And Laney.
Laney’s finding out in the worst possible way that I have a side hustle that’s not the least bit respectable.
I square my shoulders and look her straight in the eye. “Because I am.”
“Oh my god in heaven,” Gail says.
“Shutup, Mom,” Laney snaps.
“And I’m fucking good at it,” I add.
“Theo,stop,” Emma says.
I don’t look at her. Instead, I stare straight at Laney. I want to see it.
Ineedto see it.
I need to see if she can live with me,allof me, even if this isn’t how I wanted to tell her, or if she’s one more person that I’ve let down today.
“I strip,” I say. “I bare the goods. All of them. I put them on the internet. And I get paid a fuck ton of money.That’sthe kind of modeling I do.”
Laney gasps so hard it’s like she’s in physical pain.
And I want to hug her.
I want to hug her and tell her I’ll never do it again if she’ll just give me a chance. A real chance. A chance at home, where everything’s normal.
But I’m not giving up a good thing—a good thing whereI make a fucking difference—to fit someone else’s mold ofnormal.
That’s not who I am.
“That’s not what you do,” Sabrina says.
“Isn’t it?”
“Theo—”
“My penis pays my bills.”
Laney’s gaping.
She’s gaping like I just broke her world, looking between me and her parents behind her.
And Emma—Emma makes a noise that’s even worse.
“You done here?” I ask my sister gently. Have to be gentle.
It’s Em.
Her dreams are falling apartright now. I don’t matter.
She matters.
Her eyes fill with tears.
My heart takes a punch to the nads.
“When you sayporn star—” Laney starts.
