“I suppose,” I hedged. It didn’t sound as if he was happy. Looking around the shack, I thought I had a good idea why staying wasn’t an option. “Does that have anything to do with your financial problems?” I asked bluntly, second-guessing myself when I saw Noah blanch.
“I really don’t want to talk about it, but I guess you’re not going to stop bugging me, are you?”
“Probably not.” I grinned, shrugging my shoulders in a ‘can’t help myself’ sort of way.
“Well.” He heaved a deep sigh. “The thing is, they’re two things really that are connected with each other. I split up with my boyfriend a month ago. I had to pay for my travel and foot the bills all by myself, which depleted my funds. And my reach has been horrible since the break-up.”
“Fewer accounts engage with yours?” I asked.
“Yep. Less reach means less income, so I haven’t been able to build up my rainy day fund again. I’m not exactly broke, but I need to increase my income quickly.”
“How do you plan on doing that?” I finished my beer. “Want another one?”
“Yes, please. Well, I need content. I don’t know how closely you’ve been following my account, but I, ugh.” He huffed, blushing and curling in on himself.
I got up to grab us two more IPAs, opened them, and handed Noah one. He clinked the bottom of his bottle to mine and we drank. I did not tell him that I was one of his frequent followers.
“I’m not exactly proud of it, but it worked and it paid the bills. I realised at some point that people like aesthetic pictures of young men in almost no clothes.” Noah choked on the words, and I did too. “I found out by accident. My ex-boyfriend and I took a picture of us on the beach for our six-month anniversary. We were in swimming trunks. That thing went viral.”
He slid his fingers through the mess on his head. “I didn’t realise, I swear. But when I read the comments it dawned on me.”
“What did?”
“All the comments were from thirsty people objectifying us. We began to post more. The two of us in bed, barely covered by the sheets, on the couch, you name it. And we made a shit ton of money. People tipped us through JustTheTip, they bought things off our wish lists, and the more of this particular content we posted, the more money came in.”
He cringed visibly and jumped up to pace around the room.
Everything in me longed to help him calm down.
“Since we broke up, he’s been doing it on his own. There’s nothing wrong with it, like, I’m not judging, yeah? Or I would judge myself as well. But I started blogging to write about my travels. I have no idea what else to do, though. And I’m pretty skint, Lew.” He messed up his hair some more.
“What do you need to make that kind of content again?”
“A hot guy to show off.” He laughed derisively.
Fuck. I’d seen it coming but still gaped at him.
“Yeah, as if anyone would be interested in some pathetic loser like me. Living in a shack, and not even being able to buy a pair of winter boots.”
“What would that entail? ‘A hot guy to show off’? Showing off how?”
I was racking my brains for someone I might know who could help Noah out.
“Just pictures. No videos or anything. I’m not really in the mood to add to my ….” His voice trailed off.
“Okay, I’ll—” I began.
“Oh my God, Lewis, are you for real? You’d do that? For me?” He sounded close to tears.
“Uh.”What? Me?
“That—I don’t know what to say, Lew. Seriously, not even in my wildest dreams would I have expected you to offer to do something like that.For me. That’s—” He sniffed. “I, I really do appreciate this so much, Lewis.”
He hurried over and flung his arms around my neck. There was nothing I could do but pat his back as he sobbed into my shirt.
“So sorry,” he sniffed again, as he straightened up and wiped his face on the sleeves of his cardigan. “It’s just been a lot. And then coming here to this, and you? It’s—” He hiccuped slightly. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” I muttered. I wasn’t going to correct him and say I’d been trying to think of someone else to pose as his boyfriend. This could be exactly the chance I’d been waiting for.
