Page 3 of Kissing Kayley
“Weareokay.” I finally sat up, opening my eyes as I did. “And I keep telling you that it’s not that I ‘disapprove’,” I added. “You’re all consenting adults. I just… I don’t want Jordan to get hurt. Okay?”
Yes, I can deflect with the best of them.
Leo’s voice gentled. “He won’t get hurt, Kay. I promise. He’s happier than he’s ever been. You can ask him yourself. He gets the best of both worlds now. He can work with Elliot, his frequent contact with me at work isn’t suspicious, and now all three of us can spend nearly every night together without anyone saying anything about it or triggering a scandal.”
Jordan’s absolutely adorable. He’s eighteen years younger than Leo—meaning fourteen years younger than me. My parents and I had spent time with him over the years while Leo dated him. They’d even lived together for several years.
We’d no idea Leo had secretly dated Elliot throughout all those years, including several years before Jordan arrived on the scene.
We’d also had no idea that, later, Elliot and Jordan ended up secretly—to the general public, at least—dating each other.
While both still dating Leo. Apparently, to Leo’s delight.
When Jordan had returned to Florida, all either he or my brother would say was that Jordan wanted to finish his degree there, and that the upcoming presidential campaign cycle would be grueling.
My parents and I had suspected there was more to it but we didn’t dig because we’d all known neither Leo nor Jordan would reveal more than that suspiciously sparse and well-coordinated excuse.
Six months later, Jordan had suddenly returned to DC and started working for Elliot as his body man, moving into the VP’s residence presumably as a friend and trusted advisor even before Elliot’s first campaign for POTUS launched.
Let me add more convoluted context: somewhere along the line, Elliot had finally admitted he’d had a secret crush on Jordan from the start but didn’t tell Leo or Jordan about it sooner for… reasons, I guess?
I don’t know. Before all of this, Elliot had tightly sealed himself in a damned deep closet. But when Jordan left Leo and returned to Florida, and Elliot didn’t see Leo going after Jordan to convince him to return to DC…
I intuited from the limited information Leo and Jordan had given me that Elliot took things into his own hands while he wasstill VP, headed to Florida for an “official” trip, and that’s when he’d begged Jordan to return to DC.
And at some point during that time, Elliot finally confessed his feelings to the younger man and my brother.
Then, when Elliot won his first election as POTUS, Jordan made the move with him to the White House residence. Everyone was told that since Jordan was single and Elliot’s body man, as well as Elliot’s “best friend,” it made sense for Jordan to occupy the residence.
Believe me, it sounded that confusing in person, too. I mean, I’m definitelynota prude. I’m not exactly vanilla, and I have clients—and a few friends—who engage in ethical non-monogamy. I totally get it and support it when everything’s above-board and everyone is consenting to it.
It’s just notmything.
Still, I feel protective about Jordan. When Leo had first introduced him to us, I’d quickly come to love him as the younger sibling I’d always wanted but never got, and my parents basically adopted him in everything but name.
Jordan had a hard start in life, too. Disowned by his parents in his teens after he came out, he was raised by his grandmother, who died while Jordan was in college.
Jordan’s a cutie and a sweetheart. If he wasn’t young enough to nearly be my kid, I would absolutely date him.
And, of course, if he was, you know, not completely gay.
Or romantically involved with my brother.
We talked for another ten minutes or so, which wasn’t uncommon for us. We’d always been close. Then Leo finally got to the real reason he called, which pulled my thoughts back to the present.
“So… I heard there was some excitement at your office today.”
And yes, I’d suspected that was why he’d really called. He would know when my detail safely deposited me in my abode.
“Took you long enough to get around to it,” I said. “And you were right. You told me so. Is that what you want to hear? Yes, Leo.Thankyou, dearest big brother, for insisting I have a Secret Service detail to keep the kooks and creeps away becauseyourfiancé is the president of the United States.”
While also keeping away any chances of me ever having a normal romantic relationship.
But I didn’t say that part out loud.
He heavily sighed. “I’m sorry, Kay. I know you got pulled into this without any warning, but I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you, or to Mom and Dad.”
I took another breath, closed my eyes again, and slowly let it out.
