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“I thought he was being nice,” said Karen, gesturing widely with her glass, which she had luckily just emptied. She was in the dorm room of her friends, Trish and Jessica, drinking whisky. None of them were twenty-one yet, but Jess kept a bottle hidden in the bottom drawer of her dresser, bought for her by a grad student who owed her a favor.
“You guys know how stressed I was about midterms, and that project I had to finish, and…stuff.” She tipped her head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling above Trish’s bed, where they all sat.
“I didn’t want sex,” she said, over-enunciating her words with inebriated care. “Not for weeks. Too busy. Too tired. And he said that was fiiiiine. He was so understanding.” She lifted her head again to stare accusingly into her empty glass. “I thought he was being a good boyfriend! But he was fucking. someone. else.” She slapped her free hand down on the mattress with each word, for emphasis.
Trish and Jessica exchanges glances. They already knew the main fact that had brought Karen to their door—she had arrived half an hour ago, announcing, “You guys, Josh has been cheating on me!” and bursting into tears—but the more they drank, the more details were emerging, as Karen’s mood shifted from hurt to anger.
Trish patted Karen’s shoulder. “He’s a shithead,” she said firmly. Jessica poured another round of drinks.
“He is a shithead,” Karen agreed. “Why did I not realize sooner what a shithead he is?”
“Because he’s hot?” suggested Jess.
“Oh, god,” Karen moaned. “Soooo hot.”
“You said you dumped him,” Trish reminded her.
“Yes. I did. He is so, so dumped. Doesn’t mean he isn’t hot, though. Shithead.”
“There are other hot men,” Trish consoled her.
“And a good fuck with someone else will help get your mind off him,” Jessica added.
“Yeah,” Karen agreed. “I should fuck somebody else. Oh!” she suddenly exclaimed. “I didn’t tell you what else he did!” She paused to take a drink. Trish and Jessica waited.
“He stole my condoms!” she said dramatically. “My condoms, in my desk, that I bought with my money! The last time I fucked him, I had half a box. Now, I have nothing! He’s been fucking another woman with my condoms.”
“Wow,” said Jessica. “Classy.”
“Insult to injury,” said Trish, shaking her head.
“I don’t wanna buy more,” Karen said mulishly. “I shouldn’t have to buy more. I had half a box. It’s not fair for me to have to buy more because Josh the Shithead stole mine!”
“Well, that’s easy enough,” said Trish. “They give them out for free at Health Services. You can get some there, enough to tide you over until you’re ready to buy your own again.”
“Sure,” said Jessica. “New condoms for new sex with new men. It’s symbolic, or something.”
“You guys,” said Karen earnestly. “You guys. That is a great idea. I love that idea.” She held out her glass. “Here’s to new, free condoms!” They all clinked glasses, and drank.
* * *
The next day, Karen made her bleary way across campus to the Student Health Services office. She had spent half the morning curled up in bed, nursing a hangover and feeling sorry for herself. But acquiring free condoms still seemed like a good idea, and when she finally dragged herself out of bed, she decided there was no time like the present.
A table in the office held an assortment of informational handouts about various health issues, and flyers advertising the services available to students. There was also a large glass bowl filled with condoms, free for the taking, and Karen helped herself to a generous supply.
She felt a little better once she had them safely stashed in her shoulder bag, despite her throbbing head and queasy stomach. It was symbolic, like Jess had said—a defiant first step into her new, Josh-free life.
But when she went back outside, she winced and groaned softly. The light cloud cover had cleared while she was inside, and now sunshine stabbed into her eyes, lancing straight through her skull. She stopped dead, closing her eyes in protest, and someone following too closely behind walked right into her.
He pushed past her impatiently, and continued on his way without a backward glance as Karen stumbled off-balance, her eyes snapping back open. She managed not to fall, but her bag went flying, its contents spilling into the air. She made a desperate grab for her phone, catching it triumphantly before it could fall to the pavement, but everything else lay scattered on the ground all around her.
“Ugh, shit,” she muttered, staring balefully at the retreating back of the guy who had slammed into her. She crouched down with a sigh to gather her things, squinting painfully around her in the bright sunlight.
And then she heard a pleasant male voice ask, “Are you all right?”
Looking up, she saw another student, book bag slung over his shoulder, with brown hair and dark glasses. Sunglasses, she thought, wishing she had brought her own. But then she noticed the long white cane in his hand, and realized he must be blind.
“I’m fine,” she answered. Her head and her stomach might not agree, but she knew he only meant, had she fallen? He must have heard the impatient guy collide with her, but couldn’t see what happened. “Some rude asshole ran into me, and made me drop my bag,” she explained. “But I’m not hurt.”
To her surprise, he dropped lightly to his knees beside her and began feeling over the ground.
“Oh, you don’t have to…” she began, as he picked up her comb, a hair clip, and several barrettes and held them out to her.
“Uh, thank you,” she said, reaching out to take them and put them back in her bag. She gathered up two protein bars, a notebook and pen, and a paperback copy of Plato’s Republic, and looked back at him just as he picked up one of the condoms.
He felt the small packet, clearly recognizing it for what it was, his eyebrows rising up over the rims of his glasses. But he made no comment, even when his searching hands found more condoms in rapid succession.
Karen quickly swept up the rest of them herself, flushing hotly with embarrassment. There was nothing wrong with carrying condoms in her bag, she told herself defensively. But normally, she wouldn’t have been carrying…quite so many.
The man held out his cupped hands, head tilted questioningly. Karen sighed. “Yep, those are mine, too,” she said, resigned. She held her bag open under his hands. “Here’s my bag, you can drop them in.”
He did so, his expression unreadable, and she felt the need to explain herself. “My shithead ex-boyfriend stole my condoms,” she said, “So I came here to get some more.”
“Ah,” he said, nodding. “That’s pretty shitty all right, stealing from his ex. I hope he didn’t take anything else.”
“Oh! No. I mean…we were still together when he stole my condoms.”
He looked puzzled, and she hurried on: “He was cheating on me, and he took my condoms to fuck someone else.” She had to swallow down a sudden lump in her throat as she said it. “Which is why he’s now my ex.”
“Oh.” He digested that in silence for a moment. “That seems…stupid, as well as shitty. Did he think you wouldn’t notice?”
“God, I don’t even know. I mean, I hadn’t slept with him in a few weeks, I was too stressed out, so I never checked my supply until yesterday. But who knows, maybe he wanted to get caught. Maybe he wanted me to break up with him, so he wouldn’t have to be the bad guy…as if fucking cheating on me didn’t make him the bad guy already!”
She was abruptly furious. “Or maybe he is just that stupid. When I noticed the condoms were gone, I went to his room to talk to him about it, because I knew my roommate wouldn’t take them, she’s allergic to latex, so who else could it have been? And there was a pair of women’s underwear in his fucking bed. And I knew damn well they weren’t mine. God, you should have seen the look on his face, he knew he was busted. He didn’t even try to deny it.”
Her fury ebbed as quickly as it had risen, leaving her feeling sick and miserable. “I trusted him,” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes.
The man reached out to touch her sleeve, feeling gently along it until he found her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said, squeezing her hand lightly. “If it’s any comfort, he really does sound like a shithead. You deserve better.”
She sniffed. “You don’t even know me. I might be a shithead, too, for all you know.”
He shrugged. “You’d have to be pretty bad to deserve being cheated on by someone you trusted.”
His voice was sympathetic, and his hand felt warm and comforting around hers as they sat on the ground together. Despite her preoccupation, she was beginning to notice that he was very attractive. His eyes were hidden behind his dark glasses, but the rest of his face was handsome. His jaw was covered in dark stubble, and the sun picked out warm highlights in his hair. And he was evidently the kind of guy who could make jeans and a henley look really, really good.
Karen realized she was staring, and abruptly became aware of her own state—hungover, unwashed, her hair uncombed, dressed in her most comfortable pair of old, broken-down jeans and a baggy oversized sweater. He couldn’t see what she looked like, of course, but that was small comfort. The smell of stale sweat clung to her skin from the night before, and her breath probably wasn’t any better given how her mouth tasted.
She felt suddenly unbearably grubby and unattractive beside him. What’s more, he was a complete stranger, and she’d been unloading her personal problems on him. After dropping her bag right in front of him, and spilling enough condoms to supply the entire basketball team. God, what was wrong with her?
“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling more miserable than ever. “You don’t want to hear about my problems, why would you? I’m sorry.”
“I don’t mind,” he began, but she was already scrambling to her feet. She needed to leave, now, before she embarrassed herself any further.
“I have to go,” she said hurriedly. “Thank you, you seem really nice, I’m sorry.” She turned away and practically ran down the sidewalk, back toward her dorm.
* * *
Behind her, Matt stood up slowly, listening to her rapidly receding footsteps. He frowned, running over their conversation in his mind, but he didn’t think her abrupt departure had been prompted by anything he said. She was obviously upset, by things that had nothing to do with him. She had just broken up with her cheating boyfriend, and the way she smelled told him that she’d been drinking heavily last night. Consoling herself, after confronting him? With a pang, he hoped she hadn’t been drinking alone.
When he had heard the other student collide with her just now, it was only common courtesy to stop and make sure she was all right, and to help her pick up her things. He would have done the same for any random stranger. But almost immediately, she had caught his interest in more particular ways.
His enhanced senses had registered the dive she made to save her phone, athletic and graceful despite her hangover; and when she spoke, her voice was beautiful. The smell of her was heavily overlain with whisky sweat, but beneath that he could detect a more appealing scent. This random stranger was, in fact, a very attractive woman.
And she hadn’t been weird about his blindness. He had braced himself for the usual exaggerated back-pedaling after she said “you should have seen his face,” the overdone apologizing for mentioning sight to a blind man, but it never came. She was probably too wrapped up in her own problems to realize what she’d said, but still, it made a pleasant change from people anxiously dancing around his disability.
And her explanation for the large number of condoms in her bag filled him with sympathy, and indignation on her behalf. She was hurting, through no fault of her own, because someone she trusted had decided to be an asshole. But before he could do more than attempt to offer comfort, she had fled.
He sighed. If she didn’t want his company, he certainly had no right to follow her, or force himself on her attention. But he wished she hadn’t left so quickly. He was certain he had never met her before, in any of his classes, or his dorm, or any of the other places he habitually went—which meant it was unlikely he would run into her again. He wished he had at least asked her name.
* * *
“You met a hot guy already?” said Trish. “Excellent.”
“No,” said Karen, “Not excellent. I feel like a scarecrow and I smell like the Swamp Thing and I flung condoms everywhere when I dropped my bag. And then I told him about Josh, like a pathetic loser, to explain the condoms.”
“So? Then he knows that you’re single, and that safe sex is important to you.”
Karen snorted a laugh despite herself. She could always count on Trish to help her put an embarrassing incident in perspective. “I’ll probably never see him again, though, I don’t even know his name.”
“You don’t need to know his name to fuck him,” Jessica pointed out.
“Yeah, but I do need to not run away immediately after meeting him.”
They silently pondered that undeniable truth.
“Well,” said Trish after a moment, “If you do happen to see him again, I don’t think you need to be embarrassed about today. Maybe you’re not at your best right now, but you told him why. He knows he was catching you on a bad day.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Karen buried her face in her hands. “I told him I got cheated on, it’s pathetic.”
“Hey, that makes Josh look bad, not you.”
“You wouldn’t be saying that if someone cheated on you,” Karen grumbled.
“I’m just saying, don’t rule this guy out as a possibility,” Trish said. “You said he was nice, besides being hot.”
Karen sighed. “He seemed nice, yeah. But it’s not like I’m just going to run into him again. He’s definitely not in any of my classes, I’ve never seen him before today.”
“I bet I could find him,” Jessica offered. “How many hot blind guys can there be on this campus?”
“Jess, no. You are not stalking some poor guy I don’t even know.”
Jessica grinned, unabashed. “Well, if you want to know him, the offer stands. Just say the word.”
Karen knew there was a good chance she could deliver on that offer. Jess had a real talent for finding out information about other people, when she put her mind to it. Karen suspected that that was how she had earned the gratitude of the whisky-buying grad student, although Jess would neither confirm nor deny her suspicion. And Karen had to admit, she did feel a tiny pang of regret at the thought of never seeing the hot guy again. If only she had met him when she wasn’t such a wreck, she might have wanted to get to know him better.
Not enough that she’d resort to stalking, though. She felt pathetic enough already.
Still, she knew the offer was kindly meant. It was Jessica’s way of being supportive, and Karen appreciated it as such.
“Thank you,” she told her. When Jess raised her eyebrows, Karen added, “I’m not saying do it. But thanks for offering. And thanks for listening, both of you. You guys are the best, really.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Jessica, trying to hide her smile. “Go take a shower already, Swamp Thing.”
“And then we’ll go out for pizza, or something,” Trish added. “Have you eaten anything since you got up?”
“No,” Karen admitted.
“Then it’s time you did. Shower, then food.”
Karen went back to her own room to collect her shower things, feeling grateful for her friends. But in a corner of her mind, there was still that twinge of regret for the hot guy, and a wish that she had at least found out who he was.
* * *
“And she just ran away? Smooth, Murdock, very smooth.”
“Thanks,” said Matt drily.
“It’s not like you to meet a beautiful woman, and not even get her name,” his roommate went on.
“What makes you think she was beautiful?” Matt asked, smiling.
“Just playing the odds,” Foggy answered. “And anyway, you wouldn’t be bothering to tell me about a girl you met for a grand total of about two minutes, if you didn’t think she’s hot, no matter what she may look like.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. “She had a really nice voice,” Matt admitted. “And she smelled nice.”
“Ah-ha!” said Foggy triumphantly. “Good for you, it’s been a while since you met someone.”
“I didn’t ‘meet her’ in that sense, Foggy. It wasn’t a flirting sort of situation."
“If you say so, buddy, but that’s the best meet-cute story I’ve heard all year. She dropped her condoms right in from of you, and you helped her pick them up! That has to be the start of…well, something.”
Matt shook his head. “She was upset, she’d just found out her boyfriend was cheating on her. I wouldn’t try to hit on someone while she’s so unhappy.”
“Unhappy maybe, but not inconsolable,” said Foggy. “If she was loading up on free condoms, it sounds like she’s in the market for some good old-fashioned revenge sex.”
Matt considered the idea, and found it unappealing. He’d had his share of brief flings, but the idea of going to bed with that angry, unhappy woman—assuming he ever met her again—just so she could score some imaginary point off the man who’d hurt her…no. It would feel like taking advantage of her distress.
“It wouldn’t be right,” he told Foggy.
Foggy hummed thoughtfully. “You really like her, don’t you?” he said. “A beautiful woman who’s been done wrong, that’s like Matt Murdock catnip.”
Matt wanted to protest, but again…Foggy wasn’t entirely wrong. He had felt drawn to her unhappiness, and wanted to try and help. But that didn’t mean it was something he actually found attractive, did it?
“Objection,” he said. “Supposition. I would still like her, even if she weren’t upset.”
Foggy grinned. “Withdrawn,” he said. “But still, that means you met a beautiful woman, you like her, and you have no idea who she is or how to find her again.”
Matt sighed. “Yeah,” he agreed quietly. “Yeah, it does.”
* * *
Over the next few weeks, Matt couldn’t help paying more attention than usual to the people around him, listening to women’s voices with particular care. But the voice he was searching for was not to be found, not in the library where he studied, or the cafeteria where he ate, or anywhere else he went. It was what he had expected, but he still felt oddly let down at being proven right.
Karen, too found herself looking at the faces she encountered all over campus with new attention. Any time she caught sight of a brown-haired, unshaven man in sunglasses, her heart would lift—only to fall again, with a strange feeling of disappointment, when she saw that it wasn’t him.
* * *
As he headed back toward his dorm after his last class of the morning, Matt heard someone talking up ahead of him. At first, it was simply meaningless sound—recognizable to his keen ears as human voices, but too far away to distinguish anything else. As he came closer, he was able to separate the sounds into two different voices; closer still, and he began to pick out words and intonations.
“…what is wrong with you, why would I ever…”
“…if you would just listen, I never wanted…”
A woman’s voice, and a man’s. Having a fight, by the sound of it. Great. He was going to walk right past them, unless he left the path to avoid them and cut across the expanse of grass that covered half the hillside.
“…bullshit, you were fucking cheating on me—"
Matt froze in his tracks as he was about to step off the pavement. He had heard that phrase, spoken with that exact bitter intonation, the day the woman who dropped her bag had told him about her ex. He moved closer, listening intently, and yes! That was her voice, arguing with a man he didn’t recognize.
“Karen, come on, I’m asking for another chance here, you’re not going to make a big deal over one little mistake, are you? I said I was sorry…”
She laughed, a hard, angry sound. “You mean, things didn’t work out with her, so you thought you’d try to get back in my pants. No thanks. You’re not sorry for what you did, you’re just sorry I found out. You would’ve been perfectly happy to fuck both of us if you could.”
“Dammit, Karen, you’ve got it all wrong—”
Matt felt anger stirring. This was clearly the ex in question, the one who had hurt her. And clearly the woman—Karen—wanted nothing to do with him, but he was refusing to take no for an answer.
“Come on, you know you still love me. Tell me you don’t miss me.”
“I don’t miss you,” she said promptly. “And I do not love you. And I am not. taking you. back.”
Matt wanted to do something, wanted to help her out somehow. But what could he do? She might not even remember him, and she almost certainly wouldn’t appreciate a stranger interfering in a private conversation. Even if that conversation was loud enough that even people with normal hearing could have overheard them.
Remembering her forlorn whisper, “I trusted him,” what he wanted to do was punch this guy in the face. But he knew, realistically, that would probably make things worse. Still, he couldn’t just pretend he hadn’t heard, walk away and do nothing. He could at least let her know she had backup available, if she wanted it.
He walked forward, raising his voice to be heard over the other man’s continued arguing.
“Karen?”
At the sound of a new voice behind her, Karen whipped around—and then stopped dead, staring. It was the hot blind guy.
But her surprise at suddenly seeing him again couldn’t extinguish her fury at Josh, who not only had the gall to try and get her back, but who assumed all he had to do was keep asking and she would give in, and who was following her across campus and refusing to be shaken off, making her listen to his utterly self-centered bullshit.
She was angry enough that she was willing to consider drastic measures to get rid of him. And now a perfect opportunity was standing right in front of her. She smiled.
Matt had sensed her movement as she turned toward him. He heard her startled intake of breath, and her heartbeat, already elevated by anger, kicked up another notch. Maybe she did remember him, after all.
And then she let the breath back out, and stepped toward him. “There you are, babe,” she said, in a voice that was suddenly all warm affection. The unexpected endearment, and her tone, gave him a suspicion as to what she had in mind; the touch of her hand on his arm, sliding up to his shoulder, her arms curving around his neck, confirmed it.
Well, he was willing to play along. He slipped his own arms around her waist, and gave her a smile.
A small, sensible corner of Karen’s mind was telling her that this was a terrible idea. But the rest of her was filled with reckless determination. She did take a moment to gentle her approach, though, running her hand up his arm before putting her arms around him, because even in her anger she wasn’t such an asshole that she would grab a blind guy with no warning.
She watched surprise, and then realization, flash across his face…and then he put his arms around her and smiled. Good. Before she could start having second thoughts, she leaned in and kissed him.
Matt knew what she was doing, of course. She was angry, and trying to upset the ex—whether she was aiming to make him jealous or just piss him off hardly mattered. With regard to himself, it meant nothing.
Still, that was no reason not to enjoy it, and do his best to make sure she enjoyed it, too. It was only kissing, after all.
The press of her lips against his was hard and angry, and he pulled back a little in order to ease the kiss into something softer. He kissed her gently, parting his lips slightly and tugging softly at hers, and felt her mouth relax under his. A small, involuntary sound escaped her—surprise? pleasure? something else entirely?—and then she responded with a more lingering kiss, her lips clinging to his.
He kept his hold on her relaxed, so that she could pull away whenever she chose. But he leaned his body toward her, and was pleased when she leaned closer as well, pressing herself against him. She was as tall as he was, and slender, and she smelled like grapefruit shampoo and lavender body wash and the warm, enticing scent of her own skin.
He made a small sound of his own, of pure pleasure, as they went on kissing, and let his tongue slip out just far enough to lightly brush her lips. Too much? he wondered. But her lips parted, her own tongue darting out to tease him, just the tip sliding into his mouth before withdrawing again. Her heart beat rapid and steady in his ears, and he felt the warm flush spreading over her skin.
Karen felt taken aback by the undeniable rush of desire flooding her. She had intended this kiss as nothing more than a goad to finally make Josh go away and leave her alone. But the man she was kissing had turned it into something more—something much, much better. He was kissing her like he meant it, and she was responding with an eagerness that startled her a little.
She broke the kiss, pulling away far enough to see his face, and he smiled at her.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” she answered, managing not to sound as breathless as she felt.
“Sorry I’m late,” he went on smoothly, “I needed to talk to my professor after class, and I got delayed.”
“That’s all right,” she told him, as easily as if they’d planned it out beforehand. “I got delayed, too.” Her voice turned cool, and she turned to see if Josh was still there. He was, staring at them indignantly. She sighed.
The hot blind guy raised his eyebrows, one arm still casually around her waist. “Is this the shithead ex?” he asked, and Karen nearly kissed him again. “I heard you arguing as I came up the hill.”
“It sure is,” she answered, trying not to laugh, even though she felt a brief flare of embarrassment that he obviously remembered their first meeting in detail.
“Why didn’t you say you were seeing someone else?” Josh demanded.
“Because it doesn’t matter, Josh! All that matters is that I don’t want you, I don’t have to give you reasons why. If I were single, I still wouldn’t want you, so what difference does it make?”
There was a moment of tense silence. Then the man beside her gave her a gentle squeeze, and asked, “Well, should we go have lunch?” He sounded completely at his ease, as if Josh wasn’t even there, and Karen again felt the urge to laugh.
“Yeah, let’s go,” she answered. He folded up his cane and took her arm, and they walked off together.
Matt could feel a familiar stiffness to her movements—most people didn’t know quite what to do the first time a blind man took their arm. But they were supposed to be acting like an established couple, and the ex was still standing there behind them. So…
He leaned in close to her and murmured under his breath, “Just walk normally. You’re not leading me, you don’t have to do anything special.” He brushed his lips over the soft skin in front of her ear, in case the ex was watching, and felt her shiver. He wondered again if he might be overstepping, but then she laughed brightly, as if he had said something amusing, and relaxed. They fell into step together, just as if they really had been doing this for weeks.
Once they were a safe distance from Josh, Karen said, “Look, I know it wasn’t right for me to grab you like that without asking first. I’m sorry. I was just so mad at him, I didn’t really stop to think—oh my god. You aren’t seeing anyone, are you?”
“No, of course not.” He sounded slightly indignant. “If I were, I…well, okay, I don’t know quite what I would have done. But I definitely wouldn’t have kissed you…the way I did.”
“Sorry,” she said again. “I didn’t mean…I guess I’ve been kind of assuming the worst about men lately. You seem like a decent guy, but then, I thought Josh was a decent guy, too, so I’m not super confident of my own judgment right now. I’m sorry.”
“Oh. Well, I can understand that. It’s all right. And as far as you grabbing me, that’s all right, too. Like I said, I could hear the two of you arguing, so I knew why you did it. And I wanted to help, that’s why I stepped in when I recognized you.”
“Well, thanks for going along with it, I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. It’s not exactly a hardship, kissing you, even if it was…a little unexpected.” He grinned, and she felt her face flushing.
“Okay, good. And, um.” She cleared her throat self-consciously. “Likewise.” She watched as his grin softened into a more tentative smile, his cheeks turning as pink as hers probably were. He looked almost shy for a moment, and Karen felt reassured. Any lingering chance that he might be some kind of opportunistic womanizer faded considerably at the sight of that blush.
“So,” she went on, “Now that I’ve had my tongue in your mouth, I have to ask…What’s your name?”
He laughed, his whole face lighting up. Now that she wasn’t distracted by her anger at Josh, Karen was noticing all over again just how attractive this guy was.
“My name’s Matt,” he told her, smiling broadly. It was a nice, warm smile, as if they were sharing a private joke. “I know you’re Karen, but only because I heard the shithead say your name before.”
She laughed, too, secretly delighted that he kept on calling Josh “the shithead,” even though he must have heard her say his name.
“It’s nice to meet you, Matt.”
“You too, Karen,”
They walked on in comfortable silence for a moment or two, and then Matt asked, “Do you want to have lunch with me?” They had left her ex far behind, there was no need to keep on pretending if she didn’t want to.
“Yeah, I do,” she answered, her beautiful voice sounding happier than he’d heard it yet. “I think it’s about time we got to know each other better.”
“Me, too,” he said, pleased. “I was just going to go to Walker, that’s where I live.”
“Fine with me,” she replied.
Once they were seated at a table with their food, in the cafeteria attached to Matt’s dorm, Karen remarked, “If you live way over here, it’s no wonder I never see you around. I live at the other end of campus.”
Matt looked surprised. “Have you been looking for me?” he asked, smiling.
Karen blushed. “Well. Not really. I mean…kind of? You were nice, and cute, and I just ran away because I was so hungover and gross and miserable…” she trailed off, flustered.
Matt felt his cheeks warming. She thought he was cute? “I looked for you, too,” he admitted. “Or, you know, listened for you. I, uh. I really like your voice.”
“Oh. Really?” That was unexpected, but flattering. She wouldn't have guessed that he found anything attractive about her, or that he would want to find her again, after their first meeting.
“Yeah,” he answered.
She studied his face, which was turning pink again. God, he really was cute.
“Well, I’m glad we finally met again,” she said happily.
“So am I,” he agreed. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a class with you, what are you studying?”
“Journalism. I wasn’t sure when I started, so I’ve been taking a lot of different different things, filling general degree requirements.”
“I’ve been doing the same thing. I know I want to go to law school, if I can come up with the money, but that means I can major in just about anything.”
“You want to be a lawyer?” she said doubtfully. She had a general impression that lawyers were assholes, and she didn’t like to think that maybe Matt wasn’t as nice as he seemed. “Don’t a lot of lawyers…help people get away with stuff? No offense,” she added hastily.
He made a face. “Some do, yeah. But that’s not what I want. I want to help people who really need help, not people who think they can just pay someone to make their problems go away. I believe in our judicial system, but I know it isn’t perfect. Sometimes, the side that wins is the side with the better lawyers, not the side that’s right. Sometimes, people’s lives are ruined by other, more powerful people, because they didn’t know what their legal rights were, or how to defend them. Sometimes wrongs go unpunished, because no one is willing, or able, to oppose them."
“And that’s what you want to do?”
“Yes. The law is supposed to protect everyone equally, not just the powerful, and I want to help make sure that it does.” He knew he sometimes got carried away once he got started talking about justice, so he stopped himself there. He didn’t want to make speeches at her.
“That sounds really good, Matt,” she said. “We need more people who are willing to take on the assholes. I hope you’re a big success.”
He smiled. “Thanks. And you want to be a reporter?”
“Yeah. There’s so much going on in the world, and only a fraction of it gets into the news. There are lots of stories out there that deserve to be told, and I want to find them, and tell the world. There are stories that need to be told, to hold people accountable for their actions, to make sure the truth doesn’t get buried or forgotten.”
Her voice was animated, and he could tell that she was just as passionate about this as he was about justice. His smile grew wider.
“It sounds like we both want the same thing, we’re just coming at it from different angles,” he said. “I hope you’re a big success, too.”
“Thanks,” said Karen, beaming. She sometimes felt like idealists were in short supply in the world today, and she was pleased that Matt seemed to be one of them.
“Josh thought it was crazy to try and make the world a better place,” she went on, wrinkling her nose. “He thought we needed to just accept things the way they are, and not stir up trouble. I wonder,” she mused, tipping her head and looking out the window, “I wonder how long we would have lasted as a couple, even if he hadn’t cheated on me.”
“Were you together long?” Matt asked. He wouldn’t have brought it up on his own, but she didn’t sound too upset.
“Six months,” she answered.
“That’s longer than any of my relationships have lasted,” he told her.
“Really?” she asked, surprised. She wouldn’t have expected someone as attractive as him to have trouble finding someone.
He nodded. “I’ve had several promising starts, but they never seem to last. Foggy says I have a real talent for dating the wrong women.”
“Foggy?”
“My roommate. He’s also my closest friend, and my self-appointed wingman.” He looked self-deprecating. “He’s had a front-row seat to my love life, if you can call it that.”
“Well, better to be single than to be with the wrong person.”
“Yeah, I guess so. You certainly seem happier than you were the first time we met.”
“Oh, I am. It still hurts, what he did. But at this point I think it’s hurting my pride maybe more than my heart. And I have two great friends, Trish and Jessica, they’ve been a big help.”
“That’s good. Breakups always suck, but they suck less if you’ve got someone to help you through them."
“Boy, that’s the truth.” They had both finished eating, and Karen checked the time. “Oh!” she said surprised to see how late it was. “I’ll have to go soon, I’ve got a lecture at 2:00.”
“Oh, okay,” said Matt. He was a little disappointed that she had to leave so soon, but the regret in her voice told him that she was, too. “Could I, uh…could I get your number?” he asked hopefully. He knew he wanted to see her again, and he wasn’t about to rely on chance a second time.
“Yeah, of course!” She sounded pleased. They both took out their phones, and exchanged numbers.
“I prefer calling to texting,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Can you text?” she asked curiously.
“Sure, there’s an app that translates between text and speech. But I’d rather just talk to you.”
“That’s fine with me.” Karen was glad he had asked for her number, she had been about to ask for his. Now that they’d spent a little time getting properly acquainted, she definitely wanted to get to know him better.
“I could walk you to your lecture,” he offered, “If you want. I’m done for the day, there’s nowhere I need to be.”
“All right,” she agreed. She didn’t really want this conversation to be over yet, and the fact that he apparently didn’t, either, made her heart give a happy little skip. They carried their trays over to the dish room window and put them on the conveyor belt, then left the cafeteria together.
Once they were outside, Karen asked, “Did you want to take my arm again? I mean, we’re not putting on a show for Josh anymore, but if you wanted to…I thought it was nice, on the way over here.”
Matt smiled. “I thought so, too.” He tucked his hand around her arm. “Where’s your lecture?”
“Humanities,” she answered, and they set off.
Karen had a little time to spare, so they didn’t need to rush. They walked along at a leisurely pace, talking about the classes they were taking this semester, enjoying each other’s company.
But eventually they reached the Humanities building, and they stopped outside.
“So,” said Karen. “First meeting, you helped me pick up my condoms. Second meeting, I made out with you to piss off my ex. What happens next?”
Matt grinned. “I’m open to suggestion,” he said.
“Oh?” she replied, managing to put a world of innuendo into the brief syllable.
“Absolutely,” he answered, his grin taking on a wicked edge that set Karen’s pulse racing.
But then he turned more serious. “I know you’re on the rebound, though,” he said, giving the arm he still held a squeeze. “And I’m either very unlucky, or just very bad at this.” He wrinkled his nose. “So I don’t really know what happens next. I definitely want to see you again, but maybe we should just…take it one day at a time, no pressure, and see how things go?” His voice rose into a question at the end.
“I like that,” said Karen, nodding. He was right, it had only been a few weeks since she dumped Josh. And if Matt’s experiences so far had been as disappointing as he seemed to be implying, it made sense that he might be feeling cautious. But he did want to keep seeing her, and she definitely wanted to keep seeing him, so they could take as much time as they needed to figure it out. There was no hurry.
On the other hand, she really wanted to kiss him again.
“Does that mean we shouldn’t kiss right now?” she asked.
A slow smile spread across his face. “It can mean whatever we both want it to mean,” he told her.
“Do you want to kiss me?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice low, almost a whisper. He lifted a hand to her face, and felt her cheek curve under his fingers as she smiled.
He kissed her, and this time it was tentative, a gentle, questioning kiss. She answered by wrapping her arms around him and pulling him closer. Her lips were warm and welcoming, her body soft against his as he slipped his other arm around her. Her heart beat rapidly in his ears, the smell of her skin surrounding him, and he sank into the kiss, letting the sensations wash over him.
Karen kissed him back eagerly. He had seemed a little hesitant for a moment, but there was nothing hesitant now about the way his lips moved over hers, one arm holding her close, the other hand moving up past her cheek, his fingers sliding into her hair. She let her mouth fall open slightly, her tongue stroking lightly over his lips, and he opened to her immediately, with a little hum of pleasure. His own tongue slipped into her mouth, softly exploring her as she was exploring him. She melted against him, her body molding itself to his, and they clung together until a catcall from a passing student recalled them both to the present.
Matt broke the kiss reluctantly, and rested his forehead against hers.
“I guess I should go,” said Karen, sounding a little breathless.
“I guess so,” Matt answered. He made himself step away from her, his hands lingering as he let go of her. Karen’s hands lingered, too, brushing over his chest before falling away.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
“I’ll call you, if you don’t,” she replied, and he could hear the smile in her voice.
He smiled back. “Okay,” he said.
“Okay,” she echoed. “Well, bye.”
“Bye, Karen.”
She turned to go inside, but couldn’t help looking back when she reached the doors. Matt was still there, still smiling, and as she watched, he unfolded his cane and gave her a little wave. She laughed in surprise—how had he known she would look back?—and waved back. Why not?
When she finally went inside, she was fairly certain she was going to be too distracted to pay proper attention to this afternoon’s lecture.