Page 5 of Yearning For Her

My other girlfriend.

Willow’s heart hammered against her chest, which felt far too tight. Eli had a…a girlfriend. Another girlfriend.

No. No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening. This is not happening. This… This isn’t right.

Willow pulled free of Eli’s grasp and dropped her hands onto her lap. “Eli… What’s going on?”

Marissa frowned and looked at Eli.

He flicked his gaze from Marissa to Willow and folded his hands on the table. “Will, you know how much I love you. That hasn’t changed. But when I met Marissa six months ago, we just clicked. I realized that love doesn’t have to be exclusive. That it can grow to include others. Marissa is a wonderful person. She’s been dying to meet you so you two could get to know each other, and then we could all finally be together.”

Willow glared at him, the fog of her confusion and hurt parting to make way for rising anger. “So you brought me here…to ask me to join a threesome?”

“Don’t say it that way. That makes it sound cheap, and this is so much more than a one-time thing. It’s…an opening of our relationship. This would be another partner, for both of us.”

“She didn’t know?” Marissa asked.

Eli frowned. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“You know that’s not how this works, Eli.”

“Look, I know her, okay?” He cast Willow a pleading look, as though she’d offer him support. “I knew that if I told her before we were all ready, she would’ve just stewed on it, and the longer she had to think about it, the more likely she was to chicken out.”

Marissa scowled. “Chicken out? Polyamory is about trust and communication, neither of which you’ve demonstrated—to either of us. It’s something people choose to do, not something you manipulate them into.”

“And I just wanted Willow to give it a fair shot. She wouldn’t have understood if I’d just talked to her.” He leaned toward Marissa, softening his expression. “But being here, meeting you…how could anyone say no?”

Willow couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Rage coursed through her veins, burning hotter with every word that came out of Eli’s mouth. “Wouldn’t have understood? Eli, you’re cheating on me!”

He raised his hands placatingly and glanced around. “Will, please keep your voice down. Don’t cause a scene.”

She jabbed a finger at him. “Do not tell me to keep my voice down.”

“I wouldn’t have to tell you if the whole restaurant couldn’t hear you right now.” Eli sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m not cheating on you. My heart is fully committed to you. I love you. But it’s committed to Marissa too. She’s polyamorous, Will, and so am I.”

He loved Willow? Why would anyone do this to someone they loved? Why would he disrespect her, dismiss her feelings, ignore her wishes, and keep secrets from her if he loved her? If Eli really was polyamorous, why would he hide it for so long?

Because he never truly loved me. He loves what I can give him, loves that I do anything he needs. Loves that he gets to be in charge.

That thought made her stomach churn. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have been so blind after all this time?

Because I desperately wanted someone to love me for once. To see me as enough.

“Don’t pretend, Eli,” Marissa snapped. “You are cheating. I don’t know why I didn’t realize sooner. I should’ve known something wasn’t right when you kept refusing to let me meet Willow, when you kept saying she was interested but needed time. I should’ve smelled your bullshit from a mile away.”

Willow should’ve smelled it too. She’d really believed he was going to propose tonight, but he’d never even seriously discussed moving in together. Every time she’d brought it up, he’d been either evasive or noncommittal, giving halfhearted excuses about commute times or convenience, or saying he wouldn’t want to leave his apartment and she wouldn’t want to leave her house. Then he’d always change the subject.

How had she convinced herself that they were about to jump into marriage when they hadn’t even hit the milestone of sharing a home after three years together?

Marissa turned on her chair to face Willow, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I am so, so sorry for this. It’s my fault for taking him at his word, and it’s not the way any of this is supposed to work. For what it’s worth, everything he’s told me about you makes you out to be a wonderful person. You deserve so much better than this.”

Willow searched Marissa’s gaze, recognizing the same anger and hurt in it that simmered within herself. “Thank you.”

She didn’t blame the woman. Eli had played them both.

Marissa dropped her hand and stood. “If you haven’t already guessed, Eli, we’re done.”

“Marissa!” Eli called as the woman slipped past Willow and walked away.

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