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“No, no problem,” he said. “None at all. Just, whatever we’re doing, it’s not going to have monogamy requirements.”
“We’re getting way ahead of ourselves.”
“Totally,” he said, feeling very uncomfortable. “I’m not like this.”
“Can we do something together, but not in public?”
“Definitely,” he said.
“Okay,” she said. “Just to see if we even…”
“Yeah,” he said. “Just to hang out, really.”
“And then, the bargain is, we don’t let on in front of anyone else. Just, you know, until we figure it out. Maybe at some point, we might, but—”
“But this stuff with us, like, the age stuff, how you’re going to graduate and be a social worker… that’s just red flags,” he said. “Plus, you’re in love with that fucking satyr—”
“I’m not,” she said.
He fixed her with a look.
She squirmed. “Maybe.”
He felt that like a slap across his jaw. He actually grimaced.
“But Tommy goes on and on about how you can love more than one person romantically at a time.”
“Right,” he said. “Right, polyamory, all the kids are doing it.”
“I have to admit, I’ve never…” She twisted her fingers together. “I’m not monogamous to Tommy, but it’s rare that I sleep with someone else, even though he constantly does.” Her nostrils flared and Niles suddenly wanted to wrap Tommy up with his snake tail and squeeze andsqueeze. “Anyway, even when I do, I’ve never felt it emotionally as strong as whatever I have with him.” She looked up at him with her big, dark eyes.
“But whatdoyou have with him?”
She shook her head. “Let’s just make that part of the bargain. No one knows about us, and you stop talking about Tommy.”
He let out a disbelieving noise. “Okay, seriously?”
She folded her arms over her chest.
“Fine,” he muttered.
It was quiet.
“So,” he said finally, “you want to come to my place this evening?”
“Sure,” she said. “Actually, I’d really like that.”
“Uh, okay,” he said. “Not right after work, though, because I need to clean.”
She laughed. “You’re going to clean up for me, huh?”
“I didn’t mean to say that out loud. It’s totally clean.” He chuckled, self-conscious.
“So, give you an hour?” she said.
He nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
“And you’re still, um, out on the edge of town towards the river?”
