The Best Lines

by Nicole Pyland

  Dr. Phelps laughed wildly.

  “I think it’s great. He needs a little kick in the ass sometimes. We all do. It keeps us honest and keeps things moving forward.” He took a sip of his tea. “We could be getting a little ahead of ourselves, but based on what we’ve seen so far, you’re more than ready to be accepted into our mathematics graduate program.”

  “Graduate?”

  “Absolutely. However, I should warn you that we’re not exactly MIT. That is specifically a technical school that focuses on the sciences. We’re a Catholic university, which means we have additional requirements for our students.”

  “Oh.”

  “Nothing you couldn’t handle or that would be a hindrance, but we require a few theology courses in undergrad. There are also electives in other areas of study that we wouldn’t be able to test you out of because of university requirements. You could still be a grad student on paper and do your primary work in your area while you take the electives required. I suspect you’d be able to achieve your graduate and undergraduate degree at the same time if you stay on schedule. Our Ph. D program is very competitive.”

  “I’m not sure if I’ll go for a doctorate.”

  “That’s for later anyway. I can have a member of my staff put together a proposal for you with all this information and email it to you by the end of the week, if that would be okay with you.”

  “Of course.”

  “I hope we see you in these halls next semester, Miss Elliot.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Phelps.” She stood and shook his hand.

  ◆◆◆

  Eva and Ember left Indiana before the traffic got bad, which was a blessing because Eva wasn’t exactly sure how to bring up Doug’s call to the girlfriend she’d just convinced to check out Notre Dame University specifically due to its close proximity to St. Mary’s. Eva had no idea what she wanted Ember to do because Eva’s career just got more complicated.

  “He’s going to send me an email with a bunch of information in it, and then I should be able to make my decision.”

  “But you’d have to take all those other classes,” Eva reminded her. “At MIT, you wouldn’t.”

  “I don’t care about that,” Ember explained. “I really don’t. I was actually thinking about it as a good thing. I don’t know that I want all math all the time. If I chose MIT, I could still do other stuff on my own, I guess, but I wouldn’t mind taking classes in other areas. Maybe I could take a few lit classes.” She poked Eva in the cheek as they pulled up to Ember’s building. “Let’s grab dinner and then I can call Hails and Charlie and see if they can come over.”

  “I think I’m going to call it a night,” Eva said. “I’m pretty tired.”

  “I don’t have to call them. We can order Chinese from that place you like. I’ll even let you eat the extra egg roll.” She smiled.

  Eva had to match it because Ember’s smile was infectious.

  “Rain check, okay? I’m going to head home, take a bath and turn in early. I’ve got a lot of work to do on my articles before the summer session starts.”

  Ember seemed to think for a moment and even squinted at Eva as if she was going to ask her something, but then decided against it.

  “Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Ember leaned in and kissed Eva. “I love you.”

  Eva hit the trunk button and the sound of it popping open broke Ember from the kiss.

  “I love you too,” Eva told her.

  Ember nodded before getting out of the car, grabbing her bag from the trunk, and walking into her building without turning back around.

  ◆◆◆

  “I think she’s ignoring me,” Ember told Hailey.

  “She’s not ignoring you,” Hailey said.

  They were sitting at dinner to make up for the fact that Ember had missed a couple of their usual coffee dates to go check out universities.

  “Hey, sorry I’m late. I had some paperwork to fill out for the new job, and I lost track of time.” Charlie sat down next to Hailey in the tiny Greek restaurant they’d been to before. “Did you order?”

  “I got you that Moussaka thing you ordered last time, but he just walked away so if you want something else, you can-”

  “That’s perfect. Thanks, Hails. What did I miss?”

  Ember returned to their previous conversation, “Eva’s ignoring me.”

  “No, she’s not,” Hailey continued. “She just has a lot going on, Em.”

  “Well, not with her girlfriend.”

  “When was the last time you talked to her?” Charlie asked and took a drink of the iced tea Hailey had ordered her.

  “Technically, last night, but it was brief. She had some work to do. We only talked for a few minutes. Before that, it was the car ride back the day before yesterday.”

  “What happened?” Charlie asked. “You’ve been keeping me out of the loop.”

  “I’ve been busy,” Ember said. “I guess a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. A lot for any relationship and we have a young one.”

  “Fill us in,” Hailey said.

  Ember told them the story about MIT and how much she had enjoyed it. She talked about the weekend they’d shared at Eva’s place, and how it had been nice, but somewhat strained because they both knew a major decision was coming, that would impact their lives significantly. She talked about Notre Dame and that stupid girl Sophie who had caused Eva to doubt Ember’s loyalty or at least made her worry about their future.

  “This is pretty heavy stuff for a new relationship, Em.”

  “I know, but I don’t know what to do about it.” Ember lifted her glass to her lips to take a sip. “She makes me better. I know that. I would never have quit the restaurant without her. I definitely wouldn’t be looking into going to school right now.” She paused. “I get that she has to move because she couldn’t find anything close to home, but it has caused us some problems. She wants me to pick the school I want, but also wants me to be with her, so I’m torn because I want to be with her and pick the school I want too.”

  “You do know St. Mary’s is only two hours away, right?” Charlie reminded her. “I think I’ve said this before.”

  “It’s two hours but it might as well be more. When you add in the average traffic flow at the time Eva would be wrapping up her days at the college, she wouldn’t get into the city until 7:42 pm during the spring and fall and not until 8:35 pm in the winter.”

  “That’s specific,” Hailey said.

  “You forget our BFF is a genius.” Charlie reached for a pita chip on the table.

  “I’d have to buy a car because taking the train there isn’t feasible and would take even longer than the drive with stops and changeovers. Plus, she’d have to pick me up at the station, or I’d have to take a bus to her place and then walk. During the weekends, it would be better, but if I have to study or she has to prepare lectures or if I get a job and-”

  “Ember, calm down.”

  Ember realized she’d been rattling off a lot of information and she’d done so quickly.

  “Sorry, I’ve spent most of the day running the numbers.”

  “But why?” Hailey asked. “You’re either going to be there with her, or you’ll be in Boston. Why are you running Chicago numbers?”

  “Because there’s a third option.”

  “What?” Charlie asked.

  “I could stay here and not go to either Notre Dame or MIT.”

  “Whoa! No, that’s not an option,” Hailey told her. “You want this. You’ve told both of us you want school.”

  “I do. I didn’t realize how much until I was there, but I don’t know about MIT.”

  “It’s MIT, Em.”

  “I realize that,” Ember said. “I do. I know how lucky I am that they want me and that they’re willing to let me design my own course load, but I don’t know if I want to go there.”

  “I thought you asked Eva to research jobs there.”

&
nbsp; “I did, but it’s not just about her. It’s about you guys and Chicago. I love it here. I never planned on leaving this place. It’s about my brother and Grace getting married. I’ll probably have a little niece or nephew soon, and I don’t want to miss that. It’s about my parents and the fact that I finally got somewhere with them and they’re showing interest in my life for the first time ever. It’s about all of that. Notre Dame is just a couple of hours away. I wouldn’t miss much, and you guys could visit and so could they.”

  “But what about school?” Hailey asked.

  “I’ll postpone it until I can figure out what I want to do,” Ember suggested. “I don’t have it figured out yet, but that’s what I’ve got so far.”

  “You haven’t talked about Notre Dame.”

  “I liked it. I’m still considering it just like I’m still considering MIT. I haven’t actually ruled anything out yet. I’m just running all the scenarios.”

  “But you have a preference. I know you do, Ember,” Charlie said. “Be honest with yourself. You don’t really want MIT because it’s too far away. What you want is to go to Notre Dame and live near the girlfriend you’re crazy about.” Charlie stared at Ember like Ember was being ridiculous for even considering anything else. “You don’t have to run every scenario or create equations to know what you really want, Ember.”

  “You should tell her,” Hailey agreed. “She’s probably pushing you away because she doesn’t want you to put her first. She wants you to pick the school you really want. Tell her what you’ve decided. I’m sure everything will be okay.”

  Ember lowered her head and actually shook it from side to side while she laughed.

  “I knew you two were good for something.” Ember looked back up. “Can I maybe skip dinner? Would you hate me? I need to go talk to her. It can’t wait.”

  “I just got here, solved your problem, and you’re leaving?” Charlie toyed with her. “Fine. Go. Talk to her. We’ll just eat your food for you and pick up the check.”

  “Thank you.” Ember stood up and grabbed her jacket.

  ◆◆◆

  “Ember?” Eva asked when she opened the door to find her girlfriend standing there. “Why didn’t you use your key?”

  “Oh, I guess I forgot,” Ember replied.

  “You forgot you have a key to my apartment?” Eva lifted an eyebrow.

  “I’ve made a decision.” Ember moved past Eva and into the living room.

  Eva stood confused for a moment, but then closed the door and followed her.

  “You’re acting strange,” Eva said as she watched Ember pace back and forth in her kitchen as if she couldn’t stop herself. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I had dinner with Charlie and Hailey, or I guess I didn’t really have dinner. We went to dinner, but I left.”

  “Em, you’re talking really fast right now. Sit down with me.” Eva made her way to Ember and pulled on both of her hands. Ember seemed to calm slightly at the touch and she allowed herself to be pulled to the couch. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

  “You’ve been distant. I know why. This has been really hard on both of us. Because we’d found each other at a bad time for your career, and that sort of got us both here. But Eva, you make me want things I’ve never wanted before. You made me realize that I wanted more for myself, that I wanted to go to school and change my direction. And I have; I’ve figured out what I want.”

  Eva gulped. No matter what Ember said, it would change things between them. Eva had thought a lot about her two options since they returned from their short trip. She’d even gone to her old campus and walked around, remembering how much she’d loved it there. She went by her old office, which still had Kayla’s stuff in it, but Eva could tell the woman had already begun to pack in preparation for her departure. Eva hadn’t even thought about researching schools in Boston despite telling her friends and Ember she would because she knew she’d only be following Ember there. And while she might end up finding a great school that she liked, she didn’t want to just follow Ember.

  “What did you decide?” Eva asked and felt her throat go dry as she waited.

  “I’m going with you,” Ember told her with a giant smile. “I’m going to Notre Dame. I want it, Eva. I thought I wanted MIT at first. I was worried it would win out, but I liked Notre Dame better. The atmosphere was different, and I looked into the courses I’d have to take in addition to the math stuff, and I’m in. I want to do that. I want to learn about everything else. I never had the real college experience. I guess this isn’t exactly that, but it’s as close as I’m going to get, and I want to be with you.” She finally inhaled and then exhaled again. “I promise you that this wasn’t just about you. I know you’re going to worry about that, but I promise I want this school. And if I wanted MIT, I would’ve chosen it. Eva, I love you. This is perfect because you’ll be there. We can be ten minutes away from one another, or we can move in together when we get there. Maybe that makes more sense. It would save money. It would mean we’d have more time together because we wouldn’t be going back and forth, but I’m getting ahead of myself, and we’ll talk about that later.” She paused again. “I love you, and this can work. We’ll be together in Indiana. We can visit our friends and family and… I’m really happy right now.” Her smile grew even more.

  “That’s great, babe,” she said once she recognized that Ember had finished talking. “That’s really great.”

  “Yeah?” Ember asked, and Eva realized that her girlfriend had gotten really good at reading her and she needed to put on a much better show.

  “Yes, babe. I’m so happy.” She leaned in and pressed her lips to Ember’s.

  It took a second for Ember to react because the kiss came out of nowhere, but then her lips were moving against Eva’s, and Eva could tell they were demanding more. She opened her mouth and allowed Ember’s tongue to meet with her own. As Ember lay Eva back on the couch, Eva’s thoughts drifted away from the worries about her job or any decision she’d have to make because she knew now that there was no decision. She loved Ember. She had a good job offer, and she would take it. She’d turn Doug down and she’d move to Indiana and Ember would be there, and that was enough for her.

  She felt Ember’s lips move to her throat as she hovered over her. Eva had missed this. They hadn’t had sex the night before their trip nor on the trip itself and then Eva had pulled away. By her calculations, it had been too many days of being without Ember like this. She let everything else go as Ember moved to slide her hand between Eva’s legs. Apparently, Ember’s calculations revealed the same thing.

  “I missed you,” Ember muttered against Eva’s skin as her fingers danced in her folds.

  Eva hadn’t been remotely turned on prior to Ember’s arrival, but she was still always surprised at how quickly she could get wet when Ember touched her.

  “I missed you too,” Eva gasped as Ember worked against her while both of them were still fully clothed.

  Neither seemed to notice or care because Ember pressed two fingers inside Eva and began moving her hips down against her. She lifted Eva’s shirt with her free hand without slowing at all. Eva helped by pulling her shirt up just enough to rest on her shoulders. She had made the right decision to take her bra off when she’d gotten home because Ember’s lips were on her nipple immediately after the fabric had been lifted. They sucked and tugged on the pebbled skin and her thumb pressed down on Eva’s clit.

  Ember’s mouth moved to Eva’s other nipple. Eva lifted at the back of Ember’s shirt, unclasped her bra, and ran her hands around to Ember’s front so she could grasp her breasts in both hands and squeeze them, earning a grunt from Ember whose mouth had to pause to allow the feeling to register. Eva’s fingers went to work tweaking two hard nipples while Ember pressed firmly into Eva’s body causing the fabric of her shorts and underwear to tug down. Ember used her free hand to pull them both down further to gain more access. Eva slid her hand out of Ember’s shirt to help until
they were below her knees and she could spread her legs further apart. She had one leg hanging over the edge of the sofa, her foot nearly touching the floor, and when she started to feel Ember thrusting harder and faster, she reached her hand down and yanked off Ember’s shirt, letting Ember’s bra fall. She tossed it aside and grasped Ember’s breasts again for only an instant to tweak her nipples and then she took her other leg, placed it on the back of the couch where Ember’s free hand found it, and held it in place for her.

  Eva was spread fully over her couch while Ember continued to thrust inside her and assaulted her throat and nipples with her mouth. When she lifted herself up enough, Eva’s hands moved to Ember’s jeans. She unbuttoned them and pulled hard on the zipper. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold on long and that the angle was off, but she had to touch her. She thrust her hand inside Ember’s jeans and panties and cupped her center hard with her hand.

  “Fuck!” Ember exclaimed.

  “I need to feel you,” Eva told her.

  Eva’s head rolled back against the armrest while her hand remained against Ember’s center. Ember’s thumb flicked Eva’s clit while she added a third finger inside of her. Eva’s hips lifted off the couch and began moving. She wanted it. She wanted her orgasm to take hold of her. Ember’s movements felt so impossible, so remarkable. No one had ever made her feel this good when they touched her. She wanted to feel the rush of her climax, but she also wanted this moment to last forever. Ember was grinding against Eva’s palm, and Eva could feel how wet she was. She slid one finger, then two fingers into Ember’s folds causing Ember to call out, gasp and continue to ride Eva’s hand.

  Eva was sprawled on the couch when she came on a particularly hard thrust and flick of Ember’s thumb. The tingling sensation started at her center but radiated into her toes, and as she yelled Ember’s name, she felt it in her fingertips, and then her leg muscles twitched and froze and then twitched more. Her hips lifted high and that caused her hand to nearly slide out of Ember’s jeans, but Ember used her free hand to hold Eva’s wrist in place. Just as Eva was about to come down from her orgasm, Ember’s orgasm overtook her. Eva wasn’t sure if Ember did it on purpose or just because her muscles were not her own in that moment, but her hand still moved inside Eva. Eva felt her sensitive clit harden further. Ember made Eva come again while she rode out her own powerful orgasm. Ember fell down on top of Eva and Eva’s legs wrapped around Ember’s body as Ember pulled out of her. She wrapped her arms around Eva’s neck as Eva lifted her head slightly before resting her head back against the pillow.