Page 5

Xander

I didn't hear anything from any of the members of the Studio Black team over the weekend, a fact that I had to keep reminding myself was probably perfectly normal.

It didn't mean that I had failed, and it didn't mean that they were going to suddenly cancel my contract.

I mean...the tension between myself and Tristan had been fucking intense, right? That had to count for something.

Especially because I got the impression - both from the secret glances that he and Emmett had shared, as well as my own intuition - that Tristan tended to be a bit more of a difficult star to work with, and the fact that he and I had worked together so well together had to be a good thing, right?

By the time Sunday night rolled around and Ethan texted me to ask me out for a drink, I was a nervous wreck and responded with a thumbs up emoji before I could think better of it.

Gunner's was relatively quiet, considering it was Sunday, and I sighed as I took my seat at the bar to wait for Ethan to show up.

Mark, the usual bartender, smiled at me as he grabbed a glass, his long blonde hair pulled into a topknot at the top of his head, a few strands falling down around his cheekbones.

"Hey, Xan.

You're looking a bit rough." He poured me a beer before I could even ask for it, and I let out a low chuckle as he slid it across the bar top towards me, and then wiped down the counter as he cocked an eyebrow over those pretty blue eyes of his.

"Thanks man, you too."

He chuckled, winking at me.

"I'm too pretty to look rough, and you know it," he bantered back, wiggling his eyebrows a little.

"I'm convinced that you stepped off a surfer movie set and this is just your in between gig before you get back to your real life," I deadpanned, looking Mark up and down.

He was a very beautiful man, it was true, classically handsome with high cheekbones, a sculpted jaw, and the sunshine drenched looks of a surf god.

He looked like everyone's stereotypical idea of what a Californian should look like, and it never ceased to amaze me that he was here in this little town, rather than LA or San Francisco or literally anywhere else in the state where he could make a much better living.

Mark chuckled, and he tucked his rag into the waist of his jeans as he looked at me.

"You caught me.

I'm a surfer movie star in hiding." He leaned forward confidentially.

"Drugs, you know."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me again, and I snorted out a laugh even as I shook my head.

"Yeah, okay," I said easily, picking up my beer and taking a sip.

The carbonated drink settled my stomach some, and I glanced around, checking my phone as Mark wandered off to chat with the patrons at the other end of the bar.

Ethan burst in through the front doors of the bar a few minutes later, and he offered me an apologetic smile as he drew level with me, offering Mark a wave when he glanced down the bar towards us.

"Sorry, I'm late."

I chuckled, picking up my beer and standing up.

"I don't think you can be late for a casual drink with your brother at the local bar," I teased, leading him over to one of the empty booths in the corner of the room.

I smiled at Mark as we passed him, and Ethan sighed as we sat down, the corner slightly more private that the bar was.

"Still.

I invited you out, so I felt bad." He clasped his hands together on top of the table, and he smiled at me, his eyes sparkling.

"So? How did your first day at the new job go?"

My stomach swooped at the question, and I took a sip from my beer to give myself a minute to think.

Because I'd avoided the question when Ethan had texted it to me on Friday, and I'd avoided texting him most of the weekend, and I still didn't have a good plan for what I was going to say if my brother came right out and asked me what my new job was, again.

I mean, I could lie through my teeth, but I had the feeling that it would be written all over my face.

Yeah, it was great! I got paid to get hard as fuck and have my dick rubbed by a man that I would literally pay money to fuck.

But I'm actually going to be the one getting paid money, because I work for a porn studio now.

Yeah, it is a good time...!

I snorted into my drink, and looked up at Ethan, whose expression had grown a little more serious in the few seconds that it had taken me to look back up at him.

"Do we need to have another conversation about cleaning things up for the mob, Xan?" he asked, leaning close.

His voice was deeply serious as he asked the question, but the twinkle in his eyes told me that he was teasing, and I snorted again.

"No, we don't need to have that talk.

I told you, I'm fine.

And my first day went...well.

I think, anyway.

I'm waiting for my review to come back from the bosses before we plan my next assignment."

I worded my explanation vaguely enough that it could have applied to just about any industry, and Ethan nodded as Mark crossed over from the bar and took his order.

He flashed a smile before Mark turned and disappeared, and then his eyes flicked towards the front door of the bar when it opened again, and several new voices sounded.

One of them...deeply familiar.

Don't turn around.

Don't turn around.

Don't turn around...

I couldn't help myself.

I turned in my seat, and watched as Tristan and several other men - all as attractive as him - filtered into the bar and took their seats at one of the booths across the room.

My stomach flipped at the sight of him, and I felt my face flushing bright red as I turned in my seat and took another sip from my beer.

I drank it too fast, though, and snorted some of the carbonation up through my nose, making it burn and sputtering as I tried to get my breath back into my lungs.

"Dude." Ethan passed over a napkin, and I coughed, wiping the table and shoving my beer to the side, lest I be tempted to take another ill-advised sip.

Ethan's eyes flicked over the Tristan and the others, and then back at my face, and he arched an eyebrow.

"Do you...know them?"

There was a thread of tension in his voice that made me draw up straight, and I mentally flipped through every possible excuse that I could have for why seeing Tristan and his other friends would have had such a strong effect on me, other than the truth.

None of the ideas that I came up with were plausible, so I went with...a version of the truth.

"Um, yeah.

The guy with the curls? He's a buddy of mine.

We just met recently." I forced my voice to remain nonchalant, and only reached for my beer again once I felt like I had my breathing firmly under control.

Ethan's eyes widened slightly, and then they flicked over to Tristan, and then back at me.

His throat bobbed with a swallow, and one of his hands reached up to tug at the collar of his white polo shirt, smoothing it down where it was wrinkled the tiniest bit.

"Oh," he finally said faintly.

Something in his voice - that same thread of tension that I'd noticed before, along with a healthy dose of nervous anticipation, now, if I made my guess - made me arch an eyebrow, and after a few moments, I sighed.

"Your poker face fucking sucks, E."

Ethan sputtered for a moment, and Mark took that moment to return to our table with a Jack and Coke for my brother.

He looked between the two of us, seeming to sense the tension, before he turned on his heel and walked right away.

Good call, dude.

Ethan picked up his drink and took a sip, his eyes flicking back over to the new group by the door one more time.

This time, I could feel a heavy weight on the back of my head, and I didn't have to look over my shoulder to know that Tristan was looking at me.

The thought made my cock kick in my jeans, and it took everything inside of me not to reach down and press the heel of my hand against it, trying to restrain my erection before it got out of hand.

"Okay," Ethan said, drawing my attention again.

He licked his lips and set his glass down, nudging it to the side and looking at me with a mildly uncomfortable look in his eye.

"I...That guy is your friend.

And I love you having friends.

But I need to tell you something about him, because otherwise it's going to be incredibly awkward when you invite him over to hang out with us and I have to look him in the eye."

My stomach flipped, but I forced my expression to say nonchalant as I arched an eyebrow at my twin. "Oh?"

I have the feeling I know what he's going to say...

Ethan looked even more uncomfortable, and he leaned close, lowering his voice as if he were afraid of Tristan hearing him from across the room.

"Your friend...he does porn, Xan.

And I'm not shaming him or judging, because...well, that would make me a fucking hypocrite after watching him, but...God, how am I supposed to look him in the eye if we're all hanging out together?!"

The anguish in my brother's voice would have been funny if it weren't for the nerves that were suddenly fluttering in my stomach, and I swallowed.

I peeked over my shoulder, meeting Tristan's gaze for a second.

Tristan's lips curled up in a smirk, and I looked back at my brother before the sexy expression made my cock even harder than it already was.

This was the moment where, if I were better at lying to my twin, I would brush off what Ethan had said and move on.

But I couldn't.

Not least because...well, I hated keeping secrets from him.

"I know that, E," I finally said, taking a sip from my drink.

My stomach flipped, but I forced my voice to stay steady and even as I continued, "I...the job that I'm doing.

It's working with him.

His name is Tristan, not Lance, by the way."

Ethan's eyes bugged out, and his mouth opened and shut for a moment before he leaned forward, his voice still low and intent.

"You're doing porn? That's your new job?"

I nodded, one of my hands curling into a fist under the table.

"Yeah.

It's a good gig, E.

I can make a lot of money, and the studio has a really great NDA policy to keep their actors safe."

I held my breath as Ethan's expression calmed a little, and he seemed to give serious thought to what I was telling him.

I wasn't necessarily worried about him being judgmental - like he'd said, that would make him a whole-ass hypocrite, as a consumer of gay porn himself - but consuming porn and knowing that your twin brother was performing in it were two entirely different situations, and I could respect that he needed a minute.

"Well." Ethan finally blew out a breath after nearly a minute of heartbreakingly tense silence, and then he offered me a small smile.

"I guess I'm not watching any videos from Studio Black anymore, then, am I? Because I love you, dude, but I am not going to watch..."

"Xan.

You didn't tell me that there were two of you."

Tristan's voice was a low purr that made my spine snap straight, and it took everything inside of me not to jump to my feet like a fucking weirdo.

My cock jerked, almost fully hard now, and I slowly let out my breath as I turned in my seat to face Tristan, looking at his stupidly handsome face.

"Hey, Tristan," I greeted, my cheeks flushing a little.

I glanced at Ethan, who was staring at Tristan with his lips slightly parted - in awe, if I had to guess - and then back at my new coworker.

"Fancy seeing you here."

He smirked at me, then looked at Ethan before sticking out his hand.

"Hi.

I'm Tristan, Xander's new friend.

It's nice to meet you."

Ethan swallowed, then shook Tristan's hand.

"Ethan.

Nice to meet you too."

Tristan grinned, and then he turned his attention back to me, his gaze intense as he looked down at me.

"Are you just having a drink with each other, or are you waiting on anyone...?"

I swallowed.

"I was actually just getting E caught up on the new gig," I replied evenly.

"He recognized you."

Tristan's eyes widened a little, flicking over to my brother, and then his smirk widened as he turned his attention to Ethan.

"Is that right? Well, in that case, why don't the two of you come over and join us?" He looked at me, winking.

"You can meet some of the other guys from the studio.

We like to come here on Sundays before work starts for the week."

I could feel the curious gazes of the other guys who were sitting in the booth on the other side of the room, and my cock throbbed under Tristan's attention.

I licked my lips, desperately ignoring the way that his eyes flicked down to my mouth, just for a second, and then I looked at my brother, who was flushed and his pupils were dilated as he looked over Tristan's shoulder.

Clearly seeing something he liked.

Ah, well.

I can take one for the team, I suppose.

"Yeah, sure.

What do you think, E?" I offered him a smirk, nudging my foot up against his.

"Think you're down to hang with a bunch of adult stars?"

Ethan swallowed, his pupils dilated when he looked back at me.

"Sure, Xan.

Whatever you say."

His voice had the slightest tremble, and Tristan tossed his head back with genuine laughter before he clapped his hand on my shoulder, clutching with a firm grip as I stood up.

"Come on, baby star, and twin.

Let's meet the rest of the rabble."