Chuckling, my friend shook his head. “Oh, no, I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you like her.” He pointed a finger at me while taking a sip of his beer.
“It doesn’t matter if I like her,” I said. “I’m technically her boss.”
“True, but you’re not a slouch either,” he countered.
“Neither are you,” I shot the compliment back.
“Well, as long as you have eyes for her, I’m not fucking dumb enough to fight you over a woman.”
“How kind of you to say,” I replied with a wry smile.
“You don’t have to hold back on my account.”
“Are you sure you won’t regret giving me permission?” he asked.
“I didn’t say I was going to step off,” I replied, “and we both… I’m not the one who is the gatekeeper here. Millie is very much her own person. We’ll let her choose.”
Warren took a few sips of his Guinness and considered the proposal. I watched the thought process shift his expression a few times before he nodded in agreement.
“You know, I can’t find fault with that.”
“I know how much you love healthy competition.”
“And I know how taken you are by Miss Millie Jackson.”
At this rate, our friendly fire was going to scorch my kitchen table.
“Well, I’m the one making up bullshit lies just to talk about her,” I teased him. “We both know you can do better than that.”
“Maybe I’m saving my best for Millie.”
“Yeah, sure, you keep telling yourself that.”
“And with that lovefest,” Warren drained the last of his beer. “I’ll be going.”
I held up my glass in a toast to our new rivalry. “May the best man win.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to.”
Shaking my head, I jokingly hit Warren on the arm as we walked out the door., but after he left, I couldn’t help but wonder if I might actually have a shot. I couldn’t play the game without making my move. Millie couldn’t make her choice if I wasn’t honest.
This was treacherous new territory, but I wasn’t going to lose her by playing nice.
Warren and I both wanted her, and Millie had the power to accept or reject either of us. It was only then a surreal thought crossed my mind. Memories of her balancing us both over dinner flashed across my vision.
“What if she didn’t want to choose?” I wondered aloud.
Laughing at myself, I knew I was done with the dark Irish stout. I corked my bottle and left it in the fridge. As crazy as it was, I had to admit the notion would be quite an experiment. There had been times in my life where I wasn’t exclusive with women, but to share her with Warren? What, would I get her on Saturday afternoons like this before Warren had her on Sunday morning?
Would we make a schedule?
Would we have her… together?
Slowly, my smile fell, and I swallowed hard. There were papers still left to grade. There were real issues to deal with in my life, but I couldn’t think about those. My mind was suddenly tormented by an image of Millie luring me back to bed, promising to take my most trivial pains away. Her bedroom eyes held mine with the most addictive affective. It took me a long moment to remember that she wasn’t really there, maybe too long.
I didn’t just need to quit drinking. I needed a cold shower.