Page 48 of Break: Vol. 2

I sighed as the two of them rambled on into a smaller conversation. The room filled up rather quickly. Dare’s mother and sister. My parents. Cody’s. Taylor’s. The only family missing was Dex’s. I glanced towards him and he shot me a serene smile, then, as if he knew what I was thinking, he shook his head. He didn’t want me to be upset about it—we’d already had that talk. They had realized that Dex would do what he wanted with or without their approval. And no happy ending was ever gained without sacrifice. I only wished I could’ve been the one to sacrifice and not him.

I took a seat at one end of the table as Dex moved in on my right with Cody on his other side and then Darren on my left and Taylor next to him. I only hoped when we opened up to our families that it would help to showcase how we were coming forward as a united front.

As everyone adjusted, waiters entered carrying pitchers of water. They took our orders and soon enough, platters of appetizers were brought out as well. It was like the calm before the storm. Everyone was laughing, relaying different stories and getting to know one another through each of the different families.

As it was, though, it was Taylor’s father—Henry—that broke the ice as he responded to his wife’s apparent love of New York City.

“Quite an unfortunate city, if you ask me,” he said. “Too cold. Too crowded. Would have preferred to come here to see you and Donovan get married. Didn’t even know you two had broken up until he informed us about this trip.” I grimaced as he glanced to the side at Taylor, who didn’t seem the least bit upset or awkward—I didn’t know how he kept his easy going expression like that, especially while I was sweating bullets. “What’d you ever do to make the poor girl dump you anyway?”

“Who ever said she dumped me?” Taylor replied easily.

His father huffed again. “Why else would she be marrying another man?”

My face heated as everyone got settled. “What do you mean?” I heard my mother ask. “She and Dex have been together for a while now.”

Moment of truth. Here it was.

“Actually,” Dex said, cupping my shoulder, “that’s why we’ve asked you all here tonight.”

All eyes were on us. For a split second, I wondered how fast my feet could carry me out the door. Maybe we could just run away. We could move to Bermuda and get married there. We'd never have to come home and we could continue to pretend. "Jamie?" Dex's voice brought me back to the present. I sucked in a breath and looked up. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Even though I felt sick to my stomach, I nodded anyway.

“Jamie? What’s this about?” My father’s confused tone shot me straight through the heart. It froze me on the spot.

I blinked, staring at him across the table. Sensing my trouble, Dare reached under the table and took my hand. I whirled and looked at him and he nodded reassuringly. Beyond him, Taylor smiled as well and winked.

“Well,” I finally started with a gulp, turning to face the rest of our families, “the reason why we asked you all out here is because of the wedding. As most of you are aware, when each of you met me—aside from my parents of course—I was dating your sons. Nothing has changed, except now we're ready to tell you guys the truth."

"The truth?" I watched as my father's brow furrowed and he turned towards my mom as if she would have some clue to what was going on.

"Yes," I continued, turning to the rest of the group. "I've been involved with all of your sons for the last several years. They all know. We've never lied or cheated. We're in a committed … erm … polyamorous relationship. When we graduated, they asked me to marry them. All four of them. Officially, I’ll be marrying Dex.” I peeked up at him and his grip on my shoulder tightened. “But, unofficially, I’ll be marrying Darren, Cody,andTay—Donovan, I mean—as well.”

Silverware slipped from someone’s fingertips and the loud clatter of the metal on porcelain echoed throughout the room, making me wince.

“You what?” My mom blinked at me as my father gaped, slack-jawed at me. The faces surrounding them were no different.

“I thought it was a little odd that you were dating Dare and then you weren’t…” Giselle said a bit breathlessly as if she were still trying to work through the announcement in her head.

“This isn’t legal,” Cody’s father said. “You can’t marry multiple men.”

“That’s why she said ‘officially,’” Dex replied with cool composure. “Actually, she’s already signed the paperwork pronouncing her my wife, but tomorrow, during the ceremony, we’ve asked to be tied together, the four of us—spiritually, of course. Everything is done by the book. The marriage is legal.”

“How—I mean—why would you…” Taylor’s mother was pink in the face as she tried to adjust and speak, but the words couldn’t seem to form into full, coherent sentences.

“How long has this been going on?” My father directed the question not at me but at the guys.

Cody sat forward and answered. “Jamie’s been dating all of us for a few years now and when we graduated, we decided to ask her to marry us. We all began dating her at the same time and we share in these decisions."

“All of you?” The shock on his face did not bode well. “And you’re okay with this? Sharing a woman?”

"I can't believe I'm getting to see something like this in real life," Giselle said absently. “This is like a telenovela."

“More like a horror film,” someone muttered.

“Is this a prank?” someone else asked. "This has to be a prank. It can't be real. This isn't funny."

“Listen,” Dare held up a hand as more people tried to talk, hurling accusations and disbelief, “we’re in love. We’re doing this legally. We’re already committed. We asked you all to be here because, tomorrow, whether you like it or not, we’re getting married. I’m going to dedicate my life to Jamie and I know that I’d rather tell my family the truth than lie to them.”

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