“No matter how much I may love—scratch that, loved, past tense—Josh, I was no dummy. Everyone knows the Y chromosome carries with it the instinctive urge to lie under pressure.Which, incidentally, was what Josh was going to be under when I found him. Serious pressure.On his larynx.”

“Josh Mendel has a secret.Unfortunately, everyone knows what it is.”

“Seriously, Josh. What the hell?”

“Does it bother you when you see Daddy kissing Josh?” he asked.Ty shook his head and made a funny face. “No, not really. I guess you really like him a lot.”“I do,” Rex agreed. “I love Josh.”“I love Josh too, and so I don’t care if you kiss him. But I thought boys only kissed girls.”Rex nodded. “Yeah, well, that’s how it is most of the time, but you know some boys kiss other boys and some girls kiss other girls.”“Well, I don’t wanna kiss no girls!” Ty said emphatically.Rex and Josh both laughed. “Maybe someday you will, though. If you do, that’s fine, and if you don’t, that’s fine too. For right now, you can just kiss Daddy.” He leaned in and kissed Ty on the forehead.”

“Ty pointed his beer at Josh. "Want to know what I think?""No," Josh said."I think you have a case of being a little girl. Maybe you should prescribe yourself a heavy dose of man-the-fuck-up.”

“Josh: "Mutley, my dog."Shel: "I am not getting in the car with that."Josh: "Yes, you are."Shel: "No, I'm not. He's huge."Josh: "He's harmless."Shel: "Like his owner?"Josh: "Oh, no, he's harmless. I'm not.”