Page 71 of Playboy For Hire

“What did you do?”

“Most of my work was shadowing a few of their mid-level managers. But I was also one of three people in charge of their social media accounts. They always give that work to their interns, since we’re supposed to be young and hip.”

My brow furrowed. The memory was starting to surface. I couldn’t remember the details, but there had been a big scandal. “That rings a bell for some reason. Why do I feel like something happened with their socials?”

“Because it did.” Ryder closed his eyes. “Because instead of sharing a picture of a meme I’d made about applying for government contracts, I tapped the photo next to it in my phone instead. Which happened to be a picture of my dick with a smiley face drawn on it.”

“Oh, noooo.”

“Oh, yes.”

“That was you?”

I remembered it now. Wadsworth & Lowe had become a huge story one day when, as they later explained, an intern had accidentally uploaded a lewd picture to all of their social media accounts, and left it there for an hour before anyone noticed.

“That was me.” He stared morosely at his hands.

“They said an intern did it, but I always thought that was a cover to save someone higher up at the company.”

“Nope.” Ryder flashed me a mirthless grin. “They let me go that same day. Two weeks before my contract was up.”

“Oh, God.” I tried to stop the laugh that threatened to bubble up from my chest, but couldn’t quite manage it. “Oh, Ryder, I’m sorry. That really sucks.”

He gave me a wry look. “It’s okay to laugh. It would be kind of funny, if it hadn’t happened to me. I should probably be grateful it didn’t happen earlier in the summer.”

“And it really was an accident?” I said, still struggling not to chuckle.

“Yes. I wouldn’t sext 285,000 followers of corporate strategy on purpose.”

“Who were you trying to sext instead?” I asked, now struggling to tamp down a thread of jealousy that was winding its way through my stomach.

“No one, at that minute. I’d hooked up with this girl a few weeks earlier, and she was coming back to town. She’d been sending me pictures that whole week, and I’d sent that dick pic to her the night before. I just hadn’t deleted it yet.”

“Oh, God. I can’t even imagine.”

“Count yourself lucky. I was just grateful I could still take Heartbreakers clients. Thank God my face wasn’t in that picture.”

That thread of jealousy was the size of a small rope now. Which was silly. I didn’t even know Ryder back then. What did I care who he’d been hooking up with nine months ago?

He made a face. “And to cap it all off, when I met with my advisor a couple of weeks ago, she told me that was why no one would hire me, and I should give up and get a job modeling instead.”

“Modeling?” I stared at him, aghast. “She actually said that to you?”

“That or acting. Or being an influencer. Or sales, or personal training. She basically said to play to my strengths.”

“That’s awful. You could report her.”

“Why?”

“Well, reverse the genders for a minute. Can you imagine a male advisor telling one of his female students to give up on applying for jobs in their field and to try to work as a model instead? There’d be a public outcry.”

“It’s not as if she’s not right, though. Besides, she didn’t proposition me or anything. She was just trying to help.” He sighed again. “Maybe she’s right. Maybe that’s all I’m good for.”

“I still think it’s weird for her to be talking about your looks. But you know, being a personal trainer or working in sales—thosearereal jobs. Even modeling.”

“Yeah, but they’re not jobs you need a college degree for. They’re not jobs anyone respects. They’re definitely not anything my parents would appreciate.”

He pressed his lips together and stared at a spot above my head. “God, I was so sure I’d show them. I’d prove that leaving home was a good idea. I was going to finish college and live on my own and do something they could be proud of. At this rate, I might as well just go home after I graduate.”

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