Page 3 of Ripple Effect
It all started a few months ago when after months of being in his class, my cousin Sam brought Cal out to dinner when he met up with me at the local diner on campus. “Libs, Cal,” he introduced us before dropping into the seat next to me.
When our hands touched for the first time, a frisson ran up my spine. My body locked as I met his brown eyes beneath furrowed brows. It was in complete contrast to the abrupt “Libby” he gave me before sitting.
Sam and Cal began talking—no, debating—about politics in earnest that night. Tuning their words out, I instead listened to the lazy cadence of both of their voices, wondering exactly how quickly I could manage to escape without being rude. Finally, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Don’t take this the wrong way—” I offered them both a smile. “—but I have an exam to prepare for tomorrow.”
“Crap, Libs. I was going to…” Sam was utterly contrite as he was going to help me study.
Pushing at his shoulder gently, I grabbed my bag and slid out of the seat. “Nothing to apologize for. You’re not always going to be there for me to lean on.”
A flash of something crossed Sam’s face. “No, but I’m here now.”
Leaning upward, I brushed my lips across his cheek. “And after I pass this test, you can take me out to make it up to me.” Looking over my shoulder, I tossed a “Nice to meet you” to Cal with a smile.
He didn’t say anything. His dark head just tipped in my direction with a murmured “Libby.”
That was the first time I saw Cal, but it wasn’t the last. Over the next few weeks, Cal would accompany Sam to our weekly dinners. Then, as I was not so subtly trying to play matchmaker between my cousin and my roommate, Cal would be at dinners, on hikes, around concerts. It became obvious to me that my cousin, who didn’t have many close friends growing up, had found someone he trusted and liked in Cal.
And if I fell in love just a little more every moment I had to spend in his presence, well, that became my problem.
We’ve laughed, joked, teased each other for months. As friends, we’ve argued current events, talked about sports, and made plans with no indication he’s ever seen me as anything more than what I am—Sam’s cousin. So, it’s my fault if I lie in my bed late at night dreaming of what it would be like to have his dark caress on my skin. It’s not like he’s helping himself to a smorgasbord of undergraduates. As much as I might want him to with this undergrad, I think glumly.
It doesn’t matter—it’s never going to happen. At least, there’s nothing giving me any sort of hope it will.
Shifting, I lift a glass of less-than-stellar wine to my lips. At least now that I’m old enough to drink, I can drown the agony of the rumors of how he fucks like the end of the world is coming before he rolls out of whatever bed he’s in.
I smile into my glass before an elbow to my ribs almost causes me to upend the entire thing. “You rang?” I ask my best friend, Iris Cunningham, drolly.
“Is it just me, or is Sam taking on more and more of Cal’s behavior traits?” Iris has had a crush on my cousin since the day she met him, not that it’s stopped her from dating half of the male population on campus.
I, on the other hand, took one look at Cal and felt like time stood still. When we’re all together—which is more and more of late—I feel like it’s my mission to make the somber-faced man crack a smile. I’ve yet to succeed, but hey, at least Iris appreciates my efforts as she normally collapses on Sam howling. I still have time, I think determinedly, as there’s still a few weeks before I graduate and head home to Charleston.
Turning to answer Iris, I ask, “Do you mean the man-whoring?”
Iris grins. “Your cousin has a way to go for that,” she teases, inadvertently sending a swift pain in the region of my stomach. Pushing my wine aside, knowing I’ll be ill if I drink any more of it, I ask, “Elaborate, please.”
“Look at them.” She tips her head to the side. Glancing over her shoulder, she continues. “They’re a pair of matched emo bookends holding up the collective honeypot of campus.”
I burst into gales of laughter. “Lord, deliver me,” I wheeze out. My drawl is more pronounced than it normally is.
The devil that dances in Iris’s eyes is more wicked than normal. “You know you’re going to miss every second we’re not doing just this.”
“Too true, darling.” I lift my glass to toast the best part of my college experience when I feel a mysterious pull from the far side of the room. Allowing my eyes to flicker in that direction, they clash with Cal’s. This time there’s something different about them.
They’re crinkled around the corners, and one side is hitched up. He’s not looking down at the woman he’ll likely take home later, I think with my heart pounding. He’s watching me. And whether it’s wishful thinking or not, he lifts his beer in my direction to toast me.
Without thinking, I send a beaming smile in his direction. Taking a deep breath, I lift the glass to my lips and manage to swallow a little more of the lighter fluid they pass off as wine.
“What was that all about?” Iris demands. She starts to turn around, but I stop her by pinching her. Hard.
“I…I’m not really sure,” I admit.
“What do you mean?”
“One minute, I’m laughing with you and the next, Cal’s…” I don’t get to finish my sentence because Iris has whipped around.
Cal’s gone and so’s the cute blonde. I’m not shocked neither by their departure nor by my feelings of disappointment. Iris prompts, “Cal was?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” I wave my hand to indicate the subject’s closed, but I didn’t take into account the subject sliding into the booth next to me. Iris’s eyes bug out.
