by T L Bradford
“Josh, have I told you, you’re the best sister ever!”
“I know Chloe. I know.” I give in.
We sneak back in and grab two big bowls of ice cream and put on a ridiculous number of sprinkles, then take two bottles of wine. I tell her what’s been going on with Noah and me up to the last taping.
“And then he just totally ghosted me. I’m so confused. I know he’s at his parent’s place in Tennessee, but he still hasn’t bothered to text me. What do you think I should do? Should I text him first? But then I don’t want to look desperate. Or do I wait for him? And if he does, how should I react? Should I play it cool or give in?”
“Okay, okay, let’s take a step back. When you guys were in the dressing room, he was all into it, right?”
“Yeah, he was all ‘Come on; let’s play.’ He called my bluff and went for it.” I take a huge scoop of ice cream and lick the spoon, waiting for her response. We’re finishing off our second bottle of wine, and I’m feeling all kinds of good.
“Then he goes postal right?”
“Yeah, like he always does when we get close. He tries to say, ‘Oh, I was confused. I didn’t know what I was doing,’ and I’m like, ‘Bitch you knew what you were doing when you had your tongue down my throat a minute ago.’”
“So, he’s having a major meltdown over a game he started right?”
“Yeah, and I straight up called him on it, and he went all typical Noah and walked out. At the taping, I went at him full force and tested him to see if he would respond to me. Chloe, he lost his shit, I swear. It must have been from all those years of repression because he was all over me.”
“Wow, so what, he’s like embarrassed by his reaction to you, right?”
“I guess so, but it’s more like, he’s embarrassed because he lost complete control. He’s a total control freak.”
“Well…let’s see…” she thinks for a minute. “I totally would not text him first, that would probably make him feel even weaker and more pathetic. Put him back in the power position where he’s making the decisions.”
“You think so?”
“Definitely. He’s obviously into you. My guess is he won’t be able to make it through the week without checking up on you one way or another. But you can’t be his thirsty bitch. You have to wait it out and have him make a power move.”
“Then, what?”
“Get. Your. Man!”
I go to bed feeling a hundred times better now that I talked to Chloe. I’m completely trashed, but what the hell, I deserve it for what I’ve put up with. What a crazy day this was, first Archer, then this. The bizarre thing about Archer is, I used to have a little crush on him in middle school and our freshman year of high school. Nothing major, just healthy attraction. It makes me wonder if he ever thought of me the same way back then.
Before I nod off, I decide to check my phone one more time. I know what Chloe said, but I’m tempted to send him a message, anyway. I open my conversations with Noah and am surprised to see a chat bubble already bouncing around from him. I wait and wait, but the bubble keeps appearing and disappearing. This goes on for a good five to ten minutes until eventually, they stop and disappear altogether. So…he was thinking of me.
I wake up late and hungover. Groaning, I roll over and look at the clock. 12:15 pm. Ugh. I gotta get up. I drag myself down the hall and into the shower. I can’t hear anyone in the house so they must be out. I go back to my room and change, then reach for my phone. Only it’s not there. I’m sure I left it on the bedside stand.
“Where the hell is my phone?” I say out loud to no one. I know I had it last night. Checking my phone was the last thing I did before I went to sleep. I look under the bed and tear the covers and pillows off looking for it; then I look behind the bedside table to see if it fell behind. It’s not there. The charger is still there, though. I charged my phone when I went to sleep, meaning someone took it while I was passed out. This looks like the work of the Insufferable Two.
After I dress, I run downstairs, and sure enough, everyone is gone. There is a note, though. It’s in my mom’s handwriting. She says they tried to wake me up so I could go to the Thanksgiving Parade with them, but they couldn’t budge me. I tear through Zach’s room down in the basement to see if he’s hidden it there, but I come up empty. With no way to reach Chloe or my brothers, all I can do is wait for them to come back.
It’s Thanksgiving Day, so all the stores are closed. To keep my mind off my phone, I grab my old basketball and head to the park to shoot some hoops. When I get there to my surprise, I find Archer alone also playing basketball.
“Hey? What’s up?” I say to him as I get closer.
“Not much, just shootin’ hoops. I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you’d be with your family.” He is out of breath and sweaty.
“They are off doing the parade thing. Not really my scene, you know.” I lie. I love a good parade.
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He gets another dunk. He’s pretty good.
“What about you?”
“Let’s just say my invite got lost in the mail.” When he says this, I feel stupid remembering what he said about his family not accepting him.
“That’s rough man, sorry.”
“It’s probably for the best. If I were there, it would just be awkward.”
“Still, it’s your family. It shouldn’t matter.”
“Trust me; it still matters to a lot of people.”
Archer and I spend the next hour playing one-on-one games. I have a lot of fun. It feels like old times. I think of why we ever stopped hanging out together; then I remember — freshman year football camp. Archer and I were a dream team combo on the field. He was a quarterback, and I was a tight end. We could always anticipate the other’s moves and had a great record with touchdown goals.
Then, that summer we went to football camp. I already knew I was a little different from the other guys at school. I liked girls a lot, but now and then a guy would catch my eye. In this case, the guy was Archer. We’d had a tough day running new plays, and we were killing it out on the field. Still high from practice, everyone heads off to the showers. Archer gets in at the same time as me and takes a shower to my right.
He was then, as he is now, incredibly handsome. For some reason, that day, he stays in my vision. His sandy brown hair turns dark from the water sluicing over his head. His hands roam his taut body as he suds up. For a freshman, he is built solid and already looks like a Junior or Senior.
I try my best to look away and focus on the spot in the shower directly in front of me, but it feels like someone is watching me. I turn and dart my eyes quickly and see Archer washing his dick. Bad timing. I try to get the image out of my head, but it’s too late. I start having a full-on boner in the shower. The harder I try to not think about it, the worse it gets. Stuck in the shower, I must find a way to get out without anyone seeing me.
Unfortunately, Archer turns around as I reach for the towel on the other side of the shower and gets an eyeful of me trying to hide my raging hard-on. We make awkward eye contact for a few seconds too long as he realizes what just happened and why it happened. Then I rip my eyes away and pull the towel around my waist. I beat feet out of there as fast as I can.
We lost our sync after that incident and never got back on track. Archer dropped out of football for a couple of years to join Lacrosse until our Senior year when he joined up again. By then we both had steady girlfriends, so it wasn’t a big deal. I think we both chalked it up to confused teenage hormones.
Sweaty and panting, we take a break. I feel sorry that Archer has no place to go for Thanksgiving, so I invite him over to our house for dinner. He accepts and seems genuinely pleased to be asked. We part so he can go home and get ready.
It’s around 2:30 pm when I get back to the house. My family has made it home. It’s time for me to find out what The Insufferable Two did to my phone. If Noah got the guts to send me a message, then it would look like I was a dick
by not returning his text.
If I walk up to my brothers and ask them for the phone, there is no way they are giving it back. They probably took it with them so there would be no way I could find it. I must be sneaky and find a way to pickpocket it off them.
I corner Chloe and ask her if she saw them messing with my phone at the parade. She says no she didn’t. Chloe would never lie to me, so it must be true. Zach and Xander are not reacting, which means they definitely have it.
I tell mom that Archer will be joining us for Thanksgiving Dinner. She loves a large gathering and is happy he will be joining us. She mentions what a raw deal he got when he came out and how his family should be ashamed of themselves for treating their own son so poorly. I breathe a little sigh of relief. At least I know I’ll have my mom in my corner if everything pans out with Noah.
Archer shows up around five o’clock and soon after we sit down to eat. Chloe and mom always go first to make sure they get all that they want. Then the menfolk pounce on the table and devour everything in sight. Archer is enjoying himself, which lets me know I made the right decision to ask him over.
The earlier jovial mood of Zach and Xander yesterday has been replaced with a strange calmness. They are very quiet, which means either they are up to something or something is wrong. I’ve tried several times throughout the evening to get my phone off them but have not been able to retrieve it yet.
Archer and I go out on the back porch grabbing a couple of beers along the way. We chat a little about this and that. Then we start talking about the old days and how we met.
“You know, it’s too bad we stopped hanging out. This has been a lot of fun. Your family is great.”
“Yeah, they’re one of a kind, that’s for sure.”
“I was thinking the same thing. It’s been such a waste of time. We could have been hanging out all these years. We used to be pretty good bros.”
He takes another swig of beer and looks down at the ground going very quiet. The shadows from the firepit flames play across his face. “I used to have the biggest crush on you back when we were kids,” he says. He’s still not looking at me but instead staring into the flames.
My muscles seize up. I don’t want to make him feel like his admission would make me feel weird. “Oh, I uh, I had no idea.”
“No one did. Crazy, but I thought for a moment there, that maybe you were into me too.” He flicks his eyes to mine and scans me for my reaction.
I think for a moment before I say, “Well, you weren’t crazy, but I think you already knew that.”
“When did you know? That you were different?”
“I don’t know, maybe always.”
“Did you tell your family yet?”
“Just my sister. I’m still coming to terms with it myself, you know?”
“I bet it can get complicated, especially with your high-profile now.”
“Yeah, I’m just getting tired of playing it down. I feel like such a fraud when I have to do these interviews.”
“So those pictures of you and Noah Sinclair…are you guys an item?”
“That’s a whole other drama.” I take a swig on my bottle.
“If he’s smart, he’ll step up and not let you go.”
“I wish someone could tell him that.”
Later that night after Archer has gone home, I pass my brothers who are in the living room on the PlayStation. They don’t say a word to me. I go upstairs to my room and there, lying in the middle of my bed, is my phone. I walk over slowly to pick it up, almost thinking it’s been booby-trapped somehow.
I open it, but nothing seems out of place. There are no new notifications on the home screen, so I go directly into the conversations I’ve had with Noah to send him a text, but to my surprise, there is a new text from him. It says simply, “Happy Thanksgiving.” He sent it late last night. Since there were no new notifications on my phone, it means someone had already read his message. Meaning someone had access to all our past conversations.
That’s why they were so quiet. They knew.
I sit down on the bed for a minute and think about how I should handle this. Ultimately, I decided to man up and go downstairs to confront them. They are still playing video games and not looking up at me when I enter the room. I then sit down in the chair next to the couch they are sitting on.
“So, we were talking, and this Noah guy? You should bring him up here for Christmas,” Xander says.
“Yeah, let us check him out. Make sure he’s good enough for you.” Zach adds.
“Are you nuts, that guy is hot as fuck, of course, he’s good enough for Josh.”
“I don’t know, that guy is like a solid 9-10, Josh is about a 7, eight max. I don’t know if Josh rates.”
“Okay, let’s give ‘lil bro the benefit of the doubt. I say he’s a hard 8.”
“I don’t know; we do have to figure in the lazy eye factor when he was six years old.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Oh, and then there was scoliosis he had in the 5th grade. Maybe we need to drop it to a 7,” says Xander.
“Screw you guys, I’m a hard 9, and you both know it,” I say.
“That’s what he said!” They both say at the same time. Then, they fist pound and roll over laughing. I get ready to respond; then I start laughing uncontrollably as well.
Three down two to go.
Before I go to sleep, I type back to Noah, “Happy Thanksgiving. Miss you.”
Chapter 29
Noah
Icome back to LA renewed and ready to work. I am bound and determined to put all the other crap out of my mind and focus on my job and making things right with Josh again.
I wait out the day before I walk over to the guesthouse and see how he is doing. He answers right away, looking casual in track pants and a tank top. His hair is long enough to fall into his eyes. When he sees me, he gives me the biggest brightest smile I’ve seen from him in a long time. He says nothing, opens the door, and lets me come in.
I take a spot at the kitchen island and he pours me a cup of my favorite coffee, just the way I like it without being asked. We fall into an easy rapport discussing all we did on our vacation break. (I make sure to leave out the story of Rachel). Neither of us brings up the taping incident to spoil the mood. We keep the conversation light and then go out for a run through the canyons. It feels awesome — each of us pushing the other to go further, just like before. Later we pick up some take out, Thai of course, and kick back to watch an old movie. We’re just hanging out like old friends, nothing complicated. It feels fantastic.
Work is just as easy. We run lines, rehearse and tape without incident. We each respect the others space but hang out whenever we feel like it. Over the next few weeks, we are falling back into our daily running, breakfast, and carpool schedule. The built-up sexual tension we have throughout the weeks is released when we shoot our scenes. We express every touch, feel, kiss and caress we feel for each other during our scenes, and they are hot as hell. Then we go back to our normal lives.
We’re also spending a lot more time with our castmates, usually at Traxxx. We’ve nicknamed ourselves the Young Americans after the old David Bowie song. The weekends are spent hanging out with our crew playing pool, dancing or eating late-night diner food.
I’ve never been in better physical shape as well. It’s always been important to me to look and feel good, but now I also want to look fit for Josh. Mrs. Jennings catches us coming back from our run. She appears more tired and rundown than I’ve seen in the past. I worry that her health is seriously beginning to fail. “Hi, Mrs. Jennings,” I say, both of us running over.
“Noah! It’s so good to see you, sweetheart, you’re always so busy now; it’s hard to keep up with you.” She smiles and hugs me.
“That’s my fault; I’m sorry I need to stop by more often.”
“You’re looking great! So happy and alive.”
“Thank you.” I feel like I’m blushing. “Mrs. Jennings this is Josh, I know yo
u’ve probably seen him around, he’s been living in the guesthouse. I’m sure you recognize him.”
To Josh, I say, “She is an ardent viewer of our show.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Noah always talks about you. I understand you make the world’s best peach cobbler?” Josh says, oozing his charm as usual.
“Damn straight! And you, young man, are invited over anytime to try some okay?”
“You’ve got a deal there.” Josh smiles brightly.
“I’ll stop by tomorrow to check in on you and catch up, okay?”
“I look forward to it. Take care, Noah and so nice to finally meet you, Josh.”
That evening he is over at my place helping me cook dinner. It smells terrific. He is on stirring duty. Josh looks like he has something to say, so to encourage him, I say, “You’re never this quiet. What’s up?” He releases the furrow in his brow when I ask. He waits for a beat. I hit it on the head. I knew he had something on his mind.
“Next week is Christmas.”
“Yep, that’s what the calendar keeps telling me.” I distractedly add spices to my dish and taste test.
“I know it’s late notice, and you probably have plans already…”
“Spit it out.”
“Would you like to come to Denver and stay with my family for the Christmas break?”
I’m stunned by his question. It’s so far out of left field from what I was expecting him to say. “I usually spend Christmas with my folks—” I see his eyes dim a little. “—But I’m sure they won’t mind if I skip a year.” And just like that, the shine bounces back to the gold flecks in his eyes.
“That’s great. I was going to book my ticket today, so I’ll book two instead.”
“Okay. It’ll be fun.” Then we continue grinning at each other like fools.
The next week flies by so quickly I barely have time to breathe. We have an intense shooting schedule mixed with planning our trip and shopping for our families. We get it all done though, and by Friday morning we are off. I’ve never been to Denver so this will be a first for me. The forecast is for snow, making this my first white Christmas.