Page 30 of Off Limits

He snort-laughed. “Yeah. Me and my overdrafted bank account are all about ordering out. Why?”

“You don’t keep a lot of food in the apartment. I was wondering if you got lunch at work or whatever.”

“Nope.” He toyed with the chunky chain and lock necklace he liked to wear. “I make good use of the snack bin, but I don’t get meals at work.”

“Is there a reason you don’t keep a lot of food here?” I asked, my voice far more hesitant than I wanted it to be.

“Because I’m poor, and food is fucking expensive.” His tone was casual, but I could hear the tension under his words.

The microwave beeped, and he busied himself by pulling out his potato and bringing it back to the counter.

“Have you thought of maybe getting some meal replacement shakes?” I dumped the cut-up broccoli in my colander.

“Meal replacement shakes?” he asked, gingerly splitting his potato open with a knife.

“Yeah. They’re not expensive, and they’re good for getting enough nutrients and protein when you’re not eating regularly.”

“That’s actually a good idea.” He dumped the beans onto his potato. “Thanks,” he said a bit grudgingly.

“No problem.”

“Can I ask you something?” he said after he’d put his food back into the microwave.

“Sure. It’s not like I can stop you.”

He cracked a small smile. “How much do you make camming?”

I started to ask why he wanted to know but stopped myself. Was he thinking of camming?

“It depends on the day,” I said instead. “But I usually clear a few hundred a show. Sometimes more if it’s a good night.”

He kept his eyes on the microwave and leaned his hip against the counter. “How long did it take for you to get to that amount? I’m assuming you didn’t make that much when you first started.”

“I didn’t. The first month or so, I was lucky if I hit fifty a show. Some days I barely cracked twenty. I didn’t start getting consistent numbers until about six weeks ago.”

He nodded, his stare still fixed on the microwave. “I bet you’d make even more if you cammed with someone.”

I almost dropped the chicken breast I’d taken out of the package.

Was that a random observation, or did Asa want to cam with me?

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. Two weeks had passed since he’d accidentally learned my secret, and my viewers were still feral about the idea of us camming together.

“Yeah, couples definitely make more than solo cammers,” I said, choosing my words carefully.

“And I bet people would be into the whole forbidden aspect of stepbrothers.”

I shot him a quick look to gauge if he was serious or if this was some sort of fucked up joke.

He looked up from where he was examining his nail polish, and his expression told me this wasn’t a joke.

“They definitely would,” I said.

We stared at each other for a few beats.

“Are you saying you want to cam with me?” I asked, needing him to say it outright.

“It’s not like we haven’t fucked before.” He shrugged. “I need money to move out, and you want me to move out. Seems like a win-win for both of us.”

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