Page 211 of The Holy Grail
“Nothing,” Jules answered.
Evan was quick to repeat, “Nothing.”
“Bullshit.” Malcom shook his head with disbelief. “You’re making fun of me.”
“No, we were telling each other how much we love you,” Jules said.
“And then laughing about it?”
“We were laughing because it makes us really happy, you know, to love you so much.”
He gave them both a look which said he wasn’t buying what they were trying to sell, and turned to leave. “I’m going to go make dinner, and leave you two to bask in how much you love me.”
For the next thirty minutes, while Malcom was working on shrimp and chorizo quesadillas, he could hear either Jules or Evan calling out ‘coordinates’, indicating they were playing a game of Battleship. Occasionally, one would call out with gusto, “You sank my battleship!”
When he went to get them for dinner, he came to a stop inside the room, surprised to find Jules and Evan both in a serious state of undress.
“Are you serious?StripBattleship?“ Malcom asked, although he couldn’t deny the view was pretty good.
“I don’t play for bragging rights,” Evan said.
Chapter 71
Putting in some more work
Ten days after Jules and Evan moved in, Malcom’s sessions with Lauren started to include the triad’s inner workings. Even though she’d talked to the three of them at the dinner party a few months ago, this time Lauren got into more of the details.
“How has everything been since you all moved in together?” Lauren asked.
“It’s been great. I mean, it’s not ideal with Evan working several nights a week, but Jules and I turn it into special time together, and Evan and I have time together if Jules has to work on one of his nights off, or on a weekend.”
“What about Jules and Evan having time together?”
“I’m almost always the first one out the door in the morning, and Jules can go in to work around mid-morning, so she and Evan spend most mornings together.”
“And the three of you have plenty of intimate time all together?”
He nodded slowly. “We do. It’s just …”
“Just what?”
“Since all this happened, my, uh, libido has taken a pretty big dive.”
Lauren wasn’t surprised to hear that. “That’s really common, actually, and shouldn’t be cause for alarm. You’re dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety. So your body is producing less serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which affects everything from sleep, appetite, mood, motivation, to focus and energy levels. At the same time, your body is producing more cortisol, which is a stress hormone that contributes to the development of depression, which usually affects sexual desire.”
“Wonderful.”
“Once you start getting a handle on the emotional turmoil in your life—which is why journaling, grounding yourself, and taking care of yourself is so important—you should start seeing improvement. I would also recommend during this time, to try and engage in moments of intimacy with Jules and Evan, without expectation of sex, to keep that connection strong. If it leads to sex, great, but if it doesn’t, that’s still good, because it’s about the emotional connection staying strong while the sexual connection has decreased. And honestly, in the end, emotional connection will outlast sexual connection, so making sure the emotional bond is strong is vital to a relationship’s longevity.”
“Okay.”
Lauren paused before pivoting slightly. “How is it when the three of you go out in public?”
“For the most part, it’s been fine,” he told her, and went on to explain the dating ‘baby steps’ that had been taken, mainly for his benefit, since he was the one who’d had the most issues with ‘coming out’, especially the first few times he and Evan went out alone.
“I’ve gotten more comfortable being with Evan alone in public, as a couple, but I’m still self-conscious about overt displays of affection with him, which I know is upsetting to him.”
“How upsetting?”
