Page 92 of Fakers with Benefits

I glanced at Vlado, who also shook his head.

“That’s really sad.” It felt a bit wrong to be discussing Evan’s coming out with Emily and Vlado and not with him, but I couldn’t deny that I’d been curious about his experiences with being gay in his world. It was hard enough for us regular folks to be queer, but he also had the corporate and political bullshit that was built into the fabric of high society to deal with. “Were your parents supportive when he came out?”

“Mostly. Mom just flipped the script to him finding a suitable husband. Dad had a harder time accepting it. He was never outwardly homophobic to Evan, not as far as I know, but still makes stupid comments like the one about leaving us ‘ladies’ to chat about flowers and dresses. It’s like he needs to point out how Evan is the ‘man’ in the relationship and reduce his partners to feminine roles he can understand.”

“Ev plays it off like he doesn’t care, but it bothers him,” Vlado said. “And he also knows his father isn’t the only one saying those things. It’s another reason he puts everything he has into his work. He feels like he needs to prove himself. Like he needs to be more than everyone else just to be seen as an equal.”

“And the sad part is they have no idea just how much they screwed us up,” Emily continued. “That Evan’s meticulousness and his obsession with being the best came from the same place as when I acted out and caused trouble.”

“Two opposite trauma responses,” I mused.

“I’m glad he hired you,” Emily said slyly.

“What?” She knew?

Emily smiled innocently. “Let’s just say I’m not as oblivious as people think I am. Something tells me we have that in common.”

“We do. It’s annoying, but it can be a blessing.”

“It can.” She patted my arm. “Why don’t you go save Evan before he strokes out. That vein popping out of his forehead is concerning.”

I looked at Evan, who was now red-faced and looking like he was a moment away from punching someone as Grant and Malcom talked to each other, gesticulating wildly and completely unaware that Evan was giving them death stares.

“Good plan.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. And I’ll talk to Malcom about his jokes. He means well, but he doesn’t understand that not everyone shares his humor.”

I waited until Emily was out of earshot. “Is it just me,” I asked Vlado, “or is Malcom an asshole?”

“It’s not just you.”

“He must be fire in the sack if someone like Emily is putting up with all his bullshit. He knew exactly what he was saying. Those weren’t jokes. And that crap about Emily needing to make peace with his bestie made me uncomfy.”

“Me too.” He made a grievous sound. “I love Emily like a sister, but her taste in men is terrible. Before lemon face, she always ended up with broke losers who used her name and connections to further themselves. Then, when she couldn’t help them anymore, they’d break her heart and leave her devastated. Her last boyfriend really messed her up and unfortunately Malcolm was there to pick up the pieces.”

“Like she trauma bonded to him?”

“Like he made sure she only had him to trauma bond to.”

“Interesting.” I glanced at the trio of men off to the side. “Let’s save Evan before he punches lemon face and gets arrested.”

Squaring my shoulders, I marched up to them and stood beside Evan. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I need to steal my boyfriend back.”

Evan slid his arm around my waist. “Is everything okay?”

“Fine. I just need to speak with you.”

“Of course.” He glanced at Grant and Malcolm. “Excuse me.”

“But—” Malcolm started, but his glare was leveled at me.

“We can talk more about this in the office. I’ll see you Monday.” Evan dragged me away from them.

“You okay? That looked intense.”

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Fine. Just more of the same crap I deal with day in and day out.”

“Is there anyone else you need to say hi too?” I looked around the ballroom. “Oh my fucking god.” I slapped my hand over my mouth in glee.

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