Page 50 of The Casting Couch

Nico lifted his glass.“To questionable life choices that pay the rent.”

I lifted mine reluctantly and clinked.“To debt.The great motivator.”

We drank.The gin was cheap, but it cut through the fuzz in my head.Nico didn’t say anything for a minute.He just watched me with those big blue eyes, like he could see right through my skull.

“You’re freaking out,” he breathed.

“I’m not…”

“Dude.”

I exhaled hard.“Okay, yeah, maybe a little.”

He tilted his head.“You wanna talk about it?”

I stared into my glass.“It’s not the sex.It’s not even the camera.I just… I don’t want to be a joke.Some guy on his knees, getting jizzed on by a bunch of strangers.That’s not who I ever saw myself becoming.”

He nodded slowly.“Fair.But for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a joke.”

My chest clenched a little.He said it so plainly.Like it was just a fact.

I looked at him.“Can I ask how you got into all this?”

His usual grin dimmed, the corners of his mouth tugging down for once.“Yeah.Sure.”

He took another drink, then leaned his elbows on the bar.“I moved here a few years ago.Wanted to be a stand-up comic.Still do.But the city doesn’t exactly roll out the red carpet for you just because you’re funny and broke.I was bombing open mics, couldn’t land steady work, and one day I realized I had twenty bucks to last two weeks.”

“Ouch.”

“Exactly.I knew Laura already.We used to hang out sometimes in Brooklyn.And yeah, I knew what she did.Dominatrix by night, deceptively mild-mannered genius by day.”He smiled a little.“One night over cocktails, she tells me about Jack and Liam.About how they started making porn to survive and ended up building Boys On Film.She told me if I ever needed help, she could introduce me.”

“And you said no.”

“Hard no.At first.I thought I was above it.”He chuckled bitterly.“Turns out ‘above it’ doesn’t mean much when you’re eating canned soup and arguing with your landlord about how electricity is a scam.”

“Been there.”

“So, I called her.She got me an audition.And… well.Apparently, I look good on camera.”He winked.

I snorted.“Yeah.I noticed.”

His brows lifted slightly, but he didn’t push it.“The money helps.But honestly?What keeps me in it is the people.Laura, Jack, Liam… they care.They built something that isn’t sketchy or dangerous.I feel safe there.”

I nodded slowly.“I want to feel that.”

“You will.”

I took another sip of my drink, then glanced over.“Are you gonna be in this scene?”

His mouth twitched.“Yep.Front row.”

I paused.“Like… one of the ones…” I trailed off, suddenly very aware of the heat crawling up my neck.

“Yep,” he said again, smug as hell.“I’ll be one of the splatter artists.”

“Jesus.”

He laughed.“Why are you blushing, Bradley?”

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