The Butterfly Effect Read online

  “Riley, did you hear what I said?” Bea asks.

  “I’m sorry, what were you saying?” I shake my head. Why am I lusting after my professor? This is so wrong on so many levels. I shake the thoughts from my head. I’m sure all the girls in the class lust after him. He’s just too gorgeous. Though he’s older than me, he can’t be older than early thirties at the most. His brown hair is tousled and unruly, but in a way that beckons for my fingers to run through the strands. I love his eyes the most, though. The way they look at me. It’s as if they are undressing me right there in front of the entire class.

  Bea is my best friend, has been since sophomore year of high school, and we were lucky enough to get into the same college when we applied. Of course, we were at the top of our class. She’s the one my psychic great grandmother saw in her visions. Bea doesn’t know that, though. We were just lucky enough to be drawn to each other. The words Mom told me when I was ten have never left my brain. I know I can help guide Bea. I recited everything Mom said for days, months, and years. Just so I don’t forget any details.

  “Where were you a minute ago?” she asks.

  Just lusting over Professor Murphy. “I’m sorry. I’m already thinking about my assignments, and when I need to study,” I lie.

  Chapter Two

  RILEY

  Sitting in the kitchen of our apartment, eating dinner, we are discussing plans for the weekend.

  “As I was saying, there is a frat party tonight if you want to come. We are away from home, where we can do what we want. No parental supervision. Tell me you’re in,” she states.

  “You know, I’m in! Bea, you should be more careful now that we are twenty-one. You should take who you are more serious.” She brushes me off.

  “You are really spacing out there, Riley. But whatever. I’m going to go get ready for tonight,” she says, leaving me to my thoughts and ignoring my plea to be careful.

  We just moved in right off campus, and I like the privacy of having our own space. Even though my room is extremely small, it’s my own space away from home, and I like the red painted walls. The room is only big enough for a bed, a big dresser, and two bedside tables.

  Digging through my closet I pick out a pair of skinny jeans and a tank top, and then complete the outfit with a pair of heels. I leave my brown hair hanging loosely on my shoulders and just add a tad of makeup. Grabbing my phone and my I.D case, I put them in my pocket and meet Bea back downstairs.

  Bea is no stranger with men; she lost her virginity during sophomore year. She doesn’t mind sleeping around the way she does. I don’t judge her, and she doesn’t say much about me and my virginity. I seriously don’t even know how we are friends sometimes. We are total opposites; even our taste in men is different, but maybe that’s a good thing. Apparently, her line of heritage is allowed to have sex before finding the one. However, it is strongly encouraged she not do it.

  It isn’t like I haven’t done any of the other stuff; I just haven’t had the courage to actually lose my virginity. I never had a steady boyfriend for long enough to lose it, and there is the complication of finding the one. People will probably say I’m weird for holding onto my virginity for so long. I’m twenty-one for god sakes. But I think it should be saved for someone special, for the one. Sharing that with someone is sacred and should be special.

  Bea tugs on my arm, practically dragging me out the door. “Come on; I’m ready to party.”

  “I’m coming, geez,” I say, pulling my arm back and giggling.

  We walk to the frat house, figuring that is the safest bet, since it’s close and it’s practically on campus. Entering the house, the party is in full swing; a beer keg is in the center of the living room and there is a guy being held upside down while guzzling it. I don’t find that the least bit attractive, getting shit faced. I don’t understand the logic of wanting to get so drunk you have a hangover in the morning and you don’t remember what happened.

  Granted, I’m no prude, but I limit myself to two regular size beers and no more than that, ever. Bea is on my left and her head is bobbing to the music and her hips hit mine, causing me to laugh, and then we both start dancing. I giggle at her infectious, playful attitude. We both dance together for a bit. The music thumps through the house so loud I can barely hear my thoughts. The frat house is packed.

  “Don’t take any opened drinks from anyone, okay!” I yell over the music.

  She rolls her eyes. “Yes, Mom.”

  “I’m serious. You don’t know what could be in it. I’m just looking out for you,” I tell her.

  We continue to dance, her blonde curls bouncing off her shoulders. Two familiar frat boys approach us. Ace comes up and says hi to me, as Trent eyes Bea. Trent’s cute in a preppy boy sort of way. Bea already looks cozy with him as they start to dance together.

  “Want a beer?” Ace asks me.

  “Sure.”

  I follow him to the kitchen, and he grabs a cold one from the fridge.

  He hands me the beer while he opens his for himself. “How was your first week of school?”

  “It was good. I see a lot of studying in my future.”

  “Are you a freshman?”

  “Yeah. You?”

  He steps closer to me so I can hear him over the music. “I’m a junior. I’m glad you came,” he says, as his green eyes shine.

  I smile. “Me too.”

  Bea is wrapped around Trent, her body latching onto his and he likes every bit of the attention she is giving him. A wave of guilt washes over me. I knew coming here would be a bad idea, but Ace and I dance for almost an hour before I decide to leave. “I think I should be going now. It looks like my friend will be here a while,” I tell him, pointing my finger at her.

  “You should stay, babe.” He smirks, reaching for my hand.

  I roll my head back. “Did you just call me babe?” I ask playfully.

  His smirk grows wider. “I did.”

  “How about you stick to calling me Riley? And you can call all those ladies babe if you want.”

  “What ladies?” he smoothly asks.

  “Oh, do you talk this smoothly with all the ladies?”

  “Like I said, what ladies? I only see you.” He leans against the counter, taking a swig of beer.

  “Where’d you learn that line? Charm school.”

  “Who thinks they are the funny one now?” he retorts.

  I study his features. His green eyes are bright and wide, and his smile is so bright and hypnotizing. I can’t help but to smile back at him at his happy go lucky attitude.

  “Yeah, I should get a head start studying,” I say, making up the excuse.

  “Okay, well do you want me to walk you home?”

  “Oh, no, that’s not necessary. I’ll be fine,” I tell him, brushing it off.

  “I know where you live, remember? I don’t mind. Besides, what kind of guy would I be to let you walk home alone?” he says casually.

  “Okay, fine.” I return his smile.

  We walk out of the house, not feeling any better than when I walked in. On the outside people see me as a pretty innocent looking girl. But they don’t see the lonely girl hiding inside. A lot of the times, I feel like something is missing in my life and I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just having such a boulder on my shoulders, the pressure of finding the one, especially now that I’m twenty-one, that’s weighing on me.

  Ace walks me to the door. He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze then releases it. “Have a good night,” he says.

  “You, too.” I wave before he turns to walk back where we came from.

  I see a familiar shadow across the street; he stops me in my tracks. He puts the trash in the can along the curb, and when he sees me, he stops, too. We stare at each other for a moment before I manage to find my voice.

  “Professor Murphy, I didn’t know you lived here,” I say, stepping up close to him. How am I just finding this out?

  “Riley? What are you doing out here this time
of night?” he asks.

  “I live over there. Ace walked me home,” I say, throwing my thumb over my shoulder and pointing across the street. “I was just coming back from a party.” God, he looks delicious in his dark colored draw string pants and tee, and his glasses. Sexy as hell, like sex on legs. What I wouldn’t give just to pull the string on his low slung pants. Get a grip Riley, he doesn’t want some virgin college girl.

  “So this is where you live?”

  He pushes his glasses up his nose. I can see the nervousness appear on his face. He quickly follows me as I step into his place. Looking around, I see it’s fairly neat for a man’s place. As I enter the kitchen, his cat comes over to rub against my leg. I bend down to pet him and then rise back up to walk to the living room. It’s kind of plain, with white walls, and black leather furniture. He has some art on the wall and a splash of red here and there.

  “Can I offer you a drink?” he asks.

  “Oh, no thanks,” I smile. “Is your room upstairs? What’s it look like?”

  “Yes,” he says. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to show you. You shouldn’t be in here. What if someone sees you?”

  I step close to him. Add smelling good to the growing list of his sexiness. He smells like soap and aftershave and sex. I want to lick his face. I run my hand through my hair and smile at him while he looks at me, his stare intense. I want him like a pregnant woman needing chocolate.

  “Riley,” he says, sternly.

  I take that as my cue to leave.

  I can’t help the fact that I want him, real bad, like a drug addict needs his next fix. I feel the dampness in my panties and I chastise myself for it. Something pulls me to him. No matter what he says, he feels the pull between us, too. I know it.

  “Fine, I’ll leave.” I smirk. Flashing a wink, I turn on my heel and leave. I wish I could just stare at him all the time. He could be taking out the trash and I’d think it was the sexiest thing I had ever seen.

  I could see the hunger in his eyes. Even though I didn’t make it to his bedroom, I will soon. He wants me as bad as I want him, and I’ve never wanted someone to take my virginity this bad. I just want to hand it over and give myself to him, all of me, because I want every single ounce of him. I trek back home to take a cold shower. Knowing he lives so close will make it hard to stay away. I could sense the torment he was feeling. He’s my professor for god sakes. If anything ever happened, I would never tell anyone, not even Bea. But my body literally aches for him, longs to be touched by him, to feel his fingertips grazing my skin. God, my body is on fire just thinking about it.

  ***

  NATHAN

  What the hell just happened? My head is spinning as I head up to my room, to rid Riley from my mind. She is so fucking sexy and I desperately wanted to grab her, kiss the living shit out of her, and send her on her way, or put her on her knees. I bet that view is fucking magnificent. Her eyes on me while she sucks me off. Geez, get a grip dude.

  Ugh. I need to try to go to sleep. But a flicker of light draws my eyes out of the window. I can clearly see her silhouette in her room. She is intentionally trying to drive me mad, and it’s working. My eyes are glued through her window. Her room is surrounded by a soft glow. The sheer curtains display her curvaceous body as she slowly taunts me while she undresses. First, she reaches the hem of her top, moving it up over her chest, and I’m growing hard and there is only one thing to do. Masturbate while watching her. I turn my light off so she doesn’t see me.

  In the darkness, I move back to the window and watch her continue her taunting strip tease. I lurk like a pervert, but I can’t tear my eyes off her. She reaches behind her back to unclip her bra and holds it up for a moment as she drops it to the ground. My cock is in my hand as I start to stroke it. It’s fucking rock hard, like a steel pipe, and I imagine her perfect mouth around it as slowly pump it in my hand.

  I watch as she bends over slowly, letting her pants fall to the ground, then her panties come down and I’m about to come in my hand. Oh fuck, I come just as she holds her panties and I can make out her naked silhouette perfectly, right down to her nipples. I come on my hand, and let out a grunt as I do so. When it comes to her, I can’t help myself. Tonight only proves that she feels the current that blasts between us just as much as I do.

  I move to the restroom to clean myself off. Why do I feel so fucking guilty for jerking off? She wanted to tease me, to taunt me, to make me want to jerk off to her undressing in her window. Now how am I supposed to face her on Monday in class, or any day, for that matter? After cleaning myself off, I slip into bed with Riley invading my thoughts, very dirty thoughts. She mentioned she was coming home from a party and all I can think about is her at a party and some college asshole with his hands on her. It sucks that my mind is going to this place, this dark place. I only want my hands on her, on every single inch of her. This is going to drive me crazy and straight into the looney bin.

  Chapter Three

  RILEY

  After taking my shower, I wonder if Professor Murphy saw the show I put on for him. I blush, thinking about him watching me. Honest to god, I have no idea what came over me. I’m never this bold, especially with my situation. Hopefully, he enjoyed it and can’t stop thinking about me. I sure as hell can’t get him out of my brain, and I have half a mind to go knock on the door and throw myself on him. But I can’t. I want him to make the move, to let me know he wants me, because all I can think about is him consuming me. And tonight, I proved that.

  Sitting on the floor against my bed, I go through my family’s Monarch magic book. There are so many spells to learn. I don’t think I’ll ever learn them all.

  The next morning, I dress casually in a pair of capris pants, slip on my white KED shoes, and throw on a flowing top perfect for fall. Figuring Bea didn’t come home until close to sunup, I let her sleep in while I stride to the library. I leave her a note, letting her know where I am and that I’ll meet up with her later. At least there I might be able to focus on studying, because I sure as hell can’t, knowing Professor Murphy is right across the street. Especially knowing how bad I want to rip his clothes off. A girl can dream, right?

  Living so close to campus, I hardly even need a car; everything is within walking distance. Bea brought her car and that’s all we need. Someone behind me yells my name, and I turn to see Ace jogging toward me.

  “Hi Ace. Drink much last night after I left?”

  “Nah. I actually have football practice today; that’s where I’m headed. Where are you going?”

  “To the library, to study.”

  “Oh yes, the college scholar,” he teases.

  “Shut up, you jock.” I give him a playful shove on the shoulder.

  He chuckles and then splits off from where I’m going.

  In the library I find a quiet table toward the back. There aren’t many students in here, but that doesn’t surprise me. After all, it is Saturday. What student in their right mind would be here? Yeah, just me I guess. Sitting at the table, I pull up my bag and pull out a few of my books. I don’t have too much work; I’ll finish up some assignments and get a head start on some other things.

  I get up from the table to go look for a book. As I’m scanning the shelves for the book, I deeply inhale. I love the smell of the books. It’s one of the best smells. I step closer to look at a book and a hand reaches over my shoulder, taking a book from the shelf. When I turn, I see Professor Murphy. Turning, our eyes meet and I think I stop breathing; he is so close to me. His scent surrounds me.

  “Riley,” he says with a smirk.

  “Professor Murphy,” I say in response, trying to move a safe distance away, but it’s impossible as his arms are extended on the shelves, on both sides of me, trapping me against the shelf. I can’t breathe, my body is tingling. He brings his face inches from mine; so close. I think he’s going to kiss me as he stares at my lips. I bite down on mine, looking at his full lips, waiting in anticipation. But in a matter of seconds, it’s al
l over as he pulls away and leaves me there, breathless, my heart palpitating furiously in my chest. Then I remember to breathe.

  God, why didn’t he kiss me? Is this him teasing me like I did him? His payback perhaps. I deserve it, and two can play that game. Geez, just when I want to get away from him, there he is. Picking the book off the shelf, I dizzily move back to my table. Professor Murphy is seated a few tables away, but right in my peripheral vision to where I can’t help but look up in his direction every few minutes okay, seconds. Not once did I catch him looking at me, which kind of pisses me off. Then a thought appears. I gather my stuff together, throw it in my bag, and head over to Professor Murphy.

  As I approach his table, he looks up and takes off his glasses.

  “Professor Murphy, I was wondering if you need an assistant. I can get your coffee, grade papers, do research. Anything you need, really. I’d be glad to offer my services.” In more ways than one.

  He puts a corner of the glasses in his mouth as he thinks about my proposition. Have I mentioned his gaze is intense? I shuffle from side to side, uncomfortable.

  “Are you any good?”

  “Good. Of course, I’m good. I won’t let you down,” I promise.

  “Alright, we try on a trial basis. Say, a month. If you’re as good as you say you are, I’ll hire you. Of course, there is no pay, but you can use it on future resumes if you succeed at it.”

  “Oh, thank you. Have a good day, Professor Murphy,” I say before turning away.

  “Call me Nathan. And you can start on Monday. I like my coffee black. And you can be at my office promptly at noon.”

  “I’ll be there.”