Angela
As I washed shampoo into Darius’ hair, I imagined Devin’s wavy curls sliding between my fingers.
“He wants to take me to the Planetarium,” I said, trying to keep my breasts out of Darius’ mouth. They had no place else to go and it didn’t help that he was nibbling at my nipples!
“The what? Where is that? WHAT is that?!” Darius exclaimed as I rinsed the shampoo out and towel dried his fro. We walked out to my front porch for me to oil his scalp before I braided his hair.
Sighing in frustration, I said, “The Planetarium. It’s in Forest Park. It’s where you go if you want to see the stars up close.”
I sat on the top step, parting my legs to allow Darius to sit between them, one step below me.
“And you say he wants to take you on a picnic lunch, too?” Darius asked as my fingers massaged coconut oil through his hair. “That’s cute.”
Scoffing, I said, “Well, it sounds very mature to me and I’m looking forward to my date with Devin.”
“Well, so you don’t forget your first boyfriend, I’m taking you out to the movies tonight!” Darius said excitedly. Since he was sitting between my legs and facing away from me, he didn’t see me roll my eyes at his suggestion. “Whatcha wanna see? Donnie Brasco playin’ at the dollar theater!”
Part of me was ready for a new guy to date. As Sexy as Darius was, he was as deep as a wading pool. I always seemed to stun him with my “big ass words”. Something told me that Devin would more than likely increase my vocabulary seeing as he was as intelligent as he was handsome.
“Again, Darius? You’ve seen that movie 3 times already!” I pointed out, parting his hair with my fingers.
“You know I love Pacino!” Darius announced as his cellphone rang. “What’s good? … I’m over at Angie’s getting my hair braided. What’s up? … Ah fa real? Well, you wanna come over here or… Ah’ight, we’ll see you then.”
“Who was that, Boo?” I inquired as I started on another cornrow.
“Devin needs to talk. You don’t mind if he comes over here, do you?” Darius asked after ending his call.
“Don’t you think you should’ve asked me that before you told him to come over?” I stated, not missing a beat now that my fingers were in a steady braiding rhythm.
Chuckling, Darius said, “To be honest, I didn’t think you would care if your boyfriends had a quick chat.” Gently tugging his hair, Darius was quickly prompted to apologize. “He said he needed to talk to the both of us.”
“Oh, really?” I asked with piqued curiosity.
By the time I finished braiding Darius’ hair, Devin strolled up my walkway. I didn’t hide the smile that jumped to my lips.
“Hey y’all. Sorry for interrupting,” Devin said as he walked up to us.
Still positioned between my legs, Darius extended his hand toward Devin to exchange a fist pound.
“I hear you asked Angie out and she accepted. Congratulations!” Darius cheered, rubbing his hands up and down my bare calves.
Sensing a nervous shift in the energy amongst us, I rose to stand between Darius and Devin. Not one to greet anyone with a fist pound, I hugged Devin. “Hi Sweetie! We can go inside to talk in private.”
Expectedly, Devin was all smiles when I pulled out of our embrace. However, I did notice the glare that Darius was giving Devin.
Looks like we’re going to have to have another talk about compersion and jealousy.
The boys followed me inside my house, said hello to my family and stopped in the kitchen for snacks before we went downstairs to my play place. As I sat between Darius and Devin, we quietly ate our snack.
Unable to take the silence much longer, I joked, “For every minute that passes, that’s how late I’ll be for our date tomorrow!”
Choking on a sip of pineapple juice, Devin said, “Oh, oh, my bad! I’m interrupting your date! I can come back another time!”
“Dude! This ain’t no date! Angie always braids my hair on Saturdays!” Darius retorted.
Gee, Darius! Ya really know how to make a girl feel special!
“What did you want to talk to us about, Devin?” I said gently, taking his hands in mine, turning toward him. Darius exhaled deeply before putting his hands around my waist.
“First, to Darius, my apologies, man. I wanted to talk to you before I asked Angela out but I ran into her this morning so I took the opportunity to ask her out. I figured that if she said no, there was nothing to tell you… except there’s something else…”
When Devin stood up and walked a few steps away from us, I tried not to feel nervous. He looked like he was about to drop the mother of all bombshells on us.
“I want to ask Darius out, too, if that’s OK with you, Angela,” Devin finished.
Grinning at Darius who was grinning back at me, I said, “Well, Boo, I guess you were right. He does like you!”
Looking stunned, Devin gaped his mouth open. “Huh? I’m confused.”
My boyfriend crossed the room to stand before my new love. “You’re not confused. You’re bisexual. So am I. So is Angela. It makes things like this a little easier…” Darius took Devin’s face into his hands and softly kissed his lips. “And if you’re gay, I’m sure Angie would be happy to be your beard!”
No doubt stunned by the kiss, Devin looked shook. “As much as I had hoped and prayed, I never would’ve guessed you both were bi!”
Giggling, I said, “Ask and you shall receive! Anything else, Mr. Lawson?”
Blushing, Devin looked up at Darius. “Can I take you out?”
“Before all of that, why you wait so long to ask me out?!” Darius snapped at Devin.
“Because I assumed you were straight. I’ve never seen you with a boy so…” Devin stated.
Briefly holding his head down, Darius replied, “You’re right. I wasn’t sure y’all were ready for the truth. I was hoping you would notice me but I never saw you with a boy so I didn’t know if you were gay or bi or what! If it wasn’t for Angie and polyamory, who knows when I would’ve come out!”
Turning toward me, Devin said, “Thank you for introducing me to polyamory and a freer way to love!”
Darius, Devin and I joined together for a group hug. As we pulled apart, Devin said to me, “So… does this make you my girlfriend?!”
I couldn’t help laughing.