Chapter Two
Ryan
Hangingmy headphones on their hook, I emerged from the recording booth, exhaustion tugging at my limbs. It was just after five so the neighbors would arrive home soon, dashing any hopes of working for the next few hours. The best time for narration was when people were at work or asleep.
I cracked my neck and padded to the kitchen, my feet protesting the movement. They were aching from standing for hours, and I reminded myself to sit more often while I worked. Standing helped me use the full range of my voice, though, so it was either sore feet or inferior audio.
My phone buzzed on the counter where I’d left it while working as I lifted the glass of water to my lips. Leaving it outside the booth so I wasn’t tempted to scroll social media instead of narrating was a necessity. I was easily distracted, and the day had been particularly long since I’d procrastinated with the latest job. The quick deadline because of my delay made me want to put it off even more—not to mention the project wasn’t my favorite subgenre of romance to narrate.
Happy contemporary romance usually made the mostmoney, but my favorites were fantasy and the darker stuff. Those were more exciting to me, although there wasn’t anything wrong with the Hallmark stories. They were heartwarming and made people feel good, a much-needed escape from day-to-day life.
I swiped the phone screen, not bothering to look at the caller ID since I already knew who it was. Only one person ever called me. “What’s up, Craig?” I answered.
“Hey, Ryan, how’s the recording coming along?” My agent’s greeting sounded mildly desperate.
Before answering, I took another gulp of water. “It’s coming. I just finished a solid session, so I should have everything recorded in the next day or so.”
Craig’s sigh of relief resonated on the other side of the line. “Great! The requests keep coming in. I think we should ramp up your recording time even more. Let’s ride the wave while we have it. You never know when things will plateau and drop off.” His voice was accented by the soft tapping of a pen on wood.
“You already have another one for me to start after I finish this one, don’t you?”
The tapping stopped. “I sure do. It’s one of those spicy dark romances. Your favorite.”
I blew out a breath. “At least there's that. If I have to record another cutesy scene in a pumpkin patch or a Christmas tree farm, I’m going to fall asleep. I know people love it, but I need something more exciting. Those are all I’ve been doing lately,” I huffed. “Give me murder, mafia, kinky sex, and all the fucked-up shit.”
“Well…there’s a catch,” Craig said hesitantly.
“Fuck,” I said, irritability lacing my voice as I sat the glass on the counter with more force than necessary. “What now?” Iasked, aggravation already spreading through me because I knew he was going to say something I wouldn’t like.
“The author is indie and fronting the money for a duet.”
The beginnings of a headache pulled at my temples as I loosed a sigh and imagined the hassle I could be in for. “Craig, I’m not doing it if I have to record live like the author wanted last month. It’s 2024, there's no need for live narration forchemistry,” I said, adding emphasis to the last word.
“I know, I know. We will try to do it separately and production will splice it together. Since it worked well a few books ago, the author is on board. I talked to her this morning and she said as long as it sounds good she wouldn’t need you and your counterpart in person or on a call together. She’s dead set on you for her novel, so she agreed when I said you work on your own time.”
“Fine,” I grunted. “But if it doesn’t work, I’m not recording based on someone else’s availability. I work when I can, and when the words are flowing. Send me the script, and I’ll look it over before I give the green light.”
After ending the call, I ran a hand through my russet hair and fell on the couch. I replayed the conversation and contemplated the newest deal. It wasn’t that I disliked duet-style narration. It made the most money, but I hated when authors wanted narrators to record live in person or more typically, on a conference call. Everyone loved duet over dual, but what they didn’t realize was that it was next to impossible to get two narrators on the same schedule. Not to mention all the work that went into duet and the extra cost.
Catering to other people wasn’t something I liked to deal with, and adhering to someone else’s schedule was a nightmare. I’d done it frequently when I began my career, but the more popular I became the fewer jobs I took that required me to do things I didn’t want to do.
My dislike of being around people was one of the reasons voice work interested me in the first place. I didn’t have to deal with feeling like I didn’t live up to expectations unless I wanted to seek out reviews on the books I worked on. I’d seen enough of that from my parents, and had no desire to experience that repeatedly so using my voice to make a product was ideal.
It took some time to get the booth set up and all the kinks worked out when I decided I wanted to do voice acting and narration instead of just fucking around on social media. After I signed with Craig and started making a real income, I was thankful I splurged on state of the art recording equipment.
A hint of excitement settled in my chest as I prepared dinner. As long as I could record when I wanted, this project would be fun. I wouldn’t have to use my higher female voice so I could enjoy the story more. My curiosity was rampant about the different themes that persisted throughout the darker side of romance that might be in the book, and blood rushed to my cock at the thought. Those novels usually tested the limits of what society deemed acceptable, and I was all for it. I even read books I didn’t narrate in the genre in my spare time.
Since I wasn’t able to work for a few hours, I decided to see if any of the bros were online. A few hours of video games and streaming would be just what I needed to have a productive night. The more I got done, the faster Craig would ease up on the calls.
“In, in, in, in, in!”I yelled at my computer screen. “Dude, stay behind me. I know he went in here.” My heart thudded with anticipation. A few beats passed, and I cautiously stepped around the door frame of the rundown, abandoned house.Shots rang out, and before I could react, my screen flashed black and a blood-red “dead” appeared.
“Motherfucker! I didn’t think the asshole would be right fucking there. Guys, I’m over this shit tonight.” My friends’ grumbles sounded through my headset, and I quickly clicked out of the game, effectively killing their audio from my stream. “All right, babes,” I said to the hundreds of people, most of which I assumed were female, watching me fuck around. “That does it for tonight. Catch you all next time.”
Closing all the open tabs, I shut down my gaming computer and plucked my phone from its stand. I hadn’t spent a lot of the money I’d earned through narration, but I did splurge for the gaming station that I was seated at in addition to my recording equipment. Complete with three monitors, strips of neon lighting, and a racing wheel, it was the ideal setup.
When I was a kid, video games were a distraction from life and I got back into them a few years ago after college. I’d found that the more I stayed in my room when I was younger, the less I had to hear about how much my father disliked me. Not to mention Mom being indifferent about everything where I was concerned.
The skills from my teenage years came back to me easily as an adult, so I started making content, posting online, and dabbling in streaming. Once my voice acting took off, the streaming got a hefty boost. Most of my current followers were fans that just tuned in to hear my voice. Even without engaging with subscribers directly and not showing my face, they all still tuned in to watch my fuckery.
