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“Har-har,” Meredith snorts. Then her smile quickly fades. “Gabriel, we?—”
“Just tell me whose ass I need to kiss.”
Her mouth twists. “It’s slightly more involved than that.”
Shit. I don’t like the hard look on her face. Or the absence of her usual sarcasm. “Meredith, what the fuck is?—”
“You won’t win, Gabriel.”
Let it never be said that my campaign manager beats around the bush.
My brows furrow. “What the hell do you mean, I won’t win?”
“Under current conditions, there’s no scenario where you beat Hall in the polls.”
My jaw grinds. “Meredith, I’m so close to getting the court documents unsealed?—”
“Yeah, we ran that scandal through the computer models. We even made it look worse than we suspect it probably is. It moves the needle, yes. But not enough for you to beat a well-loved politician who’s also the incumbent.”
“The man is a?—”
“It doesn’t matter, Gabriel,” she sighs. She brings a manicured hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose.
“You’re seriously telling me I can’t win against a fucking nakedly corrupt?—”
“You can’t win against him because he has something you don’t.”
I scowl. “What’s that? A magical fucking unicorn?”
“Better,” she says flatly. “He’s got a wife.”
The sidewalk goes silent as I stare gobsmacked at her. “You’re saying?—”
“I’m saying, for all your success, charisma and charm, and all your ideals, you simply cannot beat a sitting married incumbent as a single man. Period. Full stop. Voters don’t trust a single guy.”
“That’s absurd,” I hiss.
“No, that’s politics,” she says with a heavy sigh.
My teeth grind as I whirl, fury on my face. “Fucking hell,” I seethe. “So just like that, it’s game over?”
Meredith is silent. When I turn back, she’s got a slightly devious look on her face.
“I never said that, Gabriel,” she says cautiously. “I just said you can’t win as a bachelor.”
I go still. Meredith’s brows raise as she coughs delicately. “Connecting the dots yet?”
What. The. Fuck.
I stare at her. “You’re joking.”
“Comedy and political consultation rarely go well together, Gabriel.”
“What exactly are you suggesting?”
She spreads her palms. “I’m suggesting that if you want to play with the big boys, and if you actually want this, then you need to find a wife, like, yesterday.”
“I…” I sigh. “I’m not even seeing anyone.”
