Page 19 of Sebastian

“It’s like when two people bump into each other at a coffee shop, and one of them spills coffee all over the other. Then they offer to buy them another coffee, and it turns into a date,” Hayden explains.

He and Rhys and I watch Noel to see if he gets it and… if he does, he’s not impressed.

“Okay. So, why is that important?”

“It’s not,” I say. “What’s important is that when we were at dinner, we talked about a collab!”

“Ekk!”

“What did he say?”

“Did he tell you why he quit?”

“I know! He’s thinking about it. And no, he didn’t.” I answer Rhys, Hayden, and Noel in turn.

“So… that’s it? You went to dinner?” Noel asks. He’s slumped so far down in his chair he looks like he’s about to slide off the thing altogether.

“What do you mean ‘that’s it’? That’s like, everything! He’s seriously considering it! I sent him all the documentation.” Christian even responded to the email saying that he would review it all and get back to me. I might have been obsessively refreshing my inbox ever since.

“Oh god, not the documentation.” Noel groans, covering his face with his hands again.

My head snaps around to Noel. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You sent him all of it?” Rhys is wincing.

“Well, not all of it.” There were some on-location liability forms I left out because we’re most likely just going to film at my apartment.

“You asked him for his emergency contact?” Rhys’s wince deepens.

“Yeah, of course I did. It’s on the general consent form. I send that to everyone.”

Noel peeks at me from between his fingers. “No one wants to give you their emergency contact.”

“Why not?” My question is interrupted when a waiter shows up to take our order. He’s a chatty one, this waiter, and normally, I wouldn’t mind, but we’re kind of in the middle of an important conversation.

“Why can’t I ask people for their emergency contact?” I ask the second he steps away. “What if something happens during filming? What if we need an ambulance or something? I need to know who to call.”

“What could possibly happen?” Noel rolls his eyes. “It’s just sex on camera.”

“Which can be dangerous if we’re not careful,” I say. “We put ourselves in rather precarious positions sometimes. And what if there are toys involved?”

“Do you ask random hookups for their emergency contact before having sex?” Noel asks.

Rhys jumps in. “I think what Noel is trying to say, is that it can be a lot.” His voice is gentle, like he’s telling some kid that their favorite ride at Disney World is closed for repairs.

“What do you mean, ‘a lot’?”

“Well, it can be a little intimidating,” Rhys says.

I sit back, worry gathering at the back of my mind. Does Christian find it intimidating? Would he say something if he did?

I pick up my phone and scroll to the response he sent me last night.

Thanks for this. I’ll take a look and let you know soon.

It sounded pretty innocuous to me when I read it last night. But now that the guys seem to think I’m “a lot”, I’m wondering if “let you know soon” is code for “yeah, no thanks.” Shit.

“I’m with Sebastian on this one,” Hayden says with a shrug. “I think it’s smart the way you do it. Better to be overly cautious than get caught unprepared, right?”

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