Tugging open the heavy glass door of Sapporo Sushi Bar Jonah skidded inside, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. Kyle had texted fifteen minutes earlier to say he was inside, and Jonah hated to keep him waiting. He straightened his clothes and approached the maître d’ stand, his heart still pounding in his ears.

“Do you have a reservation?” the man asked.

“No, I’m meeting a friend. He’s already seated.”

The maître d’ nodded. “Right this way.”

He led Jonah through the restaurant, past the bar where plush red chairs were lined up, and wove his way through tables where other patrons already had their meals. Kyle was at a table in the back, sipping a glass of white wine. He looked up and smiled brightly when Jonah sat down.

“Did you get lost?” he teased. Sapporo Sushi was one of their favorite places to eat.

“Woke up late. I haven’t been sleeping well, plus with filming I feel like I’m constantly going.”

He didn’t dare mention why he hadn’t been sleeping well. Two days had passed since the blog post had dropped, and everyone was still speculating as to who the mystery A-lister could be. Aspen had a plan on standby for whenever people found out, but he hoped he could hold off a few more days.

“At least you’re on a backlot for now. I’m leaving for Bulgaria in a couple of days. The time change is going to kill me.”

Kyle never had done well with time changes. Their first time working together, Kyle had been late to set more days than not because he was trying to get used to the difference, and it had only been a three-hour time difference. He would be miserable the entire time he was in Europe.

“Try that nightly meditation I sent you. I swear it’s the only thing that puts me to sleep,” Jonah said. He looked up as their waiter approached.

“Welcome to Sapporo. What would you like to drink?”

He considered ordering something alcoholic, but the last thing he needed was to get drunk in the middle of the day. That would only leave him feeling horrible. Instead he ordered a water with lemon and an appetizer of gyoza.

“You want anything to start us off?” he asked, looking to Kyle.

Kyle shook his head. “Gotta watch every bite. My trainer’s got me on the worst work out regimen. I keep telling myself it’ll all be worth it in the end.”

And it would be, Jonah knew it. Kyle was the kind of actor who threw himself into his role, and he’d gotten plenty of praise for it in the past. It was only a matter of time before he won an Oscar. Hopefully Jonah wouldn’t be up for one at the same time. Kyle would deserve it, of course, but Jonah was a naturally competitive person and he didn’t want to lose, even to one of his best friends.

The waiter returned with Jonah’s drink and appetizer and flipped open his pad, his pen poised above the paper. “So what’ll it be?”

They each ordered—the sunset roll for Jonah and the lobster roll for Kyle—and the waiter disappeared again.

“So how’s that girlfriend of yours, Sydney, was it?” Jonah asked.

Kyle smiled ruefully. “We broke up a few weeks ago. The timing just wasn’t right with me going to Bulgaria and her off in Milan.” He shrugged. “I’m sure there’ll be others.”

That was an understatement. Even if he weren’t a famous actor, Kyle would have his pick of women. Or anyone, really, but Jonah didn’t know if he swung that way. With sandy blond hair and a jawline that looked like it was chiseled out of stone, he was the very definition of the boy next door. More than once, Jonah had found himself getting lost in Kyle’s deep blue eyes.

Really that should have been some indication you were into guys, a small voice in the back of his head said.

That little voice could fuck off. “If Beth is anything like Aspen, she’ll have you dating someone else in a matter of days.”

Kyle shook his head. “I told her I want to take some time off and I think she’s going to let me. Sydney wasn’t just a publicity stunt. I actually really cared about her.”

Something twinged deep inside Jonah’s chest. He’d cared about Christian, too. Under Aspen’s strict orders, he hadn’t contacted him since the blog went viral. No emails, no texts, no calls, no matter how much he wanted to. If he could just understand why Christian had done it, maybe he would feel less betrayed. Or maybe it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.

Kyle was staring at him, and he cleared his throat. “Hmm?”

“I asked if there was anyone you were seeing.”

He bit his lip. It was so tempting just to spill everything. The secrecy was more than he could handle. Sure, Aspen knew, but she was looking at everything from a career perspective. He needed someone to talk to. Someone who understood the pressure he was under and wouldn’t judge him for what he was feeling.

Looking around, he made sure there was no one listening before leaning in. “I have something to tell you, but I need to know you won’t tell anyone. It’s that big.”

Kyle raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Yeah, okay. What’s up?”

“You know the blog post about the writer’s week with the A-lister?”

“Who doesn’t know that blog post at this point? It’s been all over the news.”

Like he needed that reminder. “Trust me, I know. It… the A-lister in question is me.”

The words hung in the air like the other shoe, ready to drop, and Jonah couldn’t breathe. Kyle’s eyes widened and he sat back in his seat. He wasn’t the sort to make a scene, so at least Jonah had that going for him, but what if he told people? What if he judged Jonah for it?

“Is, um… is this your way of telling me you’re gay?” Kyle asked.

Well it wasn’t the worst reaction in the world, but Kyle’s expression was a strange mix of shocked and guarded, as though he wasn’t sure what to say.

“Not gay, exactly. I’m uh… I’m bi. I like girls, but I also like guys.”

“Huh.” Kyle took a sip of his wine. “And you didn’t think to tell me before now?”

“I didn’t know before now. It—” He paused as the waiter walked up with their sushi and sat forward in his seat when the man walked away. “I literally found out last week.”

“How’d that happen? I’m guessing it has everything to do with the guy in the blog post.” Kyle stopped, holding his chopsticks just above his sushi roll. “Wait. Does that mean everything in the post was true?”

Jonah nodded. He poked at the strip of tuna on top of his roll and met Kyle’s gaze. There was no judgment there, to his relief. Only curiosity and amusement. Of course he would find this hilarious. Especially since it wasn’t his reputation on the line.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then started in on his version of what had happened. Everything from growing up with Christian to his arrival at the cabin. The sexual details he skimmed over. Christian might have been comfortable sharing what they’d done together, but he was still coming to terms with what this meant for him. He didn’t exactly want anyone else knowing what he liked in bed with another guy.

“So let me get this straight,” Kyle said, once Jonah finished. “Christian, who you grew up with, was in love with you this entire time? And there’s a chance you might have been in love with him, too?”

“I never said that,” Jonah mumbled.

“You didn’t need to. I saw how you looked when you talked about him. You fell for him. And he just… ratted you out?”

“I don’t know why he did it. That’s what I’m still trying to figure out. He promised me so many times he wouldn’t say a word, and then he went and spilled every single detail like it was nothing.”

“Have you talked to him about it?” Kyle asked around a bite of food.

Jonah shook his head. “Aspen told me not to contact him. And he’s not reached out to me, so…”

“I think you should call him.” Jonah opened his mouth to object, but Kyle continued. “It’s clear he cares about you. I mean, he says he loves you. Those aren’t light words to say about someone. And I read the blog post. It was super personal. Like… I can’t think of any circumstance where I would willingly put those personal details out for the world to see. It might help if you knew what happened.”

Like Jonah hadn’t thought of that. He’d almost called Christian more times than he could count. Once, he actually had called, but then he’d hit ‘end’ a million times before it could go through. He wasn’t sure how he would feel once he heard Christian’s voice. There would definitely be hurt and anger, but at the same time, he still cared about Christian. Still loved him, if he was being honest with himself, which he really didn’t want to be.

“I’m just so angry with him. But there’s more than that. I don’t… I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

“He deserves to hear that from you, then. Let him know just how much this hurt you.”

Jonah considered it. Kyle’s words were nothing new, but maybe he was right. And he did want to know why Christian had done it. He wouldn’t find that out until he actually talked to him.

“You want to know something funny?” Kyle said, eating another bite of sushi. “Everyone thinks it’s me.”

“They what?” Surely he hadn’t heard that right. Or maybe Kyle was just messing with him. It would be a cruel joke, that was for sure.

“If you look at, like, the message boards and stuff? People totally think it’s me Christian was writing about. Especially since Sydney and I broke up.”

How could he just say that like it was no big deal, when he’d just witnessed Jonah freaking out about being outed? “And you… you think it’s funny?”

Kyle shrugged. “I don’t have any reason to be worried about it. What do I care if people think I’m gay? It’s not like I’m gonna suddenly start dating guys. Let them speculate all they want.”

“Easy for you to say. It doesn’t affect you if you get outed because it isn’t true.”

But for Jonah, it seemed catastrophic. If people had been interested in his personal life before, they were going to be obsessed now. As someone who had always been a private person, Jonah didn’t know how he would be able to handle the added pressure to be the perfect example of being out in Hollywood.

Kyle was staring at him, a mischievous glint in his eye. “I’ve got an idea. It’s not exactly a good one and it’ll probably blow up in our faces, but if we manage to pull it off, it just might work.”

“I’m listening.”

“You’re right. It won’t affect me since it isn’t true. But if I played it up just enough that people thought it was me, it could solve everything. You wouldn’t have to come out until you were ready, and I would get so much enjoyment from trolling everyone.”

“Do you know how many teenagers on the internet are going to accuse you of real-life queerbaiting?”

Kyle smirked. “Do I look like I care? I’m helping a friend.”

It would be nice to have a little more time to process what had happened. But Jonah still wasn’t sold. He needed to talk to Christian first and figure out why he’d posted the blog.

“Let me think it over, okay?”

“Fine. But don’t make me wait too long. I want to know when I can start.”

They finished their lunch and paid their tabs, then headed out of the restaurant, where a photographer was already waiting to snap a photo.

Kyle turned to him and winked. “So it begins.”