My financial anxiety had definitely ratcheted up with a vengeance. I’d had plenty of clients bail and promise to pay anyway, but the vast majority didn’t. Some of them didn’t realize that on the screen where they closed out the transaction, there was an option for I ended the booking early, and they could choose not to pay the full price if they were unsatisfied or if they’d decided escorts weren’t for them. We had the option to dispute it and say that no, the fuck we did not leave early, fail to perform, or whatever. It was their word against ours, though, and Anita knew damn well people would game the system to get out of paying, but “Customer satisfaction is paramount.” If they abused it, she’d ban them, but she’d let it fly if they only did it once or twice.
Yeah. Great. Why was I still working for her again?
Oh. Right. Because on the rare occasion I did get a booking these days, clients usually did pay. In fact, they usually tipped. And where the hell else was I going to make three thousand dollars for one night of what I’d do on Tinder for free?
As I drove, my mind wasn’t just on the financial crunch. I kept thinking about Ethan. He hadn’t been anything like I’d expected. He sure as shit hadn’t been anything like Scott. In fact, I was surprised the two of them had compared enough notes for his teammate to give him the name of the app. Kind of seemed like if those two had actually talked about how they treated men in bed, especially the hired variety, Ethan would’ve been put off by the entire subject.
Unless Scott hadn’t shown all his cards. Guys like that could be totally full of themselves and think there was nothing wrong with treating a whore like dirt, but maybe he didn’t think Ethan would see it that way? Because I struggled to imagine Ethan hearing those stories, grinning, and saying “Nice” as he high-fived his buddy. I barely knew him, but that just didn’t fit. Especially not after he’d decided bought and paid for sex wasn’t his thing.
Would they talk about this? About me? My skin crawled.
Then again, so what if they did? Who cared? It wasn’t like I was ever going to see Ethan again. Scott, though? I’d probably hear from him sooner than later.
I thumped the wheel with my fist. Yeah, that fucker would book me. He always did, and he’d told me last time he’d see me during the off season. It was only a matter of time now.
And fuck me, but I hoped he did book me soon. The dude could kick rocks as far as I was concerned, and his bookings were an exercise in putting on a sultry smile when I would’ve preferred to roll my eyes or tell him to fuck off.
But his credit card always went through. As long as his card didn’t get declined, I could pay my bills.
Sighing, I pressed back against the seat and stared at the line of taillights in front of me.
Why did my first nice client in ages have to bail?
All of my roommates were home, and since the driveway and on-street parking were full, some boyfriends, girlfriends, and/or friends were here. Some would probably be here until morning, too. Awesome.
With some moderate grumbling to my steering wheel, I drove around until I found a place to park on the street, and then hoofed it back to the house. Before I’d even reached the front door, the noise from inside reached me. Not surprising, but my God, I wasn’t in the mood for it tonight.
At the door, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and rolled my shoulders. I wasn’t obligated to socialize. I just had to go in, maybe grab something to eat, and go into my room where my noise-canceling headphones lived. I could do this.
After my internal pep talk, I keyed myself inside. Immediately, heads peered out of the kitchen doorway at the top of the stairs and over the railing along the backside of the living room.
“Oh, hey,” Katie said with a smile. “Didn’t think you’d be home tonight.”
I shrugged as I toed off my shoes, but didn’t offer any explanation. I left my shoes on the shelf with everyone else’s, then trudged up to the kitchen.
Cole was in the kitchen, and he cocked a brow. “Slow evening, huh?”
I avoided his gaze.
“Hey.” He gave my arm a gentle nudge. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.” I met his eyes and forced a smile. “Just a booking that didn’t work out.” He was the only one here who knew about my job because he also worked for Emerald City. That, and the noise in the house kept our hushed conversation from carrying very far, so I didn’t worry about being candid with him.
Cole grimaced. “Ugh. Those are the worst.” He picked up his coffee cup and casually added, “I’ve had two of those this month.”
I frowned. “This was the first booking I’ve had at all in months.”
He made a face before sipping his coffee. He’d had a hell of a lot more business than I had lately, but he was a second tier Gentleman, so I had no idea if the money was making a dent in his various bills.
Lowering the cup, he quietly asked, “Did something happen tonight? Are you good?”
“I’m fine. It was nothing like…” I shook my head. “He just got cold feet, I guess.”
“Ugh, that sucks.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Could’ve used the money, too.”
“I bet. You thought any more about coming down from fifth tier?”
“Yeah.” I broke eye contact under the pretense of turning to pull a glass down from the cabinet. “I should. I just… Fuck.”
“Dude, I really think you’re getting too far into your own head over this.” Cole leaned against the counter. “Your folks aren’t going to find out, and if it bothers you to be booking more clients, then maybe this isn’t the job for you, you know?”
As I turned on the faucet to fill my glass, I glanced at him. “I know. I keep going around in circles about it. Like I’m taking fewer clients or whatever so I can justify it more if I ever have to look my parents in the eye and confess, but at the end of the day…” I didn’t know how to finish that.
“There’s no shame in giving it up.” He shrugged. “If it’s killing you like this, then maybe it’s not a good fit.”
I turned off the faucet and leaned against the other counter, facing him. “Being in debt is killing me too, but…”
He winced. “Yeah. I know. But man, think about it. I worry about you, stressing like this.”
“I know you do.” As I took a drink, I tried not to think too hard about all of this, but it was impossible not to. Especially after tonight, when I’d actually had someone book me despite my cranked-up prices, which gave me a (probably false) sense that I really could charge that much and still make enough to settle my bills, even if things hadn’t worked out with Ethan. With any luck, the next guy would want what he was paying for. And he’d pay for it.
Cole and I talked in the kitchen for a few minutes, but I didn’t feel much like conversation. He gave me a quick hug, and then went to join our roommates playing video games in the living room. I thought about hanging with them just for some company, but I was suffocating just from being in here while everyone else was in there or the downstairs rec room. This four-bedroom split-level was huge and spacious, but with five people living here, plus friends and partners hanging out and staying over more often than not, it was crowded as all hell.