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The last thing I needed to do was stir up a hornet’s nest and cause problems for Micah, especially since his escort service barely skirted the edge of legal in the state of Massachusetts.
The client wasn’t just some bored computer programmer nerd who couldn’t land a hookup on an app either. His father was a well-known man in Boston and beyond. Deep pockets due to his family name promised that going after him would bring devastation in ways I had zero wish to even think about let alone relive in court.
I gently probed at the tender spot atop my heart, hating the fact an actual scar would linger along with nightmares from that night.
At least Micah hadn’t questioned my requesting a few days off afterward, then bowing out from taking on that same rapacious twink three nights ago when he’d attempted to book with me again.
No fucking way would I—
“Hey.”
I blinked my eyes open to find my good friend Kellen beside me. He wore a dark suit coat over his equally black button-down and form-fitting jeans that hugged his thick thighs and calves. A strong jawline, artfully mussed hair…the man was gorgeous but way too tall and muscular for my liking.
“You okay?” he asked, his hazel-green eyes flicking over my face with concern.
I put on my cocksure smile as always when in public, not for the first time seriously jealous over his lack of gray hair. He was only a couple of years younger than my forty-two but had aged better than I had.
“Yeah. Just tired,” I lied, my tone intentionally light.
Like me, Kellen was an EEMM employee. He’d been the one to introduce me to Micah when I’d lost my job in business management earlier that year. Since I’d been down to my last penny and Marin needed cash, I’d jumped at the chance to escort men around. Being eye candy. Giving blow jobs, offering up my ass if that was what they preferred. An easy way to get dicked down without any effort on my part.
But I’d gotten cast as a top due to the daddy vibes Micah swore he picked up on during my interview. Desperate for work, I’d learned to hide my desire to be taken care of and ended up being the giver.
Every. Time.
And onetakerhad shaken the foundation of my livelihood.
Kellen grabbed hold of my elbow, keeping my mind from drifting any further. “I’ve known you long enough to recognize when you’re full of it, Mason. Don’t feed me your bullshit. What’s going on?”
Slowly emptying my lungs, I considered puking up all the words I’d kept bottled inside me forever. But emotions would release along with my explanation, and if I’d learned anything from my childhood with a manipulative narcissist, it was self-preservation.
“Just tired,” I repeated, hoping like hell Kellen would let it go.
He didn’t respond, and I scanned the room. I hadn’t pushed Preston about his stepbrother during the two other nights I’d been hired by him since our first time together, nor had I figured out who the guy might be. Dozens of current employees attended Micah’s party, but former Elites who had found love and solid connections with their partners were also sprinkled throughout the crowd.
Blake and his wife Wren shared a private moment in the shadows, eyes only for one another. Reid and Jessie, on a date night without their two kids, appeared exhausted but smiled while holding hands. Jarod’s flame-haired firecracker of a woman on his arm peered at him like he hung the moon in the sky.
Lucky dogs—all of them, but at one time, they had probably felt like menu items too.
Preston was a client who didn’t make me feel that way. Perhaps because he’d been my first and truly appreciated me, or maybe because I’d come to care for his well-being after hours of listening to him unload his worries.
Either way, he was the booking I looked forward to the most every month—and not because of the sex.
If only we were well-matched in the bedroom…
Kellen slung an arm over my shoulders and gave me a side bro-hug. “I’m here if you need to talk.”
I soaked in the rare bit of affection but pulled away long before I had my fill. “Ready for another drink?” I asked, nodding toward his almost emptied tumbler, surprised my voice sounded upbeat considering how unsteady my insides were over the nightmare client who’d haunted my dreams the previous couple of weeks.
“Sure.”
We weaved through the crowd for the bar, the base of my neck once more tingling.
Ever sincethe night with that voracious twink, I’d been on high alert. Jumpy and suspicious. A fucking anxious mess I struggled to keep contained. Without the help of those pills Elite supplied, I never would have been able to please the couple of clients I’d been booked with since him.
A group of guys snagged us while en route to refill our drinks, their natural jollity pulling my mood even lower. I smiled brighter in response, a master at hiding my true self thanks to good old Mom.
I needed a fucking break.
