The Anti-Hero (The Goode Brothers, #1)(39)

“The rich, older one,” she replies.

“Yeah, him. He and I want to make some videos. For…

fun.”

Yikes, this feels forced and uncomfortable. Is she even buying any of this? I mean, I did work in a sex club, so it can’t be that much of a stretch for her to see me doing this now.

She’s folding towels as she seems to be mentally chewing on what I’ve just told her. Her face tenses in scrutiny before she glances my way and shrugs.

“Hey, make money with him if you can, I guess. Harold and I used to record ourselves all the time. But he would have never, ever let me post them anywhere. It would have been nice to at least make some money with them.”

“Oooh, so kinky, Gladys. Do you still have them?” I ask with a giddy smile.

“Somewhere in a box, I’m sure. If I die and you find a videotape labeled Hawaii vacation, burn it.”

Gladys and I are both laughing so hard now neither of us hear the front doorbell chime. It’s not until I feel his gloomy presence hovering three feet away that I realize Adam is here.

God, his dad really did a number on him last night.

My laughter dies as I turn to stare at him. His sudden presence sends a flutter of butterflies to my stomach because I know exactly what comes next.

“Oh, hi,” I mutter.

“Hi,” he replies flatly.

He’s in a pair of dark-gray joggers and a V-neck T-shirt that hugs his chest and shoulders. His dark hair looks a little wet at the tips like he just got out of the shower and came straight over. I can smell the potent scent of his cologne from here, musky and rich. I don’t know if it’s laced with pheromones or if that’s just the effect of expensive cologne, but it has me noticing just how ridiculously handsome he is today.

And how badly I want to rub my face all over his pecs.

And feel those thick biceps wrapped around me.

Jesus, maybe Gladys was right. I am horny as fuck.

“Ready?” he asks, nodding toward the door. Has he totally forgotten that we’re supposed to be selling it as a couple?

I can feel Gladys staring at me, so I widen my eyes at him, glancing toward Gladys as if to remind him we have an audience.

Instantly, his cold, detached demeanor morphs into a forced smile as he crosses the room. Without warning, he leans down and presses his lips to mine. It’s a quick peck, but it takes me by surprise. As he stands upright, he smiles at Gladys.

“Hi again.”

“Hi again,” Gladys replies with a playful smirk on her face.

“I’ll finish these later,” I tell her as I stand from my chair.

“Go. Have fun,” she says, waving us away.

“Mind if I send Roscoe down?” I ask.

“No, I’ll watch him,” she replies, shooting me a wink. For a moment, I feel terrible about lying to her, even if it is a small, harmless fib.

“Thanks, Gladys!”

Grabbing Adam by the arm, I tug him toward the door leading up to my apartment. He seems as tense as I’m feeling today, which is good, I guess. I don’t want to be the only nervous person in this scenario.

After we reach my apartment, I carry Roscoe down the stairs, hearing Gladys call for him before I set him down and shut him out in the stairwell.

Then it’s just me and Adam alone in my apartment with heavy doses of anticipation and awkwardness.

“Got anything to drink?” he asks.

I scurry toward the kitchen. “Is beer okay?”

“Yes,” he replies as I pull out two, one for each of us.

After a long drink, he looks determined and ready to work.

“So, how are we going to do this?”

“Okay, so I’ve been thinking,” I say, pulling out my phone.

“We can upload the clips on FanVids—you’ve heard of it, right?”

“That amateur porn app?”

“Yeah. We can start with short clips—fifteen to thirty seconds. Then we share them anonymously on socials and try to get subscribers. Then after it’s created some buzz, we post longer videos. Real videos. Well…real- ish.”

His brows are scrunched together as he stares down at my phone, the FanVids app open to show him how people can scroll the feed. Guessing by the confusion on his face, he’s not familiar with the app and doesn’t quite know how this is going to work, but that’s okay. I’ll handle the distribution; I just need him to be him and play the part.

“So people can see these short clips for free?”

“Basically. But we have to show your face. We need people to see that it’s you.”

As I scroll through the app, video after video popping up, my skin starts to grow hot. Maybe it’s the suggestive nature of the clips, or maybe it’s the realization that we’re about to post stuff like this too. Either way, I’m struggling to even hold still at this point.

“Let’s do it,” he says at last, and I bite my lip as I stare up at him.

Our eyes meet for a moment, and I get a whiff of his cologne again, my body growing excited at the prospect of getting to touch him again. The room fills with tension while neither of us moves.

Finally, I clear my throat and walk toward the couch. His eyes follow me before landing on the tripod I have set up already.

“Have you done this before?” he asks.