"What are you reading?" I ask him, gesturing to it.
He seems to freeze momentarily before a nervousness travels over him.
"You know at dinner last night," Alec starts tapping his fingers on his leg, "you, Rylan and Hannah were talking…" He trails off and lets me fill in the blanks.
"You knew what we were talking about," I state and Alec nods.
Fuck! What if he thinks that I think it will apply to the guys? I'm not ready to lose them yet.
"Alec, I, um," I stumble over my words, "I just like reading them. It doesn't mean I think…" My words trail off when I see Alec pulling off the paper cover on his book.
"What are you doing?" My question is answered when Alec holds up the cover.
My hands shake a little as I take it from his outreached hand.
My mouth drops open. I look up at him, seeing his sheepish grin before reading the blurb.
'Why choose?' Is in big bold letters at the top.
"When you have a group like ours," Alec pulls me out of my staring, "dating often puts a strain on our family. If someone dates one of the guys, they break up and then decides to date someone else in the group, it gets messy. We're one big family and relationships can destroy that."
Alec's watching me carefully but I'm still too shocked to have a reaction.
"Polygamorous relationships are common in a lot of cultures and I've mentioned a few times to the guys that it could be a possibility. If we found the right girl," Alec adds. He continues tapping on his leg in a fast rhythm.
I realise he's waiting for me to say something.
"Uhh, yeah," I tell him, nodding. "That makes sense."
Alec's giving me a secretive smile like my answer has confirmed something.
He tugs my book from my hands, my usual response to people reading the blurbs of my books dies after that conversation.
"That sounds interesting," Alec says, smiling as he hands it back.
"It's really good," I tell him quietly, still anxious about having this conversation.
Alec puts the black paper cover back on his book.
"If," I hesitate but continue at Alec's reassuring smile. "If you told the guys, then why are you covering it?" I gesture to his book.
"Because I didn't tell them where I got the idea or that I read them. They probably just assumed I researched it," Alec tells me, leaning closer like he's telling me a secret. "And so I can read at school," he murmurs, grinning.
I laugh softly. "That's not a bad idea."
We go back to reading. Well, Alec reads. I mostly think.
That is not what I expected him say.At all.
The fact that he reads it too…that was a shock. I figured he understood what we were talking about at dinner but I didn't think he'd say anything.
"Have you ever thought about it?" Alec breaks me out of my thoughts.
I look at him confused but his smile clues me in.
"Oh." My eyes widen. "Umm, I guess. I mean, I'm reading it so you sort of have to imagine yourself in that position." Alec nods and I bite my lip before continuing. "I have but I don't think it will actually happen."
Alec's reassuring smile dims so I hurry to add. "And I've never dated anyone so it would be pretty awkward to find the right guys and ask them if they'd be a part of a harem." I joke.
