Page 50 of For the Fans
When I decide I just can’t drink and wait anymore, I follow Frankie into her bedroom to question my sanity in private. I’m wearing a hole in the fuzzy pink rug in the middle of her bedroom as she pulls a small vial out of her panties.
Dumping a tiny bump of something onto her hand, she snorts it back before holding it up to me. “Want some?”
My brows lift. “Molly?” She nods. “No thanks. I don’t think it will help…”
“Trust me, it will,” she sighs.
“No. Itwon’t.” I shake my head, continuing my pacing. “He fucking despises me, Frankie. I need to keep a clear head in case he tries to kick my ass.”
“You really need to relax.” She plops down on her bed, then flops onto her back. “He’s uptight enough for the three of us. I can’t have you tensing up too. It’ll ruin the whole vibe.”
“Vibe?? Kyran doesn’tvibewith me…” I mutter, stopping to glare at her. “Unless your idea of vibing is threatening to murder someone all the livelong day.”
She shrugs. “Whatever. At this point, I feel like my fans will pay extra just to watch you guys arguing. The tension between you is insane… When he’s glaring at you, nostrils all flaring, muscles flexing… I’m on pins and needles, justitchingfor him to kiss you.”
She bursts into a fit of giggles while my face scrunches at her like she’s more than a few screws loose.
“He doesn’t want to kiss me, he wants tokillme,” I grunt, brushing strands of hair away from my face.
“Okay, well, the line between those two desires is pretty freaking thin, loverboy.”
Blinking at her for a moment, I scoff, then shake my head. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Kyran is as straight as they come, and I’m positive the endless frustration I seem to spurn in him is based solely on the fact that he thinks he’s better than me.Kissing has nothing to do with it.
Pushing these thoughts away, I stagger over to the bed and kneel down next to Frankie. I need to focus on the task at hand; making this video as believable as possible for the fans, so we can make as muchmoneyas possible without having to worry about doing it again. Because I’m certain, especially where Kyran is concerned, this will be the first, last, andonlytime this happens.
Leaning over Frankie, I grasp her by the jaw and lower my lips to hers, pressing a gentle yet thorough kiss on her mouth. Just to see how it feels, set the mood, and I guess distract myselffrom the other party, who will soon be showing up and making everything a million times more stressful.
I go to pull back, but Frankie threads her fingers through my hair, keeping my lips on hers as she kisses me back, slipping her tongue into my mouth. She tastes fruity, and her tongue is warm and slippery as it brushes mine. Easing into it, we sort of fall into making out, and while it definitely feels good, I’m vaguely aware that she’s my best friend, and this needs to be strictly professional, so as not to ruin what we have together.
A throat clears, distracting us from sucking face, and we both pull apart, breathless and aiming hooded gazes at the doorway.
“Starting without me?” Kyran grumbles, closing and locking the door behind him.
He stands firmly planted in front of it, crossing his arms over his chest, eyes dark and intense. Not a single shadow of anticipation on his face, which just proves my point.
This is going to be just awful.
I sit back on the bed while Frankie slithers off, making her way over to the tripod.
“Okay, ground rules. First off, this is aboutmoney, notfeelings,” she announces. “Just think about all the yummy cash we’ll be making, and it’ll help your cause, I promise. Second, you need to sell it.” She sets up her video camera, peeking at Kyran. “Do you think pornstars actually like each other? No. They’reacting. We’re all aware that you two aren’t besties. Get over it.”
My eyes flit to Kyran, and his meet mine. His jaw is visibly tight, and I lift my brows at him, to which he rolls his eyes.
Yea, motherfucker. Calm down. This is just business.
“I’ll be blurring faces, so don’t worry about that,” Frankie goes on. “And as far as what we can do… nothing is off limits for me. I’m good with everything.”
Kyran and I continue to hold one another’s eyes, both refusing to back down, which is how it seems to always go with us.
Finally, he murmurs, to me, “Just don’t touch me if you want to keep breathing.”
“Aww, but how will I restrain myself??” I croon sarcastically while he seethes.
“Okay, then. And lastly…” Frankie ignores our boundless bickering as she double-checks the position of the camera before turning to us and smiling. “Let’s have fun!” She motions to the bed. “The view will be from there to there, so try not to leave the area. Avi, will you get the lights, please?”
Exhaling out my remaining hesitations, I get up and switch on the overhead lights, using the dimmer to get it low enough to set the mood, but also bright enough that the quality will work. Then I switch off the bedside lamp as Frankie turns on the ring light.
The whole time we’re messing with the lighting and Frankie is setting up to record, Kyran is just standing by the door, awkwardly shifting his weight like he hasn’t the slightest clue what to do with his body. Just seeing how tense he is reinforces how insufferable he’s most definitely going to be this entire time.
