Behind The Limelight 20: Cheeseburgers

What the fuck was Ashton thinking?

Oh yeah, that’s right. He wasn’t.

He was clearly crazy, because no sane human would make out with the person they supposedly hated the most, would they? But there Ashton was, lying on the couch with Ryker on top of him. Their hands and lips were all over each other, and that’s how they spent most of the next few hours after making their ‘deal’. 

Apart from cooking a very late lunch and having a very awkward meal together, of course.

“I should get back home,” Ashton finally said. Ryker paused kissing his neck as he propped himself up on his elbows so that he could look at Ashton.

“Stay the night.”

“What?” Ashton was looking at the other man as if he had suddenly grown two heads. Why would Ashton spend the night at Ryker’s house? That is, when he was sober and not sick.

“Yeah,” Ryker said softly. “Stay the night.”

“I don’t have any clothes,” Ashton replied. It was the first thing that came to his mind.

“Wear mine,” Ryker immediately suggested. “I mean, you kinda already were so it makes no difference.”

“I meant for tomorrow,” Ashton muttered. “We have work. Your clothes won’t fit me properly and I’m not wearing the same ones I wore yesterday. I’m pretty sure they have my vomit on them.”

“I threw them in the washer, don’t worry, they’ll be completely clean and ironed for you tomorrow morning,” Ryker said, surprising Ashton even further. Ryker knew how to do…laundry? And moreover, he did it for Ashton?

“Oh,” Ashton blinked, not knowing what to say. “I still don’t think that it’s a go—”

Ashton was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. Ryker frowned, getting off from on top of him and sitting down on the couch, still fully naked. Ashton sighed as he grabbed his phone from the table to see that it was his agent calling him.

“Hello?”

“Ashton,” Malcolm spoke. “Where are you?”

“What do you mean?” Ashton asked, immediately growing nervous. Did he know where Ashton was? Oh god, did the media find out? Ashton’s heartbeat shot up in an instant at that possibility.

“You don’t have a shoot today and nothing else is on your schedule either,” Malcolm paused. “I’m at your house but you’re not here. Vivienne said you haven’t been home since yesterday.”

“I can have plans without you knowing every single one of them,” Ashton muttered as he exhaled quietly in relief. Ryker grabbed both of their boxers, pulling his on before throwing Ashton’s at his lap.

“I’m your agent, Ash, it’s my job to know your whereabouts,” Malcolm retorted.

“Why are you at my house anyway?” Ashton questioned, knowing that there was no point in arguing with the older man.

“It’s not just me,” Malcolm continued, his tone suddenly become hesitant. “Your mother is here too. She wanted to see you.”

“You and mom are at my place? Right now?” Ashton sat up straighter, his mom’s mention was scarier than the media finding out what he had been up to with Ryker. And that was saying something.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I just told you that she wanted to see you.”

“She could’ve called ahead to let me know,” Ashton grunted.

“She tried to but apparently you still aren’t picking up her calls,” Malcolm retorted, making Ashton curse internally.

“Yeah well, that’s because I don’t want to see her,” the actor replied. “Or even talk to her, for that matter.”

“She says she won’t leave until you come back,” Malcolm stated.

“Tell her to suit herself, then,” Ashton glanced at Ryker, who was looking back at him with a very curious expression. He was probably able to figure out what the conversation was about just by hearing Ashton’s side. “Because I’m not coming home tonight.”

“Why? Ashton, where the hell are—”

“Oh no, going through a tunnel, bad sig— bad signal! Cannot hear— bye!” Ashton exclaimed before hanging up, and immediately switching his phone off after that.

This had to be the worst acting performance of his entire life, but he also could not care less.

Ashton closed his eyes shut as he leant back on the couch. What could his mom possibly want from him now? They hadn’t seen each other in…months. He found out more about her life through celebrity gossip columns than from personally interacting with her. And Ashton prefered it this way.

He’s never gotten anything but contempt and judgment from his parents, and it had taken him a long time to cut himself away from that. Even though deep down he still cared about their opinion, at the very least he could pretend to be unbothered by it on the surface level.

“I take it that you’re staying the night, then?” Ryker asked after a few minutes of silence. Ashton opened his eyes, tilting his head so that he could look at the other man.

“Yeah,” Ashton answered. “If there’s one person I’d rather be away from more than you…then it’s no one else but mommy dearest.”

“Damn,” Ryker let out a bitter laugh. “I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.”

“You can take it however you want to,” Ashton mumbled.

“Why does your mom want to see you, anyway?” Ryker questioned, changing the topic. His hurt went unnoticed by Ashton, as usual.

“Fuck do I know,” Ashton shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s definitely not my birthday. Probably found out that I’m working with Erick Tate. Or you. Maybe she wants to make sure she gets an invitation to the premiere. Who knows what’s going on in her mind?”

“Isn’t it too soon to worry about the premiere?”

“You know that she likes to plan ahead,” Ashton pointed out, making Ryker nod. “And that she likes being in the spotlight.” 

“Fair enough,” Ryker said. “You can’t keep avoiding her, you know.”

“I know, but I can try.”

“You’re going to have to face her someday.”

“I just hope I’m not sober for that,” Ashton muttered.

“What? You want to be hammered so that you can throw up on her?” Ryker remarked with a smirk. Surprisingly, instead of insulting Ryker back, Ashton let out a laugh. And not a sarcastic one either.

“You know what? Maybe that won’t be so bad. Imagine seeing a picture of that on the front page of every newspaper and magazine. Viral on social media too,” Ashton grinned. “I might become a meme for some time but she’ll never want to see me again. Win-win.”

“Didn’t a picture of you become a meme last year?”

“Oh god,” Ashton groaned before chuckling again. “It was a scene from that zombie rom-com I did. Not gonna lie, it was kinda funny.”

“Kind of,” Ryker shrugged with a smile on his face. “I must’ve seen like a thousand different memes with that photo.”

“Wasn’t this the time when you were off finding yourself in Asia?” Ashton rose a questioning brow. “Is that how you found your spirituality? How you healed your inner child and all that bull? By laughing at memes with my face on them?”

“I didn’t really take a break to find myself,” Ryker said with an eye roll. “I just left because…because the industry was getting exhausting.”

“I feel you on that,” Ashton replied. “Did you miss it, though? Being on camera?”

“Not as much as I thought I would,” Ryker answered truthfully.

“Then why’d you come back?” Ashton asked, now looking at Ryker with a serious expression. Ryker didn’t answer immediately, he took time to think as he stared back at the other actor.

“Because there were some…things that I did miss,” Ryker spoke softly. Ashton frowned in confused as he tilted his head innocently, unaware of the real meaning behind Ryker’s words.

“Some things? Like what?” Ashton asked.

Ryker looked at Ashton longingly, like how a person would look at another when they completely fail to grasp the simplest of things. No matter how evident that said thing was.

“Oh, you know,” Ryker said with a tight-lipped, forced smile. “Cheeseburgers.”

Ashton stared at Ryker with the blankest expression possible, as the other man looked at him with a lopsided grin. Ashton sighed as he shook his head lightly, before bursting out in laughter.

For some reason, Ashton just couldn’t stop laughing. Well, that was until he was hit by the realization that it was Ryker he was laughing with. Not even at him. But with him. He couldn’t believe that he was actually having a good time. With Ryker of all people. He did not think that this was even possible.

It was almost as if the two of them were…friends.

As his laughter died down and these thoughts started invading his mind, he looked away. He couldn’t stop judging himself in his head, constantly wondering what was wrong with him. A question he simply couldn’t seem to find an answer to no matter how hard he tried.

“Remember that diner a few blocks away from your parents’ house?” Ashton recalled, his voice gentle. “I’ve been to countless Michelin star restaurants but they had the best cheeseburger I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

“They’re still open.”

“They are?” Ashton asked, he was geniunely surprised as he faced Ryker once more.

“Yeah,” Ryker nodded. “We could go there again someday.”

“I’d like that, I think.”

“Really?” Ryker wasn’t expecting Ashton to agree.

“I just told you,” Ashton tried to act casual, “they had the best cheeseburgers I’ve ever eaten. I can tolerate your company for them. Maybe.”

“I see,” Ryker hummed. “So you’d rather spend time with me than your mom, and you’d tolerate my presence if it means I feed you some great burgers. I wonder what else I can do to get you to be around me.”

“Why would you want to be around me in the first place?” Ashton scoffed. “Besides, I don’t think there’s anything else.”

“You sure?” Ryker smirked, ignoring Ashton’s question.

“Huh?”

Ryker kept a hand on Ashton’s knee as he slowly slid it upwards, immediately making the hair at the back of Ashton’s neck stand in attention. Ryker started leaning down, his face inching closer and closer to Ashton’s groin.

“Because I’m pretty damn sure there’s at least one more thing that I can do.”

“Prove it.”

***

For some of you that may not know, I have another book called ‘My Girlfriend’s Other Boyfriend’ which is exclusively available on Patreon! It’s nearly finished, and has a spin off under works too! The link is in my bio.