Page 234 of The Liar's Reckoning

“Right, but it’s been a big couple of days for you. And I won’t hate you if you want to take a few more and decide how you really want to move ahead. With the senate anyway.”

“Do you mean about being out or being an Independent?”

“You’re already out, so…”

With our gazes locked, he says, “I’ve spent a lot of my time—way before I met you—trying to fit my feelings into the box of what I’ve been taught to think. I’ve found workarounds like Avery, and I’ve spilt a million hairs when I talked to the press. I’ve looked for the good in what’s bad on its face, and I’ve been able to live with that. But the most confident—the most myself I’ve ever been is with you. And it feels fuckinggood, Silas.”

“Even though your dad?—”

“Baby. My dad’s called me five times today. I think we’re gonna be all right.”

What?“How?”

He holds out his arms in a gesture of pure surrender. “I don’t know how. I don’t know anything.” He points toward the Eastmoor. “But I wantthat. I wantyou. I want a family who accepts me. They don’t always have to like me or understand me, but I don’t want to have to worry that a part of me I have no control over is a dealbreaker. I feel like—I don’t know—like I made it to the other side. And people might hate me here, too, butIdon’t hate me anymore. And that’s not nothing.”

“No,” I agree, stepping up to put my arms around him. “It’s everything.”

“I love you,” he whispers as we hug tightly. “So, so much, Silas.”

“You never stopped,” I coach him into saying.

He laughs softly. “No. Of course not. I never will.”

“I never will, either,” I say with complete certainty. Because if I can forgive him for what he’s already done, there’s nothing he could do that could turn off these feelings. I know his heart. His loyal, courageous, and fragile heart, and I’ve never loved anything more. On paper, he’s all wrong for me. But out here in 3D and vivid color, he’s exactly what I told Drew and Ollie—perfect.

All of this—all of who he is now was there all along, buried beneath a pile of family expectations and societal pressure, but that green-eyed virgin with the beauty mark had me from the first index card, or thereabouts. He might not have always given me everything, but he’s always given me the real Graham Lawther. While I can’t say the same for myself, there’s not a hateful bone in this man’s body. He’s way too good for politics.

“I don’t want you to move to Florida,” he says.

Letting go of him, I sigh, giving him a long look, assessing the state of us, all the things he’s still got to go through—the thingswestill need to go through. “I’m not leaving tomorrow,” I remind him. “But wecando this.”

“I’m not sure I’ll make it three years. Threeyears, Silas.”

I nod. “I know. It seems like a lot.”

“It feels like a punishment.”

“Except it’s not really about you,” I say.

“Will you be…I mean… Are you planning to…”

“Work as an escort?” I ask, assuming that’s where this is going.

He only stares at me.

“Is that a dealbreaker?” I ask.

He grimaces, shifting on his feet. “No. I don’t have any dealbreakers with you. I just want to know.”

“The answer’s no. For now.” I say honestly. The cost of living inFlorida is significantly lower, and the concierge job pays well. The free shifts I’ll be pulling at the retirement community teaching exercise classes will get me a significant discount on Trixie’s upkeep, too. At the moment, I think I can make ends meet. But I’m not closing any doors. I want to go to school. I want a whole new life.

“You’ll talk to me, though?” he asks. “If you’re thinking about starting again?”

“If you promise no secrets, I will, too,” I tell him.

“I promise,” he says quickly.

I grin. “So do I.”

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