Page 182 of The Holy Grail
“Are you … okay?”
“Not really, no.” Malcom picked up his wine glass with a shaking hand and drained it. “Oh, fuck. Did that just really happen?”
“It really happened.”
Malcom’s entire body was now shaking, and his breathing felt very shallow and uneven, like he was on the verge of hyperventilating, which would only add to the level ofWhat the fuckthe evening had already attained.
“So … what do you want first? The good news, or the bad news?” Evan asked quietly.
“You think there’s good news?”
“Yes. The good news is you no longer have to worry about telling your dad about me being in your life.”
“I feel better already.” Malcom released a harsh breath. “And what’s the bad news?”
“That he was never going to accept it, anyway.”
“Finding out about you here—like this—made it worse, though, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, but I don’t think finding out about me somewhere else was going to make much of a difference.”
Feeling anger bubbling in his veins, Evan glanced in the direction Monroe had gone. He was now in the far corner of the room, in a booth with several other men, all drinking bourbon and dressed in dark power suits and tasteful silk ties.
“For God’s sake, would you quit looking over there?” Malcom asked. “You’re just going to make things worse.”
Reluctantly, Evan turned away. “How will my looking at your father make things worse?”
“It just will, so please stop looking at him.”
“Fine. I’ll stop looking at him. But we should talk about what just happened—”
“No. We’re not talking about it.”
“You want to ignore it?”
“I just don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. How many times do I need to say it?”
Evan reached over to take Malcom’s hand, wanting to offer a little bit of comfort, or show solidarity since he was clearly upset. However, he jerked it out of reach, leaving Evan reaching for air. “Jesus Christ, don’ttouch me!”
The harsh tone, as well as the rejection, left Evan somewhat stunned, which only grew worse when it became clear Malcom was deliberatelynotlooking at Evan.
“Is this how the rest of the meal is going to be?” Evan asked after several moments. “Me not talking, you not looking at me and acting like we’re strangers, just because your dad is over there and can see us?”
“Look, it feels like I’m in shock, all right? And I’m just trying to process what happened—”
“What happened is your father saw you with another man and without even fuckingblinking, gave you a life-changing ultimatum. An ultimatum you seem to be really struggling with, I might add, which is utter bullshit, considering the two choices you have.”
“You’re making this worse,” Malcom said tightly.
“Actually, you’re the one making this worse by not going over there and telling that asshole to go fuck himself.”
Closing his eyes, as if in pain, Malcom pleaded, “Please just shut-up.”
Even though he wasn’t finished with his dinner, Evan got to his feet and tossed his napkin down on the table, because he was done.Sodone.
