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“Should I have waited to propose to the two of you in private?”
“Getting engaged is usually a private thing.” Valor’s tone was neutral.
“Not according to the internet, but I thought this was better than a flash mob.” I scrubbed at my forehead. Luckily, there hadn’t been time to put makeup on me before I’d gone onstage. “I would have been more discreet if you’d told me our relationship was supposed to be a secret.”
“It’s not that we want to keep it a secret. It’s only…some people won’t understand.”
I nodded.
The high I’d been on crashed. Violently.
Was that why Tarryn didn’t seem well? Had I potentially ruined her career by proposing to her on television? Married to me/us, she would never need to work for money, but she was also very talented, and loved what she did.
Thinking ahead had never been my forte. Jack was always encouraging me to try my best to consider the possible consequences of my actions. I couldn’t unring this bell, though, any more than I could go back in time and unkiss my brother.
“I hope I can learn how not to embarrass you.”
Valor sighed. “It’s not about being embarrassed, Loïc. We have to think about thingsyou don’t.”
“I can’t see how having two husbands would harm Tarryn’s career.” Did I sound sullen? Probably. I turned to Tarryn, who was standing there silently, looking distracted. “Do you think it will?” I asked her.
“Excuse me.” She jogged to the public restroom on the other side of the lobby, her high heels clicking a frantic tattoo on the terrazzo floor.
I stared after her.
“She didn’t say yes to marrying me,” I realized aloud. She’d said she loved me, but she hadn’t said yes. My heart swelled with the love, but twisted at the non-yes, and I shifted my gaze from the restroom door to Valor. “Did I do all of this to soon? Too big?”
“We agreed to take our relationship to the next level, but then you skipped a few levels on us.” He squeezed my shoulder. “We’re both very quiet and uptight compared to you, but we enjoy how unpredictable you are, and how much fun you bring to the relationship. I’m sure if she hadn’t been so surprised, and if I hadn’t interrupted, she would have said yes.”
“What was your plan when you barreled down the stairs to the stage?”
“I think I was going to punch you.”
“Punch me?” I laughed in delight. “Now,thatwould have been entertaining. Why did you want to punch me?”
“You were proposing to my wife! On live television!”
“So?”
He looked torn. “She’s mine.”
“We agreed that she’s ours now.”
“I know. It’s just a hard idea to get used to.” He sighed. “That, and what are people going to think about her? People knowing I’m in a relationship with a man is one thing, but what will people think of her, being married to one man and proposed to by another?”
“Will people think she’s immoral or something?”
To my horror, Valor shrugged. “It’s hard to say. It might work out in her favor, but people might judge her for being involved with someone outside of her marriage.”
“But I’m involved with you, too.”
“Yes, but to some people that might not matter.” He swallowed. “People in the business world might hesitate to do business with me, too. It’s one thing to cheat on your wife—even to have a string of mistresses—but it’s another thing entirely to have a live-in boyfriend you both share.”
“That’s…seriously fucked up.”
Valor laughed, his white teeth flashing. “And here I thought I was the only one who felt that way.”
“Being poly is ethical, if done right. Cheating is not.”
