Page 108 of If the World Was Ending

Colby just shrugged but nodded slowly because that seemed to be the case. He had gone home for a couple of hours at Christmas, and his mother was like a different person. She was attentive and loving, asking him detailed questions about his life and career throughout dinner. So much so that Andy Keaton complained, and she told him he was welcome to eat somewhere else. She heard Denny’s was open. Brodie and Colby’s jaw had hit the Persian rug. Andy had shut up but scowled the entire meal. Atlas and Gina had been eating at her parents’, but they showed up later. His big announcement was that Gina was pregnant and he was being traded to a team in Texas. Still in the minor leagues, but the pay would go further in Texas, and he thought there was a shot at the major league team there. He never, not once, looked Colby in the eye, even when Colby earnestly congratulated the pair. When Colby left, his mom had walked him to his car and hugged him tightly.

“If you need anything, even just to talk, you call me, okay?” She sniffled and let him go. “I think of you every single day. Know that, okay? I always did, but now I’m making sure you know it because it probably didn’t seem that way.”

“Why do you want to do this—change? Now?” Colby had to ask.

She sighed and sniffed and said. “Because being oblivious is exhausting. So is giving up, which is what I did when I lost that baby girl of mine, which makes me a horrible mother. You boys all deserve better, and it may be too late, but I’m going to give it to you.”

Still not a word from Dad or Atlas, but whatever.

At the Governor’s party, Hannah and Colby got their awards engraved and then posed for what felt like an endless stream of photos together and apart. As soon as he could, Colby handed Ford the award, grabbed a drink, and did a lap of the room, but he couldn’t find Hunter. Surely, he’d be at the after-parties. They were more anticipated than the awards.

Hannah found Colby and told him they were moving on to the next one. Ford and Mary would take their awards back to the hotel for them and rejoin them at the next event, which was at the Roosevelt Hotel. Briar and Kenner would come later, they were too busy making out at the Governor’s Ball, so it was just Hannah and Colby walking out to find their black SUV among the fifty chauffeur-driven SUVs lining the curb. As Colby helped Hannah into the back, someone called his name. Hope seized his heart, but when he turned to find the face attached to the male voice, it wasn’t Hunter. It was an older guy in a standard tux holding a phone. He smiled. “Hey. Sorry! I just wanted to congratulate you.”

He held out his hand, and Colby took it. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

“I’m Jesse. I work for Magenta Studios. Hotel Love was the first project I green-lit for them, actually,” he said proudly. That was the name of the movie that used Colby and Hannah’s song. “Anyway, I’m just trying to find my car so I can get my ass to the Roosevelt, but I saw you and wanted to say congrats. I loved your song the second I heard it, and I’m so glad the music editor loved it too.”

“What?”

He was looking away now, trying to figure out which of the cars was his. “I heard your song through a friend and suggested it. I mean, I have no power in that department and wasn’t trying to. I just really liked it, and the vibe matched what I thought they were going for, so I sent them your clip.”

“We’re heading to Roosevelt, so why don’t you hitch a ride with us? Text your driver and tell him to meet you there later,” Colby suggested because he needed more of this story. He had never stopped to wonder how his song was picked.

“Really? That would be great, man. Thanks.”

Jesse climbed into the back, and as they buckled up, the driver pulled away from the curb, and Jesse introduced himself to Hannah. That’s when Hannah asked . “What friend did you hear the song through?”

He suddenly looked contrite. “Well, friend might be an overstatement. Colleague. Kind of? I worked for a streaming service before Magenta and was involved in the movie Platonic Planet.”

Colby’s whole body turned to Jesse, the seatbelt yanking on him uncomfortably, but he didn’t care. “Hunter?”

Jesse smiled excitedly. “Yeah! I was sent to Vancouver when they wrapped that film, and I spent a couple of days on set. He’s a talented guy. I knew he was going places and that flick would blow him up. I also knew I was moving to Magenta, so I sent his agent the Staycation script. Got him on that flick, which turned out not so great except for him. He was stellar.”

“He was,” Hannah agreed.

“But he told you about our song?”

“Sure did. We were in post-production on the film, and the music supervisor was still arguing with the film editor over a song for the big scene. Hunter and I ended up at an industry event his new agency was throwing. No one knew who the kid was yet, so he was kind of just lurking there. We started chatting, lamenting about all the parts that have to hit just right to make a film a blockbuster. He has serious business smarts. All aspects. That’s rare for an actor.”

“Yeah. It is and I know. I used to be his roommate.” Colby kept his voice level and casual, but he was ready to shake Jesse to get the full story out.

“Yeah, he said that when I mentioned we needed a brilliant song for a scene, since it’s such an important layer.” Jesse paused to look at his phone, and Colby wanted to reach over and toss it out the window to get his attention back. Finally, he looked up. “Anyway, he told me about Tidal. Well, mostly about you because you were his roommate and he thinks you’re ridiculously talented on your own, and he played some clip of a song you’d sent him in a voice memo. I knew it was perfect. You guys had literally just recorded it, so I was lucky. Got it to our music supervisor, and he was able to snag the rights before anyone else.”

Hunter did that. Hunter made this possible. Hunter made everything possible. Yet Hunter was an impossibility. For Colby anyway. Life was truly a double-edged sword, and Colby was sick of trying to avoid being cut. He kind of wanted to tear himself wide open. It would be worth it if he could just be with Hunter.

Chapter 36

Because of you

On the ride to the first after-party, Hunter saw his dad had called twice earlier in the night. But he didn’t have time or privacy to call back because Lorne, Joy, and Mikayla were all wedged in the SUV with him, so he messaged his dad instead.

All good? Tonight is chaos and I can’t always pick up.

He probably just wanted to relay a message from his mom about something she saw on TV. She was watching the awards show with his dad. His dad had gotten a small condo in Beaconsfield and was officially divorced. But he slept over at his mom’s on weekends—and not on the couch anymore. Hunter had clocked that when he’d called his mom kind of late for Montreal one night, and when she answered, she was in bed. And so was his dad. Right beside her. But as usual with his family, no one talked about it. He honestly didn’t care, he was just happy they both seemed happy. And his mom was healthy.

The annoying part about the after parties was that each one had its own red carpet, and Hunter was so over posing for pictures. Lorne told him he needed to do all of them, though, so he did. At the Roosevelt, Mikayla was right next to him, but they didn’t pose together. He’d changed into a vintage Ralph Lauren outfit that was casual but maybe a bit too preppy for his normal style. Ralph was paying him ten grand to be decked out in it, though, so Hunter wasn’t about to complain. He was going to use that money to send his parents to Hawaii for a vacation next month. The tickets were bought, and a suite at Four Seasons Maui was booked. So he grinned at the flashing cameras and tried not to wince as they all yelled his name, and he told everyone who asked, and some who didn’t, who he was wearing.

He just wanted to get inside and see if Colby was there. He was going to congratulate him in person. It was fine. It would be chill. As a former roommate and friend, he had the right to shake the guy’s hand and say congrats, right? That was perfectly normal. Only Colby wasn’t at the party, or at least Hunter couldn’t find him before Lorne said they needed to hit another one. Hunter did the whole red-carpet thing at the next party, too. Mikayla was beside him, her short, flirty cocktail dress with iridescent tassels everywhere made him dizzy if he looked at it while she moved.