Page 192 of The Holy Grail
Once Evan had taken his seat again, Malcom went back to the original topic of his father. “So, last night, when I was fucking around in the kitchen, I thought about my father a lot, but not once did it ever cross my mind Iwasn’tgoing to tell him to go fuck himself, but …”
“But what?” Jules prodded.
“I just don’t think I’m ready to do it.” Malcom held up a hand, as if to ward off a barrage of comments. “What I mean is I want to do it from a position of strength, so when I do tell him to go fuck himself, every word is delivered with weight and force, because I want him to feel each one, and know I’m not a scared little boy.”
The last part was directed at Evan, who had the grace to look ashamed. “I’m sorry about that. I really can be a dick.”
“You can, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t right. My father really has the ability to make me feel like a scared little boy, and right now, that’s my biggest roadblock.”
Jules came around the island and then half-planted herself on one of Malcom’s legs and took his face in her hands. “Fortunately, we know someone who can help with that.”
Chapter 63
She’ll either love it ... or hate it
Because neither of them had slept very well the night before, they all decided to take a nap upstairs.
When Jules woke up a few hours later, she lay there, a little disoriented. Part of it was because she didn’t take naps very often, but most of it was due to the fact that when she’d fallen asleep, she’d been in the middle of the bed, with Malcom on her left, Evan on her right. However, she was now on the outside left, staring at Evan’s back as he laid in the middle, with Malcom occupying the far right side of the bed.
Before Jules could ask what had happened, Evan began speaking to Malcom in a low voice, as if to keep from waking her. “I really am sorry about last night, especially the part where I hit you. I was such an asshole.”
“I was an asshole, too,” Malcom countered in an equally low voice. “I think I hit you because you were a proxy for my dad, to be honest. I mean, you did piss me off with the ‘scared little boy’ comment, but the real anger behind my hitting you was fueled by what happened with my dad.”
“You throw a pretty good punch, by the way.”
“Really? I’ve never hit anyone before, so ... that’s kind of ironic.”
“Are you serious?” Evan asked, surprise in his voice.
“No. I’ve never actually been hit before, either.”
“Oh, Christ. Now I feel even worse, knowing I’m the first person to hit you.”
“You did say you wanted all my ‘firsts’,” Malcom lightly teased.
Evan released a self-deprecating groan, before murmuring, “Well, then I’m glad I was the first person you hit, because I deserved it. Like, really fucking deserved it—more than I’ve ever deserved it in my life, to be honest.”
“How many times have you … deserved it?”
“Well, let’s just say I’ve been in my fair share of fights, and I probably deserved it half the time.”
“So, you’ve been punched a few times?”
“More than a few.”
Suddenly, Malcom shifted, and Jules closed her eyes, pretending to still be asleep, and a few moments later, when she cautiously opened one eye it was to see him now partially lying on top of Evan, who was now flat on his back, and bending down to kiss him.
“Does this hurt your lip?” Malcom asked.
Evan’s response was swift. “Not enough for me to make you stop.”
Remaining as still as possible, Jules took in the beauty of the two shirtless men lying chest to chest as they began kissing in earnest, thoroughly enjoying the sounds they made—soft moans deep in their throats, along with deeper groans in between. It was the deeper groans that had her becoming almost uncomfortably turned on, to the point where she released a little sigh of pleasure of her own, just loud enough to catch the attention of both men. Suddenly, there was a set of blue eyes and a set of brown eyes looking at her.
Evan was the first to speak. “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough to get turned on.”
“You’ve been watching us?” Malcom wanted to know.
