Page 129 of The Holy Grail
EVAN: Sexual baby steps, here we come!
EVAN: And since Mal has the most experience with dating, I vote for him taking the lead on this.
MALCOM: Why do you think I have the most experience?
EVAN: Because you were already dating when Jules and I were still in grade school.
EVAN: Actually, it would have been middle school for her ...
JULES: For. Fuck’s. Sake.
MALCOM: Well, as honored as I am to get your vote, I decline taking the lead, because that would disrupt our power grid.
JULES: Our what?
MALCOM: You know, our equality. It wouldn’t be right for me to have that much power over the two of you.
Evan grinned, pretty sure Malcom was totally fucking with him.
EVAN: Fine.
EVAN: So, how about this, instead? Let’s share our work schedules, and we each have to come up with one date per week … it has to be in public, and kind of on the cheap, because I’m on a budget. I recently got a raise, but still …
EVAN: That doesn’t mean we only get together three times a week, it just means three times a week we’ll be getting together in a public setting.
JULES: I’m good with that.
MALCOM: Me, too.
Chapter 40
Setting some boundaries
Their first official ‘date’ was at Macaroni’s, courtesy of Jules. She wanted to start off with a simple dinner in a nice restaurant, but had planned it so she arrived last, making Malcom and Evan have to hang out together for a little while.
When she arrived and was taken to their table, she couldn’t help but get a double zap of prideful awe that the two handsome men who got to their feet as she approached were both hers. It was kind of surreal, honestly, not to mention a bit shocking, as she’d never eventhoughtabout being with two men. She hardly even read books where the heroine was with more than one man, because threesomes weren’t her ‘thing’, as she’d once told Paige.
And they hadn’t been … until apparently they were.
Jules was probably going to get a truckload of shit from Paige when she found out.
Since the night they’d made it official, Jules had found herself giving a lot of thought to how everything would work. Would it be challenging, and if so,howchallenging? What if there were times when she was annoyed with one of the men, which seemed a likely scenario? Would the other man take her side, or stand in allegiance with his XY brother? Or would it be relatively easy, with their lives resembling the opening scene inThe Sound Of Music,where Julie Andrews was twirling around, singing on a mountaintop?
More importantly, how did everything fit during sex? What if Evan and Malcom found themselves more into each other, and she started to become superfluous? She’d never been superfluous in her life and knew she wouldn’t be able to deal with that if it happened. Notthat she needed to be the center of the universe, but being relegated to the sidelines was not an option she wanted to entertain.
Tonight, both men were dressed casually, but nicely, and while the navy slacks and polo were a step down from Malcom’s daily attire, Evan’s charcoal-gray slacks and button-down shirt were obviously a step up from his daily attire. As Jules planted a kiss on each of their mouths, she focused all her attention on them and steadfastly ignored the diners at surrounding tables.
When she’d told Malcom she wouldn’t care what other people thought, or feel strange about it because she had a gift for ignoring judgmental people, she’d meant it. However, that didn’t mean she had to go looking for it.
“You two look very handsome,” she told the men, as they all sat down.
“And you look very beautiful,” Malcom said.
He appeared to be mostly at ease, but she could still sense a bit of wariness, as if part of him was anticipating some negativity, in some form. It was in the way he held himself and the way his expression never completely relaxed.
Evan gave her an appreciative once-over, taking in her black pencil skirt and oyster-colored blouse and nodded. “As always,” he added.
“Thank you,” she said. “You know getting double compliments all the time is going to be a lot of fun.”
