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“And if I kissed you right now? Just like this with my hand fisted in your hair? What would you say? How would you feel?” I ask, my own heart beating erratically.
She sucks in a breath.
“Yes.” She pants.
“Yes, what, bunny?” I pull back so that my eyes connect with her own blue gaze.
“Yes, I want that . . . I want to be wanted by you.”
Without hesitation, I take her lips gently. She softens in my grip, and I use the hand I have fisted in her hair to pull her up to her full height.
Hunger takes over and I dive in deeper. My tongue tangles with her own in a fight for dominance. Another tight tug on her hair has her melting into me.
When I pull back to look at her, all I see is the haze of lust and need that’s overtaken her.
I release her and both of my hands slide up to cup her by the chin. She’s only a few inches shorter than me at 5’10”, but I’m still able to lean down a little and give her a kiss on the forehead before pulling back.
“I like having you with us, Naomi. You’ll never be unwanted here.”
She nods.
“I need time. Can you give me that?” I say as I release her and take a step back.
“Yes,” she answers breathlessly.
Footsteps come padding down the hallway, and I look over to see Bex with a grin on her face.
“So, what’s for breakfast?” she asks, eyeing the two of us curiously.
I twist in her direction. In my periphery, I spot Naomi’s expression. It’s lighter than before, and maybe there’s even a small sparkle in the corners of her eyes.
“Full spread this morning. We’re gonna have a sit-down breakfast,” I announce.
“Yes, Mr. Silver,” Bex says from my side, giving me a kiss on the cheek. “How can we help?”
There’s a light in the kitchen that glows between the three of us. As we work together, we snack on strips of perfectly crispy bacon. Everyone goes about their tasks, music playing lightly in the background from my phone. Bex is cutting up fruit, and Naomi is setting the table and grabbing drinks for everyone while I flip pancakes and scramble a mountain of eggs.
The sun is just rising around us as we sit down to breakfast at the table.
Everything feels better—almost right.
Chapter 20
Naomi
Going back to school is physically painful. The ache in my chest as I drove away from Bex and Alvie grew with each mile that added to the distance separating us until it turned my stomach sour too.
I go through my routine the morning after my return, packing my bags for the day and double-checking I have all the students’ work I need for the intro to psychology class I TA. My mind wanders the whole time though. Everything runs together, and I end up straightening the same stack of paper over and over until my alarm goes off and I know I need to leave for campus.
The whole day passes in a haze, the rest of the week too. One class blurs to the next, meals run together, study sessions drag on, and sleep evades me every time I try to lay my head down.
I’ve spent the majority of the days after spring break preparing for my advisor meeting to discuss my dissertation topic, which I’m not looking forward to at all. Almost two weeks of mounting anxiety over a meeting has made me a mess.
I’ve finally decided on a topic, but I have a feeling that my nearly seventy-year-old, white-man advisor isn’t going to like my ideas. He’s old school and doesn’t see the value in innovation like I want to be a part of. He wants students to study the classics and apply them to modern clinical practice. His entire philosophy is a slap in the face of all of the progress the field of psychology has made in the past few decades.
Meeting Alvie and Bex made me realize how important embracing alternate lifestyles and relationship dynamics are. Counselors are supposed to meet clientele where they’re at and embrace their individuality when evaluating them and providing them with resources and guidance.
I want to study the needs of communities like those who are in the lifestyle, who participate in polyamory and BDSM activities. Some part of me knows there is a correlation between these identities and minority groups, like BIPOC individuals, LGBTQ+ identifying individuals, et cetera, that I want to explore. I want my practice to reflect the embracing nature of this new world that I’ve found with Alvie and Bex. My path should be to serve and support them.
