AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I laugh. “Travel is exhausting! I barely made it through dinner. But it was amazing!”
“Did you talk about everything?”
“Yeah, we did. We made all kinds of plans. I’m so excited!”
“Details, Mari!”
“Well, to start, we decided that we’ll all move into John’s apartment. He has plenty of space for Mark, the baby, and me. Eventually, we’d like to get a house somewhere together, but for now, it makes more sense for us all to just move in with him.”
Jessica squeals again. A few of the students turn our way, so I shush her.
“You have to stay quiet, remember?” I remind her.
“Sorry! I’m just so excited. What else did you plan out? Are you getting married?”
“We didn’t talk about that.”
Jessica squeezes my hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure they’ll bring something up soon.”
I don’t know about that. How could we get married? Last time I checked, only two people could get legally married. I don’t want to have to pick between John or Mark. I’d rather the three of us be together without the piece of paper.
Will that be okay with them? It’ll have to be, I guess. That’s something else for us to talk about. I’m not too worried about it right now. We haven’t even said “I love you” yet, even though I know I’m feeling it.
“We’ll deal with that when we come to it. We made lots of other plans, though. The guys are so cute. They’re really excited about the baby; they’re putting so much thought into the nursery. John has even started baby-proofing his apartment already.”
“Aw! That is so cute.”
“Yeah, it’s adorable. We talked about something else last night, too.”
Jessica scrunches her brow. “I don’t like the face you’re making. What happened?”
“Nothing bad, I don’t think. When we were in Alaska, there was this professor, Jane Fordham. She really wants John to write a paper with her. I met her, and she seemed…off. Like there was something untrustworthy about her. Mark and John say not to worry, but last night, John said she hasn’t stopped calling him since the conference ended.”
“Wow, she really wants to work on that paper with him.”
“Yeah, it’s just weird. I don’t know what to think of her. It felt like she was…I don’t know, gathering information or something.”
“It sounds like you’re being paranoid. If Mark and John aren’t worried, then you shouldn’t be either. She seems like more of a pest than anything else.”
I hope Jessica is right. I’ve been thinking about Jane since I met her. I didn’t know she’d kept hounding John. That doesn’t make me feel good. Jane doesn’t seem like the kind of person who takes “no” for an answer. I wish John would just agree to write the paper.
I told him as much last night. He said he’d considered it, but now that I’m pregnant, he doesn’t want to add anything else to his plate. He’s going to be busy enough as it is.
“Speaking of Mark and John, where are they?”
I glance up. The room is full now, but our professor and TA are nowhere to be found. Jessica shows me the time on her phone. Class technically started five minutes ago.
I shrug. “I have no idea. It’s only five minutes past time to start, though. I’m sure they got caught up in a meeting or something.”
“You’re probably right. They’ve been gone for a week and a half, after all.”
“Exactly. We were talking last night about how much catching up they have to do. I feel bad for keeping them away an extra three days because they have that much more work to take care of.”
“I have a feeling they didn’t mind one bit.”
“That’s exactly what they said.”
“Okay, well, if they’re not here yet, let’s talk about me now.”
I laugh. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
“Well, while you were at dinner with Mark and John, I had dinner with Raymond and Tom.”
My eyes widen. “Really? I thought that you guys just… I mean, you made it sound like it was just sexual.”
“It was,” Jessica admits. “But I like hanging out with both of them. Seeing how happy you are with Mark and John made me wonder if we could try the same kind of relationship.”
“And? What did they say?”
“They were both surprised because they didn’t think that’s what I wanted. But we talked about it for a while, and we’ve decided to give it a shot!”
This time, I’m the one who squeals. I don’t even care that a bunch of other students look in our direction. They can mind their own business!
“Jessica! That’s fantastic. I had no idea that was what you wanted, either, but I’m glad the guys are all for it!”
“Honestly, I didn’t even know it was what I wanted. You know I’ve never been much for relationships. This time feels different, though. Maybe what has been missing in the past has been that third person. I feel like Tom, Raymond, and I round each other out.”
