Chapter 1 #2
“I have a job,” I hook my thumb over my shoulder, pointing back the way I came. “I’m…redoing your gardens,” I trail off weakly, her last words catching my attention belatedly.
Tons of money, you say? Now I’m a little interested, so…so maybe my voice isn’t as firm as it should be; so maybe I’m suddenly actually alright with doing whatever they want since it doesn’t seem like I need a working dick for the job. So maybe I’m a pushover for cash. Sue me. Fuck you.
“I’ll double it,” Lexie says seriously, and if anything can get my worthless dick hard, it would be words like this.
“Whatever they’re paying you per week, I’ll double–no, triple it!
And all you have to do is lounge around Kira’s uncle’s huge-ass mansion and eat fantastic food and swim in a gorgeous lake and act like you’re head-over-heels for Kira. It’s only one week! What do you make?”
She doesn’t even know what I make?? And she’s making an offer like that?
I can’t deny the fact that I’m an opportunist. I don’t mind taking a risk when it seems like I can’t lose. I don’t mind taking advantage of people a little when they make it so damn easy, if it doesn’t really hurt anyone. So I lie.
“I get paid five grand a week, here. You’re telling me you’ll triple that?”
I get paid one-tenth of five grand a week, actually. But I see it this way–she’ll either balk and let me off the hook, or I’m about to make a ton of money.
“So I’ll only need to pay you fifteen?” Lexie blinks, then grins like she’s getting a deal–like she found a name-brand cereal on sale at the bargain bin store.
Or at least, that’s how I think I look when I find something like that.
“I mean, um, you drive a hard bargain, but I’m a woman of my word. Fifteen it is.”
Shit, I should’ve aimed higher. Although, to be fair, I have absolutely no context for what “aiming higher” really means.
“Aiming higher” for me is usually deciding to buy a bus ticket rather than walk on rainy days.
Saying I make…what, like, eight grand a week?
Would that have been aiming higher? Ten?
The fucking thought of making ten grand a week is so absurd that I can’t actually picture myself saying it, even as a lie.
“Lexie, we can’t do this,” Kira says, and I look her over as I start to take this much more fucking seriously.
“How old are you?” I ask skeptically. “I’m twenty-six. It would look creepy if I was into someone who can’t even drink.”
“I’m twenty-two!” Kira says with a little heat, then wilts. “I–it’s fine, really. Lexie, please just drop this. I’ll get through the summit, even with Brian there. It will be fine.”
“But Kira, after what he did?!”
Kira gives Lexie a quelling look, but I clear my throat pointedly. They look at me and I know my expression is sheepish when I ask, “What did he do?”
“Oh my god,” Lexie says emphatically. “How much time do you have? It’s a looong story.”
“And the short version is that he was cheating on me,” Kira says stiffly.
She hugs her arms shyly, as if trying to comfort herself.
“He was cheating on me and sharing the lovey-dovey texts I would send him with all his guy friends, and the girl he was seeing, so they could make fun of me. It was immature, and childish, and I’m not going to stoop to his level–”
“I’ll do it,” I say firmly before she can talk herself out of it.
Fifteen grand is an insane amount of money.
With that much money, I could, um… My mind starts spinning, like pulling levers at a casino, but all the slots turn up empty.
I have no idea what to do with fifteen grand.
But I want it anyway. I’m greedy like that, always wanting things, never just fucking satisfied with what I have, no matter how much I tell myself to be.
Kira’s jaw drops and even Lexie looks surprised. I shrug. “He sounds like an ass. Your friend is right. Little shits like that need to be humbled. I don’t mind taking some time off to triple my weekly salary and help you out with that. On a scale of one to ten, is he hotter than me?”
Kira is startled into laughter at my teasing question and she covers her mouth, hiding her joy from the world. Poor thing. She’s clearly used to being the object of cruel attention. Her behavior is tripping all of my protective instincts.
Lexie, however, crows with excitement and jumps up and down. “Oh my god! Oh my god! Yes! This is perfect! And, for the record, you’re way hotter than he is!”
I grin, and Lexie fans herself with a wink while Kira blushes and looks away.
Uh oh.
“But I need you two to know that I really am mostly gay,” I say quickly. “And the other part of me that isn’t gay is, like, asexual or something. I’m not into women at all, not even a little bit. So I need you to know that.”
Kira looks a little confused at the description of my gender preferences, but honestly, I’m just as confused as she is. And frustrated. God, I’m so frustrated by it.
Stupid, broken cock. Ugh! Don’t think about this right now. It is honestly devastating to me that the last time I was able to cum with another person, I was getting paid for it.
“That’s perfect,” Lexie squeals, not seeing a problem with my wishy-washy sexuality. “We can’t have some random straight guy do this! He’d take advantage!”
That raises a great question, actually. “How do you know I’m not like a psycho killer or something? I could be a murderer.”
Kira gets a little green in the face with anxiety at my question, which makes me feel guilty, but Lexie shrugs nonchalantly. “If my parents hired you, then you had a background check. They’d never allow someone dangerous onto our property.”
Kira relaxes and Lexie looks smug, so I don’t bother to tell her she’s wrong.
I’m very dangerous, and I’m on their property right now.
Whoever handles my team must have falsified whatever background check this girl thinks her parents have on us, because I sure as shit am not a documented citizen and I have definitely committed crimes.
Murderous ones. I don’t think I’d even pass a psych-evaluation, let alone a background check.
Psycho killer is a more apt description than they realize.
But, in a way, she’s right; I’m not going to hurt them. On the contrary, it sounds like fun. Like, are you kidding me? A week-long vacation at a mansion, where I get to put snobby rich boys in their place? While eating like a king and lounging on the lakeside? And I get paid FIFTEEN GRAND??
Like, fucking count me in!
“When do we start?” I ask.
“It’s on Monday.” Lexie gasps, her hands flying to her mouth in horror. She looks at me again, or more accurately, at my clothes. “It’s already Friday, oh my god. We need to get you a whole wardrobe!”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” I ask sarcastically, looking down at myself.
The stains and quality are clearly lacking for their kind of people.
I mean, yeah, they’re in decent shape. I always make an effort to try not to look homeless now that I’m no longer technically homeless, and I even washed them this morning in the tiny, cracked kitchen sink at the apartment I stay in–but I know what I am. I’m poor and I look like it.
Kira covers her mouth again and I raise a brow at her, letting her know I caught her sign of amusement at my expense. She blushes, and I grin. “Alright, new clothes, too. I’m assuming you’ll buy them. I need to tell my boss I’m out of town from Monday to Friday, then?”
“Yes,” Lexie nods decisively. “But it might extend into Saturday, so just tell him that day, too. I’ll pay extra for Saturday.”
I hear a cha-ching in my head and wonder if rich people are all this easy.
Kira puts up a staying hand. “Wait. Wait. Are we actually doing this? This is crazy. You both see this is crazy, right?”
I look at Lexie, and she looks at me. When we grin at each other, I feel like I’m looking at a younger, female version of myself. We both turn to Kira at the same time and she literally flinches backward and pales. “Oh god,” she whispers. “There are two of them.”
Lexie holds out a hand and I smack it in a solid high-five without needing to look.
“Nice,” she says. “But we need to get to work. It isn’t just clothes. If we’re going to do this, you have to really play the part. You guys need to know random trivia about each other, and you need to come up with a story on how you met. We need to make sure we sell this.”
I tilt my head curiously. “Wouldn’t we just say I saw her while working in your garden and fell madly in love with her or something?”
“No,” Lexie says firmly. “Sorry, but no. Brian only sees dollar signs. If we want him to be intimidated by you, you need to be older, hotter, and richer. Kira and I have enough money to help you play the part convincingly. We’ll say you’re, um, like, old money from Connecticut and you came here with your family to look at properties.
Yeah! And…you saw Kira when she and I were… um…”
“I saw her at a cafe,” I offer, letting myself imagine a reality where I was suave and rich and straight and not broken even a little bit inside. “You were both having coffee after shopping or whatever, and I asked her on a date. When did the break-up with Brian happen?”
Kira looks a little shell-shocked, but manages to answer.
“Over three months ago. I expected him to drop out of the Young Leaders Summit–it’s basically just a party anyway, and it’s not actually important.
But he RSVP’d this morning. So now I have to see him every day for a week with his stupid friends and his new girlfriend.
I never should’ve volunteered my uncle’s mansion for the venue. Now I have to attend.”