Yeah, that’s a lie, and one I’m telling more to myself than them.
I can’t admit it’s over with Jordan.
I…can’t.
Right now, all I want to do is get them out of there and go check on Elliot and smooth this over with him. I don’t want him hurting. I don’t.
I love him.
They let the subject drop but then I make a point of looking at the time and checking my phone, as if confirming something.
“Oh, hey, I’m sorry. I need to wrap this up. They need a conference call with Elliot for a NatSec briefing, so I need to go wake him up.”
I don’t know if Dad believes that or not. Mom’s giving me stink-eye, and so’s Kayley, but they all hug me.
“If you need to talk, bro, I’m here. You know that, right?”
“I know, kiddo. Thank you, but I’m fine. There’s nothing to not be fine about.”
It’s with no small measure of relief that I get them herded out the door and hand them over to Secret Service to make sure they get home safely.
Now I can turn my focus to Elliot.
I head for the bedroom, almost expecting to find the door locked but it’s not. When I let myself in, I find him curled up on his side on the bed, still dressed, and wrapped around a pillow. He hasn’t even taken off his shoes or Duck.
Fuck.
I lock the door behind me and cross the room, sinking onto the bed so I can stretch out next to him.
“Love you, pet.”
He’s been crying. His eyes are red, his nose puffy, and he left his glasses on the nightstand. The TV’s on, tuned to a local station and turned up just loud enough he couldn’t have heard us out there.
And we couldn’t hear him crying.
“Love you, Master.”
I stroke his hair. “I’mhere. Withyou.”
He finally meets my gaze. “Why’d Jordan really leave?”
I shake my head. “We’re not talking about him tonight. Besides, it doesn’t matter.”
“Did you lie to your family?”
“He’s going to pursue his degree. That’s all that matters. He needs to finish his master’s. It’s only fair. He put his life on hold for me. I have to let him go. None of that is a lie.”
I don’t rush him. I lie there, facing him, running my fingers through his hair.
“If you want to be with him—”
“Iloveyou, pet. I’mnotleaving you. You’remine, and unless you’re telling meyoudon’t wantmeanymore, and thatyouwant me to leave, I’m staying.Period.”
“But—”
“I don’t want to talk about this, pet.” I cup his cheek. “I want to get you into the shower, and we need to go to bed. You’re exhausted. Tomorrow’s going to be another long day.”
“Why won’t you talk about this, Master?”
