by S. J. Sylvis
I couldn’t seem to make any other noise than the wheezing from deep within my chest. My head turned to my bedroom door when Luke came flying in with a bemused look on his face.
“What the hell, Cammie? What’s wrong?”
My shaky shoulders fell as I pointed to the snake whose head was now lifted, staring at the pair of us with slanted, demonic eyes.
“Uh…is this a pet snake of yours?”
I whispered, “NO! Get it out!”
Luke’s eyes squinted when he looked at me again, then he let out a huge breath of air while shaking his head. He and I were on the same page of major confusion.
Luke slowly crept past me, keeping his eyes trained on the snake, and very slowly moved behind its back end near the top of my bed. He pulled my white pillow off the bed and reached inside the opening, pulling the pillow out of its case. Then, he placed it back down and held the white pillowcase in his hand.
He looked at me and then at the snake again, and then back at me and mouthed the words, “Shut the door.”
Luke was in complete military mode, eyes narrowed at the enemy, who was lying on my pretty white blanket. Luke’s shoulders were intense and pulled back. It was mesmerizing, watching how intent he was.
I crawled over to my bedroom door and gave it a slight push with my hand to close it without it actually latching and scaring the snake.
It was a really gross-looking snake. Its black skin was shiny, and its eyes looked as if they were glowing at me. Goosebumps broke out on my arms.
I sat with my back against the door, barely breathing because I was afraid to startle it. Then I stopped breathing altogether when Luke slowly padded over to it.
In one single movement, Luke swooped up the snake into the pillowcase. He exhaled a huge breath, and I watched in horror as the snake thrashed inside its cotton enclosure. I put my hand over my mouth, fighting back a scream.
Luke and I were two unmoving statues as we both stared at the pillowcase he was holding with a death grip.
The second I let out a small giggle, Luke followed my cue and laughed uncomfortably for a few seconds.
“How did that get in here?” I pondered aloud.
No, seriously, how did it get in here, anyway? The trees rustled outside my window, and I glanced up to my white ceiling. Alex. I swore he had a way of messing with me all the way from heaven.
Luke, who had finally stopped laughing, looked at me, placing a hand on his hip. “I think I know how it got in here.”
I stuttered, “How? There aren’t any openings in my house. I don’t think.”
Luke grinned, raising one side of his mouth, but then his phone rang and drew his attention elsewhere. Still holding the pillowcase enclosing the snake in one hand, he took out his phone and grimaced as soon as his gaze reached the bright screen. His shoulders immediately went tense, and he paused mid-step. He answered quickly.
“Give me a minute.”
He placed the phone face down on his chest, “I’ve gotta take this. I’ll leave my number on the counter in case any more snakes come to pay you a visit…”
God, I hope not. The thought occurred to me that I better search my house high and low, with a gun or something, because I’d be damned if I woke up to another snake.
I watched Luke all the way out the door of my room, and when I heard the front door shut, I stood up and rushed to my kitchen to see if he really had left his number.
He had, with a little note right below it.
Cammie, it was my fault that the snake came in. I left the door open when I was flipping your furniture back over.
* * *
You’re welcome,
Luke
P.S. I hope you’re okay now.
I shook my head, smiling from ear to ear. I ignored the feeling of my heart growing inside my chest.
He’s just a neighbor. He’s just a neighbor. He’s just a neighbor.
Ten
I spent the last two days trying to come to terms with these quickly growing feelings I had apparently developed for Luke. I was in denial and I planned to stay in this little cocoon of denial for as long as I could.
I couldn’t have Luke. No matter how badly I wanted him. I’d told myself countless times that it was just an attraction, because how could I not be attracted to him? It was inevitable. He was hot. Like, smokin’ hot, and he was funny. Not to mention the way he had of turning off that crass feature of his, and turning into someone who was sensitive and understanding and caring. But, he was off-limits. He was totally off-limits.
I would not go through what I went through with Alex. If I started something with Luke, it wouldn’t be healthy, because my intentions would be to never be with him, and how was that fair?
I had also pondered maybe just being friends with benefits. I’d thought about that several times, especially when lying in bed at night, alone.
I just didn’t think that would work out, though. I would get attached, and he wouldn’t. He’d made it very clear that he could handle sex without getting hooked; I mean, he’d had at least a handful girls at his house just since he’d moved in. I hadn’t counted the exact number, but I had noticed that they were never repeats. But who’s paying attention?
So here I was, at this giant roadblock, trying to ignore how my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. How I look forward to our little pranks, and how he had somehow made it into more than one of my fantasies.
Gah. Speak of the devil. There he was. Stepping out onto his back porch with a piece of pizza in hand, staring directly at me.
I’ve always loved coming out on my back deck in the late evenings. There was just something refreshing about the night sky in the middle of fall. The air was almost crisp; the autumn leaves put out a smell that was indescribable…I loved it, especially when I just needed a mental break.
“You know, you shouldn’t come outside with your hair wet. That’s how you catch a cold,” he shouted, after taking a seat on his lawn chair and propping his legs up on the wooden railing.
“Who are you? My mom?” I yelled back.
He didn’t answer. He shoved the rest of the pizza in his mouth and hopped over the railing of his deck, landing with a small thud on the ground. I sat up a little straighter in my chair, peeking down below my ledge. Luke walked nonchalantly over to my deck stairs and then started to skip up them with a little pep in his step.
“What are you doing?” I asked, faking annoyance.
“I’m coming to hang out. Why?”
“Why are you coming to hang out with me?” I cocked my head to the side, shoving my wavy, wet hair over my shoulder. “Don’t you have any girls to entertain you tonight?”
“Maybe I want you to entertain me tonight.” My eyes widened when the words came out of his ever-so-fine mouth.
I scoffed. “Well, you’re going to be disappointed.”
“I doubt that.”
He sat down in the chair beside me, crossing his lengthy fingers against his chest. Nervousness set in my bones and caused me to gulp more of the hot tea that I had been sipping on. I wished I could be sipping on wine right now to calm my nerves swirling around at our closeness, but I was on-call. So, hot tea it was.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked, placing my cup back in my lap.
“Sure.”
“How do you afford your house?”
Loud laughter filled the air and my mouth fell open. Was something funny?
“That’s your question? I figured you were going to ask me about the whole snake debacle.”
I answered, “Uh, yeah that’s my question but I am still annoyed that you left my door open and I almost died from a heart attack.” We both laughed and then I turned away from him continuing with my curiosity. “Anyway…it’s just, our houses have to be in the same price range, and the rent here is astronomical. I make good money, and still the only reason I can afford it is because I rent from a family friend who gives me a dirt-cheap price.”
Out of the corner of my e
ye, I saw him nodding his head up and down. Then he reached up and ran his hand over his face.
“My grandpa owned the house, rented it out, passed away, and then left it to me.”
I felt my eyebrows scrunch inward.
“Oh.” I thought for a moment. “So, you knew the last renters?”
“Yep, I was technically their landlord.”
“I loved them.”
He turned toward me, smiling. “They loved you, too.”
“They talked about me?”
Luke chuckled, “Yes. All the time. But, I have to admit. You weren’t what I was expecting when I moved in.”
Tension landed on top of my shoulders. “What were you expecting?”
“Well, honestly…I thought you’d be, like, sixty by the way they talked about you.”
I laughed out loud. “They were probably talking about Ms. Deacon.”
I tilted my chin toward the house behind ours. It was enormous, and I considered it the “mother” of our houses. It was white and at least three stories, with a wrap-around porch. I felt envious every time I glanced at it.
“She’s in her late sixties and she owns ten cats. Never does a single thing except pamper them and tend to her garden out back. She’s a homebody, that’s for sure. No family. Nothing. Just her cats.”
He laughed, “Yeah. They described you similar to that. Said you were quiet, never did anything but work, and that you liked to read. I thought they were talking about an old lady, Cammie.”
“They still could have been talking about Ms. Deacon. She likes to read, too.”
He bit his lip. “They said your name was Cammie.”
I took another sip of my tea simply out of embarrassment. I’d been such a sulk since Alex had died. Even my sweet, older neighbors had noticed.
“Oh…” I trailed off. “So, are you from around here, then?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Nice change of subject.” He chuckled but went along with it. “I’m from South Carolina. I have one little brother, a deadbeat dad, and a hardworking mom who makes the world’s best sweet tea.”
I smiled genuinely at the thought of his mom making sweet tea. That’s so cliché, but so cute at the same time. Before I could dig any further into his life, he sat up quickly and looked me right in the eye.
“Have you ever been cheated on?”
I leaned back against my wooden chair and raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“It’s a simple question, Cammie. Have you ever been cheated on?”
Biting my lower lip, I nodded. Slowly. Very slowly.
Luke’s face, barely visible in the faint light from the small lantern on the table between us, grew tense. His jaw was clenched, muscles working beneath his ears.
“Tell me about it.”
He leaned back in his chair, visibly looking more relaxed, so I gave in and let myself tell the story that had been hidden beneath several layers of hurt.
“His name was Grant,” I began. “We went to college together. My brother despised him.”
I laughed, remembering the brief encounters that Grant held with Alex. Grant always thought Alex loved him, but really, Alex had to restrain from punching him in the face. It really wasn’t funny then, but it kind of was now.
“We dated for a year. We were pretty serious. I had a key to his apartment and everything. Actually…” I wracked my brain, conjuring the visual of my keychain sitting on my entryway table. “I still have a key,” I snickered. “But shortly after Alex died, I kind of shut myself off. We only texted a few times in the month after everything fell apart. Things were rough.” I could feel the hurt that still laid within my heart begin to surface. “Especially for my mom, so I was busy. Distracted and distant. That’s why I didn’t see the signs that were being thrown at my very feet.”
I watched as Luke cracked his neck at my words, and then he straightened up a little taller. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that this was bothering him.
Crossing my legs in front of me to sit Indian style and gripping my cup in my hands, I finished my story.
“JoJo dragged me out of my apartment, saying I needed some fresh air and a decent meal. And there’s really no arguing with her, so I let her lead me down the street to The Chelsea. It was just after five, on a weekday. Grant told me he had been working late during the week, so when I rounded the corner and saw him passionately kissing a woman with long, red hair outside of the brewery—you know, the one down the street from here?” Luke nodded his head in agreement. “Well, I stopped dead in my tracks and almost fell to the ground. When JoJo saw what I saw, I thought she was going to kill him!”
I started to laugh, hoping it would hide the little bit of angst I still felt. I hadn’t loved Grant; I knew that now. But when you spent an entire year dating someone, it still stung. A little.
“He ran from her, Luke. Fucking ran!” I laughed again. “So, that was it. I threw away all of his shit and went on with my life. He tried to reach out a couple times, saying it was my fault for being so closed off after Alex’s death, but it only made me angrier.” I paused for a second. “I haven’t spoken to him since. Not once. And, despite him living only a few blocks away from me in those ugly brick apartments on the corner by The Chelsea, I’ve never run into him. Thank God.”
I let out a long breath and felt semi-relieved to have spoken about Grant. I’d kept it under lock and key for so long. It happened ten months ago, and I’d buried it.
“He’s a fucking idiot.” Luke’s words were sharp, curt, and angry.
“I can’t argue with that.”
He stood up and paced back and forth for a second with a cute grin on his face that had me rethinking my rule on every level.
“What do you say we go play a prank on someone other than each other?”
I spied the little mischievous twinkle in his eye, and it made my fingertips tingle with anticipation.
“What do you have in mind?”
He stepped in front of me. “Do you have jelly?”
I thought for a moment, picturing my pantry. “Yes.”
“Do you have hair remover? Like that stuff you can use for your legs?”
I chuckled. “Yes.”
“Do you have chocolate chips?”
I paused. “Uh… yeah, I think.”
Luke turned his back and walked down my porch stairs.
“Go get them, and meet me out front.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. The thought of spending the evening with him made me giddy and not at all annoyed…which was extremely dangerous. I was playing with fire, and I was totally fine with getting burned. Hell, I kind of want to erupt in full-on raging flames.
After I gathered the necessities, I threw on my skinny jeans and pulled my wet hair up into a messy bun.
Luke was waiting for me below my steps with a despondent look upon his face, but as soon as he saw me, he covered it up with a smile. I ignored the desire prodding my brain to ask him what was wrong and why he was trying to hide behind a smile. I kept my lips sealed, hopping down my concrete steps with a jar of jelly, a pink bottle of hair-removal cream, and an opened bag of chocolate chips in my hands.
“Are you ready to get down to business?” he asked, and I laughed out loud.
“You’re ridiculous,” I replied, and we started to walk down the street, passing by all the darkened historical homes without lights on. It was nearly eleven at night, so the town was quiet. Eerily quiet.
It was so quiet that when Luke spoke, I jolted.
“I told you I would be entertained tonight.”
I grimaced at him. “What exactly are we doing?”
“We’re going to make life a little interesting for the dipshit who cheated on you.”
I stopped mid-pace and planted my feet on the sidewalk. “Wait a second. We can’t go to Grant’s!” I exclaimed.
Luke stopped walking, turned his torso towards me, and stalked the remaining few feet in between us.
“Yes. We can.
This is me getting you out of your old lady ‘funk.’ Just live a little, Cammie.”
His sea-glass green eyes were pitiful looking, and they captured me up like a damn polaroid camera.
“It’s really hard to say no to you.” And that scares me.
His shoulders shot upward. “I know.”
He was so smug, but I couldn’t help but like it. It fit him. If I hadn’t seen his good side, the caring part behind all his smart-ass comments, I would probably still despise him, good looks and all. But, he’d shown me that side of himself and it had me completely caught up in him.
The closer we got to Grant’s small, brick apartment, the more I started to rethink this little plan and “living on the edge,” as Luke put it.
What if Grant doesn’t even live there anymore? What if the redhead is there? Oh, God. What if he wakes up and calls the police? I can’t go to jail!
My free hand reached out and I grabbed Luke’s bare forearm. He paused and looked down at me, a worried look tracing the sharp lines on his face.
“What?”
“What if he wakes up?”
He gently covered my hand with his and said, “Cammie. You’re with a pro. Relax.”
My shoulders relaxed slightly, but I continued to bite my bottom lip.
“I just don’t know if this is a good idea.”
Luke rolled his eyes and grabbed the bag of chocolate chips out from under my arm.
“Do you trust me?” he whispered.
I exhaled. “Yes.”
“Then stop worrying that pretty little head of yours. I’ve got this. I won’t let anything bad happen.”
I bit my lower lip even harder, and when his hand swiped up to release it from between my teeth, my breath caught in my throat. He stared into my eyes and my heart instantly skipped a few beats. Then I heard the crinkling noise of plastic, and I dropped my gaze to the chocolate chip bag. He dipped his hand inside and pulled out a handful of the delightful morsels. Their sweet smell filled the air, and he plopped the entire handful into his mouth. Then he turned away from me with his mouthful of chocolate and tilted the bag in my direction.