Page 284 of The Valiant Knight
That hurt Graham’s heart.
Why?
He knew that kind of love once, and how Duncan had to feel when the man he loved was gone forever.
“That had to hurt him.”
Oh, Tony bet.
“I think to get the ghosts to calm down, and that dark spirit to go away, you need to find all of the remains. So someone needs to find his bones and return them to that third crypt.”
Well, it wasn’t like he didn’t have time on his hands.
Because he did.
“I’ll work on it. He has to be buried somewhere on the grounds. I’ll start searching for Ciarán.”
That would keep him busy and give him a purpose.
“Also, I need to talk about one other thing.”
Graham waited.
So, Tony went there.
“While you were asleep, your phone was blowing up. You had four texts.”
He was tense.
“I did?”
He nodded.
“I could see them as they popped up on the home screen. They were men looking for hookups.”
His cheek twitched as that hung there.
Oh, boy.
This was mortifying.
“Graham, I’m not your father, but you need someone to have the talk with, and I’m going to be that person. How old are you?” he asked.
Graham couldn’t look him in the eyes. Those hookups were his secret shame.
“I’m thirty-six.”
Tony had mercy on the man because he understood it.
“At your age, I was doing the same thing. All I wanted was to feel something. Anything, and I can tell you from experience that meaningless sex isn’t going to save you. It’s going to hurt you in the end.”
He said nothing.
“Respect yourself enough that you can look yourself in the eyes. You can get sick by doing what you’re doing. Are you practicing safe sex?” he asked.
Graham shrugged.
“Not always.”
