Page 49 of Grave Misgivings
Felix flicks him off. “Fuck you,Matty.”
Mateo ignores him.
“Why do you ask?” he says, imploring me with his gaze. It’s not judgmental. Not in the least bit. “You having a mid-life gay awakening or something?”
“No!” I bark, but my voice is a little too high for my own liking. “I’m just... uh... testing a new demographic.”.
Felix laughs. “How old is yourdemographic?” he taunts.
“Twenty-nine.”
Mateo grins. “That’s older than Felix.”
Felix flicks him off again. “Fuck you, cradle robber. Least I’m older than your golden retriever.”
“Both of you shut the fuck up,” Duncan grunts, and I hang my head in my hands.
This was a terrible idea. Fucking champagne.
I must make a mental note to tell Zeb I cannot drink champagne. Ever.
“I asked my kid how he knew he was gay and you know what he told me?”
I look up at him, my jaw tense. “What?”
“He asked me how I knew I wasstraight.And I couldn’t say with absolute certainty that I was.”
I blink as his words settle. “But you were married, right?”
Duncan nods. “Yup. A lot of wonderful years.”
He looks at Felix, his smile lighting up the corners of his eyes, and then he says, “Porn.”
Felix frowns. “What?”
“Was trying to convince myself Iwasn’tinto you. Failed miserably.”
Felix laughs, and it is deep, genuine. Happy.
“Brad Drexler,” Mateo says, shaking his head. “Ninth grade. We used to masturbate together.”
I wrinkle my nose and he laughs.
Felix huffs with annoyance. “Not that it’sanyone’sbusiness, but…” He flicks his blonde hair over his shoulder, flashing me a stone cold blue gaze. “Nick Rialoto,” he says seriously. “He told me to suck him off and I didn’t think twice about it.” He shrugs. “Pretty sure I was, like, sixteen.”
I think I need another glass of champagne.
“Does the demographic live in Arizona?” Felix pushes the bottle toward me, but Mateo pushes it aside.
“Do youlikethe demographic?” Mateo asks.
“Yes, and I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I’ve been pretty set on one demographic for a long time, you know.”
Duncan lets out a chuckle.
“I know,” Mateo says. “Maybe you need to do some research.” He grins.
“Research?” I ask, trying to process his words as Dare barrels into the booth, dropping himself into Mateo’s lap, which pushes me aside a bit.
