Page 30 of Until Tomorrow
Her hesitation wasn’t lost on me, and I didn’t blame her. I’d betrayed her trust. But when her fingers closed around mine, I held on a little tighter.
Chapter 20
Logan
“I’vesloweddownabit as our family dynamic changed,” Loren continued. “I was more actively searching for a causal partner before we had Sophia. Now, I’m actively searching for a nap.”
“Amen,” Katy chimed in with a small giggle. She shifted in her chair, moving her daughter from one shoulder to the other. “By now, I feel like he’s said my name enough times for everyone to know it. Loren and I have been together most of our lives. Avery, here, is my partner as well.”
“Hello.” The man next to her waved slightly from his spot. It was clear as day that he wasn’t as outgoing as the others. He dressed in business casual clothing with his blond hair neatly combed. Hazel eyes softened as Katy smiled at him.
“It’s kind of a funny story, actually,” she said. “Avery was my first boyfriend back when we were teenagers, but he moved away for school, life happened, and all that. It wasn’t until eight years ago that we ran into each other in a coffee shop.”
“And we’ve been pretty much inseparable since,” he finished for her. “We’re a monogamous-polyamorous relationship because Katy is my only partner. I’ve always been a more introverted individual, and I just don’t have the energy to invest in more than one person romantically. The four of us as a whole are very close. Loren and Jack are as much my family as Katy is.”
“That’s okay,” Jack said. “I’m extroverted enough for all of us.”
“We know,” Loren replied. “The four of us have a house together—nice neighborhood, lots of growing room.”
“He built the house,” Katy told us with an immeasurable amount of pride in her voice.
“I fixed it up,” he corrected. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
“It is a big deal,” Jack cut in. “I can’t even build an Ikea table.”
“No one can build an Ikea table,” Loren said, making everyone laugh. “What I did was rearrange the structure of our house to better suit our needs. Avery has an entire space on the first floor that’s his—home office, bedroom, and bathroom. It’s a nice bathroom. I’m happy with how that turned out.”
“Me too,” Avery agreed.
“Upstairs is mine and Katy’s room, along with Sophia’s room. The basement is built out into an apartment-style suite for Jack when he is in town,” he stated. “Now, I say we have these spaces, but truly, we rotate. Katy and I don’t spend every night together. Some nights she’s with Avery while I take over nighttime duties with Sophia. When Jack is in town, we make it work for me to spend time with him.”
“And you have to understand that may be their baby, but she’sourbaby,” Jack said. “It’s not like they’re rotating schedules around so that Avery and I don’t have to deal with the princess.”
“Not at all,” Avery agreed. “We all love her and take care of her as a family. Has it been an adjustment? Yes, but anyone having a kid has to adjust.”
“I think that’s honestly what a lot of people have a limited view on what polyamory is,” Loren said. “The media has really skewed the perspective. Everyone thinks that anyone in a polyamorous relationship is over here having orgies.”
“But I am having orgies,” Jack cut in. I chuckled as others laughed.
“And you’re alone—”
“That’s not how orgies work,” he retorted over Loren, who broke down laughing harder.
“Fine!Fine!” Loren exclaimed. “Jack is having orgies, but he’s one of the exceptions. Most polyamorous relationships aren’t harems or reverse harems. They’re distinctive relationships between two people who may also have outside relationships as well. We don’t have Sunday night orgies. We have Sunday night chore discussions.”
“We’re painfully normal,” Katy agreed, smiling. “We talk about chores and meal plans. We discuss our schedules and plan our weeks. We talk aboutthe bills and grocery shopping. We go on dates and stay in. The only real difference is the number of partners we have.”
A hand shot up in the front.
“We do not raise hands here, buddy,” Loren said with a chuckle. “Ask away.”
“How did you decide polyamory was for you? Or did you just wake up polyamorous?”
Thank you, Mark, for asking what I was thinking.
“I don’t think it’s the kind of thing you just wake up and you magically are,” Jack commented.
“Society is programmed for monogamy,” Avery replied, “and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it limits the view people have about other kinds of relationships. A lot of polyamory begins with an open mind and discussing what polyamory looks like for you and your partner.”
