“I’ve got an Insta account,” Nally said with an uncomfortable shrug, shifting to lie facing Jude, though he pulled his lower body away a bit as he did. “Isn’t that enough?”
“Not by a longshot,” Jude laughed. “You only use it to look at other people’s content. You need to start making your own. What you really need is TikTok for quick, spur of the moment things and a YouTube channel for videos of you playing some of your compositions.”
Nally hummed and stared at the top of Jude’s bare shoulder for a moment. “I’m just worried that if people actually see my face, they’ll downgrade my music in their heads because I’m so young.”
Jude flipped quickly to his side. “Do not, and I repeat,do notpull that impostor syndrome shit on me. You’re an amazingcomposer, Nally. You deserve everything in the world. Far more than I do.”
Nally burst into a laugh. “Who’s the one with impostor syndrome now?” he asked, then shoved Jude’s shoulder.
Jude shoved him back and Nally retaliated. They were about two seconds from wrestling while wearing only pajama bottoms, and Jude’s erection just wouldn’t quit. Maybe now actually was the time to see how far they could?—
Nally’s phone ringing on the bedside table averted what could have been a disaster…or a dream.
Nally growled, extracted himself from Jude, and rolled over to grab it. “Oh!” he said, sounding surprised and answering the call. “Heath. I didn’t expect to hear from you today.”
Heath Manfred, one ofTo Serve Him’s producers. Jude’s heart beat with excitement. By the expression Nally wore as he listened to whatever Heath was saying, it was good news.
“Yeah, of course I’d be available for more press,” Nally said, twisting to look at Jude with a look of excited surprise.
“I’m just going to go shower,” Jude whispered, scooting to the side of the bed so he could get up.
“I was incredibly surprised about the soundtrack’s reception,” Nally continued with his conversation, nodding to Jude.
Jude had to get out of bed carefully. His pajamas, which were actually a spare pair of Nally’s, were badly tented. He kept himself pointed away from Nally as he hurried into the en suite.
The shower was just what he needed, in more ways than one. He turned on the water, stripped out of the PJs, then jumped under the spray and immediately went to work taming his erection in the best way he knew how. A little soap and a quick fantasy about being railed by the beefy bartender from the club last night and he would be all set to face a sane day with his best friend.
Except that his fantasy completely switched to him and Nally in bed with Nally pounding away at his prostate while Jude screamed into his pillow.
Jude shuddered into an orgasm before he could scold his imagination and tell it to stay where it belonged. It wasn’t just a utilitarian orgasm either. He enjoyed it way more than he should have, then felt awful once it was done. He had no right to get off to fantasies of his best friend fucking him silly.
He fought back against the tsunami of guilt by washing quickly, then getting out of the shower and drying off, all while trying not to think about it. He thought about what he was going to post later, about what sort of press Silver Productions wanted Nally to do, and how he could help advance his friend’s career. He stayed in the bathroom, wrapped in his towel and fussing way more than he needed to with his hair and brushing his teeth until he was certain his errant fantasy wouldn’t rear up and bite him when he least expected it.
“Alright. I’ll see you on Monday then.” Nally was still on the phone when Jude left the bathroom. “Is there anything you need me to bring with me?” He glanced to Jude.
Jude must have been imagining the way Nally’s gaze swept over his naked torso and lingered on his towel just above his groin. The way he caught his breath had to have been because of something Heath Manfred had said.
Jude ignored the look and his own reaction to it by walking over to Nally’s bureau and pulling out clothes to wear. The two of them were the same size and swapped clothes all the time. In fact, when Jude pulled open one of the drawers, he spotted one of his shirts in amongst Nally’s.
He passed his own shirt over and grabbed a nice, soft blue shirt of Nally’s that he’d always liked. He then picked out a pair of Nally’s pants and some jeans to wear, all while acutely aware of Nally still in bed behind him, finishing up his call.
“And thank you, Heath,” he said. “I truly appreciate all of this. Goodbye.”
By the time Jude turned around, his arms full of clothes, Nally had lowered his phone and leaned back against the headboard. “People really do like my soundtrack,” he said, eyes a bit wide. “Heath wants to help me make the most of it by taking me on a brief press tour.”
“Press tour?” Jude asked, anxious about the idea of Nally going away from him. “As in travel?”
“Well, no, not really. Just a bunch of interviews in London and a few in Birmingham and Manchester,” Nally said.
Jude sagged with relief before he could stop himself. “That’s great,” he said, clutching the clothes to his chest. For some reason, he didn’t want to just whip off his towel with Nally reclining in bed watching him, even though he’d done it in the past. It felt like playing with fire.
Nally blinked and stopped staring at Jude, or rather, staring right through him as he was lost in thought. “I need to get up and shower, too. It’s almost noon.” He threw back the duvet and twisted to get out of bed.
Jude wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed not to see any tenting in Nally’s PJs.
No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t any of his business one way or another if his friend had any sort of morning reaction.
“Once you’re out of the shower, I’ll help you put together a better social media presence,” Jude said, taking his armful of clothing to the bed.
