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“It’s not what you know in this town,” Jack mumbled, “it’s who you know. Been that way since before I moved here, and it’ll be that way long after I’m gone.”
“Truer words were never spoken,” Robbie agreed. “She must have a rich grandfather to go to those lengths just to give her a single starring role. Buying a theater in New York alone is millions of dollars worth of commitment, not counting all of the expenses for the show itself.”
“Yep,” was all I said. “A shame we’re all not that lucky.”
“Hard work builds better character,” Jack said as he finished his beer and waved for another. “Having everything handed to you in life makes spoiled children and spoiled grandchildren.”
He sounded like he knew that from personal experience. But he also seemed saddened by it, so I didn’t ask.
“That’s why I’m focusing on what I can control,” I said as I refilled his beer. “All I can do is put hard work into my role in the show and hope for the best.”
“You can also pray for more sabotage against Tatiana,” Robbie said with another exaggerated wink. “But it’s totally not you doing it. Definitely someone other than Nadia.” Two more winks.
I rolled my eyes and greeted a trio of customers who came through the door.
30
Nadia
We fell into a pleasant routine over the next few weeks.
Dorian and I stood in line at the temp work office most mornings, taking whatever menial jobs they had. Passing out fliers, setting up tents in the park for events, even painting over graffiti on a brick wall in midtown one chilly morning. We made the best of it by teasing each other and having fun. There was a healthy amount of flirting as well, but it was lighthearted and meaningless. We were given hard hats to wear while working one job, so Dorian pretended to be a gruff construction worker and pinched my ass in passing. So the next day I slapped his ass hard while he was bent over picking weeds in a private park. The shocked look on his face was so priceless I wished I could have gotten a photograph.
Andy took me to an ax-throwing place for our second date. Literal ax-throwing—like a shooting range with targets, but we stood much closer and hurled red-tipped axes instead of firing guns. I learned that Andy had the hand-eye coordination of a blind raccoon; only one of his ten throws hit the target, and just barely on the edge. But he had a good attitude about it, laughing and joking about how he would never become a lumberjack. I was better, but not by much, although I did hit the bulls-eye on one throw, which sent me sprinting around the area with my hands in the air like Rocky. At the end of the night he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tight against his body in a long, sensual kiss that was much better than a peck on the cheek. By the time we pulled away I’d melted, and would have invited him up to my room… Except I got the impression he wanted to take things much slower than that.
To make up for it, I let out my sexual energy with Ryan. One night he came into my room and, without a word, crawled under the covers and began eating me out—the sudden and intense pleasure had me screaming my orgasm into my pillow within minutes. Another time while I was riding him, he grabbed my ass cheeks to guide me up and down on his thick cock, and asked if I wanted my asshole fingered.
“Yes,” I moaned as he stuck a finger in my mouth, letting me suck on it and cover it with saliva. He fingered the outside of my rear-entrance in a circle, then inserted his finger down to the first knuckle, then the second. The look of ecstasy on his handsome face, combined with the indirect pleasure of having his finger in my ass, was incredible.
So much so that the next time we were together, I pulled out my small vibrator and handed it to him. “You know where I want this.”
His grin was wide and lustful.
It was incredibly freeing to be completely honest with a sexual partner. This is what I want. No discomfort, no wondering if the other person would be into it. Just two people getting what they wanted: great sex.
But although my relationships with Dorian, Andy, and Ryan were progressing steadily, I felt unsatisfied with Braden.
The handsome lead of The Proposition hung out with me around the townhouse. We sipped coffee together in the morning and watched TV at night, and occasionally we quizzed each other on the backstory of our fake relationship. A lot of this involved getting to know each other legitimately: after all, a couple should know many of the intimate details about the other.
Braden’s favorite color was blue—to match his eyes, he said. He preferred The Rolling Stones over Led Zeppelin, and thought The Beatles were overrated. His family was German and Czech; his great-grandparents immigrated to Long Island to flee the horrors of the first World War.
Knowing all of these details made me feel closer to him, like a real boyfriend. But no matter how much fun we had hanging out, and no matter how deep our conversations were while sipping our morning coffee, ultimately it was all fake.
And that left me feeling like I was missing out on something.
Which was dumb considering my relationships with the other three guys were so fulfilling.
Meanwhile, the show rehearsals progressed about as good as could be expected. Tatiana got better the more we practiced, though she was still far from being a legitimate female lead. The rest of the cast improved with each song as well. Even Director Atkins seemed more positive each night, smiling and giving pointers and words of encouragement. Soon we would practice three or four longer rehearsals for stamina, then the final dress rehearsal before opening night.
And the best part? No more malfunctions or sabotages occurred. Either the few we’d seen were flukes, or Ryan standing guard in the catwalks was helping keep the saboteur at bay. Whatever the reason, we were able to practice each night without fear. The deadly spotlight crash became a long-forgotten memory.
And on top of that, I had a real place to live! A townhouse with a room of my own, and a bed that never smelled like a sweaty Ukrainian dude. Beyond eliminating my commute, living there with the four guys gave me a foundation of stability that made the rest of my life easier to handle.
It was a place that felt like home.
All in all, things were going great.
And then, one day, things got very complicated.
