Husband Material (London Calling, #2)

by Alexis Hall

Which wasn’t quite the rush to my defence I’d hoped for. But then again, we were here for our wedding not my ego, and pissing off David Blackwood before the main course was a bad strategy. The uncomfortable silence that followed lasted just long enough for our food to arrive. And then Miriam piped up with, “I must admit, I don’t really understand why gay people want to get married at all.” “Equality?” I suggested, hoping that this counted as engaging and not talking back. She seemed to be genuinely thinking about this. “But isn’t that a bit selfish?” I glanced at Oliver for help but got nothing. He was gazing into his superfood salad like it contained the mysteries of the universe. And maybe it would have been a good idea to let it go, but I hoped if I kept asking open questions, I could at least avoid another excruciating silence. “Why selfish?” “Well”—Miriam looked faintly pained—“for normal people, marriage has a tradition behind it. And it seems a shame to try and change that for everybody else just because you feel left out.” “For what it’s worth,” I said, “I don’t consider myself abnormal.” That got Oliver off the bench but not for the team I wanted. “She didn’t mean it like that.”