Page 219 of The Holy Grail
“You were obviously too ashamed to tell him that.”
“I wasn’t ashamed, so fuck off with that. I was … apprehensive … because I knew he wouldn’t understand or accept it, and I had a feeling that would be the end of our relationship. I was right, because when he saw me with Evan at a restaurant one night, Monroe told me he wouldn’t ‘stand for it’,” Malcom spit out, using exaggerated air quotes. “And if I didn’t make the ‘right decision’, Monroe would no longer ‘recognize’ me as his son.” The last set of air quotes got cut off by Evan, who gently put a stop to it.
“Why are you referring to Dad as ‘Monroe’?”
“Because I stripped him of his ‘Dad’ title.” When Martin sort of frowned at that, Malcom continued. “Anyway, I unfortunately never got the chance to tell Monroe to go fuck himself for what he said to me that night.”
Martin’s eyes widened in shock. “You were seriously going to tell Dad to go fuck himself?”
“Yes. It was one of the things I was working on with Lauren. She’ssoamazing, by the way.”
“Who’s Lauren?”
“My therapist. You should go see her. She could probably fix you, too.”
Ignoring the suggestion he should go to therapy and get ‘fixed’, Martin decided to focus on his brother being in therapy. “You’re seeing a therapist?”
“Yes, because when your father is a completeasshole, and his affection for you depends on whether or not you’re completely straight, it kind of fucks you up. Which is why I was going to tell him to go fuck himself. So, feel free to contest the will if you want.”
Martin actually looked a little hurt by that. “I would never do that. Jesus.”
“Well, I wouldn’t blame you if you did. Monroe probably would have cut me out had he lived, and I’d gotten the opportunity to tell him to go fuck himself.”
There was a long pause and then Martin came over and took Malcom’s arm. “Why don’t we go outside and talk in private?”
“Outside—” Malcom broke off as he was pulled out onto the little balcony attached to the library, which overlooked the side yard, instead of the guests in the back.
Once they were away from Evan and Jules, and the French doors had been closed, Malcom said to Martin, “Seriously, you can contest the will if you want—”
“Quit talking about the will, for Christ’s sake. I want to talk about this three-way relationship, instead.”
“It’s actually called a ‘triad’.”
“Whatever.” Martin took a deep breath. “Look, I understand the allure of fantasy. I admit, I did some kinky shit in college, but that wasn’t real life, and neither is this thing you have going with Jules and Evan. I mean, how long do you think this will last?”
“Well, I’m planning on it lasting a long time,” Malcom answered, doing his best imitation of Martin’s condescending tone.
“Was this Jules’ idea?”
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because this doesn’t seem like something you’d come up with on your own, to be honest, so I have to wonder if this is a result of her … influence … over you during the past seven months.”
Inside the library, Jules and Evan could pretty much hear everything, since the glass in the French doors was single-pane, and while Martin was keeping his voice low, Malcom wasn’t.
“Do you think ‘influence’ is really his code word for your pussy?” Evan asked Jules in a whisper.
She gave a quick snort. “Maybe. It’s obvious he doesn’t have a very high opinion of me.”
“I don’t have a very high opinion ofhim,” Evan responded. “Which means we probably won’t be best friends.”
Outside, Malcom was giving Martin a dirty look. “You think she pushed me into this?”
“Did she?”
“No.No.It wasouridea—mine, Evan’s and Jules’. The three of us, because we’re a triad, with three equal sides. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Jules had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. “How much do you really think he’s had to drink?”
