Page 77 of My Irresistible Enemy

“Oh.”

I flushed. It made sense, when he put it like that. I felt like an idiot for getting so freaked out. But being around Aiden was like getting injected with pure adrenaline every three minutes. My body was flooded with stress hormones.

And other ones, too.

“So that’s what the wholeDaddything was about, when I—I mean, when I came up here, I kinda heard you say—”

“Yeah.” Aiden laughed. “Yeah, that’s what that’s about. You’d be amazed at how many people request that kind of video.”

“I didn’t realize people could request things.”

“Well, I don’t have to listen. Someone asked me to pee in a pair of tighty-whities and mail them to him, once.”

“Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Jesus, no. I’m not an idiot. I don’t want random people to have my DNA to do God knows what with.” Aiden chuckled. “You really are uptight about this stuff, huh?”

“I’m notuptight, I just—” I broke off, my lips twisting. “Okay, fine. Maybe I am uptight.”

“My point is just that people can ask for lots of things, and you can pick the ones you’re comfortable with. And it turns out, it’s very lucrative for me to pretend to be an eighteen-year-old who still lives at home and has a giant crush on his stepfather.”

“That’s specific.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” He grinned. “I’ve got a whole persona. In this world, my name is Sam, and my stepdad is Greg, a forty-three-year-old electrician who plays guitar in a band with other dads on the weekends. He loves rye whiskey, rare steak, and making fly fishing lures in his workshop in his free time. Oh, and me. He loves me, but he’s terribly ashamed of it and still in denial.”

“And people…like that?”

“They’re the ones who suggested it! And they get rabid if I don’t post enough. That day on the ferry? I was trying to write up a text post for my subscribers, and the guy sitting next to me saw all the Daddy stuff and told me I was going to hell. He’s the one I saw you talking to. Anyway, he’s either very religious or deeply in denial about his own Daddy kink, because he spilled his coffee on me on purpose.That’swhat I was doing in the bathroom—trying to clean my jeans off.”

“If I remember correctly, you were doing a little more than just that.”

Aiden giggled. “Well, yeah. Once I was undressed, I started thinking about how hot it would be if some gorgeous sailor fucked me in a lifeboat, and I thought maybe a video about that fantasy would tide my subscribers over.”

“But you were in public.”

“I was in a single-stall bathroom.”

“That you hadn’t locked.”

“I forgot that part! I was a little distracted when I first got in there, what with the whole scalding coffee on my dick thing.”

I knew I should let it go. It wasn’t any of my business what Aiden did in his free time. He was obviously committed to keeping his account live. And for once, we were talking normally. I didn’t want to start another fight.

But he must have seen the misgiving on my face.

“Just say it,” he told me.

“Say what?”

“Whatever it is that you’re trying to hold back right now. It’s making you look seasick. I know I said no judging, but come on, I’m sure you’re dying to.”

“I’mnotjudging.”

“But?”

“There’s nobut,” I protested. Aiden arched an eyebrow, and I sighed. “It’s more of anandthan abut.”

“Just spit it out.”

---