It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy it. I mean, what’s not to like? But the emotional complications that came with taking a woman home, fucking her and then trying to get her to leave again made it undesirable unless I really needed to blow my load inside someone.

Fuck me, I wanted that someone to be Nova right now. She looked mortified as Rigby asked his question. What did she want from us?

Up until today, I would’ve said she wanted nothing from me. But after that little scene we’d just had against the wall? The way I’d affected her almost as much as she affected me said otherwise.

“What do you mean?” she squeaked out.

I gave her a loaded look. “I think you know what he means, Nova.” God, I wanted to lay her over my lap and do depraved things to her. I had no right at all, but I wanted it so fucking bad it made my balls ache. “What I want to know is if he’s out of his fucking mind?”

Rigby rolled his eyes at me. “This is going to surprise you, but I love you surly bastards. Love you enough that I want you to be happy. But you forget I also know you. You’re so fucked up, with more baggage between you than all the international airports in the world, it would almost be unfair to ask a woman to heal that trauma for you.”

It was like a punch in the chest, but I didn’t deny it. It was true. I would never inflict my issues on a woman. Therapy helped, but some shit had been imprinted in my DNA.

“What's your point?”

“It means you guys would never be enough for a woman. You could give her what she needs physically, but you’d be emotional sandpaper.”

“Rigby…” Nova said softly, already trying to protect our feelings. She was too good.

River was shaking his head. “He’s not wrong. Let him finish.”

“You both need time to heal from your past. Hell, you should have already begun healing, but you’re both stubborn bastards. It's almost too late. Too late for you to feel real happiness. Love.”

I felt like I was in an episode of Dr. Phil, but I didn’t interrupt again. He was getting to a point, but I wished he’d hurry up and try to do it without emotionally flaying us in the process.

“I propose polyamory.”

I blinked at him, waiting for him to get to the punchline of the joke, as I tried to formulate a response.

River beat me to it. “What the actual fuck?”

“You’ve lost your mind, Rigby. We need to get your head checked, because I think you’ve taken one too many sticks to the temple,” I added.