Page 12 of Sweet Shots

“I do what you do, just differently.”

His eyes light up, and there is way too much interest in his voice when he says, “Do you, now?”

I ignore his tone and keep going. I am not going to give him info about me. If I can do this whole thing without him finding out who I am online, I’ll be happy. It’s unlikely, but I’ll try like hell.

“I work for an agency and as a top creator, I was asked to be in a calendar. I polled my fans and asked if I should do it solo or with someone. Majority says with someone, and then a fan messaged me and offered us 100k each to make a video together. I’m not in a position to pass that up.”

“Holy shit,” he says in awe. “What are the fucking odds, huh? Someone asks you to make a video with me, your neighbor. How convenient.”

“Uh, yeah…”

He leans back, pursing his lips. “I have to think about it.”

“What? Why?” I blurt, jumping to my feet.

I hadn’t considered what I would do if he said no. Why would he say no? This is one hundred thousand dollars! No one intheir right mind would turn this down. Though, maybe he isn’t in his right mind. That wouldn’t shock me.

“For one, you aren’t my typical movie partner.” He gestures toward me. “For two—”

“Well 98% of my stuff is solo!” I argue. “This isn’t about my typical stuff; this is about the money.”

“I don’t need the money.” He shakes his head.

“Who doesn’t need a hundred thousand dollars?” I nearly shout.

Me… at one point, anyway. Just a few days ago, I wouldn’t have been freaking out about this as much as I am right now. I probably wouldn’t even have come over here.

“What’s going on, neighbor? What’s this really about? You got money problems? Creating isn’t going as well as it should?” He folds his hands and rests them on his abs.

He’s teasing me, taunting me. I want to knock him out.

I grit my teeth. “My career is fine. I just told you I’m a top creator—”

“Yeah, but where? Some low-life website that hastencreators?”

“Behind the Lens, actually.”

His eyes widen and he whistles, impressed. Holding his hands up, he says, “My apologies. So what, then?”

“Let’s just keep my business my business, okay?”

“Fine.” He gets up, walking toward me and offering out his hand. “Thanks for the opportunity, but I’m going to pass.”

“Why?” I ask, refusing to take his hand and stepping away from him.

“Let’s just say I don’t like working with people I can’t trust.”

“Oh, and you trust all the guys you find on the internet?” I spit out.

He grins wildly. “You watch my videos, neighbor?”

“You’re impossible,” I growl, then storm around the outside of the house and back to my own. I don’t know why I thought he would agree to this. Now I feel like a desperate idiot. Which I am. A desperate idiot who’s broke and really needs this money.

I hop on my laptop and sendRyanJack504a message, asking if he would consider any other creator. I swear any other guy would be better than this one. He answers almost immediately, telling me it’s Dominic Blake or no one.

Snapping my computer shut, I pick up my phone to call Zach, who I already let in on this situation.

“What the hell am I going to do?” I ask.

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