Page 62 of If the World Was Ending

“Right!” Colby called back. He stepped away from Hunter, his breathing heavy even though he hadn’t physically exerted himself in the slightest. To Hunter, he whispered, “Fuck, sorry.”

Hunter laughed because his nervous system seemed to be shorting out, like it had in the earthquake when they’d met. “It’s all good. Go before Ford kicks the door in.”

Colby smiled and opened the door. As soon as he stepped out, Hunter followed and watched Colby’s cute ass bounce down the hallway, through the curtain, and onto the stage. Ford stood across the narrow hall wearing his standard rumpled sports coat and shirt. His eyes, puffy as usual, were narrowed on Hunter.

Hunter debated how to acknowledge his animosity. He couldn’t ignore it because… well, he got satisfaction from pissing Ford off. There was a reason he was saved as FuckFace in Hunter’s phone. He stared back at the disheveled band manager and pondered his options. But as he stayed silent, he realized that it was infuriating Ford in itself. His face got darker and darker. So Hunter said nothing and just smiled.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Ford asked finally. His voice was deep and threatening.

“Visiting my roommate.”

“He’s involved with Hannah,” Ford said flatly. “Did he forget to mention that when he was showing you around the shitter?”

“What?” Hunter’s whole face lost its smug glow, and the way Ford’s softened into a smirk made it clear he noticed. “Hannah? Wolfe?”

“Yeah. Of course,” Ford said. “I thought you guys all lived on social media? It’s everywhere.”

“I saw the rumors,” Hunter confirmed.

“Not rumors.”

Hunter could hear Colby’s voice and his guitar as he played a chorus from one of his songs. The door opened, and Kenner stepped out from Tidal’s dressing room. He glanced at Ford and then smiled when his gaze found Hunter. “Hey! What the fuck? I didn’t know you were coming!”

He leaned in and clasped one of Hunter’s hands while pulling him in for a quick bro hug. Hunter smiled at Kenner as best he could. He was a good guy. Better than Trevor, who gave off mild scumbag vibes. “I surprised Colby. I’m from here. Came to visit my mom.”

“So you have somewhere to stay tonight. That’s great,” Ford said casually.

Kenner glanced at Ford and back at Hunter. “I wanna know what you think after the show. Especially of the third song in the set. I wrote it. Colb likes it, but Trevor doesn’t.”

“I’ll let you know,” Hunter promised, and he tried to make a mental note, but his brain was racing at the thought that Colby was with Hannah Wolfe.

Hunter walked down the hall, closer to the stage and away from Ford because he really didn’t want to talk to him anymore. A couple of minutes later, Colby pushed back through the curtains. He was grinning, and his eyes were as light as his spirits seemed. “Mic’s great. Way fewer problems than that first one. Thanks, Ford.”

“Of course,” Ford said. He pointed to Hannah’s room. “You wanna go hang with your girl before your set?”

Colby bristled. Hunter felt it from a few feet away and saw his shoulders tighten. “Ford, could you please go get Hunter a wristband? All-Access. Thanks.”

Colby turned his back on Ford. Ford didn’t move for a long moment, and Hunter held his breath because he didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but his anxiety was up. “Should we talk?”

Colby gave him a terse nod. “Yeah. But… It’s a long story. After the show?”

He was looking at Hunter with big, pleading eyes. Hunter nodded. Colby glanced over his shoulder, and Ford finally turned on his heel and marched off. Kenner was watching the scene unfold from the open dressing room door. Trevor was behind him, fixing his hair in a mirror and glancing over every few seconds like he was partially paying attention. Kenner’s eyebrows were reaching for his hairline. “Colb?”

“All good,” Colby told him. “I can hang out with my friend. I don’t have to be on all the fucking time.”

“Yeah. Sure. I get it.” Kenner nodded, but it didn’t sound like he got whatever Colby was talking about.

“Look, I’m more than willing to step in on the Hannah front,” Trevor said as he walked past Kenner into the hall to stand in front of Colby. Only one word came to Hunter’s mind as he saw Trevor’s smile—greasy. “Take one for the team while you hang with your… roomie.”

Kenner made a face like he’d eaten bad tuna. “Dude, that’s rancid, even for you.”

Trevor just smiled bigger and shrugged. “She’s hot. If Colb doesn’t want to bang her, I will.”

Colby rolled his eyes and ran his hands over his short hair. “I need a second. Ford has my head all fucked up, and I can’t go out there like this.”

He stepped into the dressing room, and Kenner stepped out, gently guiding Trevor past Hunter and down the hall. Hunter watched helplessly as Colby gave him a small, fleeting smile and then closed the dressing room door. He followed the rest of the band down the hall, and Kenner made small talk with him, asking him questions about the movies he filmed while Trevor wandered off to peek through the curtain at the crowd that was filtering in. Ford showed up again and handed Hunter a green wristband. Hunter put it on his wrist and gave Ford a grunted “Thanks.”

Ford stormed off down the hall. Hunter told Kenner to tell Colby he’d be back when they were done with the set, then Hunter wandered out the side door and to the front of the venue to grab a drink. He reminded himself it wasn’t personal. Colby used to get really quiet before gigs at the Range, and kind of in his head, and he needed to let him do that again.