Chapter 16
Sage
T he car is quiet as Adam pulls up to the front of the Laundromat. His jacket is still wrapped around my shoulders. It’s past eleven, but I’ve been a night owl for so long that late hours barely affect me anymore.
He puts the car in park and lets his hands settle in his lap. I don’t climb out of the car just yet. I feel like he wants to say something, and part of me wonders if it’s going to be him backing out of the plan.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” I ask, my voice level and quiet.
“I’m sure.” His response is quick, which I don’t expect. I glance over to stare at his silhouette in the dark car, half of his face illuminated by the streetlights and neon signs.
Adam is always so stoic. Like he’s holding in his anger, burying it deep within himself, so now it’s etched into his DNA. This is the only way he knows how to be, which makes me want to rub my thumb into the crease between his brows until he lets that worry and anxiety melt away.
At times, he’s sweet. Charismatic. Like the morning in the diner or tonight as he proudly held me by his side.
I have a feeling that was the real Adam, but he’s been so conflicted with duty and obligation his whole life; he’s been tricked into thinking he’s someone he’s not.
And now that his father has pulled the morality rug from under him, Adam has turned into a powder keg ready to blow.
I wish I could heal him of all the pain he’s radiating.
“Will this make you feel better?” I ask. When he glances my way, I continue, “When you ruin your reputation to spite him. Will it make you happy? Able to move on?”
The crease in his brow deepens. “Does it matter?”
His tone is cold, reminding me that even after those small gestures of kindness and the bone-melting kisses tonight, Adam Goode still refuses to let me in. Ever since seeing his dad tonight, his entire mood’s darkened, and I can’t seem to get him back.
“Of course it does,” I reply.
“We’re not doing this to make ourselves feel good, Peaches. We’re doing this to tarnish his reputation.”
Reaching across the seat, I place my hand on his arm, my fingers sliding over the rich fabric of his black tuxedo. “It’s okay to do things because they feel good. That doesn’t make you a bad person.”
He looks first at my hand and then my face. Hearing what I just said, paired with how I’m touching him…I realize now that it looks like I’m soliciting something. So I quickly take my hand away.
Clearing my throat, I look out my window as I speak.
“We’ll start filming tomorrow. We can do it at my place.”
“Okay,” he replies, and when I glance back at him, I notice the angry crease has softened.
“Noon,” I add. To which he nods.
“Good night, Adam.”
Before he can even try to get out and open my door for me, I climb out. I barely make out his saying good night before the door shuts and I’m alone on the street.
As I make my way to the front of the Laundromat, unlocking it with my key, I expect him to drive away. But he doesn’t. He waits for me to be safely inside before he takes off into the night.
* * *
“Why are you watching porn in my Laundromat?”
I nearly spit out my Mountain Dew as Gladys leans over my shoulder and stares in shock at the video playing on the screen of my phone.
My finger swipes the app closed as my cheeks heat with embarrassment.
“One month without a boyfriend, and you’re that horny already?”
I let out a laugh as I pocket my phone and get back to work loading coins into the sorting machine.
“Fun fact, Gladys. I’m always horny.”
Her laugh is hearty and warm as she tousles my hair. “I believe it.”
“And second of all, that wasn’t porn. It’s an app where people can upload videos of themselves and people pay to watch them.”
“Oh…like porn,” she replies sarcastically. “Is that what you’re going to do for money now?” Then she holds up her hands in surrender. “Hey, no judgment. I support sex workers.”
With a smile, I shake my head. God, I love Gladys.
“Actually…maybe.” My eyes squint with unease as I watch her face for a reaction. I’ve been looking for a new job since I left the club, but no one is hiring at the moment. Instead, I’ve been helping around the Laundromat and Gladys has been flexible with my rent to allow me more time to look.
To my surprise, she only looks mildly uncomfortable with the news that my new job venture might be porn.
“But not by myself,” I continue. “That…new guy I’m seeing—”
“The rich, older one,” she replies.
“Yeah, him. He and I want to make some videos. For…fun.”
Yikes, this feels forced and uncomfortable. Is she even buying any of this? I mean, I did work in a sex club, so it can’t be that much of a stretch for her to see me doing this now.
She’s folding towels as she seems to be mentally chewing on what I’ve just told her. Her face tenses in scrutiny before she glances my way and shrugs.
“Hey, make money with him if you can, I guess. Harold and I used to record ourselves all the time. But he would have never, ever let me post them anywhere. It would have been nice to at least make some money with them.”
“Oooh, so kinky, Gladys. Do you still have them?” I ask with a giddy smile.
“Somewhere in a box, I’m sure. If I die and you find a videotape labeled Hawaii vacation , burn it.”
Gladys and I are both laughing so hard now neither of us hear the front doorbell chime. It’s not until I feel his gloomy presence hovering three feet away that I realize Adam is here. God, his dad really did a number on him last night.
My laughter dies as I turn to stare at him. His sudden presence sends a flutter of butterflies to my stomach because I know exactly what comes next.
“Oh, hi,” I mutter.
“Hi,” he replies flatly.
He’s in a pair of dark-gray joggers and a V-neck T-shirt that hugs his chest and shoulders.
His dark hair looks a little wet at the tips like he just got out of the shower and came straight over.
I can smell the potent scent of his cologne from here, musky and rich.
I don’t know if it’s laced with pheromones or if that’s just the effect of expensive cologne, but it has me noticing just how ridiculously handsome he is today.
And how badly I want to rub my face all over his pecs.
And feel those thick biceps wrapped around me.
Jesus, maybe Gladys was right. I am horny as fuck.
“Ready?” he asks, nodding toward the door. Has he totally forgotten that we’re supposed to be selling it as a couple?
I can feel Gladys staring at me, so I widen my eyes at him, glancing toward Gladys as if to remind him we have an audience.
Instantly, his cold, detached demeanor morphs into a forced smile as he crosses the room. Without warning, he leans down and presses his lips to mine. It’s a quick peck, but it takes me by surprise. As he stands upright, he smiles at Gladys.
“Hi again.”
“Hi again,” Gladys replies with a playful smirk on her face.
“I’ll finish these later,” I tell her as I stand from my chair.
“Go. Have fun,” she says, waving us away.
“Mind if I send Roscoe down?” I ask.
“No, I’ll watch him,” she replies, shooting me a wink. For a moment, I feel terrible about lying to her, even if it is a small, harmless fib.
“Thanks, Gladys!”
Grabbing Adam by the arm, I tug him toward the door leading up to my apartment. He seems as tense as I’m feeling today, which is good, I guess. I don’t want to be the only nervous person in this scenario.
After we reach my apartment, I carry Roscoe down the stairs, hearing Gladys call for him before I set him down and shut him out in the stairwell.
Then it’s just me and Adam alone in my apartment with heavy doses of anticipation and awkwardness.
“Got anything to drink?” he asks.
I scurry toward the kitchen. “Is beer okay?”
“Yes,” he replies as I pull out two, one for each of us.
After a long drink, he looks determined and ready to work. “So, how are we going to do this?”
“Okay, so I’ve been thinking,” I say, pulling out my phone. “We can upload the clips on FanVids—you’ve heard of it, right?”
“That amateur porn app?”
“Yeah. We can start with short clips—fifteen to thirty seconds. Then we share them anonymously on socials and try to get subscribers. Then after it’s created some buzz, we post longer videos. Real videos. Well…real- ish .”
His brows are scrunched together as he stares down at my phone, the FanVids app open to show him how people can scroll the feed.
Guessing by the confusion on his face, he’s not familiar with the app and doesn’t quite know how this is going to work, but that’s okay.
I’ll handle the distribution; I just need him to be him and play the part.
“So people can see these short clips for free?”
“Basically. But we have to show your face. We need people to see that it’s you.”
As I scroll through the app, video after video popping up, my skin starts to grow hot. Maybe it’s the suggestive nature of the clips, or maybe it’s the realization that we’re about to post stuff like this too. Either way, I’m struggling to even hold still at this point.
“Let’s do it,” he says at last, and I bite my lip as I stare up at him.
Our eyes meet for a moment, and I get a whiff of his cologne again, my body growing excited at the prospect of getting to touch him again. The room fills with tension while neither of us moves.
Finally, I clear my throat and walk toward the couch. His eyes follow me before landing on the tripod I have set up already.
“Have you done this before?” he asks.
“No,” I reply. “Well, not like this. I just bought this because I thought it would make things easier.” Then I show him how I clip my phone onto the tripod and point it at the couch. Suddenly, we have a hands-free device for shooting videos.
He swallows without moving toward me. He’s definitely nervous. “So, now what?”
There’s an audible silence as we each take a long drink of our beer, both of us clearly needing the liquid courage to go through with this. After letting out a heavy sigh, I roll my shoulders back.