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An apology was needed. He stood, vaguely surprised that he could still walk under his own power. There was a clock on the wall in the wide, tiled foyer. It was eight-thirty. Javier would be up. He could never sleep past eight, no matter how late he’d been out the night before.
It seemed a little too familiar to go upstairs, so he wandered the lower level of the house, keeping an eye out for him. In the kitchen, music drifted up a set of back stairs. Zach followed them down to a gym with glass doors that overlooked the sparkling waters of a dark blue-tiled pool.
“You survived the night,” Javier called from the treadmill in the corner. So, he still started his mornings with a run. It was oddly comforting to know that his routine hadn’t changed when their relationship had ended.
Javier was shirtless, in running shorts. There was no shortage of shirtless men in running shorts in L.A., but somehow, they’d never looked as good as Javier did right now.
Purposefully averting his gaze, Zach went to the windows. “I’ve been staying in a hotel. I haven’t been woken up by the sun in a long time.”
“I have blackout curtains in my bedroom,” Javier said, barely out of breath despite the sheen of sweat that stood out on his tan chest and shoulders.
Zach swallowed hard and forced himself to meet Javier’s eyes. “I am really sorry about the way I behaved last night. That was not cool of me.”
Javier laughed it off. “No apologies necessary. You were drunk, and you’ve been away from your guy for… what, a week now?”
“Six weeks.” It sounded so much longer when he said it out loud. “He left before I did, to go shoot a movie.”
“A movie, huh? What does he do?” Was there an edge of jealousy in Javier’s voice?
That wasn’t fair. Not everyone wants you, Zach. It’s just wishful thinking. But why would he wish for that? He didn’t want Javier. He had Domenic. “He’s a director. He, uh, he directed that movie that came out last summer, with the aliens?”
“Invasion 2026?” Javier’s eyebrows shot up. “That was the biggest movie of the summer. Or so I’ve heard.”
“It sounds like I’m bragging, right? I tried to downplay it, and I sounded like an asshole.” Zach laughed, and he was relieved that Javier laughed with him. Then, like a bucket of cold water hitting him, Zach realized he hadn’t called to check in with Domenic the night before. “Oh shit. I usually Facetime him when I get in at night. I better give him a call.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket. The green light was flashing. As he stepped out the doors, from the soft, cool whisper of the air conditioning to the brutal morning humidity of the Michigan summer, he grimaced. Nine missed calls, all from Domenic. Without checking the time difference, he immediately hit the speed dial.
Domenic answered, sounding ragged. “Hey, baby, I can’t talk for long, we’re resetting. Where were you this morning?”
His “this morning” was Zach’s “last night”. That didn’t make the gap between them feel any wider, not at all. “Some of us went out after the game last night. I got drunk, didn’t answer my phone.”
“So, it was a win, then?” Domenic laughed, the static from his satellite phone breaking up the sound.
“I have something I have to tell you.” It was a jerky thing to do, while Domenic was still at work, but Zach would feel even worse if he waited until their next opportunity to talk. “I kissed my ex when I was drunk.”
He’d expected a pause, or a clipped, “I have to go.” What he got from Domenic was an “oh yeah?” like he found it amusing.
A normal person would have been relieved to be let off the hook so easily. Zach pushed on, needing to make him see how very serious the situation was. “Nothing else happened. I was drunk, and missing you. I’m at his place right now, I slept it off on his couch, but I’m leaving in like, two seconds. It isn’t going any further.”
“That’s fine. You know I don’t care, baby.” Domenic shouted something to someone on set. “Look, don’t beat yourself up about it. You know what this relationship is. I love you, but I’m not going to be mad if you sleep with someone else. I mean, I would prefer it not be your ex, but I’m not an idiot. I know who you’re going to come home to. Just be safe, that’s all I ask.”
“There isn’t any need to even consider safety, because nothing is going to happen.” Zach glanced guiltily at the windows. Could Javier hear him out here? That would be humiliating.
“You got me at a bad time. Can you call me later?” Domenic asked, before barking another order on set.
