I follow him down the hall. We’re almost to the stairs when his giant of a boyfriend, Vulcan, comes around the corner. He’s probably one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever met. Nearing seven feet, he has long hair and a long beard, giving you this big, hot Viking vibe. But his body iscoveredin pastel tattoos of sweet things, and he wears the sparkliest, most feminine clothing. He is the epitome of a man who’s comfortable in his own skin.
“Hey, V,” I greet. I may not remember all their names, but it’s hard to forget Vulcan.
Vulcan smiles shyly. “Hi.”
“I love that shirt. That’s my favorite one I’ve seen you wear.”
His face lights up. “Yeah? Thank you.”
I pause on the way by and open the box of pastries. “There’s one in there with your name on it. I bet you can pick it out.”
The way he beams makes me smile. Sure enough, he picks up the cupcake with unicorn frosting. “Thanks, Honey.”
“You’re welcome.”
“We’re just chatting today if you want to hang out,” Collin says.
“Thanks. I’m going to head to the forge for a while, but maybe if you’re still here later?”
“We’ll be glad to have you.”
He smiles again and waves as he heads down the hall, licking off the frosting.
“That was nice of you to bring him a cupcake,” Collin says.
I shrug. “I’m not bringing this box home with me. It’s for your house.”
“They’re going to love that.” We climb up the stairs as he says, “Coraline loved the art set you bought her for her birthday. I think the cleaning company likes it less since she’s gotten paint and charcoal all over the place.”
“My pleasure,” I say, grinning.
Collin’s studio is in the attic. It’s one of those big attics that you see in old houses. There’s a bathroom and two rooms that he uses. He just changes out the furnishings depending on what he’s going for. There’s also racks of clothing and shelves of toys, amongst other things.
He leads me into the new office and does a little spin as he holds out his arm. “What do you think?”
“It feels very executive.”
“Right? I think I need to work on how to make the walls a little more… adjustable. They’re feeling very repetitive, but I can’t just paint them every time I want to change the scene.”
“Panels?” I suggest.
“Mm,” he hums and sits in the big chair behind the big desk. “I’ve looked at how they make sets, but they make sense to either abandon later or for an eight-season run. I’ve thought about vinyl pulls, but then there’s seams and obviously they’re 2D.” Collin shakes his head. “Anyway. Sit. What do you want to brainstorm?”
I set the pastry box between us as he hits record on the stationary ring cam. This is going to be a mix of flirtation—licking icing off each other, sucking on fingers, and chatting. The audio will be stripped before we use the content.
“We’re talking about starting our family,” I say, and Collin grins. His simple smile makes me smile too. “The thing is, I’m not sure how I feel about making sex videos and raising a kid.”
“Ah. The moral dilemma.”
“Yes. I get it. We’re trying to change the stigma against sex work, and I feel like ‘me retiring to raise my family because I feel weird about it’ is just more ammunition forthemas to why it’s shameful.”
“But you’re not ashamed, are you? That’s not why you’re thinking of retiring, right?”
“Right,” I say, grabbing his hand and licking the lemon curd filling from the tip of his finger. We take a minute to give each other sultry eyes before continuing the conversation. “But I keep thinking about how my kid’s going to feel when his peers are watching my sex vids. What kind of position is that going to put him in?”
Collin’s smile is amused. “You realize that retiring when they’re here and stopping making videos isn’t going to erase the ones already out there, right? They’re already there. No matter what you do, they’re there. That situation is probably going to happen regardless of whether you retire or not.”
I scowl at him. “Good point.”
