Epilogue

A few months later.

Reporters shouted Jesse’s name, waving microphones in his face and asking questions as cameras flashed all around him. He smiled and gave answers I couldn’t hear, but didn’t stop or slow down as he descended the steps in front of the courthouse.

When he reached the passenger side of my car, he paused to address them briefly—very briefly—before pulling open the door and dropping into the seat.

I made the quickest escape I could without running over any reporters, and in seconds, we were out on the road with the news vans and cameras and microphones fading in the rearview.

“How did it go?” I asked.

“It’s done.” He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the headrest. “I’m officially a single man.”

I put a hand on his knee. “This is still a good thing, right?”

He smiled. “Yeah. Just kind of getting used to not having all this weight on my shoulders.” He blew out a breath. “So now that my political career has gone the way of the dodo, I guess I should look into another line of work.”

“You could always go back into acting.”

He looked at me, one eyebrow up, and I couldn’t even try to keep a straight face. We both laughed, and Jesse shook his head.

“Yeah, okay,” he said. “I’ll get right on that.”

“You still have your law degree,” I said. “Your bar certification is current, right?”

He nodded. “Not sure if I want to go that route, though. The courtroom never did feel like home to me.”

“But the political arena did?”

“It did. Still does, actually.”

“Well, you never know. The people like you, and you aren’t the first gay politician or the first one to have publicized personal issues.”

“And the other openly gay ones have had such a grand time getting elected,” he muttered.

“Times are changing. And if you decide to run again, and you need a campaign manager…”

“Just think, this time we wouldn’t have to sneak off whenever we wanted to fuck.”

“And all I’d have to do to wake you up for an event is, well, roll over and wake you up.”

Jesse laughed. “Well, let’s not rush that particular career path.”

“Not like you have to worry about an income, right? ”

“Well, no. I just, you know, need something to do.”

“We still helping your brother move this weekend?”

“Assuming Julie is still going out of town,” he said, “and I’m pretty sure she hasn’t made any noise about not doing that.”

“And Chris hasn’t changed his mind?”

“I don’t think he will,” Jesse said. “Not this time.”

“About damned time he got out of there.”

“No shit.” He put his hand on mine and laced our fingers together. “And once we’re done moving him, and I’m moved in with you, I’m done moving anyone for the foreseeable future.”

I laughed and brought our joined hands up to my lips. “Good. That means you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” he said as I kissed the backs of his fingers. “Well, aside from your bedroom, maybe.”

I glanced at him, one eyebrow up. “Oh really?”

He winked. “I am a single man now. We can fuck without any guilt at all.”

“Well, in that case,” I said, “we should get home, shouldn’t we?”

“Yes. Yes, we should.”

Jesse grinned, and I drove a little faster.

The End