The loud ringing of my phone breaks the tension, and I scamper away like I’m Superman and moving fast enough will turn back time on the last five minutes. He tosses the negligee onto the bed with the rest of my unfolded clothes.
What the fuck was that?
In the four years of our in-person friendship—of seeing each other practically every day—there was never anything romantic between us. No drunken kiss, no stress-relieving hookup. I recognized he was an attractive guy, even back then, but there was nothing substantial enough to act on. I hadn’t been willing to risk our friendship, and I definitely won’t now. I’d never survive losing him after everything else I’ve lost.
And Colton doesn’t flirt. Like, ever. Not with the girls he dated in college, and definitely not with me. I don’t like the reminder that he’s changed. The physical differences I expected, had seen hints of on our video calls, but there was only so much you could see about the way someone carries themselves when they’re stuck on a couch thousands of miles away from you. There have been years of small adjustments and growth that I didn’t get to be a part of. It makes my stomach churn.
Or maybe that’s something else. Like that damn smolder. Who the fuck taught him that? Everything in my body tightens.
Would it be hot? Probably.
Would it be a terrible decision? Without a doubt.
I need some space. This year’s been so busy that Colton and I have barely had time together. Now that the semester’s over, we’ve seen each other every day this week. I’m on a contact Colton high, like I stayed inside a newly painted room for toolong and am feeling the effects of the fumes. I just need to open a window, and I’ll feel back to normal in no time.
We’ll be together in Rome for three months, but I can keep it together and avoid situations like this. Maybe take our hangouts out into the city instead of one of our apartments.
And. No. More. Lingerie.
“Hey, Inez,” I say as I answer.
“Are you working out?”
“What?”
“You’re breathing heavily.”
I shoot a quick glance at Colton, thankful he can’t hear her side of the conversation. “No, just packing. What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you about housing for the summer. We’ve had a situation.”
“Colton’s here. Should I put you on speakerphone?”
“Yes please. It’ll save me a call later.” I pull the phone away from my ear.
I put it on speakerphone and sit down on the bed next to him. “You’ve got us both.”
“Our regular apartments fell through. Their old pipes burst and flooded our floor. They can’t get it all fixed up until July. We’ve used the same apartments for over a decade, but of course, they give out the yearImanage the program,” she says, with diabolical glee in her voice.
“You’re enjoying this,” I say in mock outrage.
“No, I’m not,” she replies, too quickly.
“Yes, you are, you little psycho!”
She whines. “I can’t help it! I love a problem to fix! It’s the best part of the job.”
There’s nothing Inez loves more than moving things around behind the scenes to achieve the perfect solution. As the oldest cousin in her massive Puerto Rican family, she’s grown up managing the people around her and putting out fires.
It’s probably why she ended up in the study abroad office,which is exciting and fun and rife with a million problems a day, ranging from canceled flights to natural disasters. She’s never happier than when everyone else is panicking.
“I fully support the little chaos demon you are,” I say. “So what do we do?”
“I found something else, but we have to change up the configuration. Dr. Keck is going to get her own place since she’s bringing her whole family.” I try not to think about my own family, how I was the kid lugged around on my dad’s study abroad trips year after year. “That leaves six of us. I found two apartments in the same building with three rooms each, so we’ll split. Colton, would you mind staying in our apartment?”
“Of course. I’d rather be with y’all, anyway,” Colt says, and I savor the little twang he only lets out in private, the real Colton hiding under the professional Dr. Miller exterior.
“Amazing! I’ll call them now and get it sorted out. Thank god. I thought we would end up on the streets for a minute there,” she says before rushing off the phone to call the next person.
