“The guy you’ve started dating?”
She licked her lips again. She needed to stop doing that, or he’d be kissing her, too, and he wasn’t sure she wanted him to do that just yet. This was an important conversation. Terrifying, but important. “Yeah.”
“He’s not my biggest fan.”
“There’s a weird, fine line between love and hate.”
“That’s a cliche.”
“For a reason.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know if he’s into you. But he made a threesome comment—”
Brent’s brain blanked. She kept talking, but he couldn’t follow.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that she’d lost him. “Hey. Where’d you go?”
“Uh…”
“Did I lose you at threesomes?”
“Something like that.”
“It was an offhand comment. He actually meant it more like sharing in a polyamorous relationship, but—”
This time he held up his hand. “Back up.”
“What?”
“Poly-what?”
“Polyamory.”
“Okay.”
“It’s—”
“I know what it is,” he said softly, his thoughts pinging off in all directions. Most of them dangerously, pornographically erotic. “I just have never heard it come out of your mouth before.”
“Turns out, I’ve led a sheltered existence.”
“And now…?”
“Now I’m exploring my options. Like, I don’t need to be with only one person, maybe.”
“Ah.” His chest hurt. “Of course not.”
“Andyou…maybe don’t need to be with only one person.”
He shook his head. “I tried. I’m not interested in dating other people. I’m sorting out how I feel about myself, and focusing on you.”
“But you said you wanted to kiss Evan again.”
“I—I said it would be hot.” He had to regroup. “I want to kiss you. That’s where I’m focused right now.”
She crawled closer, almost in his lap now. “And what if I saidIwant you to kiss him?”
“You wouldn’t be jealous?”
She stopped and tilted her head to the side, thinking. “No,” she finally said. “Not in the least. Evan said that the jealousy goes away, it’s just a temporary spark.”
