17. The Friend

Hunter

“So, Logan, is he cute?” Erin asked Hunter as they drank at a corporate fundraiser event the week before Logan’s arrival.

Please, stop asking me questions.“Uhm—I guess, so? I dunno,” Hunter lied, unsure of what to say.

She giggled, swaying drunkenly. “Is he single?”

“As far as I know.”

She took out her phone and combed through his social media, gawking at the images as she flipped through. “Oh my god, is this him? He’s fucking hot.”

“Who is?” Simone, another young woman from their internship, asked Erin.

“Hunter’s friend who’s coming next week.”

Simone glanced at the picture and smiled to herself. “You should give him my number. How do the two of you go anywhere together without being hit on?”

“You’re hotter, though,” Erin said, tucking some hair behind her ear with a bashful smirk and then looking away.

They sat at a large, rounded booth, Hunter and Erin trapped in the middle as more and more people joined them, forcing them thigh to thigh.

“You guys look so cute together,” Simone said, beaming at them.

Hunter thew his drink back, swallowing it down hard, and then followed it with a wince. “Is Neil coming?” Hunter asked, ignoring the comment.

Erin placed a hand on Hunter’s knee. “Nah, he’s at his parents’ this weekend. You want to head out? I’m pretty done with this place.”

On the car ride home, Erin rested her head on Hunter’s arm sleepily. He helped her out of the car, up the elevator, and to their apartment.

Once the door closed, Erin tossed her arms around his neck, the stench of alcohol radiating from her lips. “Mmhh, you’re such a good guy.”

He quickly pried her arms off him and walked her to her bedroom. “Let’s get you to bed … I’ll get you some water.” Now an expert at tending to drunk, blonde women, Hunter gathered a glass of water and aspirin.

He returned to her room to find her on her bed in a black lace bra and matching underwear. “I’ll put this on your nightstand. Have a good night,” he said, averting his eyes.

“Wait, stay the night with me?” she asked, in a pleading voice.

“Let’s not do something we’ll regret,” he said, before leaving the room and shutting the door.

With no reply from his text to Logan on the ride home, he turned on the TV and checked his social media for any updates—nothing. Tired and a bit tipsy, he put his feet on the couch and soon dozed off.

Hunter woke up shortly after, feeling aroused with a weight on top of him. Lips kissed his neck, and something rubbed against the firmness in his pants. “Fuck,” he groaned, running his hands up a pair of smooth thighs. Erin hovered over his face and kissed him, and for a few seconds, he kissed back, instinctively rolling her bra straps down her shoulders. The thought of Logan snapped him back to reality. “Erin, stop. We can’t,” he said, but she continued. He pushed her off him forcefully and rubbed his face in an attempt to calm his nerves.

“What the fuck?!”

He looked down at the floor, hoping she’d just disappear. “I can’t do this with you. I like you, a lot—I just … don’t want to mess up our friendship.”

Erin slipped her bra strap back up her shoulder. “Bullshit. I see you checking me out all the time. Are you a virgin or something?”

Hunter could only chuckle at her conclusion. “No, it’s not that.”

“Then, what the fuck? Am I ugly? Not your type?”

“No, you’re smoking hot,” he said. He rested his elbows on his knees and put his face into his palms. “Under normal circumstances, I’d fuck the shit out of you.”

“What circumstances? What are you talking about? The internship? You don’t give a shit about that.”

He groaned. “No, it’s not that—it’s, uh …”

“It’s someone else,” she said. He nodded. “Someone we work with?”

Just tell her.“No.”

“Someone back home? I thought you said you didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“I don’t,” he snapped.

She shook her head, baffled. “I don’t get it. A woman you like?”

“It’s—not a … girl,” he admitted with a big exhale, his nerves working overtime.

She opened her mouth as if to speak but was silent. Her eyes widened, and jaw hung open. “Shit, Hunter, I’m so sorry … This is embarrassing. I had no idea you were—”

“I’m not!” His booming voice cut her off.

“What? Wait, then who? Tell me.”

His phone rang, and a picture of Logan appeared on the screen. He let it go to voicemail. “We’re more than friends,” he said, looking at his, now, black screen. “I’m not gay. It’s … just him.”

“Oh,” she said, disappointment in her voice. “I think I understand. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.”

“No one can know. Please, Erin. I … can’t … I don’t—” He struggled to find the right words.

“Don’t worry. It’s not my business. I’m so sorry I pried. I shouldn’t have assumed. My uncle has a boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Hunter snapped and then paused, attempting to calm himself. “I don’t know what he is. I don’t like any other guys—like, at all. And I still watch girl porn.”

“Maybe you’re bisexual?”

“I don’t know. This started a few months ago. Almost out of nowhere,” he explained.

“He must be a pretty special guy,” she said, arms covering her chest, eyes falling to her lap.

Hunter smiled. “He’s incredible. I can’t wait for you to meet him next week. We’ve been through kind of a lot, and I don’t want to fuck it up. He’s … he’s everything to me.”

She beamed back at him. “Are you in love?”

“What? No, no. We are close—I don’t think … no, no,” he said, shaking his head.

“You must be having a hard time holding this all in. Does anyone else know?”

“You’re the only person. We’re not gay, you know?”

“I understand,” she said, a look of sympathy on her face. “I’m here for you. I care about you a lot. You can talk to me about Logan any time. I would burst if I were with someone I couldn’t talk to anyone about.”

“Don’t tell Neil.”

“No. Hunter, look, I swear. I’m not telling a soul. It’s not my business to tell. I’m glad you told me. Even though I kind of sexually assaulted it out of you,” she said with a chuckle, her face reddening.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said and dropped his shoulder down with a sigh. “And for the record, I think you’re fucking hot. I do check you out and, honestly, I’ve thought about fucking you countless times. You’re cool all around. I just can’t, you know?” Hunter suddenly realized there hadn’t been a single moment when he sexualized Erin, and it worried him how fluidly the words escaped his mouth.

She looked down at her lap and crossed her arms over her chest. “I get it. And thanks for saying that. I feel less crazy. I’m going to bed.”

Logan

“Sorry I couldn’t answer earlier. I was locking up the store. I called you on my way home. How was the fundraiser thing?” Logan undressed in his room, clothes piled near his bed. “No bosses dancing on tables this time?”

“No, not this time,” Hunter said. The small pause between them spoke volumes. “Listen, I have to talk to you about something, and I—I don’t want you to get upset.”

Logan sat at the edge of his bed, and held his breath. He knew how easily Hunter attracted women. The distance would have been too long for him to resist easy sex. “Shit, Hunter.”

“So, uh—Erin kissed me tonight.”

Logan’s throat tightened, and his eyes felt as if they’d water. Images of Hunter kissing Erin overwhelmed his thoughts. Hunter’s hands on her body, undressing her, inside of her. Of course he did, it’s what they both did. “And you fucked her,” he blurted, feeling his heart sink.

“No, no—not at all. I stopped her, right away.”

“Whatever, man. I told you she liked you. I knew it. You’re the one saying you were just friends.”

“Logan, listen to me. I told her.”

“Told her what? To get her hands off you?” Logan stood up and paced the room, his eyes filling with tears.

“She started freaking out about why I didn’t want to kiss her or whatever and it came out,” Hunter explained.

“What came out?”

“About us. I told her about us.”

Logan’s mouth hung open, and then swallowed a lump in his throat. “You told her about us? You and me?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m trying to tell you.” Hunter’s voice carried a hint of frustration.

“She kissed you and you said, ‘No, stop. I have a boyfriend’?”

“Not in those words, but I told her there was someone else. She asked who, and I told her it was you.”

He breathed a sigh of relief as he attempted to settle himself back down. “You told her I’m your boyfriend?”

“I didn’t use the word ‘boyfriend’. Is that what you think of me as?” Hunter asked.

“I guess,” Logan said, glad that Hunter was comfortable enough to tell someone about the two of them. Maybe there was hope for them, for their forever.

“I told her you and I were more than best friends, and that I care about you deeply, and I couldn’t touch her because it would hurt you … and us,” Hunter said. “Are you upset?”

Logan chuckled. “You said all of that? I can’t believe you told someone. I never thought you’d have it in you.”

“It seemed like the right thing to do, I guess.”

I love you, Logan fought back the words. “Thanks for telling me. You didn’t have to, but I’m glad you did.”

“I had to. I don’t want to mess things up—like before.”