Stealing the Show (PolyAm Fam #3)

Chapter 10

ten

raine

“I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” I confessed to Danielle, “but it was literally the hottest sex I’ve ever had in my life.”

My friend’s eyes grew as she licked her ice cream cone, but she didn’t dare interrupt.

“Seriously, it’s so intense having two people’s hands and mouths on you!” I closed my eyes to enjoy a flash of vivid memory as it painted a picture in my mind.

She paused her licking and grinned at me. “Well, duh. I coulda told you that!”

“Maggie drove me absolutely wild with her tongue, and Leo…fuck…he is an amazing kisser. And sucking his cock with his wife in the hot tub was?—”

Danielle made a loud throat-clearing noise and then put her hand parallel to the table. “Shh, there are kids nearby.”

“Oops!” The memories and feelings were coming back so strongly, I had to clench my thighs together. I swallowed hard to get myself under control, then glanced around to see who had filled the small area in the ice cream parlor. Uh, yeah, there were three or four kiddos here now.

“So, you guys are like a throuple or what?” Dani asked as she reached her cone and took a big crunchy bite.

“I mean, I don’t know. We haven’t really given it a label yet.” I sighed. “But I do have an issue…”

“What’s that?” She took another crunchy bite of the cone. I’d talked so much that my ice cream was starting to melt. I stirred it with my spoon and took a small bite of the creamy raspberry goodness.

“Well…I had coffee with Leo a few days before our date to the park and the whole hot tub night,” I began. “And Maggie doesn’t know.”

“What? That’s not cool, Rainey; that’s not how poly works. I can’t believe Leo would do that!” she protested, her voice rising in volume.

I made my own “keep it down” gesture as she rolled her eyes. “Well, it wasn’t a date. It was a proposition.”

“What do you mean?” Dani stuffed the rest of the cone in her mouth and chewed as she awaited my answer.

“Okay, this is going to sound weird, but…” Ugh, I didn’t know how to say this without it sounding super weird. Because it was weird, or, at the very least, unconventional. Especially when I thought about Maggie telling me their preference for being fluid-bonded.

“Just spit it out, girl! You’re making me anxious, and that can’t be good for the bébé, you know?” She patted her tummy.

“Fine. So, speaking of babies…” That seems like a natural segue way, right? “They want one.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes. And Leo wanted to know if I would carry it.” I dropped that bomb right there and waited for the aftermath.

Danielle crumped up her napkin in her hand. “Holy shit. What, like a surrogate?”

“I guess so. He told me they were pursuing surrogacy because Maggie can’t conceive or carry a baby, and she told me the same thing. Well, not the surrogacy part, but the part about not being able to have a baby. And, well, he said it was going to take six months to get an appointment with the surrogate agency, and that the going rate for surrogates is like fifty grand!”

“Whoa!” Danielle’s eyes were as wide as our two scoops of ice cream had been. “So they want to pay you? Do you mean like go through a doctor’s office or like…um…you know, the old-fashioned way?”

“I don’t know. He was just testing the waters, trying to see if I would even consider it before he discussed it with Maggie. But, damn, Dani, I have to say that I’m considering it either way… Like, I could really fucking use that money. It would take care of my bill at the university, and it would really help me make ends meet until I get a full-time job.”

“But then you’d…you’d be a mom, Raine.” Danielle suddenly wore a sober expression. “You’d be bringing a child into the world, but it wouldn’t be yours. Do you think you could do that? Like carry a baby for nine months and then give it to them?”

I hadn’t thought much about how things would be after the birth, to be honest. But…yeah, that was what it amounted to, right? “I don’t know. I mean…they are such an amazing couple, and Leo almost brought me to tears talking about how much he wants to see his wife as a mom, how it’s all she’s ever wanted.”

Danielle looked worried now as her eyes roved over my face. “They’re not just using you, are they?” came out barely louder than a whisper.

“Oh, god, Dani, I don’t think they would do that. Hasn’t Noah known them for a while? He trusts Maggie, right? And, like, Maggie is the one who first approached me. Leo didn’t come into it until later, but then he’s the one who mentioned…” I huffed out a long sigh and closed my eyes as I collected my thoughts. “I don’t know what to do. It just seemed like such a win-win, you know? Like I would be able to pay my debt and graduate, and they’d get a baby.”

“Well, there’s a lot that would have to happen first. You’d have to get pregnant. You’d have to carry the baby. You’d have to deliver said baby. You’re making it sound like an easy transaction, and as someone who is going through pregnancy right now, well…I think that might be a little short-sighted on your part.”

“You’re right.” I leaned back, nodding. “And I’m putting the cart before the horse anyway because he hasn’t even talked to Maggie about it.” I sighed again. “But the money…damn it, I really need that money.”

She reached over and covered my palm with hers, which was warm and a little sticky. “I know you do, but try not to let that decide for you. Besides, you’re on the Pill, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, have been for years…just to regulate my cycles.”

“Well, you’d have to go off that before you did anything. It might be a while before you could even conceive.”

“True.” She’d given me a lot of realistic shit to think about. I was a dreamer, an idealist, an artist. Having to plod through all the logistics and contingencies was not my thing. “Sorry for bringing all this up, Dani?—”

She waved her hand, brushing aside my apology. “Don’t be silly. You’re one of my closest friends, Raine. You and Cynda, really, are my best friends. And I’ve gotten to know Molly and Poe, and I think the world of them too. They would be good to talk to about poly stuff, you know. Cynda, especially. She has tons of experience.”

“Thanks…I’m just kind of reeling right now, you know? This all came out of nowhere, so I’m scrambling to figure things out.” I took another bite of my now soupy ice cream.

“That’s perfectly understandable, my friend. Perfectly understandable. I’m here for you, whatever you need,” Dani assured me.

“I know you have your own stuff to worry about.” I set my spoon down. Why did leaning on friends have to be so hard for me? I always felt guilty. Like I had to earn friendship and love. “Everything going well with the pregnancy?”

She sighed. “Things would be great if I could go more than a day without puking. I’m in the second trimester now. It should be over. Aris and Noah have been arguing over which one of their spawn would be more likely to give me morning sickness,” she joked with an eye roll. “Those two. It’s never a dull moment with them.”

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Well, I’m over-the-moon excited for you. Who knows? Maybe we’ll end up being pregnant at the same time?”

“That would be fun,” she agreed, running her fingers through her long chestnut-brown hair. “You know what? If you’d told me last year at this time we’d be having this conversation a year later, I’d have called you crazy.”

“I know, right?” I shook my head. “Things change fast.”

“Like lightning speed,” she said. “Except for pregnancy—which happens at approximately a snail’s pace.”

We both laughed at that. She was still glowing, even if she was spending an inordinate amount of time throwing up. My friend was gonna make a great mom. Like me, she had a strained relationship with her own mother, but she excelled at everything she did. I had no doubt motherhood would be among her best starring roles.

leo

I wasn’t expecting to get a text from Raine this afternoon asking me if I was available. I told her I was on nights, and I only had two hours before I had to get ready for work. She asked if she could drop by to chat about my proposition, so I said yes.

She arrived only twenty minutes later, wearing a summery dress with white flowers on a black background. “Hey, thanks for letting me stop by. I won’t take up too much of your time.”

The way she said that made my heart sink, like she was preparing me for bad news. I swallowed hard and forced a smile. “No problem. Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure, that sounds nice, thanks.” She followed me into the kitchen, where I set out two coffee mugs and coffee pods.

While we waited for the coffee to brew, I asked, “Hope you’re not too weirded out by what happened last week.”

She laughed and waved her hand. “Oh, no, ‘weird’ is definitely not the word I would use. I really enjoyed myself. Hope you and Maggie did too.”

“I was worried Maggie would be upset that I was butting into her girl time,” I admitted. “But she said she enjoyed herself. She told me she would text you the next day. Hope she did.” I had purposely not contacted Raine because I didn’t want to seem pushy about the idea I’d mentioned. I’d been waiting for her to bring it up.

“Yes, yes, we’ve been texting. I’m going to see her tomorrow for lunch, actually. I’m still working at home this week, reading plays and working on my designs. I won’t have to go back down to Brown County for two weeks, when they’re ready for fittings.”

“Oh, okay, great. It’s nice you can do that work from home.” I handed her the first mug of coffee and started the second one for me.

“Yeah, well, I don’t have an office at the theater, so no choice, really. It’s just a summer job. It doesn’t pay much, but I’m hoping it will help me when it comes time to apply for real jobs.”

“So…” I had to admit I was curious about her future plans, not only because I liked her and was interested in her, but also because her plans determined whether or not she was able to help out with our issue. “When will you be ‘applying for real jobs,’” I used air quotes, “and where do you anticipate these jobs being?”

“You want to know if I’m leaving the area,” she picked up right away.

“Well, yeah.” I grabbed my coffee mug and stirred a little creamer into it—half and half, not the frou-frou oat milk caramel macchiato shit my wife liked. “Not just because of the logistics of…the proposition. But because Maggie and I both like you and…well, we’re poly. We tend to get attached to people.”

“Right. That’s understandable.” She looked like she was trying to figure out a way to let me down easily. “The truth is…I don’t really know what the future holds. Planning is kind of difficult right now.”

“Okay…” I let the syllable resonate for a couple beats.

I ushered her over to the little breakfast nook at the back of the house. The big windows looked out over the backyard, including the hot tub. Just seeing it caused a little thrill to race through me when memories of our time out there bombarded me.

She took a seat and sipped her coffee before setting the mug down on the table. “I have a problem, and right now it’s looking like it might keep me from graduating.”

“Oh?”

“So…this is going to sound so weird and convoluted, but bear with me.” When I nodded, she continued, “I checked a costume out of our wardrobe department a few months ago. I needed to study it for a design I’m creating for my thesis. It was the dress I was interested in, but it came with some accessories, which I never opened. One of the things in the accessories case was a rather expensive gold and pearl jewelry set, and now the department is expecting me to pay them back for it. They’re going to withhold my diploma until I do.”

“My god, Raine…that sounds terrible.” Now it made sense why she was being elusive about her future plans. Her future was up in the air. “And there’s no way to prove you’re not responsible for the set?”

“Nope,” she popped the P on the end of the word. “I signed out the piece and signed it back in, and supposedly it was checked both times.”

I couldn’t help but go into cop mode. “How much time passed before they let you know the set was missing?”

She cocked her head. “I’ve known for a few weeks now. Why would that matter?”

“But there was a lag between when you borrowed it and when they let you know?” I pressed.

“Yes. A little over a month.” She took another sip of coffee, her eyes nervously darting between the mug and me.

“Hmmm… sounds like there could be some legal ramifications here. Where was the piece stored while you had it checked out?” I had already crossed over into detective mode. There was no stopping me now. Leo Katz was on the case.

“I bet you’re good at your job,” she said, smirking. “But, to answer your question, it was checked out to me, but it was stored in the costuming lab the whole time, which lots of other people have access to.”

“Well, then. It seems pretty unfair to assume you’re the one who lost or stole the jewelry,” I said.

“That’s what I said!” she agreed, nodding vehemently. “But I have zero power, and the dean and the Costume Czar are in cahoots. What else can I do?”

“Go to campus police?” I suggested. “See if they will investigate? Are there cameras in the lab?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have any contacts there, and I really doubt they’re going to go out of their way to help me.”

“I have some contacts in the IUPD,” I offered. “I can put out some feelers for you if you’d like.”

I didn’t mean for “feelers” to come out loaded with innuendo, but it did. And it made her giggle. That beautiful sound made my cock hard…and there was nothing I could do about it when I had work in another hour or so, and Maggie and I hadn’t established any parameters about playing with Raine alone.

I hoped that was something we could agree to, but…

“So,” she folded her hands together, “I appreciate you doing that for me, but, in the meantime, I wanted to talk about your…other offer.”

“Oh, right.” I grabbed the mug again to take another sip of coffee, which had finally cooled to a comfortable temperature.

“Well, I’m considering it…strongly,” she shared, her tone wavering between guarded and pragmatic. “I need the money if I have to pay for that jewelry, but, truth be told, I need it anyway. I’m a poor grad student, after all. And having a cushion as I try to get my adult life rolling would be super helpful. My car isn’t going to last forever, and?—”

“It sounds like you’re trying to rationalize doing it,” I cut her off. “You don’t have to justify it to me. If you have to justify it to yourself, maybe it’s not the right decision.”

She looked down at her mug and bit her lip. When she looked up, her eyes looked sad. “Did you change your mind? Did Maggie say no?”

I shook my head. “It’s not that. I haven’t spoken with Maggie about it yet because I wanted to hear back from you first on whether or not it’s even something you’d be interested in pursuing. I don’t know…from a medical point of view…what all we’d need to do.”

“Well, I’m on the Pill,” she shared, “so the first thing would be to go off it.”

“I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, one hundred percent. And I know some might think talking to you first before mentioning it to my wife is wrong, but, honestly, I couldn’t bear to get her hopes up that this crazy idea of mine might work out unless we both really thought it could.”

“I don’t think you’re wrong for asking me first,” she assured me. “The way you talk about Maggie, about your marriage, and how much you want to have a kid… I have nothing but respect, Leo. The amount of love and care you have for her,” her eyes got a little misty as she finished her thought, “well, I hope to have that someday for myself.”

I smiled and patted her hand. “You will. I have no doubt.”

“Well, put my hat in the ring,” she said. “I know it’s time-sensitive, and I don’t know how long it will take for these pills to get out of my system, so I’m stopping them now.”

I swallowed hard. Could this really be happening? “Are you sure about that?”

She nodded. “I’ve been on them for several years. My body needs a break. I don’t even know if I still have the issues I was taking them for, and I don’t have any other partners besides you guys. Nor do I plan on having any. Maggie talked about us being fluid-bonded…”

“And?”

“I’m down.” She grinned. “You just need to be sure she’s okay with accidental pregnancy in case the scientific path doesn’t open up fast enough.”

I closed my eyes as the thought of filling her with my seed and making a baby bounced around in my mind. Holy fuck…I was getting so damn hard thinking about draining my balls deep inside her.

I cleared my throat, trying to distract myself from the way my cock painfully pressed against the seam of my shorts. If I had the okay from Maggie, I would be bending Raine over and fucking her brains out right now. But I was going to be good and restrain myself—no matter how hard it was. And it was pretty fucking hard.

“Okay, I’ll talk to Maggie. Then we probably all need to have a big discussion together.”

She smiled. “Yep, that’s what I was going to say.”

Before she left, I held myself to giving her a soft, sweet kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll be in touch soon,” I promised as she walked out the door.