Something About Sam

Chapter 11

"Yeah, that means fuck you, Sarah!" She only laughed as I stuck out my middle finger to a now empty doorway.

I felt myself slide down against the wall, my butt hitting the wooden floors. Sam sat cross-legged across from me. Despite it all, he was smiling.

"A lock, huh? About time, yeah?"

I laughed, pushing him in the chest. "Fuck you, Ford."

I watched as his eyes lingered on my chest, and then my legs. I noticed that I was only wearing a pair of paper-thin boxers. Now, his eyes were on those. I don't know if he was doing it intentionally, but his bottom lip was rolled between his teeth.

I stood up. My skin prickled with heat. "I've got something fun we can do today," I gave him a hand up, then motioned for him to follow me upstairs.

When we got up to my room, I started rustling through my drawers. "Call Marley," I told him, tossing a bathing suit at him. "Tell her we're going to the falls."

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"Taite, I told you I don't do hiking."

Grabbing a branch, I took another step up the path. "Remind me why I said you could come with us, Sarah?"

She turned around and blew me a kiss. I flipped her off. Behind me, Marley laughed.

"It's only a few more minutes up, Sar," Marley reminded her. "And plus, it's worth it."

Marley was right. After a few minutes of hiking, we reached the top of the cliff. Beneath us, a still lake spread out for about a mile in slow ripples. Across the lake were the waterfalls of Blue Falls. Upon this cliff though, was the rope swing.

It was a long, browning sailors rope that we had tied onto a tree branch at the top of the cliff years ago. Below, the lake was deep enough for us to jump in. The rope swing was our save and grace during scorching Virginia summers; it was a part of my childhood. I had been wanting to take Sam here for a while now.

"Alright, y'all," Marley was busy stripping down to her bathing suit. "Watch and learn." She peeled off her tank top, tossing it on the ground before grabbing hold of the rope. "Help me, Taitey."

I stood behind her. "Jump Mar," she jumped up, holding onto the rope with the strength of her arms. Then, latching onto her frame, I pulled her backward then pushed her forward. She launched off the cliff and above the water, her screams of glee making Sam laugh next to me. "LET GO!"

She did as I said and like she had thousands of times before, releasing her grip on the rope and assuming a perfect dive into the water. Sam wolf whistled next to me. I tossed an arm over his shoulder without realizing it.

"Alright sis, your turn."

She eyed Sam and me, pulling her long blonde hair back into a ponytail. She was already down to just a swim suit. "And no," she said, grabbing the rope. "I do not  need your help."

Sam laughed. I felt my eyebrows raise, but I didn't say anything. True to her word, Sarah launched herself over the cliff and into the water on her own. She wasn't as graceful as my best friend, but she was close.

I turned towards Sam. "You ready?"

He only nodded, kicking off his shoes and pulling his shirt over his head, tossing it on the accumulating pile of clothes at our feet. A cross on a silver chain hung low on Sam's chest.

He reached for the rope. I watched his shoulder muscles flex under taught, pale skin. "Need help?"

 He looked over his shoulder at me smirking. "Is that just an excuse to touch me?"

Despite the burning in my stomach, I took a step closer to him. "Do I really need an excuse, Sam?" My fingers dug into his shoulders. I pressed myself against his back. I made sure he had a firm grip on the rope before I pushed him over the cliff. As he went into the water, he flipped me off. I hoped he could see me wink.

As soon as the line bounced back towards me, I took off the cliff in a run, grabbing the rope in the air and flipping into the water below.

My sister was yelling "showoff!" as soon as I came up for air. I laughed, splashing water at her, watching as Marley hung around Sam's neck, her legs wrapped around his torso. I looked away from the two of them quickly.

"Alright," I shook the water from my hair. "Who is climbing back up with me?"

Marley unlatched herself from Sam. "Me! ME! Pick me!"

I grabbed her hand, pulling the two of us towards the shore, Sam and Sarah choosing to remain in the water. Marley and I were back on the trail to hike up the cliff in 3 minutes.

"So?" she was breathing heavily, the hot air on my neck telling me she was keeping up with my fast pace. I wanted to get back down to the water.

"So?" I repeated back to her. I knew what this was about.

"So he's here. On your birthday. To surprise you. As a gift. On your birthday."

I couldn't keep from smiling. "AWWWW!" She punched my shoulder teasingly. "You're blushing! You never blush! Look at you! I can't remember ever seeing you this smiley!"

I snorted, grabbing a hold of a boulder to pull myself up the trail. "That's because the last time I had a crush on someone, they poured chocolate milk over my head." I paused, turning to give Marley a hard stare. She only smiled knowingly.

"Hey, what else are best friends for?" I snorted at her words, resuming the climb. "So you do have a crush on him, then." I could hear the smile in her voice.

"I never said that. You said that."

We had reached the top off the cliff. Both of us were out of breath.

"Whoever said it, it doesn't matter," she reached up, grabbing my shoulder in a tight squeeze. "I don't know how you're feeling, and I don't know how he's feeling. All I know is that I've never seen you like this, Taite. And that's something worth saying."

"I don't even know how I feel." I grasped the rope, turning back to face her. "We're friends."

She took a deep breath in. "Look at my lips."

I felt my eyebrows furrow. "Uh, okay, I'm looking at them." They were pink. Full. They were girl's lips.

"We're friends, right?"

"Uh, I hope so."

She rolled her eyes at me but pointed at her mouth. "Do you want to kiss me right now?"

"Ew, Marley!" I took a step back from her. "Ew, no!"

"Exactly!"

"Where is this going?"

With an exasperated sigh, she took me by the shoulders. "When you look at Sam's lips, you don't go 'ew' do you?"

I shook my head. She released me from her grip.

"Well, there you go."

We jumped into the water after that. When we surfaced, Sam was holding Sarah in a bridal style carry in the middle of the lake.

"Sarah got tired of treading water." Sam was smiling at me.

"I see that."

We stayed in the lake for another hour. The whole time, I couldn't stop looking at Sam's lips.