Page 60 of Enemy of My Enemy

And the extremely sketchy blow jobs he had occasionally gotten overseas, back when he was in the Army. He was younger then. Dumber.

And—

Damn it.

Daniels got him back to the White House in record time. Any other day, he would have congratulated his friend for an Indy 500 qualifying round, but now, he felt more like a toddler being led to a time-out chair.

The steps to the Residence seemed too tall. The lights were too bright. Dread knotted his stomach. His hands slicked with sweat.

Jack was waiting in the hall, smiling at him and wearing his Secret Service sweatshirt. Ethan’s heart pulled toward Jack. He pushed down the lump in his throat.

“Hey. Glad you got back quickly.” Jack pressed a kiss to Ethan’s cheek.

“You talk to the doc yet?”

Jack nodded. “Everything’s good. He says I’m healthy.” Another smile. “He’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”

The doctor, a Navy Captain, had set up his laptop on their kitchen table and was typing fast and furious when Ethan trudged in. “Mr. First Gentleman.” He stood, smiling, and held out his hand. Starched khakis from his naval uniform crinkled as he moved and his ribbons glittered in the kitchen’s light.

Just get it over with.“What’s the verdict, doc?” He tried not to smear sweat all over the doctor’s hand as he gripped it.

“Well, there was something I wanted to discuss with you.”

Fuck.

Ethan’s ears swam, an underwater dissonance as soon as the doctor began speaking. “Your blood tests showed extremely elevated levels of cortisol, way outside the normal range.”

But, with the doctor’s last words, reality snapped back into place. “Cortisol?”

“Yes. I reached out to your physician and they faxed me your records. I don’t see any indications of a possible adrenal complication—”

“Doctor— Captain—” he fumbled. “What are the results of theothercheck?”

“Hmm? Oh. You’re perfectly healthy. Everything checked out there.” The captain smiled but went right back to his first speech as Ethan desperately held himself back from heaving all over the kitchen floor.

He was healthy. So was Jack. The last lover he’d ever have. He’d never thought, ever, that he’d commit to someone like this, promising that they would be each other’s only. As for his own heart, he already knew and had committed wholly to Jack since the moment they kissed on Air Force One.

Jack was it for him.

Slowly, a smile formed on his face until he was beaming, and the doctor was staring at him like he was about to have a seizure.

“Mr. First Gentleman? Did you hear my question?”

“Come again?”

“Significantly elevated cortisol levels in the blood, like yours, are usually a sign of severe stress, much more than what’s usual for someone. Have you been under what you would consider above average or undue stress recently?”

His eyebrows shot up as his laughter exploded, a loud, gut-clenching guffaw, right in the doctor’s face.

After he’d apologized and assured the bemused Navy doctor he’d work on getting his stress and his cortisol levels under control, Ethan walked out of the kitchen and found Jack waiting for him, trying to not look like he was waiting, and failing miserably.

Jack’s eyes asked the question.

To answer, Ethan drew him close and cupped Jack’s cheeks. Jack’s arms wrapped around Ethan’s waist as Ethan nuzzled his forehead, and they traded soft kisses while the rest of the world faded away.

* * *

Chapter 23