“None taken,” Ray lies smoothly. I know him well enough to see the storm flickering in his eyes. “How’d the session go? Haven’t debriefed with Jay yet.”
“It was great,” Aiden says, calm as ever. “We had some really hot sex. Should be profitable foreveryone.”
My hand clenches around the water glass, condensation dripping onto my fingers. I’ve barely looked at Aiden since leaving the hotel room earlier. And I sure as hell haven’t told Ray the truth.
“Well, that’s good news,” Ray says, oblivious to the ice crawling down my spine. “These shoots should give us a nice bump in subscribers and PPVs.”
I stare at the menu, pretending to be engrossed in the list of burgers, praying Aiden will keep his mouth shut.
Instead, he detonates the grenade.
“It’s been really great seeing Jay again. Kind of surreal, after all these years.”
Ray’s head snaps toward me. “Wait…what?”
Aiden doesn’t miss a beat. “Oh, sorry. You didn’t know? We went to high school together in Rochester.”
Ray freezes. His voice spikes, loud enough to turn heads. “Holy fuck! You’re that Aiden?”
Aiden smirks. “If you mean Jay’s best friend and boyfriend until we were seventeen,” he says calmly, almost daring him, “then yeah. That’s me.”
The color drains from Ray’s face before returning in a furious red flush. His jaw flexes, and his eyes cut to me like blades. My heart is pounding against my ribs, and I can practically hear the ticking countdown before he explodes.
Ray’s chair scrapes loudly as he shoves it back. He grabs my arm in a vice grip, forcing me up.
“Babe, can I have a word outside?” His tone makes it clear that it’s not a question.
The group goes silent, eyes following us as Ray drags me out of the restaurant. He yanks me around the side of the building, awayfrom the neon glow of the bar, and slams me against the brick wall hard enough to knock the air from my lungs.
“Were you even going to tell me?” His voice is low but venomous, each word spat with precision. “That one of the guys in the orgy is your long-lost lover?”
“I’m sorry,” I manage to say, my voice trembling. “We didn’t have time to talk. He showed up at the pool after you had left. You were asleep when I got ready, and you told me not to wake you. Then everything happened so fast with dinner…”
“Did he fuck you?” Ray growls, eyes blazing.
I hold my breath, then meet his stare. “I was in an orgy where I was one of the bottoms, Ray. Of course, he fucked me. I got fucked by everyone in the room.”
It’s not entirely true, but I’m not about to admit that I only blew a couple of the guys before having the best sex of my life with Aiden, and then I left.
Ray’s hands clench into fists at his sides. “You think I’ll let you be part of anything else this weekend if he’s involved? Not a chance.”
“That’s fine, I’m sore anyway,” I lie, my voice steadier than I feel. “I’d rather sit by the pool with a good book.” In reality, I’m not sore at all. I’m still relishing the memory of Aiden inside me.
Ray sneers. “I’m still going tomorrow. They’re organizing a bigger orgy at some guy’s house. One of us has to participate for the content. I’ll steer clear of your little high school sweetheart.”
“Great,” I snap. “You do that.”
We head back inside to find that Mac and Leon have taken our seats, which puts Ray and me further down the table. Ray doesn’t acknowledge the shift; he just dives into a conversation with the guy beside him as if nothing happened. I keep my eyes off Aidenand focus on Riley, who’s eager to talk about how much fun he had.
After dinner, we return to the hotel. Ray lingers in the lobby with Mac, going over tomorrow’s schedule, while I retreat upstairs, utterly exhausted. I brush my teeth, change into sleep pants, and crawl into bed. I leave the bathroom light on, turn my back to the door, and pretend I’m asleep.
But my mind won’t stay quiet. Images flash like clips from a reel: Ray’s fury, Aiden’s warm body enveloping me, the electricity between us.
My life is unraveling, but beneath the chaos, there’s a hint of hope. Today cracked something wide open inside me.
For the first time in a long time, I see a way out.
Chapter 7
