Page 60 of Ripped

“Go ahead. I’ve got a few things I need to finish up before I can go.” He runs a towel through his damp hair one more time and then tosses it into the hamper.

“Awesome. We’ll be out front.” Gavin drags me out of the locker room and through the gym. “Sebastian’s about your age. He’s got his own production company and everything. It’s pretty cool. We’ve let him use the gym as a set a few times.”

He waves at a guy sitting at a table in front of the juice bar. “Hey, Sebastian!”

Sebastian looks up. He’s cute. Dark hair and dark eyes. Super long lashes and a smile that somehow oozes sex and innocence at the same time.

“This is Connor. He’s a filmmaker.” Gavin pushes me into the seat across from Sebastian.

Sebastian lights up. “Oh, yeah?”

“Uh, yeah, but not like, um…” How do I say porn without saying porn?

“Porn?” Sebastian says it for me.

My face is red again and Gavin bursts out laughing.

“All right, kids. I’ll leave you to it.” He spins and marches away, leaving us to stare after him.

“Is he always like that?” I ask. I kinda feel like Dorothy, sucked up by tornado Gavin and spat out in another world.

“Overbearing problem-solver?” Sebastian chuckles. “Yeah, he is.” He closes the laptop he’s working on and leans forward. “So, tell me about your filmmaking.”

He looks so earnest, so sincere, so I tell him about the screenplay I’m working on. About the gay couple inheriting this big, old haunted house. He listens carefully, almost like he’s analyzing what I’m saying.

“What are your plans for production and distribution?” he asks when I finish.

My mouth hangs open, because otherwise, I’d laugh. Production and distribution? I’ll be lucky if I can get the damn thing written. “I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

Sebastian nods and bends down for the bag at his feet. “That’s cool. So, I sorta have my own production company.”

“Gavin mentioned something about that.”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “I figured. It’s not a traditional setup though. More of a network of independent content creators. I help them produce high-quality films, facilitate collaboration, pool resources to get better reach.”

He hands me a business card. It says Sebastian Silver and underneath it The Camboy Network.

“Anyway, I’ve been thinking about how to expand the network and I think you might be a good fit.”

I snap my head up as butterflies explode in my stomach. “Really? But I don’t make…” God, why can’t I say the word? It’s not like I’ve never watched any myself. I’ve watched plenty of it. Plen-ty.

“Porn?” Sebastian grins like this is something he’s encountered before. “I know. I don’t expect you to write naked dudes into your film. I mean, I won’t object if you do. I love the idea of gay haunted house porn. But I like your idea too.”

“So…” I need to make sure I understand what’s happening here because it can’t possibly be true. “You’re offering to help me make my movie?”

“Yup.”

“Why?”

Sebastian shrugs. “It sounds cool. I’m all about empowering people. Us little guys need to stick together.”

I like it. It feels like an opportunity. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before, but like Rick said, I have to know when to push on and when to back off. This feels like a push-on moment.

Donnie comes out from the back of the gym with one of the personal trainers I’ve seen around Mars. They’re chatting as they approach our table, then the other guy bends down to give Sebastian a kiss.

Sebastian turns to me. “Have you met Christian?”

“No, nice to meet you.”

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