I laughed and nodded, taking another sip of beer and diving into the chips.
“You go on dates all together?”
“Yes.”
“Are you allowed to be with each other one-on-one or do all three of you have to be there?”
“I can only speak for us, not throuples in general,” I said. “We’re happy with all pairings though we prefer to be together. We’ve agreed to be honest about any jealousy or feelings of being left out. So far it hasn’tbeen an issue. We like seeing the happiness that each one of us gets from the others.”
Olivia had told us pretty early on that she felt a little lonely at night since Kayden and I usually stayed together, so he and I had made a point to stay with her a few nights a week and duck out before Kaylee woke up. It made for less sleep, but it also made Liv feel cared for so neither of us complained about it, and we were happy to have her in our arms on those nights. We felt more complete when we she was with us anyway.
“Wow,” Leo said, shaking his head. “Based on the smile on your face and the way your eyes are all lit up with that lovesick gleam, I’m going to guess you have genuine feelings for both of them?”
“I’m desperately in love with them, Leo. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for them to be happy,” I said. That sentiment was so true that I even knew deep down, if they couldn’t get behind a lifelong partnership like this, I’d walk away so they could be together for Kaylee. It would mean breaking my own heart, but I’d do it for them.
“Does Kaylee know?” Leo asked.
“Not yet,” I said with a frown. “Liv’s being cautious. Kayden and I are leaving it up to her to decide when she’s ready.”
“This is awesome, man. I’m so happy for you,” he said, pulling me into a hug. “I take it you need another ticket to the game tomorrow night?”
Liv and I had been planning to take Kaylee to tomorrow’s game for a while since Ima was visiting her family in Chicago. She and Adrian agreed to give us their tickets, which were really just two tickets Leo always had that they’d commandeered for ninety percent of his games. Leo’s teammate and friend Rickles had given us an extra one for Kaylee since his family didn’t go to nearly as many games as ours and his boyfriend preferred to watch from home.
“Yes, if you can swing it, but that wasn’t my motivation for telling you. I wanted to tell you because I’m telling your mom in a couple days, and my best friend should know first.” I clinked my beer bottle against his.
Leo rolled his eyes. “I know Liv is your best friend, but thank you. Since you’re mine, it is nice that you pretend for me. Rickles’s other ticket should still be free, I’ll text him. You’ll all still be with Soph? You cool with that?”
“Yeah, Olivia loves hanging out with her at the games. She enjoys casually reminding Sophia how much you cried at the bar during that two-week breakup of yours.”
“Remind me to keep your girlfriend away from my wife,” Leo said dryly. “Can I meet Kayden after the game? You can all come out with Sophia and me to a late dinner or something.”
“Sure. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to care about hockey at all by the way,” I said. “He’s just going so he can be with us.”
“Good, then my mom will love him,” Leo joked. “I’m guessing Aunt Sloane loves him too?”
“Yeah, Mom and Ima have been watching Kaylee for us so we can have alone time and they’re big fans of the three of us together.”
“Cool.” Leo grabbed the video game controllers off the table and tossed me one. “Isn’t keeping two partners happy like double the work?”
I laughed. “I suppose, but it also means at the end of the day there are two people eager to suck my dick.”
Leo laughed and shook his head as he typed a message on his phone. “Dude, I am happy for you, but I’m a one-woman man. Poly life is not for me. I’m not really surprised it’s for you though.”
“Not sure how to take that one.”
“I just mean that you’re so understanding of people and what they need and you have so much capacity to love people for who they are without getting jealous and insecure. I’m not surprised you’d have enough space in your heart for two people and enough trust and compassion to understand that those two people also love each other.”
“Thanks, Leo,” I said. “Let’s start the game before your wife makes her after-dinner call and we get interrupted.”
Leo grinned. “You know us so well.”
That I do.We started the video game, and my mind got hung up on what Leo said about the two people I loved, loving each other. Technically, neither of them had admitted to that yet, but I was pretty sure they were there or headed there quickly. I couldn’t wait for the day when they realized they were in love. Maybe that wasn’t a reaction a lot of people could relate to, but it felt right for me.
Chapter Forty-Three
Olivia
“Livvy.” My mother blinkedat me like I had three heads. “I’m so confused. Can you start at the beginning please?”
