Author: Max Hudson
Category: LGBT
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/max-hudson/page,4,546748-someone_like_you.html
“What would we be celebrating?” Harry frowned slightly. “Your job and my audition?”
“And getting here alive. Getting ourselves starting and almost bringing in enough money to pay at least the bills in this place. We wouldn’t eat, but I get paid enough to cover the rent and electric bill.”
Harry nodded. “That sounds like a great time. Let me get changed.”
“I should get a shower.” Jared grinned and agreed with the man. “I still smell from working all day.”
“You haven’t gotten a shower yet?”
“Nah, I got inside and plopped down on the couch.” The carpenter grinned. “I needed to get some rest. It’s been a lot trying to get all caught up on the work.”
“All right. Meet you out here in thirty minutes?” Harry offered with a grin.
“Sure. It shouldn’t take me long to get ready.” Jared made his way to his room to get himself ready to go hang out with his friend. It had been crazy since they arrived and he hadn’t been able to hang out with harry as much as he had wanted to.
They had been in town almost two weeks now, and he had started working almost immediately, keeping him busy working during the day and getting the apartment set up in the evening. Neither of them had much energy to do anything else.
Even living in the same apartment, it was starting to feel a little awkward. Like they were just roommates that had found each other through Craigslist. He shook his head. The time could be found to spend time together. He was finding it now. And it was a good time to go out and remember the reason they were here.
He rushed through getting ready, hurrying himself along and not caring about his looks much further than making sure he was clean and wearing fresh clothing that wasn’t stained or ripped up. He was going out with a friend, not to pick up guys.
By the time he got out of the shower, Harry was ready to go in. “You might want to make it quick. The hot water was already fading by the time I got out.”
“Damn. I hate the water heater in this place. It gives like no hot water.” Harry frowned.
“Yeah.” Jared shrugged and darted into his room to get some of the cleaner sneakers that he hadn’t destroyed at various work sites.
Then he was outside waiting on Harry.
The man was out in a few minutes and within half an hour they were both ready to go.
“Found a place?”
Jared shook his head and pulled out his phone. “Looks like there’s a small bar not far from here. We could probably walk there.”
“Sounds good, just remind me not to drink too much.”
“God, I hope not. Bar drinks can add up really quickly.” Jared laughed. “Try to drink cheap.”
“Beer, I got it.” Harry gave a thumbs up laughing. “Not like we ever drink anything else at a bar. Special drinks are stupid expensive.”
“This is New York. Everything is stupid expensive.”
“This apartment alone costs as much as renting a huge house back home.” Harry agreed with the man as they walked out of the door and to the bar.
Jared was right. It wasn’t very far away, a small little dive bar that was full of a colorful assortment of people. Because it was on the edge of two neighborhoods it seemed to be pretty available to people of various backgrounds.
Jared took a moment to look around the place and went to go sit in a dark corner of the bar. Harry followed him after stopping at the bar to pick up a couple of beers. “It’s nice to get out, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Jared nodded.
Before much more could be said, he heard a voice from behind him speak up. “Jared?”
He turned around. It was Killian sitting there at a small table in an even darker corner of the bar. The confusion hit him immediately. He asked himself what he would be doing there but decided against asking the question aloud because it might be rude. “Killian?” He couldn’t help but smile a little bit, however.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Killian smiled.
“We live here.” Jared decided to play it cool. “We were just coming out for a drink.”
“Oh? Who’s your friend?” Killian raised an eyebrow. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the question behind that question.
“Oh, this is Harry. He’s my roommate.”
“Roommate, huh?”
Harry piped up. “Yeah, we are best friends since kindergarten.” Harry volunteered. “We both wanted to try to become actors, so we came up here together.”
Jared laughed. He knew that Harry was getting a little starstruck, and this was exactly something that he would do. “Yeah. We saved up for a couple of years to do this.”
“Sounds like a lot of hard work.”
“It is.” Jared nodded. “But it’s been totally worth it all.”
“Why don’t you come and join us?” Harry stammered a little bit as he made the offer.
“Sure.” Killian rose up to his full height and made his way over. “So, are you two together?”
Jared shook his head. “No, just friends.”
“Really?”
Harry nodded. “No offense, but Jared’s just not my type.”
Killian smiled and his dark eyes settled on Jared. There was a certain intensity there that made a shiver run down the carpenter’s spine. It was the same glower that he had been famous for on the big screen. He had this ability to look like he was staring directly at your soul. “Good to know.”
Harry’s eyes widened. It was as if a light bulb had suddenly appeared above his head. “Oh.”
“What?” Jared looked over.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Harry shook his head.
Jared felt his attention dragged back over to Killian, the smoldering look on his face spoke of a deep undeniable desire. Jared was feeling it well right up in his gut. He swallowed hard. His throat had a lump in it and his lips were dry. He could feel the moistness of sweat forming on his palms, making the cold glass of the bottle in his hand nearly slip out of his grasp.
For a while there was silence.
Killian was looking at him. He was looking at Killian. And Harry was looking between the pair then quietly slipping away.
“So, what brings you here?” Jared struggled to make conversation that didn’t involve the growing desire that was rising up between his legs.
“I actually live near here. I come here pretty regularly.”
“Really? I figured you would have lived somewhere different?”
“You mean a nicer part of town? Nah, I live off the money I made from acting, until the theatre doesn’t need to invest every penny back into itself. I don’t want to spend it all at once. Plus, I had never been one for all that fancy stuff anyway.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” Jared was struggling to find the right words to say to this man. There didn’t seem to be much to talk about that wouldn’t end up with them disappearing into a back room and making out like teenagers.
“Yeah, I like it though. It reminds me of my life before all of that stuff.” Killian nodded.
“That’s got to be nice, though. I bet you don’t really worry about money.”
“I remember what it was like to be a struggling actor.” Killian shrugged. “All the sacrifices I made to get to where I was. I get it, though.”
“Yeah, I hope I don’t have to sacrifice too much to be able to make a living at it.”
“Is that all you’re looking to do?”
“I really love the stage. I wouldn’t mind being on the screen, but I think I’m more of a theatre man, myself. Harry, though, is wanting to be on the screen. We’re actually here celebrating an audition he got tonight.” Jared looked around and noticed that Harry was gone. His eyes flicked around the bar and he caught sight of Harry near the counter chatting up a brunette around their age. He smiled. It was good to see Harry taking a shot with a young woman again.
But that left him alone with Killian Templeton. And the man was talking to him while he was stuck in his thoughts. �
�You two must be really close.”
“Oh, yeah. I trust him with my life.” Jared nodded. “He’s a great friend.” He couldn’t have said why he emphasized the word friend. “We help each other through everything from celebrating successful auditions to horrible breakups. It’s really cool.”
Killian smiled. “That’s great to know. It’s really cool to have a friend like that.”
“It really is. He’s always got my back. And I’ve always got his.” Except for at that moment. He was left alone with his handsome boss and Jared couldn’t have guessed if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he did know where it was probably going to end up if Killian kept looking at him like that.
Chapter Six
Killian kept chatting with Jared. The man was really easy to get to know, something about him just seemed so kind. But there was something else in Jared’s eyes. It was an attraction that couldn’t be denied.
But Jared wasn’t going to make the first move. He decided to let his hand brush the carpenter’s hand.
The motion was purposefully subtle, but he saw Jared’s eyes snap down to look at the motion.
His wide-eyed look was followed by a stammering addition to the conversation. “I-I-I’m enjoying my time here. I haven’t had much of a chance to do any sightseeing since I got into town though.”
“You really should have a chance to do that sometime.” Killian shook his head. “This city has some amazing things to see.”
“I’ve heard about that, but I wanted to go ahead and get myself a job and stuff first so that the money we had saved for the move could stretch longer.” Jared smiled a little shyly.
“Maybe I can take you to see some stuff.” The former actor shrugged. He was trying to play it cool like it was some sort of casual suggestion. He knew that it wasn’t. He was testing the waters, seeing how Jared reacted to what he was asking. “You know, just kill some time until it’s clear for you to go home.”
“I couldn’t ask you to spend a bunch of time trying to entertain me.” Jared was playing coy.
He had to check if he would change his mind. “I don’t really mind it. It’s nice to get out with good company sometimes.”
“I’m not sure I’m good company.”
Killian grinned. “I would say that you are pretty good company, myself.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. What’s gonna happen? The boss is going to yell at you?” Killian laughed a little bit.
“I guess not.” Jared snickered. “That would be great, thanks.”
The bar was getting more crowded when Harry made his way over to the pair. “Hey.”
Jared looked up. “What’s up?”
“So, I’m going to head back to the house.” He looked over his shoulder.
“Want me to stay out for a bit?” Jared knew exactly what the man was talking about.
Killian glanced over and saw that brunette waiting over by the bar. She was smiling at Harry. “Looks like you better hurry before someone else walks up to her.”
“Yeah. Staying gone would be great.” Harry disappeared before Jared could say anything else.
Jared laughed, turning back toward Killian. “Looks like my night just got extended.” He looked amused by that fact.
“Has it happened before?”
“Not since we’ve been here, but it used to happen sometimes back home. We have a system in place.” Jared shrugged.
“It’s good to have a system for things like this.” The former actor nodded in agreement. “I’ve never had to arrange something like this.”
“We actually figured that out from a sitcom a few years back.”
Killian glanced at the single half-drunk beer that the carpenter had been sipping since he had come into the bar. “Maybe we can go see some of those sights.”
“I’m not sure what we could see at this time of night.” Jared shrugged.
“There’s a lot open. This is New York City.” Killian grinned. “You would be surprised.”
Jared glanced around for a second. “Sure, that sounds great. It’s better than waiting in a bar and spending a fortune on beer until this place closes.”
“All right. What do you want to see?”
“Not sure, got any ideas?”
“How about we go check out Broadway. You can see all the playhouses that you want to work at someday.”
Jared grinned. “That sounds great.”
“I can get us a car.” Killian pulled out his phone, quickly pulling up an app, getting the car ordered.
“I don’t mind riding the subway.”
“I try not to do too much of that. People like to take pictures.”
“Do you get recognized a lot?”
“Most of the time.” He shrugged. “Happens more in confined places like the subway. So, I either walk or take a taxi.”
“Or a car.” Jared pointed to Killian’s phone.
“Yeah, or that.” He laughed. “Sometimes they recognize me too.” He shrugged. “But it’s not as bad anymore. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been on the screen, so it’s a little better nowadays.”
“Is it that bad being recognized everywhere?”
“Wouldn’t be so bad if everyone and their mother didn’t have cameras to take pictures of you.”
“I didn’t think anyone really looked around in New York, though.”
“Not on the street, but you get a few that look up and around especially in the subway where all you have to do is sit or stand around.”
Jared nodded. He tilted his head for a moment in thought. “Yeah, I was looking around my first time.”
“Don’t worry, people clipping their toenails gets less shocking in time.”
“I actually saw that the other day.” Jared laughed as he shook his head. “It was pretty gross.”
“I promise. You get used to it.”
Jared nodded then turned the conversation back around to where it had been before. “And you don’t miss it?”
“Miss what?”
“Being famous.”
“I would be so happy to just fade into obscurity.” Killian smiled. “But I doubt that would ever really happen. Not with all those clickbait ‘Where Are They Now’ articles that are all over the internet.”
“Those are all over the place.”
“I’ve actually seen myself in one.”
“Do you read them?” Jared followed him outside of the bar so they could wait for the car to arrive.
He checked the app; it wasn’t that far off. They wouldn’t be sitting there waiting around for that long. It left a lot less time for things to get awkward.
They fell into a comfortable silence that stretched out through the entire ride that they shared until they got out of the car in front of the playhouse that Killian owned.
“Is this where we’re starting?”
Killian laughed. He checked his phone quickly to find out how long he was going to be waiting out in the cool air of a New York evening. He noticed that it was already getting close to ten at night. “It’s easier to get the car here, a little cheaper and a lot less time in traffic.”
“Did you ever consider going to Broadway?”
Killian shook his head. “I never wanted a place that big. I just wanted to put on amazing plays for nice intimate crowds. So that’s what I did.”
Jared nodded. “Does this place have any history?”
“A lot, it’s almost a hundred and fifty years old.”
“Wow.” Jared whistled at that news. “I didn’t know it was that old.”
“I had to do pretty extensive renovations when I bought the place.”
“That must have cost a small fortune.”
Killian nodded. They weren’t moving on, instead, they were sitting there discussing the playhouse that they both went to every single day. “Yeah. But it was totally worth it.”
“I would love to do something like that someday.” Jared nodded. “It sounds like you’re really living the dream.”
>
“I am, yeah.” Killian smiled as he gazed lovingly at the building. He ran his hand over the brick of the façade that covered the front of the building. “It’s a pretty cool place.”
“Did you ever act here?”
“My first acting job, actually.” Killian nodded.
“Maybe you could give me a tour of all the secrets?”
“Sure.” Killian grinned and unlocked the door, letting them both walk inside of the place. It was still filled with so many memories for him, and now it had a chance to be filled in so many more of them if he played his cards right. “What do you want to see?”
“What is your favorite spot in the whole place?” Jared went immediately for the hard question.
“Oh, that would be-” Killian stopped as his mind wandered toward the spot that he used to watch the sets get built. It had been turning into his new favorite spot in the whole place. But he knew that Jared was smart enough to figure out why.
“That’s my office.” Killian nodded in the direction of the room. He hoped that the lie would land right. “There’s a reason I picked that office.”
“What about it is so cool?”
“It used to be an entrance to an old speakeasy that existed in the basement.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the basement.”
“It’s mostly storage now.” Killian shrugged. “I’ve thought about fixing it up but maintaining the rest of the place is taking up more money than I thought.”
“That makes a lot of sense. Maybe I can take a look at it someday, see what I can do. I’ve done some historic renovations in my time.” Jared thought for a second. “Are there any secret spaces you like?”
“Well, there’s one up near the top of the workshop area.” Killian felt his chest tighten up as he led the way up to his place that he had been using to spy on Jared when he was working.
Once they got there, Jared looked out the small window. “Wow, is this how you watch the set-building?”
Killian nodded.
“This must be why people work so hard.”
“Not many people know it’s here.”