"It would have to be Doc. Can you imagine Ed going anywhere without at least Allan? And I'm not sure Allan would be terribly comfortable going anywhere without Ed."
"Probably."
"Victoria, he's my teacher!" I gritted my teeth.
"Girl, we're not in high school. You're eighteen. He's an adult, and he doesn't look that much older than you. It'll be fine."
"But..."
"Sofia, if you don't want to date them, then break it off."
The very idea wrenched my heart.
"And clearly you don't like that idea, either. Don't throw up or anything."
I frowned and glanced at her.
"You looked like you might want to at that idea. You're attached. Maybe even already in love. At the very least, you all need each other. Have fun. Do group sex or something."
My cheeks burned. "Victoria!"
She burst out laughing. "You were getting way too serious there. Had to lighten the mood."
I did wonder if–or more probably when–we decided to go that far, how that would work. We wouldn't be able to hide anything from anyone else in the house. Could I handle three of them?
"Oh, that got you thinking. You're so red right now." She laughed. "Come on, Sofia. It'll be okay."
"Thanks, Victoria."
"Course. What are roomies for?"
I sighed. "Apparently convincing me to date an entire wolf pack at once."
She giggled, and after a minute, I joined her.
∞ ∞ ∞
The rest of the week was pretty much the same–classes, hanging out with Victoria and Ed and Allan, and not quite avoiding Doc, but not really hanging out with him, either. It was frustrating to both of us. It was a temporary situation. I still had some minor freak outs about seriously dating three guys at once, but the idea started to sink in.
I still hadn't heard from Alex by the time Ed picked me up for dinner Thursday evening, and I was pretty worried.
Ed was frowning when I came out of the dorm building. "Hey, Ed."
His expression lightened, and he pulled me into a hug, burying his nose in my hair before pressing his lips to mine. His kiss curled my toes, and I dug my fingers into his back. Ed growled lightly in pleasure. He released me, and I fell in next to him.
I pulled out my phone and kept it in my hand. I was under orders to call Doc at the slightest hint of worry, even with one of the other guys. After last Friday, it was a good precaution.
He held my other hand, and we headed for town to get some dinner.
My phone chimed that I had a text, and I let go of Ed's hand to check it.
"What's up?"
"Oh, it's just Victoria saying to have a nice night." I sighed in annoyance.
"What's wrong? Something's bothering you." Ed reclaimed my hand when I put it down at my side.
"I'm just worried about Alex. I haven't heard from him all week."
"Alex?" He stopped and turned me to face him.
We were about halfway to town now, and I wasn't real happy about stopping here. There wasn't much around, and no other pedestrians at the moment. It wasn't dark yet. Unfortunately, that didn't mean we weren't in danger.
"Yeah, I was going to talk to him Monday. He didn't show, and I've texted him several times and called once, and I haven't heard anything. I'm worried about him."
Ed's expression darkened. "I thought you were going to break up with him."
"Ed, I can't break up with him if I haven't seen him. Besides, just because I'm not going to date him doesn't mean we can't be friends." My voice rose a little, and I tried to keep my anger in check.
"Friends? Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"Ed, you can't tell me who I can and can't be friends with."
He wisely didn't contradict me there. "You could just tell him through text, so you don't have to worry about it."
"I'm not breaking up with anyone over a text message, unless there's literally no other way. Besides, I don't know what's wrong with him. That would be shitty."
"You're sure you haven't seen him? I thought I smelled his scent outside your dorm."
"Wait, do you think I'm lying to you? I mean, I know we don't know each other real well yet, but you've trusted me with your secrets. I would have thought you would trust me to tell the truth about this! And if I had seen him, why wouldn't I tell you?"
Ed snapped his mouth shut, as if realizing what he'd done. "I just...don't like him."
"I know. We all know. It's okay. You don't have to like him. You can't tell me I can't talk to him, though."
Ed grumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing. Can we just go eat?"
"You know what, maybe you should talk to Doc and Allan, and then maybe you should apologize. I'll see you this weekend." I turned and headed back toward campus.
"Sofia!"
I ignored Ed, walking as fast as I could. The altitude didn't bother me as much as it had, but I was still adjusting.
He didn't follow, which was both good because I was annoyed, and also not great because it wasn't safe for me alone.
Partway back my phone buzzed. It was Doc.
"Hi," I grumbled.
"You okay? Ed told us you were upset with him." Doc's voice soothed me.
"Yeah, don't let that jerk be a jerk," Allan called in the background.
"What does that even mean?" I tried not to laugh.
"No idea," Doc replied. "Look, he's worried about losing you. We were talking about if it might be safer to get you to go home for a semester or not. He didn't like that idea at all. None of us do, but we had to consider it."
"Well, he needs to figure out he can't control my life," I snapped.
"We'll talk to him, just stay on the phone until you're back at your room."
I muttered something about controlling boyfriends.
"Sofia..."
"No, I know you're only
