He grins. “I look up often. I have this weird sixth sense that I can feel when someone crosses in front of my section of beach. As if they’re obscuring my vast view of the ocean and I’m offended enough to look up.”
I laugh. “Okay, cool. Thanks for the chat.”
He nods, but we don’t move. Seconds tick by. A minute.
“Can I kiss you, Ruby?” Alka asks.
I take a breath, chewing the inside of my lip.
“I’m going to point out that I didn’t ask anything about your dick.”
Laughter bursts out of me. “Yeah, okay. Just a small kiss. No dicks involved.”
“No dicks,” Alka agrees.
He steps closer until I can feel his body heat. My pulse picks up. I stare into his vivid green eyes as he leans in. His fingers touch my hand then loosely tangle with my fingers.
Finally, his lips touch mine. It’s soft, little pressure, but it lingers for a long time before he steps back.
“Good night, Ruby,” Alka murmurs.
I inhale, inclining my head. “Good night, Alka.”
He smiles and turns to walk down the path. I watch for just a second before turning to the hotel in the distance. I don’t meet anyone on the way, which is good because my mind is racing. My heart still beats quicker than it should.
He was sweet. Kind. I’m almost sad that we ended the night.
I step into the elevator, and there’s already someone there. Ican smell the alcohol on him. He looks at me with a grin. “Hey, you’re hot.”
I nod politely.
“Want to fuck?”
“Not even a little. Thanks.”
“Aw, but you’re hot. I bet you have a nice cock.”
“I don’t,” I tell him as I step off the elevator.
“Those with the best cocks always lie,” he laments. The elevator doors shut, and he disappears.
Almost got back without being propositioned. Maybe there’s some code I need to wear that denotes I’m not interested.
My thoughts drift back to Alka, and I decide that, despite the email and the drunken man on the elevator, today was the best day I’ve had on Kala so far. That’s a good thing.
CHAPTER 9
OSCAR
There’s a word in polyamory that is often referred to as the “opposite of jealousy.” Compersion. It describes the positive emotion one feels when seeing their partner happily in love with another person.
I know. It sounds counterintuitive, right? But consider this: our entire lives, we’re predisposed to a very specific way of living. It’s not just a heteronormative culture we live in but also a monogamous-normative culture. Anything outside of those two directives is met with obstacles, pushback, and oftentimes ugliness.
From a young age, we’re literally trained to believe that being with more than one person is supposed to stir up bad feelings. We’resupposedto be jealous if our partner looks at another person or thinks they’re attractive. We expect our partners to suddenly lose all interest in literally every living thingexceptfor us.
But what if you just don’t feel that way? What if it brings you joy to see your partner happy? That’s a novel idea, right? The truth is, monogamous pair-bonding is a relatively modern phenomena, though historians, religious leaders, and governments make it look like the default condition. The truth is,anthropologists studying human relationships say it’s far, far from what was normal in our species’ history.
If you look for actual reports about society and examine the evidence through a lens clear of modern expectations, you’ll find that roughly 85% of all cultures have been polygymous. This includes the cultures that gave rise to Christianity—King Solomon. The very same King Solomon who had a harem of a thousand wives and concubines.
