Adam nods, completely incurious as to what that might mean for him. “So, are you gonna show me what you got for me? And when do I get to come?”
How I love my shallow, uncomplicated boyfriend.
Chapter14
Adam
Life is good. I’m a few ounces under my target weight. I’ve got a modeling job lined up for an underwear company that sells sexy jockstraps, as well as a new Instagram sponsor—makers of a fragrance who wanted someone “spicy” as their influencer. And I’m two weeks away from shooting what could be the next big hit TV show. My lines are nothing to write home about, but Cassius says it’s not the word count that matters but how charismatically I convey my character.
And Cassius is taking a real interest in Elliot’s career too. Speaking from experience, Cassius is someone who could really take his art to the next level, if Elliot would accept the help, but he’s still acting snotty about it. Not only that but he’s constantly on my ass about our relationship. It’s kind of annoying.
“Adam, you do realize you’re not his sex slave, right?” Elliot asks in his needling way. We’re out on the patio, neutral territory between the main house and the pool house where Elliot is staying. The fall weather right now is perfect—a brisk mid-seventies—a little too cold to swim, but great for the hot tub. Elliot has his sketchpad with him but he’s doing more shit-talking than drawing.
“I’m not?” I say with a smile.
“This arrangement you have, is it even one you enjoy?”
“Um, yes. Do you think I’d still be here if I didn’t?” I’m not some desperate newb like I was when Elliot first found me. I have friends, connections even. I’m not balling by any means but I’m not a broke-ass either. If Cassius threw me out tomorrow, I’d probably cry about it and eat a shit-ton of junk food, but I’d land on my feet.
“There are a lot of perks to being Cassius’s sex slave,” I tell Elliot.
“Really, like what?”
“He feeds me healthy food and buys me whatever I want. He makes me feel beautiful and sexy and he can also be very sweet sometimes.” Last week I was feeling down about a huge, disgusting zit on my face, so Cassius took me to get a facial with Lucia and a few of their friends—the Brentwood Babes, he calls them. We got manis and pedis and gossiped all day long, then finished it off with a Lindsay Lohan marathon. By the end of it all, my pimple had practically disappeared.
“He calls you terrible names,” Elliot says.
“Yeah, but they’re like his pet names for me.”
“Filthy fuck hole? Dirty cum dumpster?”
I shake my head at Elliot’s outrage. “His vocabulary is really big. Almost as big as his dick.” Elliot really doesn’t like that, but it’s true!
“Adam, he’s a sociopath.”
Huh. That actually makes sense to me, because there are times when Cassius really doesn’t give a shit about the things he says or the way other people react to him. But again, see above.
“Aren’t most CEO’s sociopaths?” I ask Elliot. “They still have families and function perfectly well in society. Maybe it’s a genetic problem with the rich. Like those princes who kept dying because their blood wouldn’t clot.” I watched a documentary on that once. Poor bastards.
“I just don’t understand why you would choose someone like him when you have so many other options.”
I hope he’s not suggesting himself. Elliot’s fine but he’s not my type. We’re much better as friends.
“You don’t have to understand it, Elliot, because it’s between Cassius and me. He supports me in my career and my life goals. He cares when I don’t meet my target weight, and he cheers me up when I’m feeling sad. He’ll cut a bitch on my behalf, which is super-hot, by the way. He even does cleanses with me. And the sex is amazing. What more could I want?”
“Do you have a safeword?”
“Yeah, but honestly I’m not sure he would listen.”
“That is ahugered flag.”
“Yeah, but I kind of like it when he scares me. Gets me off.”
“This all sounds very abusive to me.”
I groan and roll my eyes. “Whatever, it works for us. Are we going to do this thing or not?” I motion to his pad of paper with impatience.
He raises the sketchbook again, his expression flat. “Tilt your head. No, to the right. Now a little more.”
