

'Hmm, looks like it's a good thing I'm not here to be walked on,' Brian thinks to himself.

With that in mind, he gets the idea to kill the rest of his wait time by checking the Non-Fiction section for books on trampling. Considering the subject matter, he's almost certain that he won't find anything about it in a public location, but it won't hurt to entertain the thought.

He makes his way down the aisle marked 'Qu-Tr' and is not surprised to find that no covers bear the 'Trample' title. Interestingly enough, he does see 'Trying to Understand Women - Vol 1', followed by several sequential volumes, a few that are missing, and then the rest up to Volume 25.

"I wonder if the author figured it out or just gave up," he mumbles to himself as he pulls the last volume out and skips to the last few pages in hopes of finding a conclusion. "Yep, they gave up," returning the book to the shelf.

For a laugh, he looks to see if there's a book on 'Trying to Understand Men', thumbing through several books on either end of the collection as they don't appear to be in perfect alphabetical order. No luck as far as an actual book is concerned, but he does spot a laminated sheet next to the first volume. He sighs with both amusement and defeat when he realizes this is what he's looking for.

"Us guys aren't complicated enough to warrant a full page? Ouch."

"I think it's nice that this place has a sense of humor," Christie says, making her way down the aisle towards him.

Brian does a double take; once to acknowledge the statement, and again when he sees who made it.

He wants to reply to her comment, but is briefly speechless due to her outfit - a light weight, long sleeved, knit top that her hands barely peek out from and dark gray yoga pants that compliment her curves perfectly along with tan Ugg boots that were likely chosen for comfort for the cooler morning temperatures.

"Lord, have mercy on my soul," he says, admiring her in awe.

Christie smiles, "The Lord usually prefers mercy to those who are on their knees," playfully poking and grabbing at his stomach.

Brian's voice cracks and the feeling in his legs fade as he's gently pushed back into a kneeling position. His mind scrambles from the whiff of her perfume on his way down.

"That's better," she playfully banters.

Noticing his hands trembling down her legs, she pulls the laminated sheet from his grip before he stumbles back into a sitting position on the floor in front of her.

She glances at the text and smiles again, "Oh now surely this isn't true for all guys."

Brian is still overwhelmed by her advances and can't look at her directly with ease. "You would know better than I would," he quietly replies.

Christie returns the sheet to the shelf, but before she can return her sentiments, she is called from behind by a group of students that are making their way down the aisle too. To avoid any suspicions, Brian quickly grabs a random book in order to look occupied.

He low-key listens in on the conversation and notes that each student's question is rather vague compared to the answers that Christie provides. Although he doesn't understand the subject matter they are discussing, the fact that five students are helped within three minutes is still impressive to him.

"Are you sure now's a good time for me to be here?" he asks as she returns her attention to him.

"You are my break from them," she quietly replies with a soft laugh. Squatting to his level between his legs, "Not that I don't enjoy helping them, but a change of pace is always welcome."

Brian feels his throat tense up from having his space bubble pleasantly imposed upon, and he's only able to let out a bashful smirk as a result.

"You ok?" she asks.

He looks up, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Uh huh, sure," she says.

Standing back up straight, she holds out both her hands to help him up. She can feel the tension in his posture as he gets to his feet and pulls him into a hug to calm him down.

Considering everything they've been through already, Brian isn't sure why he's on edge around her, but having Christie's lovely form held against him definitely helps with relieving it.

After hearing his calm sigh, she smiles again and asks, "Shall we chat?"

He grins, "Yes. Let's."

Together, they walk back to the conference room. Brian maintains a suitable distance behind Christie as they continue past everyone who seems to be waiting their turn to either see her, or use the room themselves, neither of which he is sure of.

As she closes the door behind them, he asks about it. "Are they all here for you or what?"

"Most of them are, yeah. I tutor several subjects, but as far as they know, you're a meeting of importance." She takes her seat at the far end of the table, "Not exactly lying to them, am I?"

"I guess not," Brian replies, looking about and getting a feel for the room's layout.

Christie leans back in her chair and observes his body language. "Sweetie?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You seem preoccupied... like you're missing some of that confidence you had a few days ago."

"Yeah, no I'm fine. I um," he pauses while looking at the door, thinking about what threw him off out there, "I guess my confidence might be lacking because I'm not at my store."

Christie smirks to herself since she knows he's trying to dodge the real reason of being caught up on her looks.

He looks back to her, "As for being preoccupied... well, I did have my questions, and they are mostly about something I'm unsure of, or rather someone."

"Me?" Christie asks intuitively.

Brian nods "You and your friends, yeah."

"Well why don't you come sit and tell me about it," patting the table to her left at the corner seat.

Rather than accept the seat that is offered to him, Brian sits at the opposite end of the table facing her, hoping that the distance will help him keep his focus. Christie recognizes his intentions and patiently adjusts herself in her seat accordingly.

Brian takes a few minutes to collect his thoughts and rebuild his initial focus in order to address her directly as he speaks.

"So, this past week has been nothing short of incredible. For me, the trampling, the attention, it's been hands down the best thing ever."

He thinks back about a moment he had with Kacie.

"Maybe I'm thinking too much into this, but...something just feels...off."

Judging by his mannerisms, Christie makes a straight-forward assertion, "You feel like you're being played?"

"I feel...like I shouldn't even be on your radar."

"How come?"

"Because up until last Friday, ladies like you and your friends have never acknowledged that I exist and now all of a sudden I know six who simply don't fit the mold."

"The mold?"

"Just some silly preconceived stereotype of someone who I should be ignored by. I mean, aside from the trample stuff, I somehow got hugs from every one of you last weekend, which has never happened before. And, although it was just on the cheek, you and Kacie didn't hesitate an inch to kiss me, and that's really never happened before!"

Christie smiles softly, again to herself.

"I'm just having trouble understanding what's going on."

"I see." She gets up and makes her way around the table towards him, "First off, I definitely agree that this past week has been absolutely wonderful! I have no regrets about anything that's happened between us. Second, when it comes to being on my radar, well...it's been said before - you're a unique guy, Brian."

She lifts one leg up and sits on the edge of the table to his right.

"It's a shame that you haven't been admired by more women, but consider it a blessing. I'm sure you're aware of how crazy they are around here."

"Yeah, and that's what has me in the dark about you...and your friends. I've looked around for years and have never met anyone who comes close to being as caring, as well as playful, as all of you. I'm honestly expecting to be dropped like a dead weight in the next few days to a week because of what I'm used to."

"Aww!" Christie says leaning over to hug him. "I could never do that to you! I'm sure the same goes for my friends," releasing her hold, "being that you've made quite the impression on them too."

"You could never do that," Brian says looking down at the table. "If only you knew how many times I've heard that before, just to be left behind any way."

"I can tell by your tone alone that it's happened enough, perhaps more than you'd care to admit, but it won't happen with us."

"Hmm." Brian feels that since he's heard something similar from Kacie that she may be telling the truth, but doesn't want to jump to conclusions, opting instead to comment on her other point.

"So how exactly have I made an impression on your friends?" Looking back up at her, "By letting them walk on me? You know, something that has never meant anything to anyone?"

Christie smiles, "It has always meant something to me! And what you did for us last weekend is seen as a way of supporting me in their eyes."

"Is it now?"

"Yeah! And, because you managed yourself so well under all of them, they are starting to appreciate different aspects that I've mentioned in the past. They all have varying interests, and that's starting to show up more now compared to when I first met each of them."

"I'm listening," Brian says, adjusting in his seat for comfort.

"Well as you may have noticed, Ariel has a sadistic side and loves being aggressive."

"I have, yes," lightly feeling up his chest from the exposure to her heels.

Giggling softly, "You've given her an outlet to experiment with, and so far I can tell that she is very pleased. Amber, the tall redhead, likes some of the aggressive stuff too; she's just not as experienced as Ariel. Elizabeth, the quiet one whose voice you like, is the newest to embrace this and will try anything as long as I'm there with her. And Kacie, well, she's just all over the place with it right now," Christie says with a big smile. "She definitely loves jumping on you since you can take it, but I think it's bringing out a dark side in her too since she gets mad for the same reason."

"Yeah, like it's my fault she's so tiny," Brian replies.

Christie laughs, "No, I know, but she really does appreciate you for it though."

"She's another set of questions that I want to get to, but first, level with me... Why are you so affectionate?"

Thinking about it as he says it, Brian speaks up again before Christie says anything.

"Actually, that question applies to Kacie too... and maybe Cindy? But I do wonder what the deal is with all the hugs and the kisses."

"For a charismatic soul like me," she says scooting closer to him and resting her boot treads against the inside of his thigh, "being affectionate just comes with the package. Kacie is much the same way, that's why we click so well. With Cindy, I think it's still too early to tell how she'll act around you in the future being that she's come out of a rough relationship, but I know for a fact that you made a great first impression by helping with her game, so it's not just trampling you that she likes."

Brian processes her statement with a nod, yet finds it difficult to formulate a response due to the placement of her feet in his lap.

"While I can't speak for them personally, when it comes to my own affection towards you, the fact that you let me be myself with the trample stuff without so much as a peep of discontentment is very encouraging," she adds.

Watching him focus on her legs and feet, she playfully wiggles them about, in effect trampling his inner thigh gently by pivoting on the ball.

Leaning towards him and resting on her hands at the table's edge, "You say that you're used to girls like me ignoring you," looking at his stomach, "well, I'm used to guys backing out of being trampled, so I'm sure you understand how refreshing it is to meet someone different."

"I...um, yeah," Brian says as he watches her feet start slowly working their way up his leg. "I um... I think what's holding me up on all this the most is that you are a serious hottie."

Christie smiles from his compliment.

"All of you are serious hotties actually, and well...I know how unpopular trampling is in general, like the social acceptance of it and all," he says with his throat tensing up as he looks back up at her, "and, I...um, I can't understand why you would bother with it. Like do you ladies not have a social status to uphold or something?"

"Social statuses aren't something we concern ourselves with, hun," Christie says as her feet's progression comes to a pause just shy of his manhood, "at least I don't, and my girls trust me enough to follow my lead. Depending on who I'm with at any given time, it either rarely comes up, or comes up enough to turn heads, but we all know how to roll with the punches no matter what."

She lifts her left leg, crosses it over her right and flexes her foot out as flat as she can through her boot.

Rubbing the top of it against his cheek, she adds, "Besides, I have my ways of picking out someone from a crowd who may be interested in playing along," winking at him.

Brian blushes as he recalls how she seemingly picked him at the movie theater, all while holding her boot in place and brushing his cheek against its soft fabric on his own. Her beautiful gaze that he loves causes him to bashfully look away, and she promptly gets his attention back when he feels her toes wiggle through their confinement.

He is met with a lip-nibbled smile when he looks up at her again and a couple soft taps to his cheek with the toe of her shoe gives him the hint to remove it for her. With a smile of his own, he braces her leg below her knee and pulls it off, leaving an ankle sock dangling half way off her foot.

Seeing her bare heel and part of her instep makes his mouth water, and based on his experiences with her before, he knows he's welcome to worship the beautiful sight. However, he knows if he does, he won't be able to follow through with the true purpose of his visit.

Christie watches his facial expression go blank and furthermore senses the conflict in his mind that prevents him from making any moves. A special trait that she was born with allows her to peer into his mind and see that he is conflicted between his intense level of admiration for her and the charming attention he received from Kacie; the latter of which he is plagued by.

While it's not surprising that he's thinking about multiple women, she does find it sweet that this conflict is locking him up; an effort on his part to avoid hurt feelings.

It forces her to take the initiative and continue with what she's doing, which she has no problem with, but because she has only known him for a week, she's not comfortable with telling him about her abilities yet as it has scared other guys she's liked off in the past. Therefore, she decides to play a card that he will obviously click with.

"Is my little foot intimidating you," she asks, wiggling it around and smacking his face playfully with her loose sock.

He chuckles softly and grabs hold of it to cease the hitting. "Not so much intimidating me as it is making me lose my focus," he admits.

She giggles and pulls off her sock, "Awww, poor Brian," wiggling her toes at him. "It would be a shame to miss out on some important questions now wouldn't it?"

He blushes more, "Like I'm the only one who has them," planting a kiss on the top of her foot.

Always a sucker for attention to her feet directly, Christie sizzles on the inside, but keeps her outward appearance normal.

"Oh sweetie," she laughs, "I don't need to have questions for you. You are very easy to figure out."

"Are you sure?" he asks, locking eye contact with her as he teases her with a gentle blow to her instep, followed by the lightest kiss.

He knows he's stirred up something in her when she starts nibbling her lip again.

"Somehow I get the feeling that you having your feet adored is nothing new for you," kissing it again, "yet for some reason, you stopped everything you're doing here today to visit with me." He puts her foot back in his lap and leans against her legs, looking up at her. "We both know you are way out of my league, and yet here we are. Why?"

The way in which he calls her out makes Christie's heart beat out of her chest. Even with his doubts, she knows he is feeling around in the dark, but damn if he doesn't seem to know exactly where to go, and it leaves her visibly shaking and shocked in the hottest way.

"You...shouldn't...always judge a book by its cover," she replies.

"Is that so?" he asks, gently massaging her toes with his fingers one at a time with a twisting motion. "You seem to have read my story already being that I'm not hard to figure out."

Christie gulps nervously as he has no idea how close he is to being spot on.

"So what is it?" he says, using every fiber in his being to keep his focus on her beautiful eyes. "What is it about me, a guy that was invisible a week ago, that makes an angelic lady like yourself stop what you're doing to visit with me?"

"First, thank you for that," she replies with a smile to the angelic remark, "and second, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."

Brian squints at her, "Try me."

Christie smirks as she looks down at her bare foot on his leg, wiggling her toes as a thought runs through her mind on how to seize the moment.

To Brian's surprise, she sits up straight and puts her sock back on.

"How about I just show you?" she says as she scooches off the table, takes his hand, and pulls him from his seat.

Brian grabs her boot from the floor before it's out of his reach, "Don't you want this too?"

"I won't need it, but thank you for bringing it along."

She guides him to the other end of the table, keeps her smile going as she takes her boot from him and tosses it back on the floor out of the way, then runs her fingers up under his shirt and gently paws at his skin.

Whatever he had left for a space bubble is now being popped as she works him back against the wall and pokes at his stomach to force him to lean over, offering him an opportunity, should he decide to take it.

His throat tenses up immensely as he stares into her eyes with inches between them, and then at her lips.

"P..p..permission to kiss you?" he asks, almost forgetting to breathe.

"What?" she says off guard, having never heard anyone ask before.

When he repeats himself verbatim, she smiles and tickles him, forcing his lips against hers as a result of leaning further over.

His heart stops from the shock, but he tries his best to keep his composure, bringing his trembling hands up to her head and letting them hover at her jawline.

"That permission thing just won you a lot of points," she purrs.