“How do I explain this to my parents?” Noel asked.
Clarisse shrugged. “You don’t. It’s none of their business.”
“What if they want to come down and visit?”
Eliza snorted. “Honey, when was the last time they came down here to visit you?”
Never was that answer, but Noel didn’t have time to say it.
“There are a lot of nice hotels in the Sarasota area,” Loren said.
“Or, you just tell them,” Essie said. “We told my mom. And we have a baby, the four of us. It was a little uncomfortable having that talk with her at first, but we only had to have it one time. All she cared about was I was happy and safe, and once I assured her of that, she let the rest go.”
Noel snorted. “Oh, my parents will have an unholy cow if I tell them what’s going on.”
“So?” Cali asked. “They live out of state, right?”
“Yeah. Indiana.”
“Okay then,” Cali said. “It’s not like they live next door. Don’t tell them.”
“This all happened so fast, I really don’t understand it,” Noel admitted. “I mean, Keith lived with us for several weeks. Well, lived with Scott. The three of us were in the same house. And then when the storm came through and Scott had to work an emergency shift, we were alone there, Keith and I. And things just sort of…bubbled over.”
“Bubbled over how?” Loren asked.
Noel glanced around. “By the end of the first day, I had pierced nipples and had agreed to be his slave.”
Tilly’s eyes widened. “Wow. Okay, that’s the deep end of the pool—”
“Tilly!” Loren scolded.
“Seriously?” Tilly shot back. “One freaking day? I am sooo not out of line here on this one. Even Landry would agree with me.”
“So says the woman who married a guy she’d just met after, what, four days?” Loren drawled.
“Hey, that was a business arrangement that worked out well for everyone.”
“I know it was fast,” Noel said. “But it was like he read my mind. It was such a relief not to have to try to be…dominant anymore. It was like a weight rolled off me. And the sex was hot.”
“And are you enjoying it now, still?” Tilly asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well, there you go,” Tilly said. “Hot sex, hot Dom, hot damn. Enjoy.”
“You are not required,” Essie said, “to do or be anything other than who or what you want to be. Forgetting any preconceived expectations you have for yourself or them. If this new dynamic is working for all three of you? Great. You’re all consenting adults. Enjoy it.”
“Does Keith want you and Scott to get divorced?” Loren asked.
“No. He said he doesn’t want that. That he wanted to do whatever it took to keep me and Scott together.”
“Again,” Tilly said, “not seeing the problem here.”
“Does it bother you,” Loren started, ignoring Tilly, “to watch them together?”
She had to think about that one. “Not really. Not now. It sort of did before, in the beginning, but they were trying to be considerate about it. We all sleep in the same bed and…well, we’re a ménage. I’m almost worried about Scott becoming a little jealous because I get more time with Keith now than he does. We work at the same place and drive to work together almost every day. We get to see each other during the day, even just a little bit. Sometimes Scott works long shifts, or night shifts, depending on the rotation. Sometimes he’s got to work at night and we’re gone during the day.”
“That’s something you’ll have to work on,” Cali said. “It’s not so bad with the three of you sharing a bed. At least that’s equal footing.”
“So there’s nothing…bad about what we’re doing?” Noel asked.
All the women shook their heads.
“Honey,” Essie said, “if you’re okay with it, and they’re okay with it, then it’s okay. Sure there will be small-minded pinheads out there who don’t agree with it. You know what? Fuck ’em. They don’t matter. The only thing that matters is you and them and your happiness, all three of you.”
“That sounds too easy.”
“That’s because people try to complicate poly,” Tilly said, “and end up fucking it up as a result. Jealousy is the big one. I’ll admit I was jealous of Cris a few times when Landry first came into my life and brought Cris with him. But I worked through it. Worked past it. I had to work on my relationship with Cris, which, of course, came with a metric shit-ton of emotional baggage. Once we got through that, it’s been smooth sailing. Screw what anyone else thinks. Are you looking to us for approval?”
“I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Noel admitted.
“Then rest assured,” Essie said, “that you don’t need to explain yourselves to anyone. Enjoy each other, love each other, and let the rest of the world fuck itself.”
“Isn’t that what I just said?” Tilly asked.
* * * *
Three hours later, as Eliza walked Noel back to the car after bidding the other women good-bye, Noel felt a little more relieved, but still emotionally upended.
“What if I’ve made a huge mistake?” she asked Eliza as her friend backed out of the parking spot. “What if I’ve done something horrible?”
“By what, loving two men? Your family’s already a bunch of assholes. So what difference, seriously, does it make?”
“None, I guess.”
“Exactly. The only people who matter are you guys, that you’re all happy. If you’re happy, and it’s working for you, who cares if it’s ‘normal’ or not? Normal is a dryer setting. Nothing more.”
“I don’t know what’s normal anymore. For the past two years, my life’s been anything but.”
“And were you happy then?”
“No. Not really. I was happy before all this came to light.”
“And are you happier now?”
“Yeah,” she admitted after a long moment of contemplation.
“Well? Okay, then. Choose to be happy. Don’t choose to sit there and wallow in some imaginary emo swamp when you don’t have to.”
“Imaginary emo swamp?”
“Just work with me, m’kay? You know dang well what I’m trying to say.”
Noel tipped her a salute from her temple.
“Smart-ass. Remind me to ask your Dom to beat your ass next time I see him.”
“So you really think I’m doing the right thing here?”
“Kvetching and needlessly rending your soul over it? No. Enjoying and living your life? Yes.”
“Why do you make it sound so easy?”
“Why are you insisting on complicating it?”
Noel didn’t have an answer for that. Compared to the past two years, including the last few months leading up to the seismic shift in their situation, it felt like she’d upshifted and was now freewheeling downhill instead of struggling to get the transmission engaged.
It was difficult to relax when it felt like it was supposed to be difficult.
“I don’t know. It just seems like after everything I’ve been through, it shouldn’t be this easy.”
“Maybe that’s because you’ve already gone through the hard part and this is the reward.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Keith hadn’t revealed to the two of them what he’d planned for their collaring ceremony. He wanted it to be a surprise, and had taken charge of the whole thing.
Even Tilly and Loren had been sworn to secrecy.
Late that Saturday morning, Noel awoke to Keith deeply kissing her. When she looked, she spotted Scott sucking the man’s cock.