Page 61 of Their Wicked Ways
“What do you think?” Ez asked. “Is this place okay?”
“Yeah. It’s great.”
I’d already checked the menu online after they texted me the name of a pub a few blocks away from the shop. I worried that I’d be too dressed up because it wasn’t a super expensive place, but it had a classy vibe, and we would have looked out of place in jeans or hoodies.
We chatted about what we were going to order, then the conversation shifted to work, then to random things.
By the time our food was in front of us, I was having so much fun I forgot to obsess over every little look, smile, or inside joke they tossed my way.
At least until we were almost finished eating.
“Is it me, or is the server giving us weird looks?” I asked after they’d come by to check on our drinks and ask if we needed anything.
“It’s not you.” Ez put the last bite of his burger in his mouth.
“Last time we went out to dinner with our friend Jesse, the server insisted on bringing us three separate bills because she couldn’t wrap her head around all of us being on the same bill without it being weird.”
“People are so annoying when they assume stuff.” I stabbed a fry with my fork and dunked it in some ketchup. “It’s like they see three men together and don’t even consider that they could be friends if there’s even a hint that they’re not all straight.” Lifting the fry, I stared at it.
Was this the right time to ask about their arrangement?
In all the time we’d spent together, including the last couple of weeks at work when we didn’t have to be as cautious about what we talked about, I hadn’t found an opportunity to ask how they’d gone from a monogamous couple to one that occasionally played with thirds.
The concept of polyamory was so foreign to me, but at the same time, it made sense, and I was curious. But I also didn’t know if that was something that a friend would ask about.
“The answer is forty-two.” Wes’s voice cut through my stupor.
“Huh?” I jumped and looked up from where I was still staring at my fork.
“You were staring at that fry like it has the answer to the secrets of life and the universe.”
“Oh.” I chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah. Just got lost in thought for a second. Wait. Forty-two?”
“It’s fromThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” Ez said.
“Did they make that into a movie?” I vaguely remembered hearing about it at some point, but I hadn’t watched it.
“A while ago. Did you read it?” Wes asked.
Shaking my head, I ate the fry still hanging off the end of my fork.
“We had to read it in high school,” Wes said. “I thought that was on pretty much every curriculum out there.”
“I went to a religious school.” I dragged my fork through the ketchup on my plate. “We didn’t read a lot of secular books.”
“I’m so glad my parents aren’t that kind of religious.”
“What do you mean?” I asked Ez.
“They’re religious in the sense that they go to church and all that, but they’ve always been incredibly liberal,” he explained. “They don’t use their faith as a way to oppress others.”
“Were they okay with you being gay?” Using my fork, I cut a fry in half just to have something to do with my hands.
“Yup.” He ran his finger over the rim of his water glass. “They knew before I told them.” He glanced at Wes.
“My parents didn’t react well,” Wes said softly. “And I knew they wouldn’t. I hid it as long as I could, but they found out, and that was the last conversation I ever had with them.” He smiled, but it was forced. “It’s fine. Ez’s parents treat me better than mine ever did. It’s their loss.”
“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. My parents had cut me off too, and they didn’t even know about my sexuality.