Page 24 of Off Limits

Bracing for whatever he was about to unleash on me, I stepped into the apartment.

Dex stood in the hallway a few feet from the door, not looking much better than he had when I walked in on him.

He was dressed, his backward ball cap on his head like usual, but his expression was eerily blank, and his eyes were still filled with panic.

“I’m sorry,” I said as soon as I’d closed the door behind me. “I never should have gone into your room like that. But I heard these weird noises, then you shouted, and there was a crash. I thought you were hurt or there was an emergency, and I just reacted.”

“It’s not your fault.” He pulled his ball cap off and raked his hand through his curls. “I would have done the same thing in your position.”

Silence descended on us. What was I supposed to say? How did one ask their stepbrother if they cammed as a side hustle?

“So, you’re probably wondering about…a few things.” He slid his ball cap back on, not looking any more relaxed than he had before.

“I might have some questions,” I hedged.

“What you saw…that’s my…I—” He blew out a breath. “I cam.”

I nodded, not exactly shocked by the news after my sleuthing. “Okay.”

“That’s it?” he asked incredulously. “That’s all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know, something.”

“Like what?”

“You’re not going to give your opinion?” He shot me a flat look. “It’s not like you to keep those to yourself.”

“There’s not really anything for me to have an opinion on.” I shrugged. “I get needing a side hustle in this economy.”

“A side hustle like camming?” He crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps popping in a way that should come with a warning label. “You really don’t have anything to say about me doing sex work?”

“Do you have any idea how many girls I’ve met who have Only Fans accounts?” I asked. “And my coworker’s brother used to do porn and still sells content as a side gig. I’m not about to clutch my pearls over you being a cammer. You do you.” I cracked a smile. “Literally.”

He let out a strangled laugh that sounded more like a stress response than an actual laugh.

“I thought you were going to try and blackmail me or something.”

“Good to know you think so highly of me,” I said dryly. “You’re doing me a solid by letting me stay here. You really think I’d be a dick and blackmail you when you’re the only thing keeping my ass off the street?”

“And if you weren’t staying with me?” he asked pointedly. “Would you be as chill then?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?” He blinked like a confused owl.

“Yeah. Sex work is work. And honestly, if I looked like you, I’d one hundred percent be doing the same thing.”

Something I couldn’t read flashed in his expression, but it was gone a moment later.

“Does anyone else know about this?”

He shook his head.

“I won’t say a word. I swear.”

“I believe you.” He shook his head. “This is so not how I saw this conversation going in my head.”

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