Page 19 of Until Tomorrow (Love Doesn’t Cure All: The Ashwood Duet #1)

Logan

“All right,” the blonde woman said just as Eva slid into the seat next to me.

I glanced at Eva, taking in the careful way she kept a distance between us as best as she could in the fold-down seats.

She caught me staring and nodded pointedly toward the front.

I did. “Okay, we’ve got an impressive turnout tonight.

These things are always so iffy depending on the timing.

I’m excited to have you here. I know our guests are as well.

I’m going to go over a few quick things before we dive right in!

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Amelia Waterman.

I am a professor of psychology with a specialty in the psychology of sexuality and the psychology of relationships.

I’ve spent years sharing my experience and education with the community in a variety of outreach programs. It’s my personal mission to help bridge the gap between what’s considered traditional and non-traditional when it comes to relationships, sexuality, and family dynamics. ”

“We hate the word non-traditional!” a young man in the front chimed in.

“That is correct, Mark.” Amelia laughed. “Mark’s in one of my classes. My students are privy to my societal rants.

“Part of what I like to do is create events like tonight by working with queer members in our society as well as those who don’t have standard-looking relationships.

These open-floor events are a great way to get the conversation started.

This here is a great place to learn firsthand throug h people who live these lives.

I find this to be a far more effective tool of acceptance and understanding than pamphlets and emails.

The rules are the same as always. You are welcome to ask any appropriate questions you have.

Unintended bigotry will be gently corrected because that’s the only way we learn.

Any intentional bigotry will lead to me kicking you out.

I’m tiny but feisty. Ask my wives. I will drag you out if I have to. ”

That sentiment earned her a chuckle around the room, including from me. The woman was all of five feet and had to be going on fifty.

“We’ll start tonight by letting our guests introduce themselves, their dynamic, and tell you a bit about their lives,” she continued.

“After that, the floor will be open to ask as many questions as you want. We’ve only got the auditorium for two hours, but we can mix and mingle afterward.

We’ll have food and drinks out in the lobby, and our guests will be around for any one-on-one questions you might have for them. Got it?”

A murmur of agreement moved through the room.

“Wonderful!” Amelia clapped her hands. “Tonight’s guests are Loren and Katy with their partners Jack and Avery.

The four of them are a polycule. For those of you who don’t know, a polycule is, at its simplest, a relationship structure in which polyamorous partners relate and function with one another.

That’s the absolute technical term and scraping the bare minimum for a definition. And what is polyamory, Mark?”

“It’s the practice of engaging in multiple relationships. They’re often based on deep connections and love. And…” Mark faltered. I had to wonder what the kid had done to get singled out at a voluntary event. “And most of the time they're romantic, but they don’t have to be.”

“Good job,” she replied. “And we do have an extra guest with us. Katy had a baby ten weeks ago, and they were more than welcome to bring their daughter.”

“Which is why she gets the big comfy chair,” the guy Eva had been talking to said with a laugh. He rolled a bucket computer chair across the front of the auditorium. “Though I definitely played with this thing in the hallway.”

That earned him a chuckle. A woman with rich red hair—presumably Katy because she carried a baby—followed him as she shook her head.

Two other men made quick work of setting up chairs while I took a moment to glance at Eva.

Her gaze never wavered from the front, but she did point forward to redirect my attention. Always aware.

“ Hi, I’m Loren, the guy who plays with wheeled chairs in long hallways,” he said when they were seated. “I’m forty, a construction worker—”

“Are you signing up for a dating app or doing a seminar?” the guy next to him cut in.

A wide smile showed off impressively white teeth and crinkled the corners of his dark eyes.

Unkempt brown hair was cut short to his head with no direction.

Dressed casually, he sported jeans and a sweatshirt with some kind of travel reference.

“Can’t it be both?” Loren retorted.

“Hello, I’m Jack. I like long walks on the beach, mimosas without orange juice, and the mile-high club.” Jack flashed a smile at the audience—cocky and full of attitude. “I hate orange juice.”

“Not your best resume. Orange juice is amazing. As I was saying! I’m Loren. I have two partners. Katy and I have been together twenty-seven years—”

“No, we haven’t,” Katy interrupted. “We’ve been together for seventeen years. We met twenty-seven years ago.”

“And I began mentally dating you the day I met you,” Loren said. “It just took me ten years to get you on board with the idea.”

“I can’t decide if that’s creepy or not,” she replied.

“It’s not. Katy and I have been together for technically seventeen years.

We’ve lived together for fifteen. We’re not married and haven’t ever seen a need for it.

As Amelia said, our daughter Sophia was born ten weeks ago.

She’s our first and probably our last. I miss sleeping at night,” he told the group of us.

Using the mic he’d been given, he gestured to Jack.

“Jack is also my partner. Our relationship is a bit different. We are committed, however, Jack travels a lot for work—”

“Don’t you cheapen it,” Jack said over him. “I’m a pilot.”

“So, you’re a Captain,” someone from the front row said.

“Yes, he’s Captain Jack, and I don’t let him live that shit down.” Loren laughed. “One of these years, he’ll actually be around for Halloween—”

“Not a chance,” Jack cut in.

“—and I’m going to dress him up like a pirate.” He kept talking as if he’d never been interrupted. “It’ll be fantastic.”

“Are you going to be my parrot?”

“Clearly, I’m more of a Will Turner myself. Dashing and a bit naive.”

“Please. You’re anything but naive,” Katy scoffed.

“You’ll have to excuse these two. Do you remember growing up when we’d all go our own ways for summer vacations?

And when you got back to school, that first week was ch aos trying to catch up?

That’s these two every time Jack gets back.

It’s adorable mostly. They tone it down once he’s been home more than a few hours.

But he showed up in time to leave, so we could get here. ”

“My flight was delayed,” Jack said.

“Was it delayed, or are you just late?” Loren asked. “I think you’re just late. You flew the plane and all.”

“Loren and I have been together for six years,” he continued instead.

“While we’re committed to each other and I do play a role in our family, he and I have a more open relationship situation going on.

I’m gone a lot. I don’t have any other serious relationships, but I do engage in casual relationships around the world while I travel. ”

“And I had someone in town that I had a casual relationship with,” Loren explained.

“I don’t date often, but I do from time to time.

I adore my relationships with both Jack and Katy, but I do enjoy casual relationships with men.

Ideally, I like to maintain a more friends-with-benefits situation with one person, and that’s it.

I don’t have the energy to do more than that. ”

And there it was. The reason Eva had brought me here and wanted me to hear what they had to say.

She was looking for ways for us to help me together rather than ending everything we had.

The emotions coiling around my heart were inexplicable.

I drew in a sharp breath and tried not to let them get the better of me.

I’d never deserve Eva. That much I knew. The woman’s capacity for love was greater than anyone I knew. And why she loved me was beyond me sometimes.

I glanced at her, catching how she fidgeted with her wedding ring. Taking a chance, I reached across the distance between us and laced my fingers between hers, squeezing tight. For reassurance. For comfort. For a laundry list of reasons that I couldn’t put into words.

Her hesitation wasn’t lost on me, and I didn’t blame her. I’d betrayed her trust. But when her fingers closed around mine, I held on a little tighter.