Page 64 of Bull's Boy

“Of course, he burst into tears right after he pushed the other kid, so we were also pretty sure he wasn’t going to go pro,” Sally added, winking at Bull as he groaned and covered his face.

“He and Marv have always been very protective of each other. Even with the few years between them, they were always inseparable. From the moment we brought Bull home, Marv called himhisbaby and wanted to do everything for him,” Bo said, smiling widely at her boys, and they both groaned that time.

Malcolm couldn’t imagine there had ever been a time Evan had been protective of him. For as long as he could remember, his brother had begrudged his very existence for some reason that had never been clear to him. Maybe his parents had foisted him off onto ten-year-old Evan, and he’d grown to resent Malcolm instead of doting on him like Marv had with Bull.

“You’re lucky to have each other,” he said, giving Bull’s arm another reassuring squeeze, then smiling at Marv, who tipped his head back and forth.

“Despite how these two remember it,” Marv said, gesturing between his moms. “Things weren’t always sunshine and roses between us growing up. Right, brat?”

He leaned over, reaching for Bull’s head like he planned on rubbing his short hair, but Bull ducked away and frowned at him. “I was never a brat.”

“Sure, you were.”

“No, I?—”

“Boys,” Sally said, voice firm, and they both sighed but didn’t resume the argument.

Malcolm glanced between each of the Eaton family members, lips pressed together to stop from laughing. When he met Bo’s dark eyes, they both couldn’t hold it in any longer. Bull huffed at them, but he also turned his hand over on the table and slotted their fingers together, so Malcolm wasn’t too worried about him being annoyed.

“Do you have any siblings, Malcolm?” Bo asked, delicately wiping her fingers and then the corners of her mouth.

“Yeah,” he admitted, holding back his grimace. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin the mood by sharing about his family. “He’s almost ten years older than me though, so we’re not close.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” she said sympathetically. Turning to Marv, she said quietly, “Dear, would you go and grab the pie? I stuck it in the fridge to stay cool.”

He nodded and rose, taking his and Bo’s empty plates with him into the kitchen. Bull’s small dining room was barely more than a breakfast nook with a wide archway the only thing separating the spaces, so they could all see him as he deposited the dishes next to the sink, then opened the fridge.

Malcolm was a little embarrassed that Bo and Marv—and probably Sally at some point—had seen the bare insides. He wasn’t sure why since it wasn’thishouse, but a part of him still worried they’d judge him and Bull for not having much foodaround. Unlike at his apartment, it wasn’t because Bull couldn’t afford to go grocery shopping. He just really didn’t like to, complaining quietly the whole time about how rude the other people were.

“What about your parents?” Bo asked, turning back to Malcolm and surprising him. “Are you close with them?”

“Sweetheart, I thought we agreed not to bombard him with questions?” Sally said, smiling at her wife.

Bo rolled her eyes. “How is two questions a bombardment? Am I not allowed to ask the man dating our sonanything?”

“I’d prefer that,” Bull said, squeezing Malcolm’s fingers twice in rapid succession. He wasn’t sure exactly what that was code for, but he took it to mean,I’ve got this.

But that didn’t seem fair.

“It’s okay,” he said to Bull, giving him three quick squeezes and a soft smile. Turning to his moms, he said, “I don’t have a great relationship with them either. My family… doesn’t really like me.”

Welp. The cat was out of the bag.

His face burned as silence followed his statement for a long moment, and then Marv appeared at the table and set the pie down harder than was necessary.

“What the fuck do you mean they don’t like you?” he asked, voice low and a little scary.

Malcolm stared at him with wide eyes. This was a side of Marv he’d never seen before.

“Did you all have a falling-out?” Bo asked more delicately.

“No, they’re just assholes,” Bull said.

Shrugging, Malcolm had to agree. “What Bull said. They’ve just always preferred my brother and the choices he’s made with his life over me and mine.”

“What choices?” Sally asked harshly. “I don’t know that there’s a single thing either of these boys could choose to do that would make menot like them.”

Bo looked between him and Bull. “Because of your relationship?”

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