Page 67 of The Casting Couch

Evan, especially.Dude had a CrossFit chest, and the exact kind of overly gleeful face you’d expect from a guy who’d voluntarily gotten a cum-related quote tattooed on his ribcage.The front of his robe was already doing that aggressive tent thing, and Laura hadn’t even yelled “action” yet.

Honestly?A few of the other guys looked equally excited.One of them was doing stretches.Another was eating a protein bar like he was preparing for the Olympics.

Was I the only one here who wasn’t dying to be a part of this circle jerk baptism?

Laura clapped her hands once, hard, like she was calling class to order at Whore Hogwarts.

“Okay boys,” she said.“This is how it’s gonna go.”

She walked slowly in front of us, her heels clicking on the vinyl floor.Total dominatrix energy, even without the thigh-high boots today.

“You’ll be in a wide circle around Blake.I want noise.Movement.Eye contact if you can handle it.I don’t want statues, and I don’t want anyone zoning out or staring at the porn monitors like you’re on a treadmill.You’re here.Be here.”

A few guys nodded like they were in a TED Talk.

“And at the end,” Laura continued, “I want a visual crescendo.That means a wave.A storm.A collective release.But before that—before the chaos—I need one of you to sit behind Blake.I need someone to hold him.To ground him.To engage with him.You’ll be pleasuring him while the scene plays out.And you’ll be the last to finish.You’re the exclamation point.”

Evan’s hand shot up like he was answering a question in health class.

“Oh!Oh me!I volunteer!I’m so down.”

I saw red.

The hell he was.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I said it.Louder than I meant to.

“I’ll do it.”

The room turned toward me.Laura froze mid-stride.Her mouth opened, then closed.Then opened again.

She glanced at Liam, who raised both eyebrows like, don’t bring me into this.

“Nico,” she said, too sweet, too careful, “can I talk to you for a sec?”

I gritted my teeth.“Sure.”

I turned to Bradley—Blake—who looked up at me like I’d just agreed to walk him through a minefield instead of a cumstorm.His eyes were wide.Grateful.

“Be right back,” I said.

“Thanks,” he whispered, and his voice cracked just enough that I felt it all the way down.

Laura led me to the back corner of the room, away from the lights and the lingering eye contact of the cast.

She leaned in.“Nico, what are you doing?”

“Volunteering,” I said.

“You’re not just volunteering.You’re staking a claim.”

“So?”

She narrowed her eyes.“Don’t you remember what I told you?Bradley’s an ex-con.A recent one.You don’t want to get involved with someone like that.It’s bad news.”

I crossed my arms.“I am involved.”

“Feelings are one thing,” she whispered.“But feelings that develop during a bukkake scene?That’s just trauma waiting to happen.”

---