Page 37 of Beyond the Darkness
“Right.I wouldn’t trust Benito Coppola as far as I could throw him.Just because he’s gay, it doesn’t mean he’s on our team.Or even one of the good guys.”
“From what you’ve told me, Kris is a functioning alcoholic.Why would Benito stick up for him?”
“Who knows?Maybe he thinks like I did, that Kris will change and sober up one day.I’ll tell you one thing—it’s put me off the idea of marriage for a long time.”
They both laughed.
“What about you?”Luke asked.“Any ex-husbands I should be worried about?”
“No, I’m clear on that front.I just have run-of-the-mill nutcase stalkers.There’s no marriage baggage attached.”
“Ever been tempted?”
“I came close once,” Hudson admitted.He drew his fingers up the line on Luke’s torso, from his navel to his chest, before running them through his chest hair.“His name was Pete.A lawyer back in New York.He was a great guy.No major asshole issues.He was funny and intelligent and had a great job.He wasn’t jealous or demanding.Didn’t make an issue when work took me away for weeks at a time.”
“He sounds perfect.What went wrong?”
Hudson shook his head.“It’s hard to explain.It was kind of perfect on a surface level, but there was just something missing.We both got cold feet and realised we weren’t the people we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with.We’re still friends.Pete has got a partner now who does seem truly perfect for him.He’s found that something that was missing when the two of us were together.”
Luke turned on his side, so they were face to face.He put a hand on Hudson’s hip.
“This is nice,” he said.“I wasn’t expecting we would share all this so soon.If my angry ex hadn’t turned up, maybe we wouldn’t have.But I’m glad we are.I feel like I know you better each day.”
Hudson smiled and leaned in for a kiss.“I do too.And given how crazy this week has been so far, it feels kind of fitting that we’re not obeying any of the traditional rules of dating.”
Luke pulled his body closer, pressing their chests and bellies together.“Let’s see what else we can discover.”
* * * *
Hudson got back to his apartment around five.After the rude awaking from Kris, he’d spent a wonderfully relaxing day with Luke, talking, laughing, getting to know each other better.And fucking.There had been a lot of fucking.One of the highlights had been taking a long bath together.Though the house was small and the bathroom tiny, they had luxuriated in the hot water and bubbles for over an hour.
Hudson would have stayed much longer, but Jo had scheduled a video call with him at six and he wanted to take the call on his laptop rather than his phone.It was also so peaceful at the beach house that he didn’t want to spoil it by mixing work with pleasure.
“You do realise it’s Saturday evening,” he said when his agent came on the call.
“Yes, and I’ll be going out soon.”
He noticed she was hosting the call from her bedroom.In the background, a little black dress hung on a door, while she appeared to be sitting at a vanity mirror in a white towelled robe.
“Couldn’t it wait, then?”
Jo tutted.“Only losers wait, Hudson.Winners take the deals when they’re offered, whatever the day or time.This is a twenty-four-hour business.
“What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until Monday?”
“You are,” she said, pointing a long-nailed finger at the screen.“My phone has been blowing up for two days now with offers for you.Now, I know you said you didn’t want to do interviews and are concentrating on the play, but I think you should hear some of the deals that have come forward for you.”
“Unless it’s a juicy acting job that’s available after the play, you might as well save your breath.I’ve got enough to think about.”
“The play comes first, of course it does.We all want that, but we’re talking about some big fee offers for barely any effort.”
Jo was a typical agent.Always hustling for the next buck.She fought hard for her clients and strove to get the best deal, but money was all that ever mattered.
“What are we talking about?”he asked wearily.
“I can get you on TV for an interview tomorrow.BBC Sunday Morning Live.It’s mainly about politics and shit but they want you for a current affairs section.”
“No.”
