Page 65 of The Senator

“In a statement given by Senator Brady’s former wife, Mrs. Brady implicated the Senator’s parents in the conspiracy to discredit the Senator before the 2022 election and confirmed that she’d known the Senator was gay for many years. She refused to comment further, saying it was nobody’s business and that the two remain close friends.”

Nash looked at us, before walking over to put his arm around the two of us. “It’s not a lie.” He kissed my cheek and then Vani’s as I let it all soak in.

He was right. It wasn’t a lie. We were still close friends, and I loved them both with all my heart. Last August, my life was a dumpster fire after being outed. All the events following could have made me jump into the Potomac—which was disgusting—and I wasn’t sure if Vanessa could have kept me from doing it.

Then, on a cold night early in the fall, an angel walked into my life and those bad times are distant memories. Who knew a beautiful young bartender could save The Senator.

EPILOGUE

Thanksgiving, one year later…

NASH

“Remember, our flight leaves at six from Reagan, so don’t cut it close like last time.”

“I promise, my love. I packed this morning, so I’ll swing by the house and pick up our bags and meet you at the airport like we agreed.”

Spencer had a morning meeting on Capitol Hill before we went to New York for Thanksgiving with the family. Jay was adamant that we not miss the flight as we’d done for Memorial Day weekend earlier in the year. Spence was starting his job on Tuesday and had a bunch of reading to do. Vani called him and ripped him a new asshole—after I got done ripping him one myself. This time, I’d asked Spence to take the day off so we wouldn’t cut it close. Meetings on the Hill always seemed to run long.

“Okay, but you’ll face the wrath of Vani and Jay if we miss the flight. Love you.”

“Love you, too, and I swear I’ll be there. I love you too. Have a great day.”

We hung up and I went back to the inventory sheets that had been dropped off after the Langers Holiday party so I could submit the orders for the Christmas season.

My job at Four Seasons was everything I never imagined I could do. I made a great salary—enough that I could pay half of our living expenses and save money to put down on the new house we were planning to buy in the spring. Spence had the money from the sale of the Great Falls house, but I wanted to contribute too.

Spencer’s job was going great guns. He was the rising star of the Washington lobbying world, just behind Sean Fitzpatrick, and I was proud of him for turning around the shitstorm he’d suffered when he was in the Senate. The assholes who demonized him were now lining up to kiss his ass, and we laughed about it all the time.

“Mr. Lincoln, there’s a man here to see you. He’s in the lobby.” I glanced up to see one of the desk clerks who was new to the hotel, though I couldn’t remember her name.

“Thank you, uh…”

“Gretchen. My name’s Gretchen, but don’t worry about it. You were in a meeting when I was introduced to the rest of the staff.”

I stood and walked over to her. “Gretchen, please call me Nash.” We shook hands and I followed her out to the lobby.

After glancing around and seeing no one I recognized, I turned to Gretchen who pointed to the guy in the leather jacket by the windows. I recognized those broad shoulders in an instant.

I hurried to where he was standing and tapped him on the back. “How may I help you, sir?”

Denver turned around with a huge smile on his face. “Kid! I wouldn’t have recognized you in a suit.”

We hugged, and I led him over to a seating area, pushing him into a chair. “How’ve you been? I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the club’s anniversary party in October. We’ve both been crazy busy. How’ve you been? How’s the club?”

“The club is fine, but I’ve got some news. The, uh, the club changed its bylaws and we’re becoming LGBTQIA+ inclusive. Turns out I wasn’t the only queer in the?—”

“Damn, Denny, you should see the bathroom. It’s fancy as shi— Oh, hey, Nash.”

I studied Pacman for a minute before I glanced at Denver to see his cheeks were red, but he was gazing at Pacman as if he hung the moon. “Pacman, it’s good to see you. How’ve you been?”

We hugged quickly, and I eyeballed Denver. “Something you wanna tell me?” If he was finally in a place where he could love someone, I would be more than happy for him. Getting over Clint had been nearly impossible. It had taken so long I thought it was a lost cause.

“Yeah, uh, Henry and I have been seeing each other for a couple of years. We’ve decided to get married, and I wanted to see if you’d be my best man.” I hugged them both. I was thrilled for them.

“When?” We sat down, Pacman and Denver on the couch and me in the chair.

“I’m going to be a June bride.” Pacman batted his eyelashes at me and rested his head on Denver’s shoulder. I laughed at the two of them. They were so cute.

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