Several days had gone by and Anthony still hadn't heard from Gabe. There was a meeting with the PR coordinator coming up, and Anthony wanted to make sure things were good between the two of them, and that they were cool before setting up interviews and whatnot.
He wasn't keen on making the first move, but given the radio silence from Gabe, he didn't think he had much of a choice. Several publicity events were coming up, and the two of them needed to be on a good terms or else things might get extremely dicey. He knew he could call, but he also knew that Gabe didn't have to answer. He figured he wouldn't. Anthony had seen him screen a bunch of calls. Instead, he decided to surprise him with something nice, something that would hopefully repair any damage that had been done.
Yes, he was stupid to have kissed Gabe like that. Even if Gabe had actually kissed him first, he should have let it be. It was another reason for him to avoid drinking altogether. Though he knew that all these events were going to make that exceedingly difficult. The only thing that flowed more freely at these promotional stops than the gossip, was the alcohol.
Knocking on Gabe's door, he held his breath, waiting for the other man to answer. As he stood there with his heart in the pit of his stomach, he feared the worst. What if Gabe looked through the peephole, saw who it was, and like a phone call, declined to answer? What if he avoided him? What if he opened the door and screamed at him? All the possible scenarios – few of them good – ran through his head at a hundred and fifty miles per hour.
He was surprised when Gabe answered, and was left dumbfounded for a moment. While Gabe looked more than a little disheveled, he thankfully, didn't look pissed. The first thing Anthony noticed was that he hadn't shaved in a few days and dark stubble covered his usual baby soft skin. He was wearing only his boxer shorts and a white tank top, which nicely showed off his sculpted arms. His long hair was ruffled and looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. While the unkempt look wasn't right on all men, it somehow made Gabe look even sexier than before.
At the same time, the unkempt look wasn't Gabe. He was always put together and tidy. And something felt wrong about it all.
“You okay, man?” Anthony asked.
Gabe motioned for him to come in, which was something of another surprise.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” Gabe answered. He didn't sound angry, not in the slightest. “I've just had a few rough days, that's all. But listen, I've been meaning to call you. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the other day. It was completely uncalled for.”
“It's okay,” Anthony said.
Gabe only now noticed that Anthony was carrying a few bags in his hands, along with two cups, and his expression looked a little hopeful. He certainly looked hungry as he eyed the bags in his hands.
“Care for some brunch?” Anthony asked. “You haven't eaten already, I hope?”
“No,” Gabe said, a small smile forming on his lips. “I haven't actually and I'm starving. Thanks.”
“No problem,” Anthony said. “I was in town, and I happen to know of this killer crepe place down the street. They serve the best organic coffee as well. Thought I'd grab some and bring it over. I wanted to check up on you and see how you're doing.”
Anthony placed the bags on the table, as well as the coffee cups. Gabe went into the kitchen nook and grabbed some plates. As Gabe walked away, Anthony couldn't help but watch him go. He smiled and shook his head. Gabe was so hot, even when he wasn't trying to be. Especially when he wasn't trying to be. It just wasn't fair.
Anthony quickly went back to pulling the containers from the bag, setting things up.
“I didn't know what you liked, so I picked out a few different things. I've got Nutella and strawberry right there, peanut butter, banana and graham cracker is there, and this is a savory crepe with eggs and veggies. Take your pick.”
“Wow, these look awesome,” Gabe said, sitting down.
As the two started to eat, they didn't say much. Anthony found he was much more relaxed than he thought he'd be. Gabe wasn't moody, he just seemed depressed more than anything. That and hungry.
He tore into his crepes like he hadn't eaten in days. And given the way he looked, perhaps he hadn't. But Anthony could tell that something was obviously bugging him. He could see it in his body language and could almost smell it in the air around them. But he was almost afraid to bring it up.
“So I heard from Robert the other day,” Gabe said. “And it appears that all this hype has led to increased interest in the two of us.”
During the filming of the movie, it had come out that Robert Thorne was the reason they ended up in the film together. He represented both Anthony and Gabe and had instinctively pushed the pairing to Tom and Clyde.
“Oh yeah?” Anthony said. He'd also heard from Robert, but didn't want to seem like a know-it-all. “Any good leads for you?”
“A few, actually,” Gabe said, putting a mouthful of crepe in his mouth.
The whipped cream topping ended up on his upper lip, just below his nose and he didn't notice. Anthony couldn't help but smile at how adorable and sexy it was, and he fought the urge to wipe it off with his finger. Or his tongue.
“You have something on your face,” he said, handing Gabe a tissue. “Right above your lip.”
Gabe slowly wiped off the whipped cream, and of course it brought to mind all kinds of dirty thoughts to Anthony's mind. Mentally, he had to chastise himself, down, boy, not now.
“Thanks,” Gabe said with a sheepish smile. “Anyway, how are things with you?”
“Good,” Anthony said. “I have a few leads too, and things are going well. I reached out to Sean, like you said, and we're talking again. So there's that. And everything is just going pretty well overall.”
Gabe nodded. “I'm really glad to hear that.”
He tried to act normally, and make it seem like everything was business as usual. But there was something he wasn't talking about, something he was hiding. Anthony could feel it.
“Are you sure everything is okay with you, man?” Anthony asked.
On one hand, he hoped he wasn't being too intrusive, but on the other, he didn't care. It was obvious Gabe was in pain and needed somebody to talk to. He could see his friend was carrying a heavy burden and he wanted to be sure that Gabe knew he was there to help him lift it.
But he also knew he still had to tread carefully. After all, there wasn't alcohol to blame this time for saying too much, and he knew he sometimes needed to walk on eggshells around Gabe.
“Yeah, I mean, I guess so? There's a lot going on, and I'm not sure how to handle it all. It's crazy how all this blew up overnight. I'm still trying to process it all. It's why I couldn't bring myself to call you. I was afraid I'd say or do something I'd regret. I know that I'm not always the best at keeping myself in check and not lashing out. But it's nothing to do with you. It's all me this time.”
“Well, I do take some of the blame. I shouldn't have done what I did.” Anthony couldn't bring himself to mention the kiss by name. He thought it might still be too soon. “I'm sorry. I've been thinking about it and realized that maybe I should go completely sober. I should give up the booze too.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Anthony. Nothing at all. Listen, we both had too much to drink and things got a little crazy,” he said. “But you were right when you said that the kiss wasn't a lie. And I did kiss you first.”
A moment of awkward silence hung between them. Anthony felt like Gabe had more to say and was going to continue talking. So he remained silent, encouraging him to go on.
“And the problem,” Gabe continued, “is that I liked it. And that I don't regret it at all.”