Page 24 of Bi-Partisan

“Case, he was outed. That’s not his fault,” I snap because while I understand my best friend is protective, he didn’t see just how much this is affecting Jamie, so I can’t help feeling a little protective myself.

I can hear him grimace on the other end.

“Shit, yeah, sorry. You’re right.” He sighs. “Still, having his press secretary reach out to you first is a little impersonal given the circumstances, isn’t it?”

“It’s his press secretary’s job to handle stuff like this, especially when, for all they knew, I could have wanted to exploit this situation for my own benefit.” Which is the vibe I got when I messaged with Mina earlier in the afternoon. She didn’t outright say it, but the series of questions she asked got the point across.

“You would never do that,” he says.

“Yeah, but I can’t blame her or Jamie for operating under the assumption that I might. We didn’t exactly have a deep and meaningful conversation last night. We didn’t even exchange last names or phone numbers. So for all he knew, I could be one of those people that will do anything for their fifteen minutes of fame. Hell, when Sophie first said he’s a congressman, my first assumption was that he’s a married Republican cheating on his wife, even though nothing he did or said last night would have made those warning bells go off in my head.”

“So, you haven’t heard from him at all, then?”

“No, I have. Actually, he just left, which is why I’m calling you.” I take a small sip of my tea now that it’s a drinkable temperature, then launch into a recap of my conversation with Jamie, of at least the parts directly applicable to me. I keep what he said about his bi-awakening to myself, even though part of me desperately wants to dissect that. But that’s his information to share with whomever he chooses.

“I’m assuming you said no,” Casey says once I’m finished.

“I said I’d think about it,” I say.

“But you’re going to say no,” he says matter-of-factly. When I’m silent, he continues, “Wait, you’re actually considering it? Adrian, you don’t date. You also don’t like the spotlight. Or people.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. I should say no for all the reasons you just listed, but—” I inhale sharply, then blow out a frustrated breath.

For a long moment, the only sound is Joseph’s aggressive purring as I absentmindedly scratch his chin. Then, Casey speaks. “Do you like this guy?” he asks carefully.

“He seems to care deeply about making this country less of a dumpster fire, so I’d hate to see him lose his seat because of this,” I say, knowing it doesn’t answer his question, but hopefully he won’t call me on it.

He does. “You’re avoiding the question. Do you like him?”

“I slept with him, didn’t I?”

“Adrian,” he says, unamused.

I let out an exasperated groan. “He’s charming, okay? I had a good time with him last night—okay, fine, I had a great time. But that doesn’t mean anything. I still don’t want a relationship.”

“Neither does he, though, right?” he points out. “This would be fake.”

“Yeah,” I say, a little skeptical.

“What would you need to do as his fake boyfriend?”

I pause. I have no idea. I was so blindsided I didn’t think to ask Jamie any follow-up questions. I don’t know what this would require from me. How often would I need to be seen with him? Would it only be here, or would I need to go to North Carolina with him? I don’t even know how long he intends for this arrangement to be for.

“Adrian?” he prompts.

“I don’t really know,” I say, finally. “We didn’t talk about it in detail.”

“Can you find out?”

“Wait, are you suggesting that I do this?” When I called, I expected him to be my voice of reason—to talk me off the ledge, like he usually does. Not to convince me to jump off it.

“You said you didn’t want him to lose his seat,” he says.

“I don’t, but doing this doesn’t exactly guarantee that he’ll win it,” I argue.

“But it could help,” he counters. “Besides, I think this could be good for you. Don’t you think it could be nice to have a friend other than me and Sophie?”

I let out a non-committal hum.

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