Page 168 of The Holy Grail
“Yes.”
Kim sighed and frowned. “Well, shit.”
“Which one did you have your eye on, dear?” Dolly wanted to know. “Evan or Malcom?”
“Jules,” Kim replied, before heading over to the island, ostensibly to get another drink.
“Did I hear you say they were all three in a relationship?” Lauren asked Dolly.
Dolly nodded. “Yes.”
“Really?” Lauren asked. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Lauren looked intrigued. “How interesting.”
“Whoa,” Andrea said, coming up behind Dolly and Lauren. “‘You’re going to need a bigger boat’.”
“What?” Dolly asked, confused.
“It’s a quote from the movieJaws,” Lauren answered.
At that explanation, Dolly gave Andrea a strange look, who was too busy noticing how everyone seemed to be watching Jules, Malcom, and Evan over at the buffet table, who appeared to be in a bit of a heated conversation, though it was now barely audible.
“What’s going on with those three?” Andrea wanted to know.
Dolly sighed, thinking she needed to find a different spot in the kitchen to occupy. “They’re in a relationship,” she explained for the second time.
Behind her black, cat eye glasses, Andrea’s eyes sharpened with interest. “You mean, like a polyamory relationship?”
“I don’t know what you call it, but they’re all together.”
“Well, this isn’t your average dinner party, is it?”
“Not in my experience, no.”
After a pause, Andrea mused, “I wonder how that works. You know, with two men?”
“I’m wondering the same thing,” Lauren said. “Do you think it would be inappropriate to go over and ask?”
“Only one way to find out.” Andrea gave a nod in the direction of Jules, Evan, and Malcom. “I’ll go with you.”
Dolly watched the two women walk away, and briefly considered going with them, but then a voice behind her asked, “What’s going on in here?”
Figuring the voice had to belong to Marilyn, because everyone else was already in the kitchen, Dolly turned and smiled at the sweet woman, then proceeded to explain for the third time what was going on.
Chapter 54
Permanent headquarters
“I’ve been thinking about something,” Malcom said, muting the sound on the TV show he was supposed to be watching with Jules and Evan. Malcom had hardly paid any attention to it, though, because he’d been trying to figure out how to say what he wanted to say without sounding crazy.
Jules, lying next to him on the couch, glanced over. “Oh?”
“What is it?” Evan asked, on the other side of Jules.
It had been two weeks since the dinner party, and in that time the three of them had pretty much spent every moment they could together, sleeping every night at Malcom’s, even those when Evan worked late. He’d quietly let himself in at 3:00 a.m., then crawl into bed doing his best to not wake anyone, but also not minding if he did and received a sleepy embrace and kiss.
