Page 3 of Salacious Star

See, where I tended towards more of a grunge aesthetic with jeans and band t-shirts - the button down and slacks that I had worn to the interview notwithstanding - Ethan was far more clean cut. All perky and preppy, wearing collared shirts andPolos and button downs whenever he had to leave his house. I was pretty sure he even pressed hisjeans, something that I had been teasing him mercilessly about since we were teenagers.

It made it easy for strangers to tell us apart, even though we were just about as identical as it was for two humans to be. And for that, I would always be grateful. Along with the fact that my brother was my ride or die, through everything.

A fact that made it a little uncomfortable that I hadn't told himwhereI had been interviewing the day before. I didn't think that he would judge me but...there was a tiny part of me that was worried about it. He knew about my camming - though he aggressively agreed never to evenpeekat my fan page - and had been cool about it. But there was a difference between camming a couple of days a month for some extra change on the side...and making adult film work my temporary career.

Were there levels of acceptability when it came to sex work? I would have to think through my own personal biases, there.

"It's okay." Ethan's soft voice pulled me out of my musing thoughts, and he smiled up at the waiter who walked up to us. A cute, twinky blonde who barely looked old enough to beinthe bar, let alone serving drinks. His ear lobes were stretched wide, and a bright smile on his face as he looked between us.

"Hey, guys. What I can get for you?"

"Rum and Coke," I ordered.

"A beer. Whatever you have on tap," Ethan said, smiling at the cutie before he turned on his heel and bounced away. Then he turned his attention back to me, his smile fading some, replaced by a look of mild concern and a hint of excitement. "So? Did you get the job?"

I blew out a breath. "I got the job," I informed him.

His smile split wide, and he reached out to pat the back of my hand. "That's great. Seriously." He cocked his head to theside, his smile turning a little mischievous. "Are you going to tell mewhatthe job is, yet?"

My stomach twisted, and it was a miracle that I managed to roll my eyes nonchalantly. Ethan was sweet and definitely spent more time with his books at the library he managed than he did with other people, but he was far from stupid. "You don't need to know every part of my life, E."

His brows furrowed, and then his eyes widened a little as he looked at me with no small amount of horror. "Oh, God. You're in with the mob, aren't you? I didn't think that wehadmobs in towns this small." He leaned forward, his grip finding my wrist tightly this time, real concern lighting in his eyes. "Tell me if we need to disappear, and we'll be gone."

I let out a burst of startled laughter, gently disengaging his fingers from around my wrist. "I'm not the only one watching too much Sopranos, I see," I teased.

Ethan furrowed his brow, pouting a little as our cute twinky waiter brought over our drinks and walked away without saying a word. "That's...I'm not..." He picked up his drink and took a sip from his glass, eyeing me suspiciously over the top of the foam. "Are you in danger, Xan? Seriously. I want to help."

I shook my head, picking up my drink and taking a sip, sucking an ice cube into my mouth and crunching it before I answered. "I'm not in danger, E. And I'm not in with the mob, Jesus." I cocked my head to the side, arching an eyebrow. "Though I find it fascinating how fast you were willing to disappear with me if I was."

Ethan shrugged, taking another sip of his beer. "We share a face. If you're in trouble, I'm in trouble by default."

He nudged his foot up against mine, and his voice was a little more casual when he spoke again. "Are you really not going to tell me what the job is, Xan?"

I hesitated, and then shook my head. "Not yet." He arched his eyebrow at me, and I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a cleaner for the mob, E. Christ. It's just...sensitive," I finally settled on. "I want to make sure that everything is okay before I go around telling anyone. No point in saying something if there isn't anything to say, right?"

Ethan furrowed his brow. "Nope, I think you lost me. But that's okay." He offered a smile. "I'll get it out of you eventually." He winked, and I choked out a laugh before the topic, thankfully, ventured to safer pastures.

*

It took a good hour after I got home from the bar - tipsy enough that I had hired an Uber to come and get me, rather than risk a DUI - before I got up the courage to sit in front of my laptop and shove it open.

The Studio Black website was one that I had bookmarked weeks before, when I was getting up the courage to reach out to Cole in the first place, and the professional opening page was familiar. I clicked the box that warned against minors entering the site, and then swallowed hard when the opening page - and the video thumb nails that accompanied - loaded.

Cole was right. I had to do some research. At least a little bit of it, so that I wouldn't be totally freaked out when I met my new costar - God, what a weird thing to think about myself - tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

"I am not drunk enough for this," I mumbled.

I shoved away from my laptop, and got the vodka that I stashed for emergencies - drinking emergencies totally existed, okay? - and dragged out one of the clean shot glasses in my cabinet.

Two shots, and almost ten minutes later, and I was feeling pleasantly warm, and a lot less jittery than I had been before.

I could watch some porn. I did that...often. It didn't matter that I was going to bemeetingthis guy in less than...twelve hours. This was just a gay man, watching porn, and maybe getting off.

My brain glitched, and my cock twitched as I sat in front of my laptop again.

Maybe not getting off. That might be weird. I was going to have to work with this guy.

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