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Hayes tapped the steering wheel as he waited for the gate to open. “Not just you. Maybe they have, like, a group-relationship social club or something? But they all seemed happy, right? I don’t know, man. It would be hard not to be a jealous asshole in that situation.”
I was keeping my mouth shut, because I’d struggled holding down a relationship with one guy, let alone five, like Charlotte and The Daymakers. But I mean… I could dream of a perfect world. A world where I could be loved by more than one partner. I could rely on them. I would never be alone again.
And the sex. Man… imagine the sex.
I swallowed the moan in my throat, letting out a choked sound. Hayes looked at me in the rearview mirror, and I worked to keep my face impassive. Oblivious to my inner thoughts, he continued. “I mean, it obviously works some of the time, because Vanessa and her little polycule have been together, what? Thirty years? I think, with the right person, I’d be open to it too.”
Jesse’s face whipped toward Hayes. “Seriously?”
Hayes’s eyes met mine, then darted away. “Sure. I mean, I don’t want to fuck another guy, but I wouldn’t mind sharing a woman. Especially if it was with the right person. Or people, I guess.”
Jesse looked out the windshield. “Yeah. Me either, for the right girl.” He pointed to a fast food place. “Let’s go through the drive-thru. Tally’s hungry.”
Holy shit. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I kept reminding myself that they weren’t talking about me in particular. They hadn’t been anything but friendly, really. But there’d been that moment with Jesse the other day at the taco truck. And there were a lot of those moments with Hayes.
Had we just soft launched the idea of a three-way relationship?
“Can I take your order?”
I’ll have a threesome with two handsome guys, who already take care of me better than any of my exes ever have. And a side of fries. Thank you.
FOURTEEN
HAYES
Tally had been quiet for the rest of the ride home last night, but she hadn’t seemed uncomfortable. More like she was deep in thought, either about the topic of conversation, or the double beef burger that she’d ordered.
I hadn’t imagined the tension between us as we walked Tally to her door, but we’d said a friendly goodnight and walked next door. However, as soon as we made it through the front door, I’d turned to Jesse.
“You’re interested in Tally.” It was a statement, not a question. I wasn’t oblivious; I could see how much he liked her, just from the way he watched her. Jesse and I had a long friendship, and some things you just knew. For instance, I knew he wanted her. I also knew that he loved me and wouldn’t make a move on her, because he believed in the friendship code, despite the fact I had no claim whatsoever on Tally. She was her own free woman, and if she chose Jesse, I’d be happy for them. But he’d never pursue her, knowing that I already had feelings for her.
So I hadn’t been surprised by his hesitant, “Yes.”
Last night had been eye-opening in more ways than one. I hadn’t known that group relationships like that were even an option. I’d spent so many years thinking that relationships could only look the way my parents’ did. My mom and dad had met at work when they were in their twenties, fallen in love, gotten married. They’d bought a house, and my older sister was born the same year.
They were the perfect representation of a nuclear marriage, and even to this day, they loved the hell out of each other. They’d been the ideal I’d looked up to as I grew up. Their love was one I aspired to for myself. But they’d been firmly working class, which meant life hadn’t always been easy, even though I hadn’t realized that fact until I was older.
When my youngest sister had gotten sick when I was eight, my mom had moved to the city with her to get medical care, leaving my dad to take care of me and my older sisters. However, he’d had to work a full-time job to pay for the medical expenses. Those years had been tough—not just for him, but for my mom in the city with my sister and zero emotional support. No one to lean on. No one to give her a break. That year had aged them both.
What would it have been like for them to have had a third adult in the family? Someone to help my dad out so he didn’t have to do it all, or someone to swap out with Mom so she could have a break.
Hell, not just in times of crisis. If there’d been two incomes in the house, my dad wouldn’t have had to work overtime to make ends meet. Would we have been closer if I’d been able to see him more often? If he’d had time to interact with us and not be bone-tired?
All those questions had been running around in my head as I said, “She’s having a baby. She’s a package deal.”
Jesse had just shrugged. “I know, man. She’s been talking baby names with me. She’s letting me feel it kick. I can’t explain it, but there’s just this excitement in my chest. Like, this anticipation that’s buzzing around my body to meet this little human we talk about daily. But on top of that, there’s this fear. That something will happen to Tally, or to the baby. I’m so twisted up, but something I know for sure is that there’s no other girl quite like her, and if I didn’t take my chance because I was scared, I’d regret it.”
He was so fucking right. She was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of girl. Brave and sweet, and so fucking talented, it was awe-inspiring to watch.
“I’d like to pursue something with her too. And if you meant what you said in the car, I don’t see why we can’t both pursue her. Together.”
We had come to some kind of gentlemen’s agreement, and now it was all I could think about as I went through schematics for the car at work today.
The difference between a Formula One car and an IndyCar was the fact that the car was standardized between teams. In IndyCar, you could only use approved bodies, engines, and parts on most things, but that didn’t mean we didn’t have room to wiggle.
VANT Racing had been set up with bigger things in mind, namely Formula Racing. So we could machine our own dampers and bearings on premises. There was no end to the small tweaks we could make to ensure these cars had the best build money and technology could buy. I didn’t have three mechanical engineering degrees, but what I did have was a lot of hands-on experience building machines.
No matter how exciting this was, I couldn’t stop thinking about Tally and Jesse. Would he bring it up to her while they were working today? Would she say yes? Was I imagining her interest?
