Page 102 of End Game

Griffin laughs.

Ronan actually writes something down.

Dex groans. “Jesus Christ.”

“What?”

“You took minutes of default human.”

“It was concise.”

That breaks the tension again.

For a minute, everyone talks at once.

And sitting there listening to them, something settles into place for me.

Because this doesn’t feel like we’re ranking anyone.

It feels like we’re admitting that equality and sameness aren’t the same fucking thing.

Maybe that’s what we’ve been trying to do all along.

Not giving everyone identical pieces, but making sure everyone has enough.

“Okay,” Griffin says eventually. “So that’s relationship hierarchy.”

“Basically,” Ronan says.

“And metamours?” Cami asks, her tone a little confused.

Griffin looks at her. “What the fuck is a metamour?”

Dex gasps. “Oh my God. I know something you don’t.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Dex sits up straighter. “You partner’s partner.”

Griffin looks at him.

Dex points at Cami. “I’m dating Cami. You’re married to Cami. You and I aren’t dating each other.”

“Correct.”

“Painfully correct,” Dex mutters.

Griffin narrows his eyes.

“So you and I are metamours,” Dex continues.

Griffin considers that. “There’s a word for that?”

“There’s a word for everything,” Ronan confirms.

“Poly people basically had to invent vocabulary because apparently saying ‘my girlfriend’s husband’ every time gets exhausting,” Dex says.

I laugh. “That’s not entirely wrong.”