We wait.
Two months ago,Cody
"You're going to film with Serena today," Theo says on the ice, mid-drill. He hits the back of my helmet with his glove.
I keep skating.
I've told Theo a hundred times not to bring this shit up on the ice. He does it anyway. That's the thing about Theo — he doesn't forget rules, he decides they don't apply to him. One day, I'm going to make him understand what it feels like to have someone ignore a boundary he's set. I'm going to enjoy that day.
"We’ll talk about this later."
"I don't want to hear any excuses about your little girlfriend at Puget Sound," he warns, keeping pace with me easily, because Theo is infuriatingly fast. "The people want you and Serena tonight."
I take off. Hard. Putting distance between us.
He has no idea what it's cost me. The double life, the lies, the way I have to separate everything into airtight boxes and make sure none of it bleeds. Adela in one box. This is another. The money in another. Theo has no idea because he has never been in love with anyone and doesn't understand what it does to the math of every decision you make.
The fact that people want me and Serena together makes me sick.
I do the drill and don't talk to him for the rest of practice.
That night, I'm in Theo's apartment, last bedroom on the left. The one with the city view. Serena is already there, already professional about it, the way she always is.
We film for an hour. He tells me the things they want me to do, and I glance at him sideways. I wouldn’t put it past him if he made some of this shit up to keep it spicy.
Afterward, Serena opens the laptop, pulls up the account, and starts reading through the requests. She loves this part. The attention, the comments about how sexy she is. She enjoys this shit way too much.
"They love us together, Cody." She doesn't look up from the screen. "Look at these numbers."
“Don’t romanticize it, Serena.”
I stand at the window, look at the city, and think about Adela. When I first started this gig, it was nothing more than an ego boost: the money, the women, the thrill.
I'm not sure the money is worth it anymore.
I already know it isn't.
Sex isn’t the same. There’s only one person I want to sleep with, and she’s far away.
Serena leaves, and I linger. Theo is on his phone, already running numbers, already on his next move.
"You guys made some fucking good tips tonight."
"I want eighty," I say.
He laughs. "Are you out of your mind? Serena gets forty. You get forty. I get twenty."
"That's bullshit." I look at him. "I'm out. I can't do this anymore."
He glances over his shoulder at me. "Are you getting money hungry on me?”
I shake my head. “I’m done, Theo. This was my last time.”
“You gave me your word you fucking wanted this. We built this shit together piece by piece."
"Yeah. People are allowed to change their minds."
He stands. He uses his height deliberately, crossing the room until he's close enough that the size of him is part of the conversation.
