Page 67 of Loving Leo

“She’s fierce, huh?” he asks, “Your mother.”

I chuckle at that, “She’s a fighter for sure. Never stops working and trying to climb out of that perpetual hole. It’s endless.”

He’s the one stroking my hair now and I just sink into the feeling. “That’s why you’re camming? To help your mom?”

I lick my lips, squirming a little bit because I know that it’s not the most prestigious career. “It’s why I started yeah. And college is expensive. And rent. She couldn’t really help me with school and my grades weren’t good enough for a scholarship. I needed to do something. I wanted an education.”

“No judgement here. I literally had everything handed to me my entire life.”

I don’t really believe that. “Maybe your parents were wealthy but you can’t tell me you’re not a hard worker. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” I say, tilting my head up to look at him, my finger brushing over the stubble on his chin.

“I never had to do manual labor.”

I smile at that, my hand moving to his as I brush my fingers over his palm and then his fingers, “No callouses for you then.” I joke, trying to make the moment lighter.

“We’re so different.” He says it reverently and I don’t feel judgement there. I don’t feel like he believes I’m beneath him. I don’t think he’s ever thought that, even when our eyes first met as I was showing off for the camera fully naked at his desk. I never got the impression that was how he felt. Annoyed at me for invading his space and catching him off guard, yes, but never that I was beneath him.

“Different isn’t always bad.” I say, linking our fingers together.

“No. It’s not.” He sighs deeply, “I really want to help your mom. I know you don’t want to quit camming and I have no doubt that you’ll be successful.”

I swallow hard, closing my eyes, “Does it bother you?” I swear I’m holding my breath, “Me camming?”

“No.” He answers easily, almost so easily that it’s hard to believe him, but then he goes on, “I think…” He pauses only briefly, “I think you’re exquisite on camera. You have a gift. You entertain and you provide a service. I don’t want you to stop unless you want to. I’ll support you.”

I feel like my chest might actually burst. I don’t think I ever expected to be with anyone—not that we are actually together or anything—but still…even a friend, that was fully supportive of my choice to cam. Asher is Asher so he doesn’t count and my other friends are camboys too. But this? I didn’t think I’d ever actually get this.

“Thank you.” I barely manage to squeak out.

“Still…” His free hand goes back to stroking my hair. “I want to help your mom if I can. I know you said she doesn’t have any skills that would transfer to working in an office, but she’s smart. I can tell that just by meeting her. And I think she would be good with people.” She is. I don’t know how he picked up on that in the brief time he met her though. “She deserves health insurance and a 401K. A decent wage.”

“Just because you’re fucking her son?” I try to joke, but it kind of goes flat. I blush but then I hear him chuckle.

“No, not because of that. Because every human deserves that. Selena thinks we are monsters. Raised to look down on the working class. I want to change that.”

“By giving my mother a job?”

“What about as a receptionist? I know one of my executives is losing her assistant next week. She’s retiring. It’s not a lot of money, but it does come with benefits.”

“You’d do that for her?” My heart might actually burst now. It’s thumping roughly in my chest. I don’t want to rely on him, but I’m not sure pride is the way to go right now. I want to give my mom a better future and it’s not like she’ll let me take care of her outright no matter how well I’m doing.

She has far too much pride for that.

She barely accepts the money I leave for her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was putting it in a savings account for me and will gift it to me later.

“Maybe we can just agree on getting her an interview? But not with you. Someone who will judge her with no bias,” I say firmly. I don’t want a handout and I know my mom won’t want that either. She still might not agree to go at all.

“Yeah, okay.” He hugs me tighter to him. “I’ll have someone set it up for this week.”

“I’ll give her a heads up, but she’s pretty stubborn. So don’t expect her to agree.”

He chuckles, “So that’s where you get it from.”

I expect him to start to touch me more, kiss me, but he only hugs me close and kisses my temple.

“Maybe. I won’t tell all my secrets.”

He chuckles again and then sighs. “Sleep, Leo. It’s been a long day.”

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