Speaking of which…
“Excuse the interruption, dahlings, but I’m fairly certain I overheard one of our guests talking about this same chess thing.”
Robert perked up. “What did she say?”
William paused, as if trying to remember.
“I was upstairs. I had the patio doors open. I heard two of the Les—, our guests, talking. One of them said that Kasparov guy got lucky in the sixth game by winning after… What’s the term? Oh, yes! Winning after a queen’s gambit declined!”
Robert was incensed. “Who said that?”
“The loud one with the camera. Molly?”
Robert stomped away in search of Molly.
Matt scowled at William. “That was a mean thing to do.”
William shrugged. “If Molly wants shared custody of our clubhouse, she’s going to have to bone up on her chess.”
“It was a mean thing to do to Robert,” Matt said. He held out his arm again. “Come along, ‘dahling.’ You’re going to fix this.”
They passed through the dining area. The table was a makeshift drink station, with soda bottles, wine, vodka, and a mixing bowl with beer cans bobbing in melting ice. Soggy cocktail napkins hinted at recent spills.
There was a small stack of Solo cups—and a Sharpie for marking them. Bella would have been proud!
Evan and Luke sat there, unfazed by the mess, disconnected from the party. Evan’s arm was around Luke’s shoulder, comforting him.
Evan would also be graduating soon, then returning to Okmulgee to apprentice at his dad’s insurance agency before starting his own. Luke still had two more years of college ahead of him. They planned to try the whole long-distance relationship thing. Luke was having a hard time.
Evan’s expressive eyebrows rippled and furrowed at sight of Matt and William. He was having a hard time, too—just trying to keep it together for Luke’s sake.
Matt smiled encouragingly, and hustled William along.
The living area spanned the width of the townhome, approximately twenty feet, and was ground zero for the party, which seemed to have devolved into a spirited game of Taboo.
Jake, Todd, and Ava were on one team. Kevin, Josh, and another girl—Carla—were on the other.
Molly, Robert, and—was her name Lucy?—must be on the patio.
Ten gay guys. Four lesbians. The math was not encouraging. That was about half what the statistics predicted for a University the size of MCU.
The GM was barely treading water. Three members were graduating (Harley, Evan, and Josh). Matt and Robert were the only freshmen. Adam would have been the third, had Colton Langley not interfered.
At this rate, the GM would go extinct in less than a decade.
The lesbians were losing Molly. She’d been offered an internship withThe Village Voice, all because of her famous photo of Colton’s arrest!
Matt couldn’t help thinking that there had to be other gay kids at MCU. They deserved to be at this party—among their own tribe.
But that was a problem for another time. Tonight, was for celebrating—and mixing.
He shepherded William out to the patio, where, sure enough, Molly, Robert, and the Lucy girl hovered over the grill.
Molly’s face brightened. “SCREECH! And William. Hi!”
William nodded a noncommittal greeting.
Molly reached into a cooler, fished out two cans, and tossed them, successively, to Matt and William. “Heads up!”
