Page 60 of Hold Me Down

"He wasn't the VP then."

"He's been a popular senator for years." Dave dropped his head forward, enjoying Travis's hands sliding up and down his body. "It's okay to admit you don't want that to be true because we might lose Jeremy over it."

Travis's movements stopped.

Shit.

Turning around, Dave put his hands on Travis's shoulders.

"Hey, you're not alone in this. I don't want to see him go, either."

"I feel like we can't say it, though."

"Well, not to Jeremy or Pascal, obviously." Dave soaped his hands and started running them down Travis's chest. "But we can admit it here."

"If not now, it's going to happen someday in the future. Pascal's going places, and we all know it."

"And some of those places don't mean Jeremy has to stop working for a long time yet."

"But not the VP."

Dave sighed, guiding Travis to turn around. "No."

"Fuck, what a decision to make. Have I told you lately how happy I am that we work in the same field and neither of us is famous or in need of a Secret Service detail?"

With a chuckle, Dave dropped a kiss on the back of Travis's neck.

"Not in so many words, no."

"Well, I am."

"I am, too. A few months away from work were already more than I could handle."

Travis turned back around at that.

"You handled it well, and you know it, hiccups and all."

They vastly differed in their opinions on that, but Dave didn't want to get into it again, so he redirected.

"Speaking of being famous, do you think Ian is coming alone or—?"

"No way would they launch their relationship at the wedding of a sitting US senator. Even if there was anything to launch, which I'm not so sure about."

Dave huffed and turned off the water.

"I don't know why you were more willing to believe there was something going on when Ian wasn't giving us anything, and now that he's obviously preoccupied bysomething, you're having doubts."

"Ian having a tryst with an international music star was a fun idea, but… I don't know. I don't like how he seems more anxious than excited these days. What if the guy doesn't want to come out? What if they were together and he cheated, but Ian can't tell anyone because he promised not to out him?"

"Whoa." Dave stared at his partner as he toweled off. "That's pretty dark."

"Exactly." Travis handed him the conditioner Dave had forgotten to use in the shower. "It can all be bullshit, of course. Still, whatever it is, Ian doesn't look happy to me."

Dave couldn't argue with that. Ian was usually a pretty reserved guy, but he wasn't grumpy by any means, or even particularly serious. He simply didn't share much about his personal life, which—while hard to stomach for a bunch of gossips at the office—wasn't bad in itself. There was definitely something going on with him now, though, and Dave wished he knew what it was.

"That's a no for a star-studded wedding, then?"

Travis glanced at him in the mirror as they both prepared for a shave.

---