Page 19 of The Mayor and the Mystery Man

“She has some time,” I said. “Let her enjoy her adolescence.”

She flashed me a grateful smile.

“Fair enough.” Leo kissed her on the forehead. “Why don’t you get some sleep?”

“It’s good seeing you, Uncle Dusty.”

“Good night, Lucybug,” I said.

She kissed her dad good night, and then it was the two friends. The space between us felt like both a chasm and nothing at all. Leo looked at me, gray eyes warm and sending a bolt of something up my spine. I wondered what he saw in me. I was the fuck up, and he was the success. But our friendship always worked.

The microwave beeped in the distance.

“My dinner’s ready.” I tried to sidestep him, but he stepped in the same direction, bringing us closer, his heat doing something weird to my head.

“Sorry,” we said over each other.

Leo hugged me, the stress of everything coming off him. That was the thing. He refused to let the world see him sweat, but we all had to.

“Hey, buddy. We got this.” I was going to do everything in my power to help him win.

“The circus starts tomorrow. We have our first interview. So have some chili and get to sleep. Big day ahead.”

I flashed him a confident smile. “No sweat.”

6

LEO

Oh, shit. I was in deep trouble.

Asking your best friend to be your pretend boyfriend for a few weeks: smart political decision.

Asking your best friend, who you’ve harbored a tiny crush on for years, to be your pretend boyfriend for a few weeks: huge mindfuck of a problem.

I never wanted to be one of those clichés, the gay guy secretly in love with his straight best friend. I’d rather be dancing to Kylie Minogue on a Pride float in a rainbow speedo. As our friendship naturally grew, I’d developed what some might call minor romantic feelings for Dusty, but I pushed them down. First and foremost, Dusty was my friend. We had history and practically a shared language at this point; I wasn’t going to light that on fire by acting on a one-sided crush.

So as they sang inThe Book of Mormonmusical, I turned it off like a light switch.

Sure, it would bubble up from time to time. A warm spark spreading through my chest when Dusty laughed on the phone. A desire to kiss him goodnight when we met up in person. And perhaps part of the reason I preferred one-night stands was that I hadn’t found a guy who was as funny, thoughtful, intelligent, and handsome as Dusty.

Again, I flicked that damn light switch off. And I thought I could keep it turned off while we pretended to be boyfriends. I had an election to win, and Dusty was my best chance of pulling off this ruse. I didn’t have time for pining.

But the second I saw Dusty at the airport, and he flashed that megawatt smile on me, I was a goner. Every light inside me turned on. Dusty looked so good. He was as tall as me, looking every bit the California boy: slim yet muscular frame with a broad chest, golden tan, eyes a shade of blue you only saw on Caribbean cruises, blond hair that curlicued over the mature crinkles lining his face. Was it any wonder I didn’t want a boyfriend? What guy out there could compete with that?

I used my morning run to clear my head. Dusty is straight, I reminded myself. He was here as a favor to a friend. Pining over him would be a waste of limited cognitive resources that had to be laser-focused on keeping my job and stopping my beloved town from being sold out to the highest bidder.

This was shock. I hadn’t seen Dusty in three years.Okay,my body was telling me,he still looks good.Now that I had that information, I could go on with my life.

“Rough run?” Vernita asked when I arrived back at my house.

I looked down at my sweat-soaked shirt, and I was panting for air more than usual. “Just a lot on my mind. The election.”

I had her meet here so we could get an early start. She had wrangled a softball interview with Maria Lopez atThe Sourwood Gazette. They were fans of my work as mayor and endorsed me for my first two terms. They hadn’t endorsed either candidate in this race yet, but hopefully, Dusty and I would put on enough of a show to move that needle.

“Thanks for going along with this,” I said. Vernita was shockingly okay with the fake boyfriend idea. Since I wasn’t compromising on any campaign positions or breaking any election laws, she didn’t protest. In fact, she hoped this was a baby step toward me doing actual dating.

Fat chance on that.

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