Page 4 of Masks and Mishaps

“Bro, you’ve got, like—” Alec bobs his chin at Dalton’s hand, and I finally notice he’s bleeding.

Unfazed, Dalton stares right at Alec when he raises his hand to his lips, extends his tongue, and languidly licks the blood from his palm. “I wasn’t talking to you,bro.”

“Alright—I’m out,” Alec declares, taking an emphatic step back. “I’m sorry, but this is red flag after red flag.”

“Stop,” I protest, grabbing Alec’s bicep. “Ignore them.”

He’s a flight risk, I know, so I move between him and Dalton and take up his field of vision to the best of my ability even though I’m nearly a foot and a half shorter than these guys. “It’s going to be fun,” I remind him, nodding—nodding vigorously like I did when I tried to convince the twins that broccoli was a delicacy. “Andlucrative.”

“Lucrative,” Alec repeats, nodding with me. “Lucrative.”

“Lucrative,” I emphasize, understating it. I did two analyses in the last six months, and couples’ streams are doing almost twice as much as solo stuff. Lucrative? It’ll be a windfall.

Sighing, Alec glances at Valeria first and then Cora. “Aurora, Lilith—I’ll be more than respectful,” he states, using their camming aliases rather than their real names.

Satisfied, Cora wiggles her fingers in a wave. “Have fun, BottleDick,” she replies, using Alec’s alias as well.

At that, Dalton frowns. “I thought his name was Alec.”

“Let’s go,” I urge, nudging Alec in the direction of the bar’s exit.

“And why did he use your aliases?” Dalton demands, looking between Valeria and Cora. “How does he even know them?”

“We’ve got to close out our tabs,” Alec comments, showing a weak sense of self-preservation for a guy whose red-flag-radar is honestly pretty good.

“I already paid them both,” Dalton replies, barely acknowledging it while he focuses on me. “Essie, where are you two going?”

I’m completely fine.

“Night,” is my response before I grab Alec’s hand and pull him away.

Together, we emerge into the brisk October evening, and the bite of the autumn air relieves me. I take in a lungful and hold it, keeping my chest full until I release slowly through my nostrils.

This isactuallyfine.

Relieved, I face Alec, who seems just as grateful to be out of the bar.

Our relief lasts all of five seconds.

Before either of us can say a word, Dalton emerges from the bar, tugging on his expensive wool coat. His hair catches the light breeze, and shadows touch the chiseled lines of his cheekbones. He’s so distractingly handsome—regal even in these moments when chaos steadily bubbles around him like lava.

He’s absolutely going to follow us.

Two

ESSIE

“Likethis?”Alecasks,miming like he’s going to pick me up and toss me onto Cora’s king size bed.

“But really throw me. I have to bounce.”

His eyebrow rises. “What if there’s no bounce?”

“Missed opportunity,” I reply, not mentioning that scenes where a guy picks up a woman, throws her, or folds her in half get more views. When it comes to camming analyses, only Valeria and Cora know what I know. These insights are my edge. Plus, the way I get the data I need isn’t always…lawful.

“And I have to wear the mask the entire time?” Alec clarifies, sliding his hands into the back pockets of his tight jeans. “I have a good face. I don’t get why this is hot.”

“Conventional sex between attractive people is ubiquitous. Mask-fucking is a niche.” I take a seat on Cora’s bed. “If a guy wearing a mask enters a room, how would most people react?”

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