10. That was a lot of word vomit
That was a lot of word vomit
“Fuck man, that’s… I mean…” Colby snorted. Hunter laughed harder.
“Fuck you! Have you ever wondered how the fuck you’d ever get rid of that smell?
” Hunter asked. It was really his own fault for telling Colby he had a phobic-level fear of skunks.
“You don’t know. I haven’t even seen a skunk since I moved to California, but they’re all over Canada.
And this dude from high school was sprayed once, and he had to shave his head because he couldn’t get the smell out of his hair.
Even then, I swear to Christ he stunk for over a year. ”
Colby giggled. Hunter turned his head to look at him.
His long blond hair was pushed up behind him, fanned out in squiggly waves.
His dimple was so deep as he smiled widely at the ceiling that Hunter had to fight the urge to poke it with his finger.
His skin was clear, but dewy from the heat.
Colby’s pale stubble from lack of shaving was barely visible, but Hunter thought it might feel scratchy against his skin.
It’s the weed, he told himself and turned away so he was looking at the ceiling again.
“You have a weird thing with smells,” Colby announced. “Like you are obsessed with smelling good.”
“I am. Funky smells make me anxious… or something.” Hunter shrugged, the bare skin on the backs of his shoulders sticking to the floor because he was sweating. “Like Leandra sometimes wears… wore this perfume that smelled like floral cheese, and it used to make my heart race it was so gross.”
Colby let out a snort of laughter again. He had the best laugh Hunter had ever heard, and he heard it a lot because they amused the shit out of each other, even when not high.
“Floral cheese?”
“I don’t know how else to describe it.” Hunter giggled. “Fuck. It’s still too hot.”
“I know. It’s nuts. We need to fix the AC,” Colby said. “At least one of them. I can use part of my insurance money from the van.”
There were two AC units in the rundown apartment. One in the bedroom and one in the living room, and both had busted a week before this killer heatwave. “But don’t you need a new van?”
Colby didn’t say anything at first, so Hunter looked at him and found Colby’s gray-blue eyes staring back.
His pupils were huge. “It’s been months, and I’ve been procrastinating on buying anything.
Because I need a car, but like… if you’re okay with me couch-surfing a little longer, then I don’t need a van.
I’m making okay money now with the shows and Trader Joe’s, so, like, I could maybe buy something I don’t have to live in. That would give me AC unit money.”
“You don’t have to move out or rush to buy something. We’re doing fine sharing my car,” Hunter replied, surprised Colby thought he even had to ask. “I’d have to move if you left. I can’t afford this place on my own.”
“Or get another girlfriend.”
“Fuck no,” Hunter groaned and refused to let that heavy blanket of failure he’d felt for weeks infiltrate his chest. “I’m focusing on my career, not women.”
“So, you’re going to be celibate?” Colby asked, lifting a lock of his hair off the floor and staring at the ends like he’d never seen his own hair before.
“I kind of am already. I haven’t hooked up with anyone since Leandra left.
I just do not want a new person in my life to tell me to give up, you know?
” Hunter replied, and Colby locked eyes with him again.
“My dad and mom are kind of like, ‘Gee, Hunter, when will you give up this silly little dream?’ I mean, they don’t say it, but they say it, you know?
And Leandra acted like she was cool with me pursuing acting, and then suddenly it was my biggest fault.
So no dating. But maybe I’d have sex with someone if there were no strings.
No expectations. No need to get to know each other. ”
Colby didn’t answer for a minute, and Hunter couldn’t blame him.
That was a lot of word vomit. And the silence made Hunter want to word vomit more, so he did.
“I think Leandra was supposed to be a one-night stand, or just a fling, and I didn’t leave well enough alone.
So, like, maybe women aren’t the problem.
Maybe I am. I do get attached way too easily.
Exhibit A, you’re my best friend, and I haven’t even known you a whole year. ”
“Yeah, but that wasn’t your decision.” Colby’s voice is low and deep. His eyes are closed. “That was fate. The universe wanted our worlds to collide, dude. An earthquake and a falling tree? In twelve hours? We were meant to be.”
Colby and Hunter were meant to be? Hmmm… the thought rolled around lazily in his head and made him smile. Hunter liked the idea that the universe brought him Colby. Maybe a little too much. He sat up suddenly. “We should swim.”
“The pool is closed,” Colby reminded him because the sign on the gate said Pool Closed 7p.m to 7a.m.
Hunter waved his hand dismissively. “Bob starts on the Budweiser at four every day. He’s passed out by now. He won’t hear us. Besides, it’s an emergency situation. We’re melting up here.”
Colby hesitated only because Bob knew Colby wasn’t on the lease. So far, Bob seemed to be looking the other way, but if he got pissed off, he could have them re-sign a new lease and jack up the rent. Or he could just kick them out.
Hunter got to his feet and turned to stare down at Colby.
He tried not to look at Colby’s bare chest for too long.
It was not an easy task. Colby’s chest was way more defined than it should be for a dude who thought the gym was just a place to shower when you lived in your van.
His very thick treasure trail, which started at his belly button, also begged for attention. Hunter’s eyes kept sweeping over it.
Gotta be the weed making me fixate, he thought to himself.
“Help me…” Colby whined and held out both arms.
Hunter rolled his eyes but clasped Colby’s outstretched hands and pulled him up.
He’d not only accepted Colby’s touchiness lately, he craved it.
Colby liked to hug, and Hunter liked to be hugged…
now. Colby loved to hold on to people, like Briar or Hunter or his sketchy manager Ford, like they were a port in a storm.
Another revelation was that Colby was a way better roommate than Leandra ever was because he happily helped him run lines and tape auditions, paid attention, and had useful suggestions.
He was also the reason Hunter’s abs currently ached as they made their way through the small apartment to the front door, and not just because he made Hunter laugh so much.
When Colby found out that Hunter played hockey throughout his childhood in Canada and saw pictures of how muscular and buff Hunter used to be, he told Hunter he needed to start going to the gym and taking it seriously.
“You’re a few pounds of muscle away from being the leading man in a superhero movie, dude.
You have that quality, you just gotta enhance it. ”
He’d squeezed Hunter’s bicep, and Hunter had blushed and shoved him away, laughing.
But he also upped his gym days and added more weights to his routine.
Now, as they padded barefoot down to the pool in the courtyard, Hunter watched Colby move.
He was shirtless, in just a pair of basketball shorts.
He wasn’t jacked up with muscles, but he had wide, strong shoulders, developed pecs, and taut but not quite ripped muscles in his stomach.
He seemed to come by it naturally, although he did go to the beach on Sundays to play Ultimate Frisbee in a pick-up league.
He’d invited Hunter, but his anxiety made a situation full of strangers at the beach chasing each other over a plastic disc feel… uninviting.
They opened the gate to the pool area, and it squeaked, making them both cringe.
Colby giggled like they were teenagers sneaking out of the house.
Hunter fucking loved how happy he felt with this guy.
It was the weirdest way he’d ever met a friend, but it was also his easiest friendship ever.
Hunter had never been great at friendships.
He had a lot of people who liked him instantly, but not many he felt he could really connect with.
With Colby, it had been so quick and so easy, Hunter wasn’t even sure how it happened.
He supposed a lot had to do with how relaxed Colby was.
He was never ruffled. Never angry. If he had any emotion that wasn’t pleasant, Hunter guessed it was sadness.
There was a ripple of that sometimes in his features, but it never lingered.
Also, Hunter was forever grateful to Colby for introducing him to edibles, which actually helped his anxiety at night, so he could sleep.
He was still a high-strung squirrel during the day, but he slept well now.
And edibles were way cheaper than his prescription ADHD medication.
“Did Marge hear anything about your audition tape yet?” Colby asked as they walked around the pool deck, and Hunter realized they forgot towels.
“Margo said we should hear tomorrow. She submitted me.” Hunter wasn’t excited.
Margo had gotten him an audition for that script Colby’s fan boy Daxton had given him, Platonic Planet.
Margo hadn’t been convinced it was a great fit because it was an independent film, no real big money behind it, not network attached yet, and it filmed in Canada.
But Hunter insisted she try to get him an audition, so she did.
Hunter agreed with Margo, deep down, but he wanted to please Colby, so he sent in the audition tape.
He’d take it if he got it, of course, but Hunter really wasn’t sure it would do much for his career in the long run.
“Marge needs to come through on this, or you cut her loose,” Colby announced as he dipped a toe in the water. “How did we forget suits?” They were both in shorts and nothing else.