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“I mean,” Kojo continued, undeterred, “do you just wake up one day and decide, hey, might as well get paid for doing what I love?”
Fortunately, Martin laughed. “Kind of, yeah. At least for me—I knew the website and thought I’d give it a try. They liked my pictures and invited me to a casting, and the rest is history.”
“I got approached in a club.” Adrian seemed equally unfazed, his smile easy. “Thought the guy was taking the piss, but when I looked it up later, it seemed legit. So I thought, why not give it a go?”
Kojo leaned forward, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. “There’s a casting?”
Was Eric the only one in this cabin who’d been born with a healthy capacity for embarrassment? He stared at the winter wonderland outside and willed himself not to blush because surely he’d used up his annual quota yesterday. Snow reflected the brilliant brightness of the sun, groomed slopes dotted with skiers and snowboarders, mountains towering against the sky.
“‘Course there’s a casting,” Adrian said. “They don’t want to buy a pig in a poke, so to speak.”
“Or a dick in a box,” Martin put in.
“Or in boxers,” Adrian said.
“More of a boxer briefs guy myself.” Martin leaned back on the bench, grinning. “My dick deserves hugs, not a draft.”
“Thought that’s Matteo’s job.”
Matteo was Martin’s boyfriend, from what Eric had gathered. The casual way Adrian dropped his name put further credence to the fact that Adrian and Martin were friends—friends with a documented history between the sheets, granted, but friends nonetheless. Not that it made a difference to Eric.
“Well, he’s not here, is he?” Martin gave a regretful shrug. “A man has needs.”
They gathered their skis and poles as the cabin slowed down. Once they stepped out of the cable car station, it was to the majestic view of snow-covered peaks—Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau dominating the scene, the air slightly thinner up here. Eric took a deep breath as he dropped his skis in the snow. It had been a year since his last time on skis, when he’d spent five weeks in a French ski town, alternating his days between writing songs and hitting the slopes. Give him an hour or two, and he was confident it would all come back to him.
“You any good?” Adrian asked as he clicked into his skis next to Eric.
“I’m all right.” Eric glanced at the obvious anticipation that curled Adrian’s mouth, eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. “Nowhere near as good as you, I’m sure. You probably grew up on skis while I didn’t start until I was fifteen, and Scotland isn’t anything like this.”
It had been once his dad had graduated from museum guard to art teacher, nearly doubling the family income. While Eric’s sister had hated the cold, Eric had taken to skiing quickly, with some of the skills he’d developed while playing football and rollerblading carrying over.
“Yeah, Switzerland’s special that way—us kids here, we learn howto ski as soon as we can walk in a straight line.” Adrian turned to check on Kojo and Martin, still busy sorting out their gear. “How’s Kojo?”
Uh. Was there a diplomatic way to convey that Kojo would likely call it quits after two runs and camp out at one of the mountain bars?
“He’s…” Eric hesitated. “More of an après-ski type of guy.”
“He and Martin will get on great, then.”
As it turned out, Adrian was right. The four of them did a couple of blues and one red run before Kojo decided that he’d had enough exercise for the day. Coincidentally, it was right next to a mountain bar that had a DJ spinning tunes, sunny lounge chairs set up for people to chill with beers and stronger stuff.
“I’ll join you,” Martin said quickly.
Adrian took off his sunglasses before he shot Eric a grin that was bright, even a little goofy. “Told you so.”
It had been just over twenty-four hours ago that they’d met—in person, that was—so Eric felt justified in how his breath still caught a little. He’d get over it. “Yeah, you did,” he said, locating an answering grin that would pass for casual. “I could go a bit longer, though. If you’re up for it?”
“Sure am. Hell, we only just got here.” Adrian nodded at Kojo and Martin. “Don’t get drunk—I expect you to function tonight.”
“You expect me tofunction?” Martin repeated, his lewd tone implying a whole different meaning. “Babe, when have I ever let you down?”
Adrian didn’t miss a beat. “Hawaii—you’d caught a stomach bug, and I had to film with Rocky instead. Let’s just say he could use a softer touch.”
“Hawaii?” Kojo looked impressed as he took off his helmet. “If I’d known that a career in porn means travelling to cool places, I might have given it some thought.”
“The trips could be fun,” Adrian agreed. “We’d typically go somewhere warm for part of each term break—comfortable temperatures for outdoor scenes, you see?”
“Makes sense.” Kojo nodded like an expert who’d given thematter some careful consideration. “Eric did say that your locations were more interesting than some bland room with a bed and art from IKEA.”
