Adored (bxb)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ty's POV

Although my chest was filled with helium because of Paulie, I had to refocus. Paulie was gone now and I was left with my Daddy, who "accepts my non-monogamous ramblings with grace," according to Josh.

"We have to have a conversation," I told him.

David didn't look too surprised to hear me say that. "This is about what Josh had to say, isn't it?"

I shut the door behind Paulie and tried to pull myself together. The fuzzy comfort of little space was so tempting, but there was shit to do.

"What did he mean by that, exactly?"

David smiled and put a hand at the small of my back. "Let's go settle in before we have this conversation."

"Don't think being a gentleman is getting you out of this."

He laughed.

Jerk.

David and I plopped on the couch and I narrowly avoided landing right into his lap. I seriously needed to tame myself. Instead, I faced him and tried to look extremely serious and annoyed. "I feel like you haven't communicated with me."

David's smile faltered. Good.

"Of course I have," he said. "Can I explain myself please? If you feel I haven't communicated well with you, then you can give me your side after."

"Fine."

He gave me a grateful smile. "Thank you. If you're concerned that I am not on board with polygamy, that's not it. The reason Josh said that was because it was your idea to add someone to our relationship, not mine. So I went along with it on your behalf. Even recently, I didn't truly believe we would ever find someone who fit with us."

Damn, that really hit me hard. So he really didn't want it as much as I did? I suppose I knew that, to some degree, but it made me feel like shit all the same. Paulie was so precious, and perfect, and sweet--

"But along came Paulie."

I sucked in a breath. "Yeah. Did that change something?"

A distant look appeared in his eyes. He smiled a little. "Yes, it did. Ty, I wasn't that interested in finding a third because my standard was that he would fit into our relationship romantically as well as physically. I have no interest wasting my time on only a hookup. But Paulie isn't interested in a hookup either and..." he tilted his head thoughtfully. "I don't know, he works well with us."

I blew out a sigh of relief. It surprised me how hung up I was on having Paulie join us. It shouldn't have been a big deal if David decided he wasn't interested, but it was. It would've hurt me.

"I really like Paulie," I admitted at a whisper. "I know he says he just wants to be friends, but I don't entirely believe him. If that's true though, I think that I'd be happy just having him as a friend. Having him around is nice."

"Yes, I agree with you. I think we're both on the same page about Paulie."

I smiled at David and he returned the look. We shared something nice in that moment. It was a sweet, warm feeling. I think we both had a mutual crush on Paulie, so we wanted him around.

"I think so too."

"The problem is, Paulie was clear about not wanting this to be just sex," David said. "He wants to be friends. Whether or not you believe him, we need to respect those boundaries. We've already propositioned him, so there is not much more that we can do. Let's let him come to us when he's comfortable."