Page 10 of Heartbreak Honey

Before

LIVING IN THE HOUSE with the other guys was pretty fun. Trevor knew they should enjoy their free time while it lasted, because once they released their first single, they’d be doing a promo tour for it, and once the album came out, they’d be doing even more.

Tonight, Skyler hadn’t wanted to play video games with the others, so he and Trevor were in Trevor’s room scrolling through Netflix for something to watch. Trevor had vetoed Skyler’s romcom suggestions, and Skyler whined when Trevor suggested a horror movie.

“I always get scared during horror movies.” Skyler gave a tiny pout for emphasis.

“That’s kind of the point,” Trevor told him.

Skyler grabbed the remote out of his hand and continued scrolling. “We should watch a musical!”

“I think I’d rather watch a romcom.”

“Oh, come on. You’re a singer! How do you not like musicals?”

Trevor shrugged. “It’s so unrealistic, people randomly breaking out into song and dance in the middle of the street.”

“Yes, because the burnt-faced knife-fingers guy who kills people in their dreams is totally real.”

He laughed, and when Skyler turned the full force of his pout on him, jutting out his bottom lip and wavering it, he felt himself relenting. “Fine, we can watch one. But you better pick the best damn musical ever if you hope to convert me.”

Skyler stared at him a moment, eyes a tad too wide, and Trevor mentally kicked himself for the word choice, because… Well, of course, it didn’t work that way. But he knew Skyler was gay. And when he’d found out, he’d told Skyler he’d never been with a guy, and left it at that.

He hadn’t told Skyler that he wanted to. That he wanted to with him.

Skyler cleared his throat and recovered quickly. “Don’t worry, I know exactly the one!”

He chose Rent and Trevor wasn’t prepared for the way Skyler sang along dramatically to every song, loud enough that Noah yelled from downstairs for him to shut up. Wasn’t prepared for how adorable Skyler looked when he jumped from the bed and began bouncing around the room as he sang. Certainly wasn’t prepared for the warm feelings that stirred inside him as he watched this boy, for the way they grew in intensity until they became a burning hot desire that had him clenching his hands into fists so that he didn’t leap up and reach for him.

Trevor certainly didn’t expect to end up crying by the end of the movie, but honestly, it was almost a relief to have been distracted out of his other more complicated emotions. “That was…”

“Amazing?” Skyler prompted, beside him on the bed again and getting up on his knees to face him.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

Skyler poked him in the ribs. “Yes, you would. Come on, admit it.” A harder poke. “You loved it. It totally got to you.”

Trevor grabbed his hand to stop the attack and gave it a squeeze. “Fine. It got to me. Obviously.” He released Skyler’s hand and wiped at his eyes. “You didn’t warn me it would be sad. I thought musicals were all upbeat and corny.”

“Aww.” Skyler gently grabbed his tear-streaked face.

He held his breath. Skyler hovered over him, and Trevor couldn’t look anywhere but into his eyes, caught up in trying to pull out the secrets from those green depths. They were trying to tell him something, and he was desperate to know what it was.

Then, slowly, Skyler used his thumbs to wipe both of Trevor’s cheeks before placing feather-light kisses on each cheekbone. “You big softie.”

Heart racing, Trevor squirmed out of his grasp. “I’m not a softie. I’m super tough and manly. And now I want to watch people get chopped up.”

His joke came out forced, and god, Skyler could probably see right through him, couldn’t he?

But he needed to create some space between them and put on another movie. Something less emotional to clear the tension in the room before he did something stupid. Something he was fairly sure wouldn’t be unwelcomed, but that he shouldn’t do, nevertheless.

Right?

Because they were in the band together and lived together, and this could get messy really fast.

What would the other guys think? He didn’t want them to think he was here for the wrong reasons. He was here to work.

“All right, macho man,” Skyler teased. “Horror, it is. But you’ll have to hold me to protect me during the scary parts.”

Okay. Trevor could see now how this plan might backfire. But he was weak for this boy, so he ignored the warning voice in his head and slung his arm around Skyler’s shoulders, pulling him in closer. “I can do that.”

Halfway through the movie, he started to suspect Skyler was exaggerating how scared he was. He kept burying his face in Trevor’s side and wrapping an arm around his middle, but Trevor really didn’t mind at all.

He also didn’t mind it when the movie ended and Skyler claimed he was too tired to make it all the way across the hall to his own room, so they slipped under the covers together. Nope. Didn’t mind at all.

But maybe he should have.

Trevor couldn’t believe he was shirtless and barefoot on the beach and getting paid for it. He was also surrounded by girls in bikinis, but weirdly, that part didn’t excite him as much. A month ago, he might have been interested, but now…

Now his eyes were more drawn to a certain wavy-haired, shirtless guy.

Oli, Jermaine, and Noah were living it up though, flirting with the models in between takes. Maggie and the video director were pretty exasperated with them by this point, but only Noah reined it in after getting reprimanded. Oli continued to try to show off by doing a cartwheel in the sand and ended up falling on his ass, but it worked out for him anyway, because the girls all crowded around him to see if he was okay.

Maggie decided to call for a fifteen-minute break then, instructing them all to grab some water and snacks from the catering table and then come back ready to get this done. The other boys quickly surrounded the table, the girls hovering by them. Trevor jogged over and snatched an orange for Skyler, a bag of chips for himself, and a bottle of water for them to share, and then he and Skyler wandered off on their own.

They ended up sitting on the ramp of a lifeguard hut a tiny bit down the beach. Skyler peeled his orange as he babbled excitedly about how much fun he was having. Trevor munched on his chips, the bag resting on his lap because he’d somehow found himself with a pile of stringy orange rind in one palm.

He’d just offered Skyler the water when he spotted Maggie only a few feet away coming toward them.

“We’re probably not supposed to be on here,” Skyler said nervously.

Trevor shrugged. Probably not.

“Hi, boys,” she greeted them with a bland smile.

“Sorry,” Skyler said immediately. “We were looking for a place to sit.”

She waved this off, but her smile tightened very briefly before her face relaxed. “It’s fine. I was only hoping to catch you two for a quick chat.”

Trevor grew suspicious. In the time they’d known her, she’d never just wanted to chat. The word even sounded foreign coming out of her mouth.

“You’re both doing good, right?” she asked. “There’s been so much going on, it must be a bit overwhelming.”

“Yeah, it’s been fun though,” Skyler answered. He took a sip of water and handed the bottle back to Trevor.

Trevor watched Maggie’s eyes track this before she smiled at them again. “I’m glad. And I know everyone’s been working so hard. So I wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page about things.”

“What things?” Trevor asked.

“Oh, well, I’ve heard the two of you have been sleeping in the same room a lot. And I’m sure that’s perfectly innocent, but we have to consider how it looks and what the other boys might think.”

Trevor’s heart lurched. He had been considering the guys. But it didn’t bother them that Skyler slept in his room, did it? They weren’t doing anything.

But wait.

How did Maggie even find out about that? One of them must have told her. Or maybe she’d heard them talking about it. Either way, Trevor didn’t like the idea of being a topic of discussion amongst the rest of the band.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Skyler said slowly.

Maggie laughed lightly, and Trevor was sure she meant it to sound friendly, but it only made him more uneasy. “Only that we wouldn’t want how close you two are to cause tension with the rest of the band, right? They might get jealous that the two of you are spending so much time by yourself instead of bonding with the group. We don’t want anything to get in the way of the careers you’re both working so hard toward, right?”

“Right,” Trevor agreed, because of course he didn’t want anything to get in the way of that.

“Right!” Maggie said cheerily. Then, with another smile that didn’t reach her eyes, she added, “So maybe it would be best if Skyler slept in his own room. I’m only looking out for the two of you. You understand that, right?”

“Right,” Trevor repeated. But this time the word tasted like acid coming up his throat.

He risked a glance at Skyler, who looked contemplative but not inclined to say anything.

“Okay, then.” Maggie clapped her hands like an enthusiastic cheerleader. Which was definitely not her vibe. “Let’s hurry up and get back so we can finish this shoot.”

When she turned around and started making her way through the sand back toward the group, Skyler shoved his last orange slice into his mouth and got to his feet, so Trevor did the same.

He reached out across the gap between them, letting the side of his hand brush Skyler’s, then swiped his pinkie over Skyler’s knuckles. “Hey. You okay?”

Skyler smiled brightly. Almost too brightly. “Yeah, of course.”

They didn’t talk any more as they hastened to rejoin the rest of the band.

Once everything was set up for another shot, the director had all the guys roll up their jeans and wade into the water with most of the girls, while the lead model walked along the shore fully dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, catching all the guys’ attention. Trevor forgot about the conversation with Maggie as he focused on the job at hand.

Apparently, the concept of the video was that the girl in jeans was more appealing than the scantily clad bikini girls. Trevor was torn between thinking this was cool and thinking that suggesting girls should dress modestly was bullshit. But again, he was getting paid to run around on the beach, so he kept his mouth shut.

They all had to freeze in the water, facing the girl, when it came time to sing the chorus. Lip-sync it, technically. It was strange trying to mouth the words and enunciate without actually singing. Definitely took some getting used to.

You’re beautiful in blue jeans, baby

And I’ve been wanting to tell you lately

The things you make me feel, I’ve never felt before-or

You’re beautiful in blue jeans, baby

And I’ve been thinking maybe you could save me

‘Cause you’re everything I’ve been looking for-or

It was cheesy. The kind of bouncy pop that Trevor wasn’t a huge fan of. But then again, with Skyler standing beside him in the water, it was easy to relate to the sentiment. He was certainly making Trevor feel things he’d never felt before.

God, he was so fucked.

Everything Maggie had said came back to him as his eyes drifted to Skyler without his permission.

He wanted Skyler. How could he not want him? With his giant dimples and the way he cracked the corniest jokes and then winked like a dork.

But Trevor couldn’t have him. They needed to focus on the band, and he shouldn’t complicate things by letting his feelings free. He needed to keep them tucked safely inside himself where they couldn’t do any damage.