Page 97 of If the World Was Ending

Hunter took it, ran his fingers over the beaded metal, but then he looped it around Colby’s neck. “Keep it. In case of emergency.”

“Like… what?” Colby asked.

Hunter tried to smile. It felt all kinds of uncomfortable and wrong, but he kept doing it anyway. “I don’t know. If the world ends or something. Just don’t… bring anyone here. It’s yours and mine but no one else’s, okay?”

Colby nodded and tried to smile back, but it wasn’t even deep enough for his dimple to appear. Hunter leaned in and pressed his lips to Colby’s, closing his eyes and drinking in the sensation one last time.

Colby broke away first. He took a shallow breath and, on the exhale, managed a ragged, “Take care of yourself.”

And then he left Hunter in the bedroom. Hunter heard the gentle click of the front door closing behind him. He waited a minute, eyes closed, fists balled at his sides, and then he forced his legs to move. He left the apartment and walked back to his bungalow.

With every step, he listed all the things he had that were literally dreams come true—a career as an actor, a hefty and growing bank account, fancy clothes, parents who no longer looked at him like he was a failed experiment, fans, a nice little house, a top-tier agent… So what if none of it filled the hole left in the center of his chest by not being able to pursue this thing with Colby? That would eventually close up on its own, like that wound to Colby’s head after the van accident. You couldn’t even see that scar anymore…unless you knew where to look.

It would be okay. Hunter would be okay…

He had no choice.

Chapter 32

The best part was his hands

Hannah looked over at him and frowned. He pretended not to notice as he stared at his phone. His feet were up on the coffee table, his ass clinging to the edge of the leather couch as he slumped in it. She huffed out a frustrated sigh and turned her glare to Ford. He inhaled slowly and looked around the studio. There were two producers hovering near the mixing board. Kenner was in the recording booth with Trevor, but they were on a break. Hannah wasn’t recording with them, she’d shown up to try and talk some sense into Colby. But Colby was in a mood, and sense was the last thing he wanted.

“Guys, let’s take ten and give me and Keaton the room, okay?” Ford said casually.

Colby dropped his phone and tipped his head back. Yeah, he knew he was being a little bitch. He just didn’t care. Ford walked over to the board as the producers headed out and punched a button, repeating the same message for Kenner and Trevor to hear through the intercom in their soundproof room. He turned back to Hannah. She flashed him a tired smile and looked down at Colby. “I’m going home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No, you won’t.”

She sighed loudly and left. Ford leaned his ass against the mixing board and rubbed his face. “It’s for charity.”

“Yeah. So Kenner can go. Or Trev. It doesn’t have to be me.”

“It has to be you because you sing the song with Hannah,” Ford said to him in a tone that did nothing to hide his frustration. “You want a solo career one day, this is a building block for that.”

Colby finally lifted his eyes and met Ford’s gaze. “Wrapping gifts for money will get me a solo career?”

“Winning a fucking Oscar for Best Song will,” Ford explained. “You and Hannah doing this charity gift wrap thing will help that happen because you’ll be in the news and eligible Academy voters will be like ‘look at those two adorable exes working together for a good cause, and oh right that song they wrote is amazing and this reminds me to vote for them.’”

Colby gritted his teeth and let his annoyance simmer, heating his blood and making him want a cigarette. “And who else is doing this?”

“Some cast members from the new Magenta Studios superhero thing.”

“That’s confirmed?”

“Yeah. Why? You have a problem with the Byrne brothers?” Ford asked, confused.

“Do we know it’s them?”

“No, because they’re announcing the cast tomorrow before the event and then they’ll have a couple of them…” Ford paused. “Do you already know who they cast in this thing? It’s like a blockbuster and a new franchise with tons of sequel potential and… are you fucking joking?”

Colby watched as Ford’s face morphed from disbelief to awe, all while he shook his head and almost chuckled. “That fucking kid has a horseshoe up his uptight ass.”

“Don’t talk about his ass,” Colby grumbled. “And he’s a great actor, that’s why he got it.”

“Not that great if you two can’t even wrap gifts beside each other without worrying the world will find out you used to unwrap each other,” Ford countered and folded his arms over his pale linen shirt smugly.

“Fuck off,” Colby spat out.