Chapter 6
Bex
“ I ’m sorry. What did you say?” I stammer, not really needing her to repeat it because I heard it quite clearly the first time. But what. The. Fuck.
“I don’t watch as much porn as Brit,” Ally says, as Britney gives her a teasing glare. “But Bex, even I know who Frank Moro is,” Ally comments, her fingertips flying across her keyboard. “And according to Google, he’s getting some sort of lifetime career achievement thing at the awards show.”
Frowning at her, I mumble, “I hope your work is tracking your search history.”
She smirks at me. “Bex, I know we usually tell you to not invest too much in guys—”
“At least not immediately,” Britney interrupts.
“Right, just be more chill?” I say.
Ally nods. “Yeah… Well, ignore us this time. This sounds like a fun time, and if he’s only in town for a few days, there’s not really enough time to get too attached,” she reasons.
“Think about all the incredible sex you could have! Bex!” Britney jumps up from the couch, waving her hands about, giddy.
“Uh…”
“You would have to tell us everything, of course,” Ally says, tilting her head as if accepting this was intended to become my luck. Or my fate?
Britney nods. “Naturally.”
Shaking my head, I stand and stretch, trying to signal to them that this conversation is over. “That’s great, ladies, really, thanks for the shared enthusiasm here, but—”
“But nothing! You can’t just not accept this sex god gift in your life!” Britney whines.
I arch a brow at her. “You’re making assumptions. We were just… flirting last night. It meant nothing.” Angling my head, I crack my neck—a bad habit, I know, but one I can never break since it gets stiff otherwise. “And besides, it’s not like I got his number or anything.”
As if on cue, my phone starts vibrating. I glance up at Britney and pounce for my phone on the table at the same time she does.
“Ha!” I say, snatching it away. I glance down at the screen and see “ Corey Calling… ”
The memory of Corey taking my phone for a moment last night surfaces, and my heart begins racing. “Oh, god.”
“If you don’t answer that, I will!” Ally calls from her seat at the island, her attention turned back to her work laptop .
Hands shaking, I stand and walk back toward my room, shutting the door against the protests and groans from my roommates. I want to get comfortable, maybe lie on the bed to take the call? But worry that he will hang up outweighs the urge for comfort, so I swipe to answer and raise the phone to my ear.
“This is Bex,” I say, my voice cracking slightly at the lack of proper morning hydration and nerves.
“Of course it is.” Corey’s deep voice rumbles through my body. “How are you doing today, sugar?”
My stomach flutters from the sound of his voice alone. Knowing he’s a porn star –not just a porn star, but an epic porn star–has me tied up in nerves. Popping my eyes open, I begin to pace. I try to focus on the collage of photos on my wall, a collection of different images taken by the kids at the youth center over the years, but it’s no use. I’m pacing around my short room like a demented Energizer bunny running on butterfly flutters.
“I’m good. Great, even. Really good. You?” The words tumble out, and I cringe at how awkward I sound. There’s no way he doesn’t notice this as well.
“Can’t complain.”
There’s a moment of silence before I ask, “How was the club last night?”
He groans softly, and I imagine he’s still in bed in a penthouse somewhere, probably stretching that long, fit body against luxury satin sheets. Internally, I tell myself to stop picturing this man in bed, stop thinking about the scene Britney tried to describe, and just fucking chill for a moment.
“It was okay. Caught up with some old friends who are in town, doing some pre-work for an event in a few months,” he says .
“An event?” I ask, feigning ignorance. After all, he didn’t mention anything about it last night—it was Ally who mentioned it this morning.
“Yeah, it’s not a big deal,” he says. I can hear some background noise, as if he’s walking around.
A lifetime career achievement award is… not a big deal?
“Ah,” I say, finally opting to sit on my bed because pacing was making me dizzy. “Well, hopefully you got lucky last night.”
As soon as I say the words, I wish I could take them back. Why am I so awkward?
Corey laughs. “Nah, sugar, sometimes it’s just as much fun to sit and watch.”
I swallow hard, not sure how to respond to that.
“Bex,” he says, his tone authoritative. “Come to dinner with me tomorrow night.”
“Corey… I don’t know,” I say quietly. I put the phone on speaker and toss it next to me on the bed, so I can lie down and bury my face in my pillow. There’s a reason Ally and Britney always talk me down from getting into a guy. As easy as it would be to say yes, it would be just as easy for me to get too into Corey too quickly. And when he leaves in a few days, I’ll be more upset about never seeing him again than I’d have any right to feel.
“Bex,” he says my name softly, and that alone makes me wet. “Did you Google me?”
I flip over and cover my burning face with my hands. “What? No, no, I didn’t, I wouldn’t… Why?”
Smooth, Bex.
He laughs, and the fluttery feeling in my stomach moves lower. How embarrassing is it that his laugh is turning me on? I’m getting wet, just hearing his voice, and I know as soon as this call is over, I’ll be reaching into my nightstand drawer for the one and only toy I own and relieving myself.
“Ah, darlin’, that’s the least convincing denial I’ve ever heard. And I work with some pretty shitty actors.”
This makes me laugh. “Okay, to be fair, I didn’t Google you. My roommate did. But I didn’t, like, look or anything.”
“Mhmm,” he murmurs. “Why not?”
“I… wait, what?”
“Why not? You’re not curious after hearing Ritchie last night?”
“Oh… your, ah, award-winning tag team adventures?” I laugh.
“Yeah. You didn’t want to see what I look like in action?” He sounds playfully indignant.
“Corey… of course I’m curious. It just feels a little, I don’t know… disrespectful?”
He laughs again, and I clench my thighs together. I’m making a mess of myself, and he’s not even physically here with me.
“Promise I won’t be offended. Honestly, I was hoping you’d tell me a video caught your eye.”
“Why?”
“If you wanted to try to re-enact anything.”
My body tenses at his suggestion, and my heartbeat, which hasn’t slowed the fuck down since my phone began ringing five minutes ago, races to a dangerous level.
When I don’t respond, he continues. “It’s natural to be curious. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about you while I was at the club last night.”
“Corey,” I whisper. “Come on. Are you being serious right now? ”
“Come to dinner with me,” he says again. “Having drinks and talking to you last night was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. And I want more.”
“More tequila shots?” I joke, but my core throbs at the memory of his tongue on my skin, licking up the lime juice.
“Everything, Bex. I want more of everything with you,” he growls.
I take a deep breath and steady my voice before responding, “So, where are we going to dinner?”
“Ms. B, you won’t believe the colors I captured this weekend!”
Mitchell holds out a fist as he strides into the “art room” at the youth center and I bump it casually. “Oh, yeah?”
A groan proceeds Priya through the doorway as she rolls her eyes. “Don’t encourage him, B. He’s been on and on about this—”
“Listen—” Mitchell starts, his hands up in defense.
“Y’all better not be raising your voices today, I swear to god,” Kayla says, sauntering in after Priya.
“You good, Kayla?” I ask, eyeing her with concern as she sits down at the single folding table we’ve been “gifted” for our space. That and a few chairs, a flimsy plastic set of drawers, and that’s it. Such a glorious little art studio space for these kids.
Kayla nods. “I’ll be fine; just have a headache. Been dealing with my brothers and sisters all week, it’s just…” She pauses and sighs. “It’s just nice to be here. ”
There’s a tug in my chest at her admission. It’s the entire reason I pushed the youth center for this time and this space, for kids like Kayla, who just need a place to escape to—without getting into trouble. From previous conversations, I know that Kayla has three brothers and two sisters, and her dad walked out on all of them a few years ago. At seventeen, she’s the oldest of all of them. I can’t imagine the sense of responsibility and pressure she must be under at her age—not to mention the pandemonium at home.
“Mitchell,” I say, turning the attention away from Kayla. “Are your friends coming today?”
Usually, there’s at least eight to ten kids that come and hang out during this time. Not all of them are super into photography, but I can tell they’re appreciative of the space to just be themselves.
“Nah, Kelan is grounded, and I’m not sure if those chicks wanted to take pics of anything but themselves.” Mitchell snickers and mumbles, “Skanks.”
“Hey,” I say sharply, raising my brows in a warning.
“Sorry, sorry,” he says, plopping into the chair next to Kayla.
“He’s not wrong,” Priya says from where she’s perched on the counter lining the far wall.
“All right, we’re not doing that here. This is what kind of place, my friends?” I open my hands up, inviting them to say it with me.
“A judgment-free place,” they all mumble in agreement.
“Right. So, that being said… Mitchell, what is it you’re so excited about?”
Mitchell turns in his seat to grin at Priya, but she’s scrolling through something on her phone. His smile falters a bit as he turns back to me, but he slides his phone over to me, open to his photos app .
It’s a picture of a woman through what looks like cloudy glass. Their facial features are slightly distorted, and there are little rainbow slivers streaked across the glass from light breaking through. I glance up at Priya and, while she’s still not looking at us, I can see pink tinge her cheeks.
“Mitchell, this is beautiful.” Turning to the others, I say, “You know how I’ve been saving to buy a printer for us?”
Kayla sits up straight. “You have it?” she asks excitedly.
“Not quite, but I’m really close to having enough. Come on, let’s look through some of your favorite pictures and start flagging which ones you want to print first.”