by Elia Winters
13
Labyrinthine, smelling intensely of dust and old books, the university library provided an essential retreat when Lori’s office attracted too much foot traffic for her to get a lot done. Sometimes, she enjoyed the nice change of pace of taking her laptop into the stacks for paperwork, even if her office was perfectly suitable. This evening, she’d retreated to one of the upper floors of the library to sit near one of the large windows and work on Bridge Program interim reports. She’d tried and failed to work on these in her office all morning. Hopefully a new location would be sufficient to shake her distractions.
Lori was deep into compiling program data at her computer screen when her phone vibrated. So much for a distraction-free workspace. She glanced at her clock first, and wow, she’d been working steadily for almost two hours. Never underestimate the power of a new location. The text was from Patrick, which wasn’t surprising, since she’d continued texting back and forth with him and Geoff since coming back from New York a couple of days ago. He’d sent her a picture of his violin alongside a new set of strings. He’d captioned it: “unending maintenance.”
She got up to frame a picture of her work space in return, getting the laptop in frame as well as a bit of the window overlooking the campus. She captioned it: “unending reports” and sent it back before sliding into her seat again.
Working hard? he replied.
Doing my best. Been at it pretty steadily for a couple of hours. She didn’t have too much left to do, hopefully. She added, No rehearsal tonight? She didn’t have his schedule in her mind yet.
Tomorrow, Patrick responded. Wednesdays are for Nine Possum Thursday. Ironically, not Thursdays. Hang on, let me send you something.
A moment later, an invitation to a Google Calendar popped up in her inbox. She frowned.
What’s this?
Shared calendar. To keep track of our schedules. I never know when you’re free.
Lori set her phone down and stared up at the ceiling of the library. It was helpful, sure, but she could hear Hannah laughing in her head.
Thanks, she texted back, and added the shared calendar to her phone.
You want a break? he asked. You’re a quick drive from here.
Lori couldn’t deny that she wanted to see them. She’d had lunch with Geoff today, but things were different with the two of them together. I’m seeing you Friday night, she reminded him. Maybe he’d forgotten.
So? There a law against a midweek visit? We had fun at the pub last week.
Lori rubbed her mouth. Before she could respond, he sent another text. It’s okay if you’re busy, just thought you might want a distraction. We could bring you takeout.
I’m tempted, she admitted. Woo me with your takeout plans.
The BBQ place. Picnic Package. Brisket, pork, ribs, chicken, all the sides. Cornbread. I’m drooling from here.
He definitely knew how to be tempting. Okay, I’ll let you woo me away. But there’s no way you can bring that into the library. The thought of Patrick with a sack of ribs being chased by some underpaid front desk clerk had Lori giggling.
Picnic on the lawn in about an hour?
You’re on. Bring drinks.
He sent a thumbs-up, and Lori set the phone aside and returned to her laptop, this time smiling. If she hustled, she could get the rest of these reports done before they arrived.
With five minutes to spare, she uploaded the last of the reports and did a victory dance in her chair. Fuck yeah, efficiency. By the time she got out to the lawn outside the library, the sun was dipping behind the tallest buildings on the horizon, and her stomach was growling. She found a spot near the pond to stretch out and sent a message to Patrick with her location. Then she folded her arms behind her head and closed her eyes, listening to the evening birds.
“How bucolic.”
Geoff’s voice made Lori open her eyes, blinking up at the two of them leaning over her, silhouetted against the sky. “Hey.” She sniffed the air. “I smell food.”
Geoff held up a large paper bag. As Lori sat up and brushed grass out of her hair, he said, “I had to take the bag from Patrick so he didn’t eat all the cornbread in the car.”
Patrick put his hand on his chest. “It took a superhuman amount of restraint, let me tell you.”
“You had no restraint,” Geoff corrected, pulling the bag farther away as Patrick reached for it. “He was going to tell you they ran out.”
Lori looked aghast at Patrick. “I’m starting to think you can’t be trusted.”
Patrick held up a blanket. “I brought this, though, so you have to give me some credit.” He spread it out on the grass.
Geoff handed out paper plates, disposable utensils, and a roll of paper towels before unloading a ridiculous number of food containers. As he set each one out, Patrick began pulling them open and making obscene noises of pleasure. Geoff paused after the third one. “Do you mind not fucking our dinner?”
“That would be a waste of this amazing food.” Patrick sighed in contentment. “I haven’t been back to this place since last summer, and I’ve been craving it. But their special is way too much food for two people and we always have a ton of leftovers.”
“Surprising, the way you eat.” Geoff poked his husband with a plastic fork.
“Love me, love my appetite.” Patrick began spooning mashed sweet potatoes onto his plate.
The breeze kept the bugs mostly away, and Lori was able to really enjoy herself as they sat and chatted through dinner. They shared about their days, with a bit of work talk before Patrick brought them around to discussing some new Netflix show he and Geoff had started watching that Lori had already seen. Conversation flowed easily, and between that and the congenial atmosphere, Lori was more comfortable than she’d been in weeks.
“You know, I don’t do this much,” she said, tossing another empty rib into their trash bag.
“Eat barbecue?” Geoff offered.
Lori shook her head and reached for another rib. “Picnic.”
The campus was a lot prettier than she realized, now that she was taking time to sit by the pond and look around. She’d been here for years, and it was easy to forget that this world-renowned research university sat in one of the most picturesque parts of the state. In some ways, one of the most picturesque parts of the country. The trees surrounding the pond had come to full summer foliage now, weeping willows trailing long tendrils over the still water, green oak leaves gleaming in the fading light. Another breeze carried the scent of honeysuckle to mingle with their takeout barbecue.
“I’m gonna miss this place,” Lori said out loud.
Geoff shifted, looking quickly to Patrick before glancing away.
Patrick was studying Geoff with his eyebrows drawn together, a thin line of concentration between them. But he directed his question to Lori. “Where are you going?”
Oh. She’d hoped that telling Geoff would mean he’d tell Patrick, but apparently that was not the situation here. “I’m applying for jobs in New York. Boston, too, but mostly New York. I’m hoping to move into the city, where I can do more work as a therapist and educator in my field.”
Patrick’s expression shifted to something politely neutral. “Well, that’s exciting. Good luck. New York is a great place. I…” He paused, a moment of sadness passing so quickly over his expression that she would have missed it if she had blinked at the wrong time. “I really liked it there.” His laugh sounded genuine, though. “I don’t miss the housing, I’ll tell you that. Apartments like closets. I think one of my sublets actually was a closet, come to think of it.”
“Yeah, I mean, it’s all up in the air.” She was qualifying her plans, and she shouldn’t be, but the words kept coming like she was trying to soften some blow. “I applied weeks ago for a bunch of positions and I haven’t heard anything. A few ‘thanks, we got your resume’ auto-responses, and that was it. So, who knows?” She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll still be in Mapleton for a while longer.”
Patrick
seemed fine with the news, and that relief settled on Lori like a balm. Geoff, maybe feeling guilty, spoke up. “She told me Friday night when we were texting. I meant to tell you.” That was all. He didn’t say that he forgot, just that he meant to tell Patrick. And didn’t.
“It’s all right,” Patrick said, then changed the subject. “Lori, you’re still coming to game night on Friday, right?”
“That’s the plan.” She used one of the many Wet-Naps to clean her hands. “What can I expect?”
“There’s one couple who usually joins us,” Geoff answered. “Trey and Porter, who live in the condo downstairs from us. Plus Maddy and Russell from NPT, and Liam from the history department. Do you know Liam O’Reilly? White guy, wears a lot of plaid…looks kind of like Jack Black but with glasses?”
“Oh, yeah!” Lori nodded. “I see him around the campus coffee shop. What do you all play?”
“There are themes. This time it’s words. We’ve got Scrabble, Boggle, Quiddler, Balderdash, a few others.” Geoff counted them off on his fingers. “We do teams. We can teach you how to play any you don’t know.”
“Are you bringing me in because I’m a ringer?” Lori asked. “You know I have an English degree.”
“It can’t hurt.” Patrick grimaced. “Our team’s lost the last three game nights, so we keep having to buy the pizza.”
“You should know going into this that I’m a competitive asshole.” She grinned. “Just ask my crew team at Smith.”
Patrick groaned in mock horror. “Oh no, not another of you. Geoff is ready to draw blood every week.”
Lori laughed while Geoff shoved his husband. “I am not,” he protested. “I just have a healthy respect for the pleasures of winning.”
“That’s it, hmm?” she teased, leaning closer to him. “The pleasures of winning?”
“All pleasures, in fact.” Geoff winked at her, and she couldn’t deny the way her stomach fluttered.
Patrick reached between them for the last piece of cornbread, deliberately getting in their way. “Excuse me, but if you’re done having a moment, there’s perfectly good cornbread going to waste here.” He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully, then patted his stomach. “And now it’s just going to waist.”
Geoff and Lori rolled their eyes at the same time, caught each other doing so, and all three broke apart in laughter. “You’re ridiculous.” Geoff said.
“Thanks, babe.” Patrick smiled and took another bite of cornbread.
They were cute, and it was sweet, and yet this interaction reminded Lori that she was an outsider. This was their marriage that she was invited into for these moments of friendship, and maybe for some physical intimacy, but the true heart of their relationship lay beyond her. Which was fine, obviously. That would make leaving easier.
“You have more work to do?” Geoff asked Lori.
“Finished.” She patted the canvas satchel. “Got it all done after I heard dinner was arriving.”
“Congrats.” Geoff looked to Patrick, who shrugged one shoulder and then nodded in agreement for…something. “We’re thinking about going up to the U-Bar. You want to come?”
Lori hesitated. Yeah, it would be fun to have a drink with these guys, but she had to rein in her immediate desire to say yes. They had been spending increasing amounts of time together, and she should probably take a little break. “I think I’m gonna just go home,” she said. “I’ve got a bunch of laundry I’ve been letting pile up since the trip.”
“Oh, okay.” Geoff’s smile faded a bit. “This was nice, though.”
“It was. Definitely.” She made sure her own smile was big enough to convey that this was fine; everything was fine. “What do I owe you for dinner?”
Patrick waved her away. “It’s on us. You can help with the pizza Friday night.”
“Want me to bring beer?”
Patrick scoffed. “Of course.”
They were all getting to their feet now, cleaning up trash, folding the blanket, and Lori suddenly found herself right next to Patrick. Right next to him, face-to-face, looking up at him, and he seemed as surprised to be so close as she was. And his gaze went directly to her mouth.
His expression, unguarded and longing, unlocked something inside Lori. She leaned in and kissed him. This is fine, this is fine, she told herself as he parted her lips with his, deepening the kiss, one of his hands pressing between her shoulder blades. She steadied herself with her hands on his biceps and leaned into this moment, reminding herself they’d kissed before, they’d kissed after ice cream; this was not new ground, even as every kiss between them felt a bit like something new and deep and unexplored.
She stepped back, breaking the kiss through sheer force of will. Geoff was watching, lips parted and breathing heavily like he’d been the one she was kissing. Lori was suddenly too hot all over. “Is it greedy to kiss you too?”
Geoff’s lips twitched—a ghost of a smile. “I’m okay with greedy.” He moved in close, took her by the hips, and claimed her mouth.
Lori should not get this consumed by a simple kiss, but nothing about the way Geoff kissed was simple. When she finally drew back, her unsteady legs threatened not to support her. “Yeah,” she said, breathless, to no one in particular. “Friday.”
Heart thumping, she gathered up her bag. Before anything else could happen, Lori turned and headed toward her office building, ignoring the currents of longing racing through her blood.
14
Whatever apprehensions Geoff had had about Lori fitting in with the game night group proved unfounded, as not only was she her normal direct, funny self, but she also kicked ass at every game they played. Luckily for Geoff, she was on their team.
“Fucking finally!” Patrick crowed, raising a fist in triumph as Maddy announced the evening’s score totals at the end of the night. “I thought I was never gonna stop paying for our pizza. You all get it next time.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Russell threw a balled-up napkin at him. “But you all bring the beer. That’s the trade.”
“You’re just lucky you brought your girlfriend here to rescue you,” Trey said.
Ugh. Trey. One half of Trey and Porter, the couple from downstairs. He accompanied his words with a world-class smirk. Over the years, Geoff had learned to ignore his douchebag comments. They were fun to invite over for game night, but comments like that kept them all from hanging out more often. Patrick rolled his eyes, but something clenched up inside Geoff, a tight fist of irritation he had to work to suppress.
Lori didn’t seem bothered, raising her beer. “Don’t be a sore loser, Trey. I just met you.”
Porter, Trey’s husband, gave him a nudge. “If you were better at spelling, you might not have tanked so bad.”
“Fuck you, bitch.” Trey laughed, and everyone laughed, and the knot eased in Geoff’s gut. Trey was always shooting his mouth off about something. He didn’t mean anything by it.
“Let’s set a date for the next game night.” Maddy pulled out her phone. “What’s everybody up to two weekends from now? We’re not playing anything that weekend.”
“Can’t do it.” Patrick shook his head. “We’re heading out to P-town. Annual vacation.” He squeezed Geoff’s hand.
Geoff almost forgot about their upcoming trip, with the hubbub surrounding Lori. Provincetown was one of their favorite places. “Gaycationland,” as many people called it, lay at the very tip of Cape Cod, a queer-centric haven of shops and beaches. They tried to visit every year, usually as soon as Geoff finished his summer work.
“We should probably just wait until you come back.” Russell had his phone out as well. “And I’m open to doing something midweek if the timing lines up right.”
“The joys of scheduling get-togethers as an adult, right?” Liam sighed, and then that sigh turned into a yawn. “Ugh. I’m sorry. I’m wiped out. Think I’m gonna call it a night.”
Liam’s departure triggered a series of other goodbyes, people gathering their belongings and games. Lori walked wi
th them, as though she were leaving, even though her overnight bag was still sitting in the breakfast nook. As the doors slid open, Maddy gestured for her to precede them. “You want to come with?”
Lori shook her head. “I want to talk a few things over with Geoff before I head out. It was nice meeting you, though.”
The rest of them piled into the elevator, and the doors slid shut on the group.
“A few things to talk over with me?” Geoff asked.
“Nah.” Lori grinned. “But I didn’t want everybody knowing I was sticking around. Not sure how you feel about rumors.”
Geoff hadn’t considered it. “I suppose that’s worth keeping in mind.”
“What are people gonna say? That we’re all fucking?” Patrick sat on the couch and crossed his ankle over his knee. “They wouldn’t be wrong.”
“Trey talks shit sometimes.” Geoff didn’t want to admit it, but Trey’s occasional quips about him and Patrick not being “queer enough,” for whatever reason Trey had cooked up that week, were annoying.
Patrick waved his hand. “Trey’s full of shit all the time. He doesn’t mean anything by it, though. Porter keeps him in line.”
“What kinds of things does he say?” Lori went into the kitchen and came out with another beer, then sat on the armchair as Geoff settled in beside Patrick.
Geoff tried to put his finger on anything specific, but it was harder than he thought. “I don’t think he likes bi guys much. He’s always saying things like tonight, when he called you our girlfriend, or Patrick’s girlfriend, whatever. Hinting that we’re not committed to each other or something.”
“There was one time,” Patrick said, shifting on the couch, “when Geoff first brought Liam to the group, and Trey said something like I should watch out because Geoff was bringing other men home.” He shrugged. “I’ve never really thought much about it.” He put one hand lightly on Geoff’s shoulder. “I didn’t realize it bothered you. You want me to talk to him?”
“Thanks, but I can say something directly if it matters to me.” Geoff didn’t need someone fighting battles for him. “I think that sort of thing gets in my head, though. Stereotypes about bi guys being likely to cheat, or unable to be with just one person.” He hesitated, but they were here, so he might as well go all-in. “It’s one of my hang-ups about polyamory, I think.”
