Originally posted August 5, 2010:

My boyfriend and I have "history." We dated casually and weren't ready to stop seeing other people, so we had an open relationship. This phase was awful: lots of fights, a couple minor breakups, and eventually I called it quits for good, cutting off all contact. A month later, we started talking again and decided to commit for reals. No fucking around this time. This is his first monogamous relationship, and while he claims to miss the variety, he says he wouldn't trade having me for having it.

Here's my question: I'd like to have a three-way. While I trust him, I don't want to make it seem like it's okay for him to fuck around again. Is this too dangerous a proposition?

One More Time

My response after the jump...

Okay, OMT, if you make the mistake of having a three-way, you could wind up fighting, breaking up, and calling it quits all over again. But all of that could happen if you make the mistake of not having that three-way. And then, my God, just think of it: You would have gone through all of that again without having a three-way.

Err on the side of the three-way.

People in monogamous relationships get cheated on, OMT, even though their partners understand that it's not okay to fuck around. So keeping the relationship officially monogamous doesn't necessarily protect you from infidelity. Keeping it honest, keeping it communicative, and being in a relationship with someone trustworthy does.

After you discuss this with your boyfriend, OMT, if you believe him when he swears that he can be trusted—when he swears to fully understanding that he'd still be in a quasi-monogamous relationship (you only have sex with other people together)—then why not satisfy his desire for a little variety and your desire for a three-way, aka "a little variety"?