Page 50 of If the World Was Ending

“Yay for hypocrites!” Chris said with a wry smile.

Hunter managed to smile back before he downed the rest of the drink in his hand.

Chapter 16

I’m bottomless too

Hunter spent eight days alone in the apartment. None of them had been easy, but the first day was the hardest. No welcome home party. No Colby to hug or congratulate in person. Just his clothes piled in the corner by the couch, which still had his pillow and a stack of folded blankets on it to prove he still lived here. A few hours after Hunter arrived home, Colby had sent a photo of him in New York, with the river and the Statue of Liberty behind him in the distance. And there were nightly texts, some drunk or high. Hunter could tell by the typos. He’d sent some like that too, especially after the wrap party, so he couldn’t complain. And he wouldn’t. Any messages from Colby were welcome.

Hunter hadn’t told the Range he was back yet, and he didn’t intend to because he had enough in the bank to avoid a real job for a bit. But he was going crazy sitting around with nothing to do. He’d filmed the videos for the streaming network with Mikayla and, afterward, accepted her offer to hang out and grab food. The next thing he knew, it was four-thirty in the morning, and he was on the verge of passing out on the balcony of her two-bedroom Beverly Hills condo. He’d stumbled out and into an Uber even though it was clear she was hoping he would stay. There was a part of him that thought about it. It would be easy. And comfortable. And he wasn’t cheating on anyone. He was single. But yet… he got in the Uber. Mikayla was cool about it, texting him the next day and joking with him like always.

Tomorrow, Margo was taking him to lunch. He was looking forward to it because it was better than sitting around here doing nothing but thinking of Colby. But he’d probably yawn his way through it because it was almost three in the morning and he was still wide awake.

He turned off the television he wasn’t watching and forced himself to get up off the couch. He’d slept on it for the last three nights. Because the pillow and sheets there still smelled faintly of Colby. But he was being ridiculous. Stupid. And every morning when he woke with a stiff neck or a pain in his shoulder, he thought of Chris Westchester and that conversation with him and Marc at the wrap party. He’d lost a flourishing, thriving career. For kissing a guy. Hunter hadn’t kissed Colby, but he’d done a hell of a lot more. And sure, it was all in the privacy of these four walls, but still. Was he risking his career just the same? A career that was barely off the ground?

It was weird that they hadn’t kissed, wasn’t it? Not that they should kiss… because you kissed people you were romantically interested in and this was… not that. If this was that, they were in trouble.

He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, splashed water on his face, and then applied a moisturizer that Mikayla insisted he start using, peeled off his clothes, and crawled into bed. He hit the remote for the new air conditioning unit, which had been delivered and installed yesterday, and turned off the lights.

The place was too dark and too quiet, and his head was too noisy. He needed to jerk off, but every time he started, his mind wandered to images of Colby. And when he stopped himself and redirected his brain, sometimes even with the help of porn, he couldn’t seem to get there. He always gave up or went back to thoughts of Colby and came. Hard.

When his phone started buzzing from the night table, it was a relief. He propped himself up on an elbow and snatched it up as soon as he saw the video call request from Colby. He hit accept before he could turn on the lights.

Colby’s face filled the screen. Hunter was still getting used to his short hair, which was darker than normal. The sun hadn’t bleached out his roots, so the hair remaining was more of a light, golden brown than the yellow of his long hair. He still looked incredible, though. And as much as Hunter would never admit it, Ford had been right. Short-haired Colby looked tougher, sexier, and more commanding. But Hunter liked both versions.

“You answered! You did, right? Are you there?” Colby asked, perplexed by the darkness he was looking at.

Hunter reached for the lamp on the bedside table and flipped it on. Colby’s face relaxed into an elated, very tipsy smile as soon as he could actually see Hunter. “Ah! Yes. There you are. Hi, roomie.”

Hunter laughed softly. “Hi, drunkie.”

Colby’s face shifted quickly into a look of indignation. “I am not drunk. I’m… comfortably numb.”

“Isn’t that a song?”

“Don’t talk to me about songs,” Colby huffed, and then everything jiggled as he threw himself back onto… a pillow? He was on a bed, apparently. “Trevor was a total asshat today. He didn’t like anything I suggested. We’ve recorded two tracks, and I wanted this new one I wrote for the third, but he was just not having it. Said it was too… I can’t even repeat it.”

Colby’s handsome face twisted with outrage. His glassy eyes closed. Hunter tried not to smile. It was not a light matter, but he was just so fucking delighted to see Colby. “Say it. What did Trevor call your masterpiece?”

“It wasn’t a masterpiece,” Colby conceded as his eyes opened again. “But it’s something. It’s good. He called it… Bieber-esque.”

“Did you remind him Justin Bieber is a fucking millionaire?”

Colby made a face. “I don’t want to be Bieber.”

“But you want his success,” Hunter reminded him as he settled back onto his own pillows, the phone above him in his hand. “I don’t want to be Jacob Elordi. I have it on good authority that he may be a dick, but I’ll take his career. And do better with it.”

“Yeah. I’d take Bieber’s success. But I don’t sound like him.” Colby whined, and Hunter tried not to smile, but it was adorable.

They stared at each other through the screen for a moment. “How’s home?”

“Boring,” Hunter replied. “And lonely.”

“Briar’s around. A lot. Her show finally got canceled,” Colby said. “Hang out with her if you’re bored.”

“Okay. Maybe.” Hunter wanted to explain, in detail, that he could hang out with Briar and Mikayla and every person he’d ever met, and he’d still be lonely. “Is Ford with you in New York?”

“Yeah. He moderates the bickering,” Colby said and rubbed his eyes like he was an exhausted toddler. “He quit Range, so I don’t know if you still can get your job back there. Did he text you? He was supposed to.”