Bait (Wake, #1)(42)

It sounded so childish hearing it through my brother’s recollection. It made me feel stupid and I bit my thumbnail down to the quick. It bled. As usual.

I quietly added, looking at Reggie, “She called me Nobody.”

Realization dawned on him. “So that's where Nobody got his name. Gotcha,” he said knowingly and made a sympathetic face. “You're not Nobody,” then he kissed me on my forehead. “What a bitch,” he added.

“So then...” Nora interjected, trying to keep the story going.

I decided to finish it myself. “Grant, the robot, proposed yesterday and I said yes. Then I panicked. Then I flew here. Then this afternoon, we saw Casey and the bitch at the airport. She was woman I recognized from when we were at a party the weekend we met. He tried to talk to me, but we got in the car and left.” I buried my head in my arms on the counter. “That's it,” I said.

It was quiet for a few seconds. I could only imagine the silently mouthed words and lip readings going on above my down-turned head between the two of them.

Finally, Nora said, “Wow. Reagan, do you have more red? We need another bottle.”

Reagan.

He stood and rounded the bar to her side and pulled another bottle from his wine cooler.

He laughed. “Do you want to open it, Nora?”

“Very funny,” she said sarcastically. These two must have spent a lot of time together. I wondered if they were... No. He would have just came out with it when he introduced her. Reggie didn't suffer fools, and I'd never heard him lie.

Nora stole my brother's chair and put a comforting arm around me and rubbed my back. She was kind. I hoped they were messing around. She’d be good for him.

She began, “Okay, I'm know that I'm going to be the minority, but this is what I think. How do I put this...?” I tried to read her face as she thought of how to say whatever it was delicately.

Stealing my attention away from the nice Nora, Reggie—or Reagan—added, “Nora is polyamorous. She doesn't believe in monogamy.” But he said it to her, leaning over the bar in her direction, then filled her glass of red all the way to the top. “Isn't that right?”

“I love how you pour my glass, thank you,” she said to him with her full smile on view. Then she faced me again, squared my shoulders with hers, and placed her hands on my legs.

“Blake, I understand what you are feeling. Do you love the robot?” Then her straight face cracked, and she giggled a little, then corrected herself with a cough. “What was his name?”

“Grant,” Reggie and I said in unison, neither with much enthusiasm. It spoke volumes about what we thought of him.

“Right. Do you love Grant?”

“Yes. I really do.” She pulled my chewed up hand away from my mouth and placed it under the palm she returned to my leg.

“And are you curious about your feelings for Nobody?” She smiled again, but didn't try to hide it this time.

“Yes,” I admitted. She did understand. “Now what does that mean? Tell me what to do.” I pleaded with them. “When he sent me a message earlier, he said they weren't together. What should it matter? I'm engaged. I'm so f*cked up.”

“People can be in love with more than one person at the same time, Blake,” Nora said in a soothing, almost motherly tone.

Reggie chimed in, “Some people can.”

“Yes, some people,” she corrected. “But you have to be very honest. About everything.”

“Tell Grant? No way. It would kill him.”

“Then tell Nobody how you feel. You need to own up to it, for yourself…with someone.”

I thought about what she'd said. “So do you think I'm polyamorous?” I asked, praying that they'd say yeah and that it was not my fault. That it was just my nature.

Reggie said no immediately. Nora said no, too, but only after a few seconds.

“Why? I'm thinking about two men?” I looked between them. They were sharing some sort of glance.

Nora asked, “Can you picture either one of them with another person and be happy for them?”

It would have been difficult picturing Grant with another woman, but if he was happy, then I guess I could be happy for him. Then I thought of Casey and seeing him with that girl. It made me feel violent and nauseous. I didn't want to go into all of that with them though. That would make me look even worse than I already did.

“No,” I confessed.

Nora said, “Then you aren't polyamorous. It makes me happy to see my lovers with other people who make them feel good, both emotionally and physically. So, I side with your body, not your brain.”

I was back at square one. “Reggie, what do you think?”

“Reggie?” Nora choked. He gave her a look and she said no more.

“Honestly, I don't think that Grant would ever run after you like I saw—” He stopped. I had to tell him his name.

“Casey.”

“Casey run after you. Did he know who I was?”

“No.” I hadn't thought about that.

“And if that was his girlfriend and you didn't mean anything to him, he'd be getting the hell out of there when you spotted him. I saw the look he gave me. He saw how buff, as you said, I am, but it didn’t deter him in the slightest. In fact, when I mentioned the word, sister, he seemed relieved. I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt. He's not a robot.”