Page 81 of What We Brave
The words come out jumbled, half-formed thoughts tumbling over each other.
"They weren't roommates. They weren't some casual thing. They weretogether. All three of them. They'd been together for years. They shared a home. Maria was a teacher, Sofia worked at the clinic with me, Andrés ran a fishing charter. They had dinner together every night. Argued about whose turn it was to clean the bathroom. Sofia used to complain that Andrés left his socks everywhere and Maria never replaced the toilet paper roll."
I'm babbling now, but I can't stop because if I stop I'll lose my nerve.
"They were more committed to each other than half the married couples I've ever met. More stable than my parents, honestly. When Sofia got sick — appendicitis and emergency surgery — Maria and Andrés were both there. They took turns sitting with her. Argued about who got to sleep in the hospital chair."
"Laine." Blake's voice cuts through my rambling. He looks frustrated, jaw tight, eyes blazing. "What are you actually saying?"
Reid just seems exhausted. Lost. "Yeah, I'm... I'm not following."
Say it. Just say it.
"I'm saying maybe there's another option." My voice shakes. "One where nobody walks away."
The room goes dead quiet. Their eyes are locked on me, unblinking. Okay, I'm really doing this.
"I'm not talking about something casual. I'm not talking about sex." I take a breath so deep it hurts. "I'm talking about what Maria and Sofia and Andrés had. A relationship. A real one. Committed. Exclusive. The three of them."
Reid's mouth opens. Closes. Opens again.
Blake looks like someone's hit him with a board.
"They'd been together eight years when I met them," I push on. "They were building a life. Together. All three of them."
"People do this," I continue, and God, the more I say it out loud, the more it feels possible. Real. "It's not some fantasy. It's not just about sex. It's about choosing each other. All of each other."
I look between them — Blake with his guarded intensity, Reid with his bewilderment. Shoot. Am I actually hoping for this? How selfish am I? Wanting both of them. Wanting all of it.
"I'm not saying I know how." My voice cracks. "I'm not saying it would work. I don't even know how I feel about it, honestly. But I've seen it work. I've watched it be real and boring and normal. And right now the alternative is all three of us walking away and being miserable forever, so..." A little melodramatic maybe, but that's where we are. I throw my hands up. "It's a possibility. That's all I'm saying. It's a possibility."
Reid's face does something complicated. "So we'd all be... together. Like,togethertogether."
"Would we have to—" Blake gestures vaguely between himself and Reid. "You know."
Reid's eyes go wide. "Wait, would we?"
"Cross swords?" Blake's voice cracks on the second word.
"I didn't even think about—" Reid turns to me, slightly panicked. "Would we have to... with each other?"
They're both looking at me now. Expectant. Like I have a manual hidden somewhere.
"Why are you askingme?" I throw my hands up. "I'm not the experton threesomes! I kissed you both five minutes ago and now suddenly I'm supposed to have a PhD in polyamory?"
Blake snorts. Actually snorts. Then Reid's mouth twitches. And suddenly we're all laughing — not hysterical this time, just... release. The tension that's been coiled in my chest for months loosens another notch.
"Okay." Reid scrubs his face with both hands. "Okay. Let's just... talk about this. Actually talk."
Blake drops onto the couch beside me. Reid takes the armchair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
"So what would this actually look like?" Reid asks. "Day to day, I mean."
I think about Maria's kitchen. The way she'd hand Sofia a coffee cup without looking, knowing exactly how she took it. Andrés reading the newspaper while Sofia braided Maria's hair.
"I don't know exactly. I think we'd figure it out as we went." I pull my knees up to my chest. "But it would be real. Not casual. Not just... physical."
"Exclusive?" Blake's voice is careful.
