Page 29 of Double Dare
“I can’t want that, Mom,” Kade says, sounding defeated. “She’s Jed’s girlfriend.”
“Then back out,” Mom tells him. “If your mind wants to get hung up on that, it’s never going to work. Just back out now and save yourself more heartache.”
He clenches his jaw, and I watch him mull that over. She is my girlfriend, but maybe she’s his, too. Or will be.
“I have no idea if this will work out. It’s messy and scary and unconventional, yes, but that’s sometimes how things go. My biggest advice? Have some fucking fun. Stop being so serious about everything, and stop analyzing every little detail. All you’re doing is making yourselves crazy. Polyamory is a thing, so stop thinking you’re the only ones in the world tackling this feat. You aren’t. Just trust and respect each other. Yeah?”
Hate when she puts shit in perspective like that. “Fine.”
“Yeah,” Kade mumbles.
“Good,” Mom says, standing. “You two are cooking dinner.”
With that bit of bullshit, she leaves us on the front porch to be all awkward together.
Chapter 12
A three-person relationship? Jesus fuck. How would that even work?
I don’t know why it’s coming as a surprise to me, because I’ve known right from the beginning that Jed isn’t going anywhere. I just figured they’d wanna mix things up a bit, try some new shit, let Laken explore and have some fun, and then they’d realize they didn’t want me to be a part of anything more than that. And like I told Mom, I’m a sadist, so I was all for it.
But now that it’s out there and Jed didn’t seem too put off by the idea, my thoughts are all jumbled up and fucked up and messed up, and I need to stop overthinking it. After we cooked dinner, we avoided each other, needing some space to think on our own.
I pace the docks down by the water and call Maeve.
“Hey, one sec,” Maeve answers the phone. The phone crackles and muffles, and then she’s back. “Sorry. What do I wear on a boat date? I want to be prepared this time.”
I grin, remembering our botched boat date. The date went fine, but that’s the night we realized our feelings weren’t of the romantic nature, and like a true champ, Maeve put me in my place and took it like a boss.
“Wear what you wore on our date. I’m not some chick to gossip about outfits with, Mae.”
“Whatever. I’m not wearing that. This is a fresh start. I’m wearing jeans and a hoodie. It’s cold as fuck anyway, so it’ll look fine under my blue coat, right?”
“Stop treating me like a chick because I drank your damn tea. He won’t give a shit what you’re wearing because he’ll be thinking about how to get you out of it. Wear sweatpants.”
“You’re useless,” she complains. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to give you a pep talk before the date. Knowing you, you’ll bow out of the sex talk and pretend everything is dandy, so here I am reminding you how badass you are. Tell him.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m working on it. We’ll see how things go. If he makes me comfortable, I’ll bring it up.” She pauses to rummage through her closet. “Wanna talk about the Laken and Jed stuff?” she stops her rummaging to give me her full attention. Fuck, I do not deserve her.
“No. This is your night. Have fun, open up, and stop being a prudent little bitch. This family already has Genny; we don’t need another do-gooder. Plus, she’s better at it than you. Be bold like you always are.”
“Great pep talk, Kade. Really feeling the love.”
“Good. That was a roundabout compliment.”
“I know how to read between the lines,” she laughs. “Your lines, anyway. I know Gen is more badass than me, so maybe I can give her a run for her prudent title.”
“Not a chance. She owns it. You own you. The sex has been shit, and I’m sick of you complaining about it. Time to test him out.”
“Ugh! Fine. I’m going to change.”
“Call me if you need another pep.”
“Will do. See you tomorrow?”
“Yep. Have fun.”