“What are their names?” she asked.
“Caleb, Warren, and Vlad.”
“Vlad?” She zeroed in on the most notorious name.
“He’s Russian.”
“Is he a vampire?” Meara half-joked. “If so, that would check a lot of boxes in my teenage fantasies. Hell, that would check a few boxes for me now.”
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes and smiled. “We’re talking about me, remember?”
“I know, Millie. I’m only teasing. Tell me about this Russian of yours.”
“He kissed me,” I admitted. “He took me out to lunch today, and afterward, he walked me back to my office, and the kiss he gave me wasn’t exactly PG.”
“PG-13?”
“It was premium cable-worthy,” I half-joked. “I’m sure I got some looks from the students walking past.”
I definitely got one from Warren.
“Ooh.” Meara raised her eyebrows with entertained surprise. “The plot thickens.”
“But another man who I had a connection with, Warren, he saw us.”
“Oh, that can’t be good.”
I furrowed my brow. “Well, the thing is that he came upstairs with me because I wanted to explain myself. I didn’t know how to tell him point-blank that I would be willing to explore things with both of them, if the men were willing. I was all worked up from kissing Vlad, and for a minute, I thought Warren might try his hand, but he left before anything happened in Caleb’s office.”
“Damn. Which one is Caleb?”
“Caleb’s the man I’m working with right now, the astronomy professor. He’s also apparently attracted to me in some form or fashion.”
“Is he available?”
“I don’t know.” I exhaled in frustration. “I mean, there have been times I thought there was something, but it’s hard because I work for him. He’s such a kind person too. I sometimes wonder if I’m just imagining that his polite gestures might mean something more.”
Meara shrugged. “Well, you can certainly find out when you finish the project. How long will it take?”
“Until the end of the semester, and that’s the best possible scenario.”
“Well, if it became too much, could you transfer to someone else?”
“It’s possible.”
I considered that solution. At the moment, it seemed extreme, but part of me knew some distance might be useful, healthy even. I knew it was only a matter of time until I revealed how I really felt. At some point, Caleb would wrap me up in his charms or report me to the human relations department.
“I know you don’t like being exclusive,” Meara remarked before taking another drink of her water. “I know you’ve got your thing about feeling restless and tied down, which is fine. You live your truth, but I think you’re getting ahead of yourself right now. You can’t plan the end before even finishing the beginning, right? It would be like trying to put a roof on a house with no foundation. Everything would just fall in on itself.”
“Then, what should I do right now?”
“Worry about things as they come to you,” she declared. “For instance, what are we having for dinner?”
The last thing I wanted to do was cook. Meara didn’t totally know her way around the kitchen, and it was still a Monday. The idea of the workweek ahead was enough for me to throw in the towel.
“I don’t know!” I lamented, being melodramatic for a laugh. “I’m too forlorn to think about something as trivial as dinner!”
Meara giggled. “Yeah, right. If you starve, you can’t be with any of your precious professors.”