Page 121 of The Holy Grail
“There was a time when I was younger and did try to get his approval, but I quickly learned it was never going to happen, at which point I learned to quit listening to him, because fuck his opinion.”
“You never told your mom or anyone in your family what he was like?”
“I thought about it once or twice, but in the end, I never said anything. I knew it would tear apart the family, and I wasn’t willing to do that. Plus, sometimes I was able to use it to my advantage—”
“In what way?”
“Well, let’s just say it’s how I became the proud owner of a classic, 1965 Mustang Fastback on my 18th birthday,” Evan replied, with a half-pleased, half-nostalgic smile. “Damn, that thing was pretty. Red, with black leather interior … I can’t tell you how many times that car got me laid.”
“I doubt it was just the car,” Malcom and Jules said, almost in unison.
Evan smiled for a moment, before turning serious again. “Anyway, as far as coming out goes, I’m not suggesting you make a public announcement or whatever, but you will have to dosomething,Mal. At the very least, you’ll have to talk to your parents and other family members, because at some point they’ll have to meet me.” He cocked his head. “Have your parents met Jules, yet?”
“Yes,” Malcom answered.
Evan nodded, not really surprised. “So, if we do this, they’ll have to know about me. And I’m not trying to be a demanding asshole about this, but I won’t be hidden. My family will know about both you and Jules, so I expect the same respect and regard from both of you.” He looked directly at Jules. “Does your family know about Mal?”
She nodded. “They even gave me advice on groveling.”
“They what?”
Briefly, she explained how she and Malcom had met eighteen months ago, and how she’d ghosted him for fifteen of them, before finally getting in touch with him. “He was kind of aggravated with me after all that time, so I had to grovel.”
Evan, who had found the entire story amusing, told Malcom, “My meeting with her wasn’t quite as Hallmark Channel as yours was.”
“Hallmark Channel?”
“‘Call my mom for a character reference’?” Evan teased. “That’s one hundred percent Hallmark Channel—the only thing missing was you being the owner of a Christmas tree farm, or a pumpkin patch in a small town.”
Malcom couldn’t help but chuckle, even as he said, “Fuck you. Let’s hear howyourmeeting went.”
With great detail, Evan described the night he met Jules, and how she’d chewed his ass over thinking he was fucking around with Paige, called him out for looking at Jules’ tits, and how he’d been incredibly turned on by the tongue lashing. “See? You’re the Hallmark Channel.”
Then, turning his attention back to Jules, Evan asked, “Do you think you’ll have any problem telling your parents about me?”
“Not really. They’re very … open-minded.”
“Okay, well, there’s open-minded, and then there’sopen-minded.”
She gave Malcom a quick glance before telling Evan, “Mal said the exact same thing, and I told him they’reopen-minded. And if you doubt me, ask yourself who raised me to be the way that I am? Don’t you think I had help?”
Evan thought about that for a moment, then decided to take her at her word because she wasn’t one to blow smoke up anyone’s ass. “All right.” He turned back to Malcom. “Now, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you might have a problem telling your parents? I assume there’s a reason—or reasons—why no one you know is aware of your bisexuality, because you’ve obviously taken great pains to hide it, even from yourself.”
“I have,” Malcom admitted. “And I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know it’s because of my father, who was neither a good father, nor a good man, really. Despite that, I never stopped trying to please him when I was younger, which made camouflaging my bisexuality a necessity. So, as far as telling my parents, I won’t have a problem telling my mother, but telling my father …” he trailed off, his features pinched. “I’m not going to lie. It’ll probably be one of the hardest things I’ll ever do, and I’m already dreading it.”
Evan sighed. “Well, it looks like most of the weight will be resting on your shoulders, because you obviously have the most opposition, or fear to deal with.”
“We’ll be there with you,” Jules promised Malcom. “You won’t go through that alone.”
“Actually, I think Mal’s more worried about the fallout,” Evan said.
“I am, a little,” Malcom admitted.
“How bad do you think it will be?” Jules wanted to know.
“Well, pretty bad. I mean, you and I talked about optics, right?” At Jules’ nod, he continued. “So, the optics of this will be ugly for him. I don’t know if he’ll be able to process, let alone understand, his son being attracted to both womenandmen, but knowing I’m in a three-way relationship ...” He pressed his lips together. “He’s very old school, and it will be extremely hard for him, worrying about people he knows finding out about it. I think, like your dad—” he exchanged a look with Evan, “—mine will also see me as a deviant, and will probably sever what little relationship we have.”
“Would you be able to handle that?” Evan asked softly. “Would you be willing to risk that for me? I know Jules said you both believe I’m worth the effort to make a triad work, but reality can be one hell of a bitch, and what you may think you can handle, doesn’t always get handled very well, especially when loss of family members is involved. So, if you’re not completely sure about this, tell me now.”
