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“You know, like if one woman happened to sleep with a couple of you... you wouldn’t get jealous?”
I shrugged. “We’ve always been supportive of a polyamorous lifestyle. We believe it’s possible to be attracted to multiple people at once, that you can have feelings and even love more than one person at a time, and it does not take away from what you feel for someone else.”
“Really?”
Anthony nodded and jumped in. “You have multiple friends, do you not?”
“Well, I only have one best friend, but friendship is different.”
“Do you love both your parents and your friend though? Does having love for one diminish the love for another?”
“No… but isn’t that different?”
“How so?” Bash asked, staring up at her.
“Romantic love is different than familial love which is different from platonic love.”
“Why do you think it has to be different?” I asked.
“Because well, to be honest, I don’t really know.”
“My feeling is this,” Bash continued, “The more love in the world, the better. If I care about someone, and other people care about them too, it just means my loved one has more people to care about them, and to me, I can’t see how that’s a bad thing.”
“Bash has always been a hopeless romantic,” Jason said with a chuckle.
“And you’re not?” Bash asked him.
Jason shrugged. “Not like you. But I agree with the sentiment, even when love isn’t involved. Sometimes it’s all about the sex, and that’s fine too.”
Gage and Reed were the only two that had really stepped out of the conversation. Gage because, well, it was Gage and he didn’t talk openly about his feelings as much. Reed though… the look on his face concerned me a little. I knew that he was scared of love, which was one of the reasons he took a more casual approach to relationships. Not that he’d ever admit it, but I knew Reed better than almost anyone else and he knew it.
Snow yawned, and it reminded me to check the time. I yawned along with her. It was after 11 pm. It was getting a bit late for all of us to be hanging out and besides, she probably needed to sleep after the day she had. The rest of the guys also took the hint.
We slowly, but surely, stood up one by one and headed for the door. Gage promised that he’d have security keep an eye on her cottage throughout the night, as well as the rest of the property to make sure Hunter didn’t try to return.
Doc was hanging back though.
“Do you mind if I speak with you, alone?” he asked Snow.
She nodded. “Of course,” and that was our official cue to get lost.
I was the last, besides Doc, to leave the cottage.
“Sleep well, princess,” I said before closing the door.
18
Doc
“You know, if you need to talk, we’re all here for you,” I said. I took a seat across from Snow in the armchair nearest her. I knew she likely needed her space, and I wanted to give it to her. She seemed fine, she kept telling us she was okay, but I wanted to be sure. She claimed Hunter hadn’t laid a hand on her, that he just tried to talk to her before they started fighting.
“I know that, and thank you, Christian,” she said.
It was strange hearing my first name. I couldn’t recall the last time anyone had called me by it. To most of the others, I was “Doc.” My medical career had overtaken my personality in a way. Not that I minded but hearing her say my name after so long without hearing it made the entire conversation feel more personal.
I had some experience with assault and victims of domestic violence, and while her situation might not exactly qualify, I hoped I could still help her. I helped out at a low-income women’s clinic for years, and we were required to take specialized training. I was no psychiatrist, that wasn’t my area of expertise, but I wanted to make sure Snow was truly alright before I left her cottage.
“It sounds like you also had a controlling parent in your past, someone who had made you feel ashamed of yourself for feeling certain things. If you ever want to work through that, I’m no shrink, but we do have one on-call and I can reach out to her in the morning. We know that sometimes coming to a place like this can be shocking to people who have grown up in repressive environments, and a lot of difficult emotions can come to light.”
