Page 66 of The Casting Couch

“You tolerate bread,” she said.“You do not want twenty random dicks going off like confetti cannons on your face.But the clients paid for a symphony of wood.You’re the orchestra pit.Take the damn pill.”

I sighed and swallowed it dry.

“Good boy,” she said, and led me gently by the elbow toward the center of the set.

It was all very ceremonial.The stool waited in the spotlight like a throne of impending doom.Laura motioned for me to sit.

“Just relax,” she said.“The rest of the cast is trickling in now.”

I sat.Tried not to think about anything.Especially not about being “trickled” on.

That’s when I noticed the two screens mounted high on the far wall, discreetly angled out of the frame.One was playing straight porn.Generic stuff, a woman in a ponytail pretending to moan like her credit score depended on it.The other screen showed a hot, muscular guy getting railed from behind in an alley while smoking a cigarette.

I glanced over at Laura, who’d caught me looking.

“Some of the guys are straight,” she said with a shrug.“They need visual stimulation to keep things going.We aim to please.”

Then she was gone, off to wrangle someone’s robe or light a candle or conduct a séance.I don’t know.

And then, out of nowhere, Nico appeared.

He padded barefoot across the vinyl, robe loose, eyes searching the room until they landed on me.He didn’t say anything at first.Just walked over and, without hesitation, sat on the floor next to my stool like he belonged there.

He leaned against my knee, comfortable, casual, like we did this every day.

“Hey,” he said, voice low and amused.“You looked like you were either gonna pass out or levitate.”

“I took a pill,” I whispered.“Apparently, it’s boner insurance.”

“Did it kick in yet?”

“I don’t know,” I said.“My whole body feels like it’s in the waiting room of a panic attack.”

He laughed.His head tilted up toward me, eyes sparkling.“You crushed that interview, by the way.”

“Oh, you mean my audition to be a spiritual cum vessel?Thanks.”

He smiled.Not just the funny kind, but the genuine kind.The kind that made my stomach clench.

“I liked what you said.About connection,” he breathed.

I froze.

Something unspoken passed between us then, barely a beat long, but loaded.Nico wasn’t teasing me, and He definitely wasn’t acting.Was he actually feeling something?For me?

ChapterSixteen

Nico

Petyr and Dimitri came in like two chaotic elves carrying the giant vinyl backdrop between them, shuffling backward so they wouldn’t knock over a ring light, or a fully naked man.

“Sakura Splendor,” the banner read in dramatic, swirling gold script, because nothing says money shot masterpiece like anime fonts and fake cherry blossoms from the craft store.

They unfurled it behind Bradley.Sorry, Blake, who was still perched on his little stool in the middle of the set, looking like a man seconds away from an out-of-body experience.His knees were bouncing and lips were parted.He clutched his robe like it was a life raft.

He looked terrified.And somehow, also stupidly hot.

I was standing off to the side with the rest of the cast, all of us lined up like horny contestants on a perverse game show.Everyone was in robes, technically, but you could tell some of these guys had never been told that patience was a virtue.

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