The Girl for Me Ch. 02

***

I woke up the next morning with a clear head and plenty of time to make my exam. I had time for breakfast and still got to the exam early. I waved at Matt as I entered the large testing room. He acknowledged me with a little nod of the head from the front of the room where he was organizing the exams with Dr. Martin. He was still looking every bit the disheveled grad student and she the radiant professor. I wondered briefly what it must be like working for her before finding my seat.

When he handed me a blank exam a few minutes later, I said "'sup. Is this a tough one?"

"Nah, you got this, man," he said, giving me a nod before moving on to the next student. He turned out to be right. Everything seemed to be making sense and I burned through the problems and even had time to check them all over before handing it in. I made a mental note that I should thank Brad for getting me focused again.

I had another class after the exam and then was supposed to meet Phoebe for lunch, but on the way there I got a text from her saying she was "2 busy for lunch 2day." I started wondering if something was up, but it wasn't like we were really dating, anyway, so I brushed it off. I decided I'd rather just grab something at the coffee shop than eat alone.

I found Carmen working behind the counter when I arrived. She smiled at me as I came in, but was busy taking orders. I waited in line until finally the orders in front of me had been handled. "Hey, Carmen," I said.

"What's up?" she said with a smile.

"Sorry I haven't called yet..." I said.

"Oh, no problem," she replied. She seemed genuine, which didn't surprise me too much. I had the feeling I could have waited a month and it wouldn't have bothered her in the slightest.

"I was actually just hoping to make you wait a little, you know, play it cool," I said.

"Oh, very cool," she said, nodding her head in sarcastic agreement. "Actually if you wait just another fifteen minutes I'm done with my shift..."

"Nice," I said. "And then I suppose you're free for lunch?"

"That I am," she said. "You sure you don't want to play it cool a bit more?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," I winked at her. I became aware that I was holding up the line, so I said thanks and took a seat on one of the couches arrayed around the shop. I flipped through one of my textbooks, not really gleaning anything as I waited. Soon Carmen came over, no longer wearing her apron.

"So," she said, "about that lunch you said you'd buy me..."

I looked up at her. "I don't remember offering to buy it, but that would be the cool guy thing to do, right?"

"Very much so," she said as I put my book away and got to my feet.

"Anywhere you want to go in particular?" I asked.

"Anywhere but a coffee shop," she said.

We ended up at a mom and pop burger joint near campus. She ordered a huge burger and somehow managed to eat it all. "That is a big burger for such a small girl," I commented.

"Yeah," she said, swallowing the last bite. "I guess I can really take a lot of meat."

I simply raised an eyebrow in response.

"Oh, geez," she said, bringing her hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. "I didn't mean it like...oh, man, I'm just a little nervous, I guess."

"Nervous about what?" I asked.

"Well, like, this," she said. "I mean, we're finally on a date. Or, like, not really a date, right? Or just, whatever, I mean, I've just been wondering when you would actually ask me out and sorry, I'm just nervous and now I'm rambling oh geez."

"Sweetheart," I said, taking her hand. "Just relax. We're just having lunch. Were you really waiting for me to ask you out?"

"Well, yeah," she said, seeming to relax a bit. "I mean, you come in and flirt with me all the time and you have kind of a reputation so I figured even if you were with Megan, you know? But now you're not, so, well..."

"A reputation, huh?" I was amused, actually. "What kind of reputation?"

"Oh, geez," she said, "I mean, I didn't mean it like that, but like, you know. You're popular with the ladies, I guess. And so anyway I sound like an idiot, right? It's just lunch, right?"

"Well, yeah," I said, "for now." I winked at her, which caused her to laugh and she seemed to loosen up again.

"For now," she smiled. "What about later?"

"What about it?" I asked.

"Geez, Will," she said, getting flustered again. "Like, so..."

"So if you're up for it I'd be happy to buy you more meals. Or do whatever. Or just flirt at the coffee shop..." I paused for a second to gauge her reaction. "...if that's what you mean?"

"Yeah! I mean, I'm always happy to get more free meals. So you'll call me, right?"

"Definitely," I said.

***

After lunch, Carmen headed to class and I headed to the library to study for a bit. I figured if I got it out of the way, I could have a freer weekend, hopefully to spend some time with Nadia or Phoebe, or maybe both. I let myself ponder that possibility for a little while, but I had no idea how to make it happen, so I gave up and looked for a table to work at.

I spotted one that had only one occupant, Mei Lin, busily scribbling something or other down. I came up to her and she took notice, lifting her cute little face towards me. "Hey, Mei Lin, right?" I said.

"Oh, hey! Yeah! And you're Will." She suddenly seemed to remember she was in the library and whispered, "What's up?"

I sat down across the table from her. "Just here to study," I said quietly, "Mind if I sit here?"

"Oh, not at all," she replied. I noticed what she was scribbling down looked like math I would never understand.

"More stuff for Matt?" I asked, pulling some books from my bag.

"Oh, yeah," she said, "Matty's always giving me interesting problems, but they're always really tough. You can see I've been working a while..." she indicated the mess of papers all around her.

"Oh, that Matty," I said mockingly. "He's a smart dude, huh? I can barely manage calculus. But you must be pretty smart, too, from the looks of this stuff."

"Yeah," she said, then seemed to work out the sentences again. "I mean, he is, I'm just interested in him. I mean in this junk. I mean his junk."

I raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "I guess he is pretty cute," I added.

"Hey, that's not what I meant," she pouted.

"I'm just kidding you," I said. "Math I don't know, but when it comes to giving cute girls a hard time, I'm like a genius or something."

She giggled just a bit. "He is cute, though," she said. "And I'm not going to lie, that's probably part of why I'm always hanging around his office."

"Good luck with that," I said, "For what it's worth, I think you two would be cute together." I flipped open one of my textbooks and thumbed through it to find where I had left off. I was actually sincere, though. They were both cute and in the back of my head I could already picture them fucking. I imagined her moaning really cute as he moved in and out of her. I don't know why I'm so good at picturing this stuff and so bad a picturing things like functions. I guess we all have our skills, I told myself.

"Thanks," she said, returning to her work. "And for what it's worth, I think you and Matty would be really cute together, too." She gave me a little wink then began writing again, setting off my imagination again. Night and Nadia couldn't get here fast enough, I thought.

After a while, she packed up her stuff and said goodbye. I watched her cute little butt as she walked out the door then turned back to my reading. Before I got through a paragraph, Megan appeared as if out of nowhere and sat where Mei Lin had been moments before.

"So are you cheating on Phoebe with that little Asian slut now, or is it the other way around?" she said, her eyes boring holes into me.

"Hi, Megan," I said. "Actually I barely know that girl at all."

"As if that would make any difference," she sneered. The anger emanating from her was palpable. "You're so gross, Will."

"Hey, look, I'm sorry, alright?" I said. I honestly felt bad for what I had done but I knew sorries were never going to mean anything.

"No, not alright," she said. "It's never going to be alright, you know. I hate you so much. I don't know why I even bothered coming over here. You're just so infuriating. It's like you don't even care how much you hurt me."

"Come on, that's not fair," I said, trying to keep my voice down. I noticed other people conspicuously not watching us as Megan fumed. "I do care, but what am I supposed to do? I know I fucked up and you don't want to see me again."

"Yeah, obviously," she spat the words at me. "You care so much that you didn't even wait a single day before you fucked my best friend...my FORMER best friend again, just like you had been doing for what, months? Jesus Christ, Will, you're such a piece of shit."

"Hey, I'm not denying that..." I started.

"But you don't even care that you're a piece of shit. You're not even sorry. God you're so gross. I can't believe I let you..." Her face was completely scrunched up into a tight grimace and she was turning red. "You're such an asshole. Someday someone's going to cheat on you and you'll realize your not such hot shit. And you'll know how I feel now and I'll be laughing at you, you pathetic piece of shit."

I had basically decided that the best thing to do was just let her get out what she had to say. It was honestly tearing me up inside and I could feel hot tears building in my eyes. I mean, she's right about everything, I thought, but what am I supposed to do now? A public tongue-lashing was far better than I deserved, I thought.

"Nothing to say?" she said, wiping tears from her cheeks. "Of course not. When you're picking up randos at a bar, you're all charm, but when it really matters you can't be bothered. Have fun with your sluts, Will, and I hope you get AIDS."

She got up and walked quickly out of the room, trying to hold back tears. I wanted so badly to chase after her and hold her, tell her something, anything, really, but I knew it wouldn't work that way. I tried to go back to reading, but it was pointless, so I just waited for a few minutes, trying to collect my thoughts and giving Megan enough time so that I wouldn't run into her on the way out, then packed up my stuff and left.

I was glad I had brought some gym clothes with me because I really needed to work out some stuff. I headed to the gym, where I ran for a while and then decided to lift. I was already feeling a bit better by the time I got to the weights, and I almost forgot my troubles at all when I found Matt there, doing some bench presses. From the amount of sweat soaked through his t-shirt, I assumed he had been there awhile.

"Need a spot?" I asked, coming around to stand above his head in the spotter's position.

"Nnnnnggg," he grunted as he pushed the bar back up and set it down on the rest. "Yeah," he said, breathing heavily, "know any good ones for drinking around here?"

"Ha," I said. "I didn't know you lifted." I took the opportunity to check out his arms, which were nicely muscled, but not huge, probably slightly smaller than mine but with nicer definition. I'd never really noticed them before because of the slackerish way he usually dressed.

"Must mean I don't lift enough," he said, getting up from the bench and wiping it down. "Bench's yours if you want it. Don't make me look too bad by doubling the weight or anything."

"Thanks," I said. I got on the bench, still warm with his body heat, and he stood over me and spotted me. I did a few sets, then we each moved on to different exercises. We would frequently exchange glances in the brief rests between sets. At one point I noticed a couple of really bro dudes doing tiny useless reps on huge weights on some machine or other, and I silently nodded towards them when I caught Matt's eye. He smiled and made an exaggerated straining face and I chuckled to myself.

I'd just about finished my workout when Matt came over to me, looking pretty tired. "Well, that's about it for me," he said. "Time for a shower. See ya, but if you do know any good spots for drinking, I was only a little kidding earlier."

As he headed to the locker room, I thought over his words. There really weren't many good places around here for drinking, and I had to imagine it was worse for a grad student like him, since the only places were usually packed with us dumb undergrads. Although he had been pretty friendly. I decided I was done with my workout, too, and followed him into the locker room.

Late Friday afternoons are not the busiest times for college gyms since people are using the time to pre-game or just get ready for the night's activities, so the locker room was mostly empty. I stripped off my clothes and walked into the showers only to find Matt and only one other dude, doing the typical super straight no homo thing, on exact opposite sides of the big shared shower room. I decided that the optimal place would be a couple showers down from Matt, close enough to talk at each other over the sound of the running water, but not close enough to be weird.

"Hey," he greeted me plainly as he rubbed shampoo into his hair.

"Hey," I said back. "You really looking to drink tonight?"

"Is it a day that ends with 'Y'?" he said, tossing me a sideways smile. "You undergrads all think that we grad students are all nerds, studying all weekend. But if you think about it, we've been in college way longer. I'm basically a pro binge drinker by this point."

"And what about that Mei Lin girl?" I asked as he rinsed off his head. While his eyes were closed I took the opportunity to steal a quick glance at his naked body. Not bad, I thought, not bad at all. Ok, so maybe I'm kind of a creep, but at least I'm an equal opportunity creep. "Can she keep up with you?"

"Ha," he said, "she's on the floor after two shots, max..." He paused for a second, considering his next sentence before turning his head to face me, "but anyway she's a student so I probably shouldn't drink with her, right?"

"Is she your student?" I asked. I'm not sure why I was so interested in the two of them but my gut was telling me something. "Technically, no," he said, then sort of shrugged and faced forward, starting to lather himself up. We each just showered silently for a bit. He broke the silence finally with, "Usually I just drink in my apartment, though. You?"

"Can't say I've ever been there," I replied. "Is it nice?" I closed my eyes as I let the hot water splash over my face.

He chuckled. "Nah, it's a real shithole, but it's cheap," he said. As I opened my eyes, I could have sworn I saw him checking me out. "And the view's pretty alright..."

We each finished showering and toweled off, returning to our lockers and getting dressed separately. We met up again on the way out. "So, anyway, if you like bad bourbon, why not come hang out?" he offered. "Unless you have some other plans."

I pushed the thoughts of Nadia and Phoebe out my head as soon as they popped in. "Nah, nothing," I said. "Let me at least pick something else up, though, so I'm not just taking all your booze."

"Eh, it's no problem," he replied as we passed through the doors to outside.

"What's no problem?" came a female voice. Mei Lin was sitting on a bench near the doors.

"Your stalking of me," he said. "For anyone else it would be a problem, but I'll make an exception for you, sweetheart."

"I wasn't stalking," she said, getting to her feet and coming over to his side. "I'm just taking advantage of the faculty's availability."

"Sorry," he said, "office hours are over, but I am offering a private lesson in getting fucked up."

"Nice!" she said. Matt led us to his apartment off campus, which turned out to be only a few blocks from my own. He lived alone, though, and it had that kind of feel; nothing in the refrigerator except a couple beers and an ancient bottle of ketchup, a coffee pot still half-full and a sink full of unwashed mugs. He picked up some discarded clothes from a couch in the living room and threw them in a corner.

"Let's get started," he said. "Who wants bourbon?" He and I each started drinking some bourbon that probably wouldn't even make it to the bottom shelf while Mei Lin satisfied herself with a bottle of beer. She sat in a chair near the couch on which Matt and I occupied opposite ends, him closer to her.

We shot the shit for a while, Matt and I comparing thoughts on Dr. Martin. It turns out I wasn't the only one who found her a little bit intoxicating. Far from being jealous, Mei Lin seemed really interested in our little boys' talk, listening intently. It almost seemed like he was intentionally ignoring her as we got progressively drunker.

"Yeah, I guess she's pretty hot," Mei Lin finally chimed in.

"But not really your type?" Matt said, turning to face her for the first time in what seemed like forever, although my sense of time while drunk is not wholly reliable.

"Oh, I don't know," she said, putting down her second or third empty beer bottle. "Maybe if I were drunk enough..." she smiled. She got up a little wobbily and sat down between the two of us.

"And just how drunk is that?" I asked to the back of her head. She was faced completely towards Matt, who was leaning back lazily. "I can't imagine you getting any drunker than you are now and still being able to stand."

"Nah," she said, "this is just the right amount of drunk." She suddenly lunged forward and kissed Matt right on the lips. His body language seemed more shocked than upset and he let the kiss continue for a bit before breaking it.

His face made him look deep in thought, and he took another drink, then put his glass down and looked at me past Mei Lin's shoulder. "So, you want to get in on this?" he said. I honestly had no response. "I mean, if I'm going to get fired for fucking a student, I might as well go whole hog, right?"

Mei Lin turned to face me and beckoned me over to them with a movement of her head. She moved to sit on his lap, facing towards me, and I put down my drink and scooted down the couch to where she had just been. With his right arm he supported her back and his left arm was draped over the back of the couch. He leaned in closer to me and kissed me. Immediately she joined in and it became a sloppy three-way battle of tongues. I felt hands running over my body, but with my eyes closed I couldn't even be sure whose they were.

I felt Mei Lin shift, and I opened my eyes to see her drop to her knees on the floor in front of Matt. One of his hands caressed her head and his other arm was wrapped around my neck, his hand feeling my chest. I reached down and pulled my shirt up and over my head. I threw it in the corner as Matt brought his hand back around to my front, now running it up and down my body.

On the floor, Mei Lin had pulled Matt's jeans and underwear down to his ankles, revealing his semi-hard cock. I looked down at it, unable to stop the automatic mental comparison to my own. They were fairly similar in size, his maybe slightly longer and thinner than mine. He was cut, just like me, and it looked like he spent more time trimming his light pubes than his facial hair. Mei Lin took his dick in hand and in one motion popped it into her mouth.

Matt's hand slipped down to my lap to the sound of wet sucking coming from his own. His fingers danced over my hardening cock, through the jeans. They were becoming constricting and I hurriedly undid them and slipped them down below my knees, leaving my now mostly hard dick to flop against my body. He leaned over and started kissing my neck and shoulder while he grabbed my cock, feeling it up and down, presumably making a mental map of its shape and size. I closed my eyes again and enjoyed the exciting feeling and listened to the sloppy sucking sound Mei Lin was making.

The sucking sound stopped and I opened my eyes. Mei Lin now scooted over to kneel in front of me. Matt let go of my dick and she took over, immediately taking me deeply into her mouth. Her tongue twirled around the head and then she began moving her head, swallowing me and then pulling back out, leaving my cock shimmering with her spit. Beside me, Matt pulled off his shirt, revealing his muscular chest with a bit of hair that matched his pubes and head. I reached over and grabbed his cock. It was wet with spit and started jerking him off, moving my hand up and down the hard shaft, then up over the head and back down again.