I wasn’t sure if Peter had been messing up with bookings because I hadn’t been getting very many clients. I was home, on a Thursday, drinking a beer at noon and wondering what the hell I was doing with my life.

My roommate, Josh, stumbled out of his bedroom wearing boxers and a shirt that was inside out. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the clock on the stove.

“Please don’t tell me it’s 1:00pm,” he said.

“It’s only noon. The clock is wrong. Neither of us has changed it to daylight saving time,” I said. “Did you have a rough night?”

He went right to the kitchen to get a glass of water. “Very rough,” he said.

He looked at the beer I was holding. “I don’t even want to look at any kind of alcohol right now,” he said.

I set the bottle down on top of some books that were left on the coffee table.

“You’re drinking at noon. I’m hungover on a Thursday. What is our life becoming, River?” he asked.

The question brought a chill down my spine. The last thing I needed that afternoon was someone reminding me of my current situation.

“We were lied to,” I said. “They told us law school was our ticket to a happy and productive life.”

“I don’t know, Riv. Maybe we just haven’t gotten lucky yet,” he said.

Josh and I met in my freshman year of college. We’d lived together ever since in our current apartment. Over the years, we’d accumulated enough books to fill a library. But neither Josh nor I could find a job at a firm when we graduated. So when we both found an opportunity to escort, we took it out of desperation.

“My client last night gave me a very nice tip, and I don’t mean just his cock,” Josh said.

I laughed. “I guess you’re luckier than me. Peter hasn’t been giving me many clients recently. Maybe it’s because I keep calling him out for screwing up my schedule.”

“He does that all the time to me too. It’s so annoying.”

It was nice to be living with someone who was also an escort. But I knew we couldn’t keep up with the lifestyle for very long.

“Why can’t we get real jobs?” Josh asked, sounding defeated.

“I wish I knew. Then maybe we wouldn’t have to do this kind of work.”

“It’s kind of nice to feel a bit appreciated by my clients. At least someone sees a bit of worth in me,” Josh said.

“I’m still waiting for the day when someone appreciates my brain instead of my body,” I said.

I took another sip of beer before I noticed my phone ringing. It was from an unknown number.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey, River?” A man with a deep voice answered.

I went into my bedroom so that I could get some privacy.

“Speaking. Who’s this?” I asked.

“It’s Gray. How are you doing?”

I realized that I hadn’t saved his number in my phone.

“I’m doing good,” I said.

“Nice. I wanted to see if you were free today.”

“Yeah, I am,” I answered, hating how eager I sounded.

“Great. Is there any way you can make it to my place?”

“Yeah, I can do that. What time?” I asked.

“As soon as you can. I’ll see you soon,” he said before hanging up.

I went back to the living room where Josh had put his legs up on the couch while watching TV. “Was that a client?” he asked.

“Yes, I mean no...I don’t really know what it is,” I admitted.

Josh looked at me over the couch. “What does that mean?”

I shrugged, picking up the shirt I left on a chair and put it on. “It’s kind of weird. He wants me to escort him to his brother’s wedding. You should see his house, though. This guy is pretty well off.”

Josh sat up straighter. “You mean he’s paying you to just go to a wedding?”

“I guess so,” I said. “We haven’t negotiated anything yet. So far, I’m a bit skeptical.”

“Well, you never know with new clients. So you better be safe and call me if things get a bit weird.”

I smiled. “I will. You don’t have to worry.”

Josh and I had known each other for seven years now. He was like the brother I never had.

“I have to go, though,” I said. “He wants me to come to his house now.”

I went to my room and grabbed a pair of pants that was in my hamper, and tried to iron the wrinkles out of them. I looked in the mirror and brushed my hair back out of my eyes. Next to my bed, I had the briefcase of toys that I usually brought when I saw clients. But since Gray wasn’t interested the first time, I decided to leave it there.

I said goodbye to Josh before I rushed out the door and into my car, which was parked across the street, and I drove to Gray’s house. My heart fluttered at the thought of seeing him again. I remembered his piercing brown eyes and how he spoke with such confidence. Maybe that was what I lacked. Confidence. If I had confidence, then I could probably land a job that I actually wanted.

Gray Everett. The mysterious man with an empty house who wanted me for something more than sex. What I was the most interested in was how he’d become so successful as a lawyer. Maybe I could get some tips from him so that I could finally get my life together.

When I arrived, I parked a block away and walked over. It was nearing winter. The trees were bare, and there were a few houses that had already hung up their Christmas lights, even though it was the first week of November. I knocked on Gray’s door.

I saw him wave to me through the window before he opened it.

He was wearing a white T-shirt that was tight on his body. I could see the outline of his pec and abs.

“You’re here,” he said, smiling.

He let me inside his home. Since the last time I was here, he’d gotten a brown leather couch, but the house still was empty. It looked out of place in the middle of the living room. He sat down on it and gestured for me to take a seat.

“All right, so I know our conversation was cut short last time. But I wanted to go more in detail about what I want out of this, and get your opinion on it as well.”

It was refreshing to hear that my opinion mattered. Most of the time, clients made demands and didn’t really care about my opinion.

“Okay,” I said. “We’ll start off with what exactly you want me to do, and we can go from there.”

“So, the main thing is making sure that we get our story straight so that no one suspects that I’ve hired you. The next thing is that we look good next to each other and that we’re believable as a couple.”

“How are we going to do that?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve been hanging out with my brother Harry and his boyfriend, and they touch each other a lot affectionately. So maybe we can do that.”

“Like touching, how so?” I asked, raising my brow.

Gray reached over and touched my arm, squeezing it.

“Like that?” he asked.

I laughed. “Sure...but if we’re going to be believable, we’re going to have to kiss at least once in a while. Or other people are just going to think we’re friends.”

“That’s true. But I’m not going that far,” he said.

“Well, that’s okay with me, but just know that it’s not my fault if someone figures us out.”

Gray stared blankly at the floor as if he was deep in thought. “Maybe you’re right. We should kiss if we want it to be believable. Actors kiss all the time, and we’re kind of like actors in this. I put on an act sometimes when I’m in the courtroom.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Wait...what kind of act do you put on in the courtroom?”

“I pretend that I know a lot more than I do,” Gray said with a wink.

“Do all successful lawyers do that?” I asked.

“Everyone I know who’s successful.”

I wondered if that was the secret to get a job at a law firm. Just fake it until you make it.

“So, are we going to practice this kiss?” Gray asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t usually kiss clients. But I don’t even know if I can call you my client.”

“Wait, you don’t kiss clients?” he asked.

I nodded. “It’s one of the few things that I refuse to do. Kissing is just too intimate.”

Gray raised a brow. “Interesting. What else do you refuse to do?”

“Sex,” I said. “I don’t have sex with clients.”

Gray looked confused. “But you’re a sex escort.”

I nodded. “Yeah, but mostly BDSM stuff, minus the sex.”

He looked a bit uncomfortable as he moved around in his seat. I could tell something was on his mind.

“Let’s do a bit of role-play,” I suggested.

It was what I did whenever a client got a bit nervous.

“Role-play?” he asked.

“Yeah, let’s pretend this is our first date,” I said. “It’ll take a bit of the pressure away.”

“Okay,” Gray said.

“I’ll leave the house and come back in. We’ll pretend like we’ve just been set up on a blind date.”

Gray laughed. “This is just about the craziest thing I’ve ever done, but I guess it’s a bit too late to back out of it now.”

I got up out of my seat and walked back out the front door and knocked.

“Come in,” Gray said.

I opened the door and walked back inside.

“Hello?” I called out.

Gray approached the door and greeted me with a handshake. “You must be River,” he said. “Let me take your jacket.”

I was glad that he was playing along. It was going to be less nerve-wracking now that we were only role-playing.

“I just moved in, so please don’t mind the emptiness,” Gray said.

I smiled, and we walked to the kitchen where Gray poured some wine in two glasses and gave me one.

“So, how do you know my brother, Blue?” he asked.

“Oh, I met him through a mutual friend,” I lied to go along with our role-play. “He said great things about you and said that we’d be perfect for each other.”

Gray smiled shyly. “Well, he had really good things to say about you too.”

“Like what?” I said.

Gray swirled the wine in his glass. “He said you’re...very intelligent...and funny.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, breaking out of character for a brief moment.

“Oh,” I said. “Is that so.”

I drank some of the wine. “So where did you live before this?” I asked. Though we were only role-playing, I was genuinely curious.

“I lived in Hong Kong. Just got back not too long ago actually.”

“I see,” I said. “Did you learn Chinese when you were there?”

Gray said something in Chinese, and I tilted my head to the side.

“I said I know a little,” Gray said.

I knew we were only role-playing, but for a second, I forgot that this wasn’t a real date. I laughed to myself. There was no way a man like Gray, who was straight and successful, would be actually interested in me anyway.