Chapter 5: The Biologist's Call

Liam sat on the edge of his narrow dorm bed, staring at his phone like it might explode. Katie's number was already pulled up on the screen—Jenny had given it to him with a knowing smirk after their conversation at the restaurant—but his finger hovered over the call button, paralyzed by uncertainty.

Three days had passed since Jenny's revelation about Amy's insecurities, and he'd spent every waking moment trying to process what it meant. The shy girl reading Darwin hadn't been playing hard to get—she'd been genuinely terrified. The careful boundaries, the tears after her orgasm, the way she'd started to reach for him but pulled back—it all made devastating sense now.

But understanding Amy's fears only raised more questions about Katie and Jenny's role in all of this. The midnight kiss hadn't been a spontaneous moment of drunken experimentation. It had been something else entirely—a display, maybe, or an invitation. And Katie's whispered promise that he'd "get his turn" suggested a level of coordination between the three women that went far beyond normal friendship.

We don't do anything halfway, Jenny had said. If you're in, you're really in. All of us.

His biology training had taught him to look for patterns, to observe before acting. But the more he observed this situation, the more complex it became. These three women shared something deeper than friendship—some kind of intimate arrangement that he was only beginning to glimpse the edges of.

The knowledge that Amy had been thinking about him, wanting him but held back by her own fears, had been eating at him for days. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face in the morning light, flushed and vulnerable after her orgasm. The memory of her tears, the relief in her voice when she'd said she needed to know she could do something—it all pointed to a woman fighting her own demons.

And he was part of that fight now, whether he'd intended to be or not.

His phone buzzed with a text from his lab partner asking about their upcoming presentation, jarring him from his thoughts. The normalcy of it—homework, deadlines, the mundane concerns of college life—felt surreal after everything that had happened. How was he supposed to concentrate on cellular respiration when Amy's soft moans were still echoing in his memory?

Before he could lose his nerve entirely, Liam pressed the call button.

It rang twice before Katie's voice came through, warm and slightly amused. "Well, well. I was wondering when you'd finally call."

"Katie," he said, then immediately felt stupid. Of course it was Katie—he'd called her number.

Her laugh was like silver bells, the same sound that had captivated him at the party. "Jenny told me about your little heart-to-heart at the restaurant. How are you handling the big revelation?"

The casual way she mentioned it caught him off guard. "You mean about Amy?"

"About Amy being scared of your impressive anatomy, yes." There was no embarrassment in her voice, no awkwardness around the intimate topic. It was just another fact to her, as natural as discussing the weather. "Jenny said you looked like someone had hit you with a brick."

"It... explained a lot," he admitted, settling back against his pillow. "I kept thinking I'd done something wrong, or that she was having second thoughts about everything."

"Oh, honey, no." Katie's voice softened with genuine sympathy. "Amy's been wanting you since that day at the coffee shop. She just got in her own head about it. Classic Amy—brilliant enough to understand evolutionary theory but convinced she can't handle basic human anatomy."

The affection in Katie's voice when she talked about Amy was unmistakable. This wasn't jealousy or competition—it was something else entirely.

"Jenny mentioned that you three share everything," Liam said carefully, testing the waters.

"Did she now?" Katie's tone turned playful again. "And what did you think of that little piece of information?"

"I'm not sure what to think. I mean, I saw the kiss at midnight, but I thought maybe it was just..."

"Just what? Drunken experimentation?" Katie laughed again. "Liam, honey, that kiss was about as spontaneous as a NASA launch. We'd been planning it for weeks."

The admission hit him like a physical blow. "Planning it?"

"Well, not the specifics. But Amy had been driving us crazy talking about you, and she needed a push. Sometimes our girl needs to see herself being bold before she can actually be bold, you know?"

The pieces clicked into place with startling clarity. The midnight kiss hadn't been about Katie and Jenny—it had been about Amy. A carefully orchestrated moment designed to help her break out of her own shell.

"So when you said I'd get my turn..."

"I meant exactly what you think I meant." Katie's voice dropped to that intimate whisper he remembered from the party. "Amy's not the only one who's been thinking about you, Liam. Jenny and I have been very interested in seeing what all the fuss is about."

His mouth went dry. "Katie, I—"

"Relax," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "I'm not proposing anything scandalous. Well, not immediately. But I think it's time we had a proper conversation about what's been happening."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Amy's been hiding in her room for a week, convinced she's ruined everything with you. Jenny's been playing matchmaker so hard she's driving us both crazy. And you've been walking around like a lovesick puppy, according to everyone at the restaurant." Katie paused. "It's time to stop dancing around this and actually talk."

The directness was both refreshing and terrifying. "Okay. What did you have in mind?"

"Coffee," she said simply. "Tomorrow afternoon. That little place where you first met Amy—poetic justice and all that. Just you and me, having a conversation about what comes next."

"And Amy?"

"Amy will be there when she's ready. But first, you and I need to establish some ground rules." Katie's tone grew more serious. "Like I said, we don't do anything halfway. If you're going to be part of this—part of us—then you need to understand what that means."

The implications sent a thrill of excitement and terror through him. "What does it mean?"

"That's what we're going to discuss tomorrow." Her voice turned playful again. "But Liam? Bring your appetite. I have a feeling this conversation is going to work up quite a hunger."

The line went dead, leaving him staring at his phone in a mixture of anticipation and bewilderment. Whatever he'd thought he was getting into with Amy, it was clearly much more complex than he'd imagined.

He lay back on his bed, trying to process what Katie had revealed. The midnight kiss had been planned—a deliberate act designed to push Amy out of her comfort zone. And apparently, it had worked, at least partially. Amy had been bold enough to invite him to her bed, bold enough to take control that morning. But her deeper fears about physical intimacy remained.

Amy's not the only one who's been thinking about you.

Katie's words echoed in his mind, carrying implications that made his pulse race. This wasn't just about helping Amy overcome her insecurities—Katie and Jenny had their own interest in whatever was developing.

We don't do anything halfway. If you're in, you're really in. All of us.

Jenny's warning took on new meaning now. This wasn't a traditional relationship he was being invited into. It was something else entirely—some kind of arrangement where boundaries were fluid and sharing was expected.

The rational part of his mind—the part trained in scientific observation and logical analysis—should have been concerned about the complexity of what he was walking into. Multiple relationships, shared intimacy, emotional dynamics he couldn't even begin to map out. It was the kind of situation that could explode spectacularly if handled wrong.

But the larger part of him, the part that had been captivated by Amy's quiet intelligence and Katie's bold confidence, was intrigued beyond reason. The promise in Katie's voice, the memory of Amy coming apart in his arms, the knowledge that Jenny was somehow orchestrating all of it—it was intoxicating in a way that logic couldn't touch.

His phone buzzed with another text, this one from an unknown number: Looking forward to tomorrow. - K

She must have gotten his number from Jenny. The simple message carried so much weight—promise, invitation, challenge all rolled into one.

Liam closed his eyes and tried to imagine what tomorrow's conversation would bring. Katie had said they needed to establish ground rules, but what kind of rules governed a relationship like this? How did three women who shared everything decide to invite someone else into their dynamic?

And more importantly, was he ready for whatever they had in mind?

The memory of Amy's tears, the relief in her voice when she'd said she needed to know she could do something, made the decision easier. Whatever complex arrangement these women had, whatever rules governed their relationships, Amy was at the center of it. And if he wanted to be with her—really be with her—then he needed to understand and accept the whole picture.

Tomorrow, he would get his answers. Tonight, he could only wait and wonder what he was truly walking into.

As he finally drifted off to sleep, Liam's last conscious thought was of Katie's promise: You'll get your turn.

He was beginning to suspect that his "turn" was going to be far more than he'd ever imagined.