‘Now the tongue,’ she said, and he went for it. She moved her tongue around a lot, trying to dodge his searching and insistent one. She pulled back. ‘Still feels weird.’

‘I’m really stressed,’ he said.

‘Me too. We should look it up on the internet.’

‘OK.’

She grabbed her laptop out of her luggage and switched it on. He waited patiently for her to get into YouTube. She keyed in ‘first kiss tutorial’ and a list of videos opened up. Kyle moved towards the screen; they shared it on their laps. She pressed on a tutorial named ‘How to kiss step by step for the first time’. They both watched intently.

One, before you begin kissing, you need to demonstrate that you want to.

They both agreed they could skip over that.

Two, if your desires are reciprocated, focus on the lips and move a little closer toward the mouth. Quick Tip: Just before you reach your partner’s mouth, tilt your head slightly to avoid clashing noses.

They both smiled and acknowledged their earlier mistake.

Three, slowly and softly lock lips. Quick Tip: Do not shove your tongue in her mouth straight away. It can be offputting.

They both nodded to themselves.

‘See?’ she said.

He shrugged. ‘I see.’

Quick Tip: All good kisses begin slowly and increase with passion.

Four, open the lips slightly and carefully caress your partner’s lips. Gently holding hers in your mouth.

‘Hold hers with your mouth?’

‘Looks more like cupping,’ Juliet said.

‘Rewind that bit.’

‘No, let’s keep going – we’ll watch it through again.’

Five, if your partner is enthusiastically engaging, you could now try to introduce your tongue. Start slowly and with the tip, caressing the lips then tongue. Not too vigorously, play calmly and with circular movements so as to entwine with your partner’s tongue.

‘Entwine?’ Kyle said.

Quick tip: Do not stick your tongue down your partner’s throat.

Juliet pointed at Kyle and he nodded and gave the thumbs up.

Six, remove your tongue and caress the lips before ending the kiss.

Kyle began practising, moving his mouth like a fish. He was not inspiring confidence.

There was a girl and boy kissing on the screen all through the tutorial. It was sexy – not at all like their experience.

They watched the video again; halfway through, during point number four, they started to kiss, caressing one another’s lips. It was nice.

‘Oh,’ Juliet said.

They did that for the longest time before Kyle slowly introduced his tongue. They didn’t hear the sound of the front door open, or the shopping hit the floor.

‘Juliet, are you up there?’ Molly shouted.

They pulled apart.

‘Yes, Gran,’ Juliet called back. ‘We’re just watching YouTube.’

‘Right, then, well, you can do that in the sitting room!’

‘OK, Gran,’ she said, but she leaned in and kissed Kyle some more.

Chapter Forty-Seven: Davey

Chapter Forty-Seven

Davey