46. The Enemy

Hunter

Hunter returned from a classic car show lunch early Sunday afternoon with coworkers when his phone rang on his coffee table. It was an unknown number from California. “Hello?” he answered, assuming it was a spam call.

“Hello?” a shaky, female voice said on the other end. “Is this Hunter?”

“Who’s this?”

“This is Amber—Logan’s wife.”

Had something happened? How’d she get my number?His heart tightened in his chest. “What’s up?”

“Is Logan with you? Please, be honest with me.”

“What? No. I haven’t spoken to Logan since the funeral. Why? What’s going on?” Hunter rubbed the skin between his eyes with his middle finger.

“He’s—he’s not home. He didn’t come home last night, and he’s usually not like this,” she cried. “I called the police, and they said it’s too early to file a missing person’s report, and I didn’t know who else to call. He doesn’t have any friends.”

Hunter had always known Logan to have tons of friends—he’d make friends everywhere he went.

“I’m sure he’s fine. Logan tends to avoid problems and he can be—impulsive,” Hunter tried to reassure her.

“I used to blame you—you know,” she said. “For all of our problems. I used to—”

Hunter stopped her. “Look, I—I don’t need to hear the details of your personal relationship.”

“He’s still in love with you,” she blurted. He sighed sharply and buried his head in his hand. “He’s such a coward.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I’m in a relationship and I’m happy,” he said adamantly, shutting down any more information. “I hope you find him. Good luck.”

“I’ll let you know if he turns up.”

“No, don’t. Sort your own shit out. I don’t deal with Logan’s messy relationships anymore.”

“Fine,” she said before hanging up.

Grayson

Grayson woke up to a pounding migraine around 1 P.M. the next day. The empty bed beside him where Logan once slept felt cool to the touch. He couldn’t believe what happened the night before, wishing he’d imagined it but the way he felt that morning was far too real.

Images from the previous night flooded his memory. Logan kissing him passionately outside of his door, and how it made him feel closer to Hunter. Too drunk to stop him and, Logan, too sexy to resist. He didn’t think he’d find Logan to be as charming as he was.

The phone on the nightstand beside him buzzed; a video call from Hunter. “Hey.” He almost yawned into the phone.

“Hey!” Hunter smiled at him with a laugh. “You look like you had a rough night. Are you just waking up now?”

“Uh huh,” Grayson yawned again and laid back down in bed. “My head is killing me.”

“Did you go out last night?”

“Had drinks with some guys from work and I feel terrible.” He held the phone up above his head, trying his hardest to fix his hair for the camera but he had no energy.

“You drank? Gray, you never drink.”

“I know.” Grayson yawned again. “It’s probably why I feel so awful. How are you doing?”

“Good, I’m good. Got back from the car show and now I’ll probably pick up the dry cleaning and hit the gym.”

“Hmm,” Grayson said, sleepily.

“Aww, babe. You don’t look good at all.”

“Thanks,” Grayson teased him.

“I don’t mean it like that. Try Alka Seltzer and some ginger ale. I wish I were lying in bed next to you,” Hunter said. “I can’t wait for you to get back tomorrow.”

“It won’t be until next Sunday. We have to reshoot and a bunch of other crap,” Grayson lied.

“Damn. Do you want me to fly out there? I love Cali.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I’ll be all yours when I get back.”

“Let’s take a trip. I can take off for a week. You should meet me in San Francisco. We’ll drive down to Monterey and then hit up L.A.”

“Sure. We can do that. I’ll rent a car and drive down there,” Grayson said. A knock at the door startled him. “I’m getting another call. I think I was supposed to be somewhere at noon. I fucked up.”

“No problem. I’ll talk to you soon. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Grayson replied, sick to his stomach with guilt.

On his way to the door, Grayson pulled on gray sweats and ran his hand through his hair quickly. The knock came again.

“I’m coming!” he called out.

He opened the door to find Logan there with two bags in his hand. “Hey,” Logan said with a dazzling smile that made Grayson feel warm inside.

“Uh, hi.” Grayson squinted, not fully alert.

Logan nudged his way inside hurriedly and placed his bags on the table.

“I got you some Alka Seltzer and ginger ale,” Logan said as he took items out of the bag and onto the table. “I got us some snacks and some pho. Do you pho? The broth will do your stomach good; you need fluids.”

Ugh, they’re perfect for each other.Grayson stared in amazement. “Why’d you get all this?”

“When you threw up all over the bathroom, I could tell it was going to be a rough morning for you. Do you not drink much?”

“Actually, no. I’m not a huge drinker.”

“I didn’t think so. Could you grab some big bowls?”

Not used to having a man be this attentive to him before, Grayson was pleasantly surprised by Logan.

“Thanks,” he said, handing Logan the bowls. “Did we uh—what did we do last night?”

“You don’t remember?”

“I thought we fucked.”

Logan laughed as he prepared the hangover concoction. “It did get pretty hot, but we didn’t make it that far. You passed out on me. Then, twenty minutes later you woke up, ran to the bathroom, threw up, and plopped back into bed. You even said, ‘I love you’ as you were falling asleep. It was so cute.”

Grayson covered his mouth. “What?! No way. I must’ve been pretty shitfaced—I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’ve had my drunken moments.”

“For the record,” Grayson said as he walked toward the bathroom, “I do love you for getting all this for me.”

Grayson was halfway through a shower when Logan’s voice boomed through the bathroom.

“Hey, Ethan, do you have a charger?”

“Uh, yeah, by the bed.”

Grayson soon realized his phone was on his bed and didn’t want Logan to see any messages coming in from Hunter. He rushed out of the shower and wrapped himself in his towel as quickly as he could. He found Logan on the bed, going through his own phone.

“Phone died last night, and I have a shit ton of messages pouring in,” Logan said to him. “Looks like my wife called everyone we know,” he said as he checked his phone. “Ready for pho?”

Grayson crawled into bed, still damp in his towel, and eagerly made his way to Logan.

“You’re beyond sweet,” Grayson said, leaning in for a soft kiss. Logan kissed him again and again before his phone vibrated in his hand. They both looked and the screen read “Amber”, but he continued to kiss Grayson while Grayson opened the buttons of his shirt. “We never got to finish last night,” Logan said, reaching down into Grayson’s towel and felt Grayson’s cock harden in his hand.

Logan’s phone vibrated again on the bed beside them. “I’m going to shut this off,” he said, pulling away for a moment. Grayson noticed Logan freeze while looking at his phone.

“What’s up?” Grayson asked, kissing Logan’s chest. He turned to see Hunter’s name on Logan’s phone and felt just as stunned.

Of course, they’re still in touch with each other. I’m so fucking stupid!

“Who is that?” Grayson faked.

“It’s uh—one sec,” Logan said wide-eyed.

“Answer it,” Grayson made out, as nonchalantly as possible but inside, his anger rose. Logan sat up in bed with a serious look on his face, making Grayson unstraddle him.

“Hello?” Logan answered the phone and then put it on speaker phone.

“Hey,” Hunter’s calm and familiar voice filled the room.

“Uhm, what’s up?” Logan asked. Grayson could tell Logan was nervous, and he wasn’t sure why. Why’d he put it on speaker?

“Are you doing okay?”

“I’m good,” Logan said hesitantly.

“Your wife called. She’s looking for you and she’s worried. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Logan gave Grayson a wink and turned to the phone. “Thanks for calling.”

“Listen, uh, I’m in San Francisco this weekend and Grayson has been bugging me to meet with you for the better part of the year if you want to get together—catch up, maybe?” Hunter sounded nervous. Grayson felt his ears burn at the sound of his name mentioned.

“What? Meet up with you and your boyfriend? You’ve gotta be joking,” Logan said, chuckling uncomfortably, making a silly face at Grayson and Grayson looked down at the bed.

“He’s a good guy, I think you’d like him a lot.”

“I’ll pass but, thanks for the invite,” Logan retorted sarcastically.

“Alright, well. Call your wife back, I guess. Bye.”

After the beep, Grayson was silent, reading Logan’s face for any emotions.

“Sorry,” Logan said, turning off his phone and placing it face-down on the nightstand.

“No worries,” Grayson said. “Friend of yours?”

“My ex,” Logan said regrettably.

Grayson combed through his mind for what an appropriate response would be from someone who didn’t know him. “A … guy?”

“Yeah. He was my best friend.”

“How’d you meet? You’d known each other a long time?”

“Yeah. Hunter and I go way back.”

Grayson snuggled into Logan’s chest. “Like, how far back? College?”

Logan wrapped his arm around him and squeezed his shoulder. “Do you really want to know? ... We weren’t best friends right away ‘cause he was one of those kids who would just cry at nearly everything. There was this dodgeball game one day during gym, we played boys versus girls—which seems unfair, but in the fourth grade they were these giggling beasts nearly twice our size. We had three matches that day and were tied, one to one, next match takes all.”

“This was a league?” Grayson interrupted.

“No, it was gym. You gotta keep up, man. It’s not that complex.” Logan stuck his tongue between his teeth in jest. “Anyway, the boys had already given him a ton of shit that day for us losing the first match. He would camp out in the back and end up the last man standing versus three of the most ‘roided-out nine-year-old girls I have ever seen. His face turned beet red and I knew there’d be tears. The problem was, he was a big kid but he wouldn’t talk or defend himself. He cried just one time and then each time they’d bully him, mercilessly, until he cried again. One time in third grade, a bunch of the kids filled up some diapers with water and just chucked them at him in the middle of class.”

“That’s horrible.” Grayson’s stomach churned. He couldn’t imagine his tough, commanding Hunter bullied by school children.

“Yeah. I invited him to my birthday party that year, but he spent the whole time sitting by himself, so my dad kept him company.”

“Your father sounds awesome. When did he pass?” Grayson asked.

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Did I tell you that?”

“Uhm, you did last night,” Grayson lied, worried he’d said too much. “Anyway, back to the game.”

“Yes, the game.” Logan perked up like a golden retriever. “Match three was down to Hunter and me versus just one of the little Schwarzeneggers. We had two balls, and she had none. I coordinated the attack with him perfectly. I aim for her feet and as she jumps out of the way, Hunter’s ball slams her right in the face, knocks her glasses off, she steps on them and starts crying. The girls all screamed at the top of their lungs. And we lost our minds. I jumped on Hunter’s back like we had just won the fucking Super Bowl and all the boys piled up on top of him. He was always picked first for games after that day.”

Grayson stroked his fingers up and down Logan’s chest although seething inside. Logan had a part of Hunter he could never have. The deep, hidden parts you don’t let others into. “Sounds like an intense game. You guys must’ve been pretty close. Are there still some feelings there?”

“There will always be feelings between us,” Logan admitted, with a sigh. “But it didn’t work out.”

“Do you think that it might some day? In the future?”

“Uhm, it’s tough to say. Why are you asking that? What made you notice me?”

Shit!Grayson racked his brain for something to say. “Are you fishing?” Grayson climbed back on top of Logan and leaned forward. “The sexy, and incredibly hot, Logan Parker needs a compliment?” Grayson shoved his tongue into Logan’s mouth.