Page 82 of If the World Was Ending

Colby hung up.

Chapter 26

Kiss her

Seventy-two hours later, Hunter was being blinded by flash bulbs as he stood next to Mikayla on a burgundy carpet in front of a cinema in Westwood Village in Los Angeles. It was so hard not to keep blinking and scrunching up his face in protest. Mikayla clung to him, looking like a goddess in a flowy off-white dress. Margo had arranged a car service when he landed at the airport. which had taken him directly to a hotel room in Beverly Hills, where a stylist named Knightley and a groomer named Mikki were waiting to get him ready. Hunter had no idea groomers existed, and he tried not to panic about who was paying for all this, especially when Knightley gave him a designer suit to wear over a lush green velvet tank top. He didn’t ask, though, because it felt like a rookie move.

Mikayla was getting styled in the same hotel, so they shared a chauffeured SUV to the venue. And now here they were. So many people screaming his name—and hers—it was deafening. A publicist for the network ushered them around, making sure they stopped in front of the right interviewers and gave everyone some time but not too much time. And then Hunter found himself inside, where he tucked himself against a pillar away from everyone else to text Colby.

Sorry I couldn’t make it home first. You still coming?

Colby

Wouldn’t miss it. Just parking now.

Cool! I double checked and you’re on the list.

Colby

See you soon!

“Well, I haven’t missed this.” Chris’s voice cut through, and Hunter tucked his phone into his pocket. Chris was smiling, wearing a well-tailored pale suit and a less structured shirt, open at the collar. “All the screaming. And the hype.”

“It’s crazy.”

“It is, and everyone will forget it even happened if actual people don’t watch this thing tonight,” Chris told him. “But yeah, let’s all pretend this is important.”

The movie went live at midnight on the streaming service. Chris was right, that would be the true test. Would the accolades last? Would the public love it? Hunter started mentally cataloging all the movies that received critical acclaim but flopped at the box office. Mikayla walked over and took his hand. Leaning into him, she whispered, “Relax, Law. You look like you’re doing math or something.”

“Sorry.” People had started filing into the auditorium. The entire cast was milling about the lobby, including Eugenie, a broad smile on her delicate face as she talked with a man in a suit Hunter didn’t know.

“I’m not watching. I can’t see myself on screen again,” Mikayla announced. “I’m gonna stay out here and have a drink. I’ll sneak in before it ends. Care to join?”

“I don’t want to watch myself either but…” There was a flash in his peripheral vision. Curling golden brown hair. Hunter lost his train of thought the second his eyes landed on Colby.

He’d just walked through the doors with a bunch of other people, like he was just an average nobody who snagged tickets to this random premiere. But he wasn’t. He was Colby Keaton, lead singer of a band everyone had started talking about—and listening to if music rankings were to be believed. He was wearing a black mock turtleneck that was snug and clung to his torso. The fabric was strange and made the shirt look glossy, as if it were wet, but it wasn’t. It was tucked into a pair of black pants. He had designer sunglasses covering his eyes and small but thick silver-colored hoops in his ears that Hunter hadn’t known were pierced.

“You okay?” Chris asked him.

Hunter nodded. “Yeah. My roommate…”

Colby’s head swiveled. His face exploded in a smile, his dimple on display. He tugged off his sunglasses, and yeah, his wide gray-blue eyes were locked on Hunter. He walked straight over, and Hunter took two steps to meet him. “Did you do the red carpet?”

“No. This is your thing. I scooted by in between a bunch of network suits. No one even noticed.” Colby grinned deeper and grabbed him by his shoulders. “This is amazing.”

“It’s… It is,” Hunter allowed himself to agree.

Mikayla cleared her throat and jutted her hand between them, toward Colby, who let go of Hunter to shake it. “Hey. Colby. I’m Hunter’s friend.”

“And roommate,” Hunter added for some stupid reason. Chris’s eyebrows lifted at that.

“Mikayla. And this is Chris.” Mikayla took her hand back and waved it toward Chris. “He plays Hunter’s dad, and I play the love of his life. The woman who defies medical science and gets him to feel passion again on a planet where that’s?—”

“He knows the plot, Mikayla, he’s the one who found the script and told me to audition,” Hunter interjected with a laugh. He turned to Colby. “She’s amazing in this. So is Chris.”

“Chris leaned forward, pulling himself off the side of the bar he was leaning on, and shook Colby’s hand. “You an actor?”

“Musician. I’m in a band called Tidal.”