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“Please.”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No.”
Chrissy clasped her hands together, fingers interlaced tightly, and gave Eddie another pleading look. “Eddie, please!”
“No, no, no.” Eddie smacked his hands against the van’s steering wheel, punctuating each word. “And that’s final. You’ll have to ask someone else.”
Chrissy threw her head against the passenger seat headrest and wailed. “I already asked Nancy! She said no, too. And Robin said it would be too weird. I don’t have any other friends.”
Eddie grimaced. “Well, that’s not true. But maybe you should take their refusals as a sign, you know?”
“Oh, don’t you start too.” Chrissy sighed and looked out the window.
“It’s just not safe,” Eddie repeated, for the umpteenth time that day.
Chrissy was sulking. “Plenty of people do it.”
You’re not plenty of people, Eddie wanted to snap, but he stopped himself. That sounded too much like something Chrissy’s mother would say. “That doesn’t it make it the right choice for you,” he managed, finally.
“There are ways to keep yourself protected,” Chrissy insisted, kicking her feet out at the space beneath Eddie’s glove compartment. “I could block the whole goddamn state of Indiana, if I wanted to.”
That made Eddie laugh, in spite of himself. “Goddamn,” he repeated, under his breath. Ever since they’d graduated, and Chrissy had moved out of her parents’ house to attend Indiana University, her vocabulary had gotten a lot more colorful. Eddie liked to think that he was part of the reason why.
He could have never predicted it, when Chrissy first met him behind the school over Spring Break two years ago, but they’d become really good friends. Something like best friends, even. And yeah, Eddie still found her attractive, always had, but he wasn’t going to risk pushing her away. So what if the guys at work made fun of the goofy smile that spread across his face when one of her texts pinged on his phone? So what if all his dates with other girls ended in disaster?
So what, if he thought Chrissy was the most beautiful woman in the entire world— and she was only getting more confident, and hotter by the day.
In the passenger seat, Chrissy folded her arm over her eyes and moaned. She leaned forward, resting her head heavily against the dashboard. “I’m so totally screwed.” Eddie was glad she wasn’t looking at him, so she wouldn’t see him blushing at her choice of words. “I’m seriously going to lose my apartment if I don’t figure out something by next semester.”
“There’s always a part-time—“
Chrissy cut him off. “Do not suggest a part-time job. I barely have enough time to finish all my chemistry labs on top of my core classes as it is. I’m going to be up until 3 AM just doing homework if I have to, like, make sandwiches all evening.”
Eddie couldn’t exactly relate to being a pre-med student— he was working at an auto shop about thirty minutes outside of Hawkins— but he believed her. Her FaceTime calls were getting later and later every week, and there were dark circles under her eyes, even though it was Winter Break.
They drove in silence for a few minutes. Eddie tried hard not to hit any bumps, lest Chrissy bump her forehead against the dashboard. She seemed so defeated, with her shoulders slumped low.
Eddie wondered if being back in Hawkins for break was starting to take its toll. Her family still lived in town, of course, but Chrissy hadn’t spoken to them since the summer before school started. The Wheelers let her crash on their couch during breaks, and even drove her back to campus a couple of times. Karen Wheeler was a big softie, especially when she heard that Chrissy and her family had grown estranged because Chrissy had refused to attend a religious college— the kind that had married student dormitories, for the kids who got engaged freshman year. But Eddie knew it affected her, seeing them in passing. Maybe she’d feel more level-headed when she was back on campus.
Like she was reading his mind, Chrissy grumbled, “I’m not doing this to piss off Mom, and I’m not going to change my mind.” She sat up and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “It’s my body, and it’s my choice.”
Eddie gripped the steering wheel hard. “Okay, fine, whatever. But it’s my choice not to get involved.”
“Fine!” Chrissy pouted out the window for a few moments before speaking again, like she was thinking aloud. “Well, Steve’s back in town, for Winter Break. I guess I could ask him.” Eddie bit his tongue, and willed himself not to rise to the bait. He was not going to get jealous of Steve fucking Harrington— especially because if Nancy Wheeler learned Steve had gotten involved in this, she’d beat the stuffing out him herself. But then Chrissy said, “Or I could ask around online,” and Eddie couldn’t stand for that.
“Okay,” he groaned, finally relenting. “I’ll help you get your OnlyFans profile set up, and get it started, or whatever. But then, I’m out.”
Chrissy unclipped her seatbelt, and threw her arms around Eddie’s neck as he drove. “Oh thank you, Eddie, thank you, thank you!”
“Watch it,” Eddie scolded, dialing up his grumpiness to hide how much her touch always turned him on. “You won’t even live to see next semester, if we end up in a fiery wreck.”
Chrissy was unperturbed. “You won’t regret this,” she promised, sliding back into her seat with a grin.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Eddie shook his head, and kept his eyes fixed on the road into town. “I already regret it.”
***
Eddie took the girls out for pizza, then dropped Chrissy and Nancy off at the Wheelers’ before driving Robin home.
He tried to distract Robin by asking when Steve would get home for the holidays, but it didn’t work.
Robin narrowed her eyes at Eddie as they backed onto the Wheelers’ street. “So have you heard about this OnlyFans scheme of Chrissy’s?”
“Yep,” Eddie replied shortly, hoping she’d take the hint and let it slide.
No such luck. Robin’s eyebrows crept up toward her hairline. “She asked me to take some photos for her but, I dunno. I don’t think Alicia would really like it.” Robin colored slightly at the mention of her girlfriend, whom she’d met at a Film Club meeting on her campus. “Did she ask you too?”
“Yep.”
Robin shook her head, a mixture of amusement and pity flitting across her face. “Oh, you poor sucker.” She covered her mouth with her hand, but Eddie could see she was smiling. “So I’m guessing she doesn’t know that you’re in love with her? And always have been?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eddie lied, through a clenched jaw.
“Nice knowin’ ya.” Robin was laughing in earnest now. “Can I have your vinyl collection if Chrissy makes your heart explode?”
Eddie’s ears burned. “Shut up, Buckley.”
Robin wiped tears of mirth from the corner of her eye. “Wait! I don’t know a lot about penises. Is it possible to die of a hard-on?”
Eddie blew through two stop signs on the way back to Robin’s house. The sooner he could get her home, the sooner he could be alone— and he really needed to be alone.
***
By the time Eddie pulled up to the gravel patch outside Wayne’s trailer, he had half a dozen texts from Chrissy waiting on his phone. He glanced at them, half-hoping she’d be saying the idea of starting an OnlyFans was a bad one, and she’d changed her mind.
But it was only a series of Amazon Prime links, and a message that read, Which one do you think?
Eddie locked his phone’s screen and slipped it into his pocket. He wasn’t going to deal with that right now. He couldn’t bring himself to deal with that right now.
Wayne was gone for the night. Eddie was saving for his own apartment, so he was trying to cram in as much quality time with his uncle as he could before he moved out, and closer to his own job. But tonight, the empty quiet of the trailer was welcome.
Eddie walked to the bathroom and undressed, doggedly refusing to pull his phone back out of his pants and click the links Chrissy had sent. He climbed into the shower, feeling like he was in a trance, and turned the water all the way to hot.
It took him at least ten minutes to realize that he was just staring at the tiles— not even getting his hair wet. He made fists with his hands and pressed them to his closed eyes until he saw spots.
Eddie’s stomach roiled against the pizza he’d scarfed down a few hours earlier. The thought of a bunch of random guys looking at naked pictures of Chrissy made Eddie feel nauseated. The thought of a bunch of guys look at naked pictures of Chrissy, that Eddie himself had taken, made him feel like he was going to barf all over the narrow shower stall.
Eddie silently berated himself for being a creep, every inch the loser he’d been in high school. He’d never so much as asked Chrissy out on a date, so what right did he have to feel possessive? He’d always considered himself a sex-positive feminist ally— since Nancy taught him what those words meant all put together, anyway.
He took a few deep breaths and tried to chill out a bit. It wasn’t that big of a deal. He’d seen Chrissy in swimsuits before, after all, and this was going to be pretty much the same thing— kind of.
Actually, pictures of Chrissy in her pink bikini on their group trip to the lake last summer, furtively saved to the “Favorites” folder on his photo app, were the centerpiece of most of Eddie’s masturbatory fantasies, but that was a secret secret.
Letting out of huff of frustration, Eddie climbed back out of the shower, without switching the water off. He pulled his phone out of his pants pocket and wiped the steamy screen off on a ragged hand towel.
Chrissy: Which one do you think?
Eddie tapped on the first Amazon link. As soon as it loaded, he sucked in a deep breath and put his phone face down on the bathroom counter. She couldn’t be serious.
Cautiously, he flipped the phone back over. There was a picture of a buxom model in a transparent white crop top that cinched with a knot between her breasts, and a pleated plaid miniskirt that barely cleared her ass.
Involuntarily, Eddie’s mind swapped out the model for Chrissy, her strawberry blonde curls pulled into sexy schoolgirl pigtails. His cock twitched eagerly at the idea.
Eddie hissed, and closed out of the browser window with a furious tap of his thumb. He flicked back to his messaging app and clicked the next link, willing himself not to pass out in the steamy bathroom.
The next link led to a French maid costume, with a lace-up bodice and a frilly little apron. Eddie clenched his fist and pressed it against his mouth. He scraped his knuckles with his teeth as he scrolled through the pages for the remaining three links: a nurse costume with sheer red thigh-high stockings, a pink Playboy Bunny-esque satin corset and bow tie, and a cheetah-print catsuit that made the model look somehow more naked than if she hadn’t worn any clothes at all.
Either Chrissy was fucking with him, or the universe was, Eddie decided. The costumes she’d picked out more or less represented every boyish sexual fantasy he’d ever allowed himself to have about her, from pin-up girl to music video vixen. And if he was being totally honest with himself…the schoolgirl lingerie in particular was doing something for him. The little green plaid skirt was taking him right back to game days at Hawkins High, when Chrissy would trot around the school in her minuscule cheerleader uniform, and Eddie would step out to his van to relieve himself during lunch.
Eddie tapped the rest of the links closed, and re-opened the first one Chrissy had sent along. Oh Jesus, if he told her he liked that one best, was she actually going to buy it? And put it on? In front of him?
Shaking his head like he was trying to clear it, Eddie opened his messaging app and sent Chrissy a brief reply.
Eddie: they all look fine
That would have to do. What else did she want him to say?
He almost groaned when the three moving dots that meant she was typing appeared.
Chrissy: Really? Because I can probably only afford to buy one, at least at first.
Eddie wasn’t going to respond to that. He just wasn’t going to respond. He valued his sanity, or what was left of it anyway, too much. If Chrissy asked what happened later, he’d pretend he’d fallen asleep on the couch.
Chrissy: Do you subscribe to any OnlyFans accounts?
Well, that caught Eddie’s attention, in a different way. He didn’t; and if Chrissy blocked the entire state of Indiana from hers, he wasn’t going to start anytime soon.
Eddie: nope
It was true. Eddie watched porn, of course, but he’d never really felt the need for a personal connection with the women he was jerking off to. Until Chrissy’s bikini photos came into the picture, of course.
Chrissy’s reply pinged Eddie’s phone seconds later.
Chrissy: But you watch porn, right?
Eddie: yeah…
Chrissy: What kind?
What kind?! Eddie chewed the inside of his mouth. They had talked about sex stuff plenty of the years, usually in rowdy, drunken groups of mutual friends, but now they were coasting for uncharted territory.
Eddie: i don’t know. the normal kind? nothing too crazy
He didn’t want her to think he was trawling the Dark Web for weird, nasty shit. But at the same time, he was not ready to tell her that at least 75% of his PornHub searches included the word “cheerleader.”
Chrissy: So what do you like to see?
Eddie fought the urge to bang his head against the bathroom mirror.
Eddie: i thought this was all about you, not me
Three dots. It took her longer to reply this time.
Chrissy: I don’t watch porn! I don’t know how I should pose.
Chrissy: I just searched “lingerie costume” on Google and clicked on the first links that came up.
Eddie had an idea, and hated himself for how much it turned him on.
Eddie: maybe you could look up other accounts and see what they’re posting
He wasn’t actually sure if that was something you could do, without subscribing. But surely there had to be some kind of preview, right? It was hard to consider things clearly. Just the thought of Chrissy admiring other women’s dirty photos was making him painfully hard.
Chrissy, apparently, didn’t have the same reservations.
Chrissy: Omg good idea!
Eddie’s phone stopped lighting up with alerts after that, so maybe Chrissy really was browsing OnlyFans profiles. The low-level arousal he’d been wrestling with since Chrissy told him about her plan surged in his gut.
“Might as well get it over with, you fucking pervert,” he grumbled to himself, stepping back into the shower and wrapping his hand around his dick.
Eddie tried valiantly to think about the models from the product photos Chrissy had sent him, but it was no use. As soon as he closed his eyes, there she was: his best friend, wearing thigh-high white stockings and that maddening pleated skirt.
In the fantasy, Chrissy was toying with the hem of her skirt, sliding it along the thin strip of bare skin visible above her thigh-highs. She perched on the edge of Eddie’s bed, and gazed up at him through her eyelashes. “I don’t watch porn. I don’t know what to do,” she practically mewled, in a voice that was much breathier than the real Chrissy’s. “Show me?”
Leaning heavily against the shower wall with his free hand, Eddie quickened the pace of his strokes, his narrow hips bucking forward in an uneven rhythm.
The bed in his dream was a desk now, and Chrissy was sprawled back against it, her skirt pushed up around her waist to reveal a pair of transparent white panties that matched her stockings. Balancing on one elbow, she reached her other hand up and undid the knot between her breasts, so the crop-top fell open, baring her smooth, pink breasts. Eddie could see everything— but mostly importantly, the fantasy version of Chrissy wanted him to see everything.
Eddie fucked his fist relentlessly, squeezing his eyes as tightly shut as he could, like doing that might let him hold onto the vision of Chrissy in her schoolgirl lingerie just a bit longer. He knew he wasn’t going to last; not after the way she’d been torturing him all day.
Dream Chrissy moved her hand between her legs, then slowly reached into her panties. She bit her lip, and rocked herself down against her fingers. “Eddie,” she begged, his name a needy whine. “Teach me?”
Eddie shot his load against the tile wall, groaning Chrissy’s name as he did.
When he was finished, Eddie showered off, almost chuckling to himself. Teach me? Jesus, when had he become such a corny motherfucker? He was so gone for this girl.
He wrapped a towel around his waist as he turned the water off, and checked his phone again.
Chrissy: Ok I did it.
Chrissy: I mean, I looked at some profiles.
Chrissy: I got some ideas, but I don’t know.
That made Eddie’s heart leap. As much as he’d enjoyed imagining her in all those different costumes, he wasn’t going to pretend to be disappointed if she bailed on the whole OnlyFans idea.
Eddie: don’t know about what?
The animated gray dots that meant Chrissy was typing appeared and disappeared several times. Eddie grabbed his boxers off the bathroom floor and pulled them back on. Phone in hand, he wandered down to his bedroom and picked out an oversized Pantera tee. He tossed his phone on the bed, when it finally buzzed with an alert.
Chrissy: Maybe I’m not sexy enough.
Eddie just stared at the text. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? Without slipping into a spontaneous confession of his undying devotion, at least.
Chrissy: All the women I looked at are soooooo beautiful.
Chrissy: And I don’t even know how to pose seductively.
Chrissy: I haven’t even taken a nude since high school, when I was going out with Jason. And those weren’t exactly artistic, you know.
Eddie rolled his eyes at the mention of Chrissy’s ex-boyfriend. That loser never appreciated what was, to Eddie’s mind, a dream scenario.
Chrissy: Maybe I’m kidding myself that anyone would want to pay for these.
She was working herself up into one of her anxiety attacks, Eddie could tell. He would have liked to grab Jason Carver and Laura Cunningham by the scruffs of their necks and bash their stupid heads together.
Heaving a sigh for what felt like the dozenth time that evening, Eddie yanked on his shirt before typing a quick reply.
Eddie: i think you’re being more than a little hard on yourself
He hit send, and waited for Chrissy’s reply. But it didn’t come.
Eddie: honestly, chris?
His phone pinged the very next moment.
Chrissy: Yeah?
Shit. Eddie’d thought he’d have a little more time to phrase this properly. He’d just have to try his best not to sound completely pathetic and obsessed.
Eddie: you’re a gorgeous girl. anyone would be lucky to look at pictures of you. naked or otherwise
Eddie sent the message before he could chicken out, then immediately wished he could snatch the words back. Naked or otherwise?! Who talked like that? He really was a freak.
Chrissy: You’re sweet. 💓
He flung himself down on the mattress, face first, and muffled a scream with his pillow. Ugh, why didn’t she just pat him on the head?
Another ping.
Chrissy: I’m so glad we’re best friends.
That was what Eddie was afraid of.
Chrissy: Does tomorrow (Saturday) work for taking the pictures? The Wheelers will be in Evansville visiting Ted’s mom at the nursing home all day. They won’t be back until late.
He read over the message twice before replying.
Eddie: yep. what time should i come over?
Chrissy: Hmm…
Chrissy: How about around 3:30? Then maybe we can get some of that golden hour light.
Eddie could have told her that absolutely no one who got their eyes on her nudes would care about artistic lighting, but he decided against it.
Eddie: are you sure you want me to come by that early? i mean, it won’t take long, right?
Chrissy: No, it won’t take long. We only need to take like a couple dozen photos.
That made Eddie do a double-take.
Eddie: a couple DOZEN?
Chrissy: I need to have options!
So the Wheelers would be gone all day and all night while Eddie did a dirty photoshoot with Chrissy. He was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the implications of all that, but his cock didn’t have the same problem. It was already getting hard again.
Well of course, YOU like the plan, Eddie scolded his member, mentally.
Chrissy: We can order a pizza afterwards.
Chrissy: And watch a movie, or something.
Or something.
Eddie: ok
The crazy train was off the tracks, but he was along for the ride, it seemed.
Chrissy: Thanks!
Chrissy: See you tomorrow 😉
Not if I see you first, Eddie almost typed back, out of habit. But it didn’t really feel like a joke, on this particular occasion, because he might actually keel over and die when he saw her in one of those naughty costumes.
Eddie: see ya
He stared at the message thread for a few moments before opening up his web browser app and hitting the search bar.
What does it mean when a girl texts you 😉?
Before the search results could even load, Eddie closed the window and threw his phone aside, listening as it bounced onto the carpeted floor of his room. “For fuck’s sake, you’re twenty-two years old,” he said out loud, into the quiet trailer.
He closed his eyes, and willed himself to fall asleep. The last thing he needed was to feel exhausted tomorrow, on top of everything.
But sleep didn’t come. He lay awake, watching the shadows on the ceiling change shape, waiting for the familiar sound of Wayne’s truck pulling into the driveway.
Instead, a quiet rustling sound drew his attention to his bedroom door. He lifted his head, and there was Chrissy— leaning on the doorframe in the maid costume, and looking at him like she wanted to eat him alive.
“Chris?” Eddie was confused. He look around for his digital clock, but it must have been covered by the debris on his bedside table. “It’s the middle of the night. How did you get over here?”
Chrissy seemed almost bored by the question. “I biked, silly.”
“In that?” The maid dress’s fluffy black skirt was stiff with white lace trimmings, almost like a tutu, and left as little to the imagination as the schoolgirl one had. Not to mention, she was wearing stockings again— sheer black ones this time.
Chrissy didn’t answer, just pulled a feather duster— the kind Eddie had only seen in the movies— out from behind her back, and started dusting it along his various clutter as she drew nearer and nearer to the bed. “It’s such a mess in here. Since you’re helping me out, I thought I might as well return the favor.” Chrissy’s gray eyes narrowed slightly as her lips curled into a predatory smirk. “Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up to a clean room, Mr. Munson?”
She was right next to the bed now, swirling her feather duster through the empty cans and half-full ashtrays on his nightstand. Eddie wanted to reach for her— or scramble off the bed, and run away— but his body felt strangely heavy, anchored to the mattress.
Chrissy’s gaze traveled from his face, down to his lap, where an erection was unsurprisingly tenting his boxers. She made a mock-shocked face anyway.
“Mr. Munson!” Chrissy ran the duster up and down over his hard-on. “What do you want me to do with this?”
Eddie only gulped. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t think about anything but the way those feathers felt, gently brushing his dick through the thin fabric of his old boxers.
Chrissy was already kneeling on the end of the bed. She tossed the duster aside and leaned down on her hands so she was on all fours between his legs. Then she started crawling her way up to his crotch.
“Chrissy—“ Eddie panted, helplessly.
“Don’t worry,” she cooed, licking her lips. “I’ll take care of everything.”
“Chrissy…”
Chrissy pulled his erection out, and ran a manicure finger down the underside, making him shudder.
“Just remember,” she said, in a polite, detached voice, as she lowered her mouth to his cock. “Room service costs extra.”
“Chrissy!”
Eddie woke up.
***
The next day passed in fits and starts. Time seemed to lurch, speeding up and slowing down. Eddie usually make a passing attempt at cleaning the trailer, for Wayne’s sake if not his own, on Saturday mornings. Today, however, he found himself puttering around, moving things from one place to another as the clock’s hands seemed to tick almost backwards.
Then, after a meager lunch— peanut butter and jelly was all he could handle, currently— the afternoon zoomed by at an alarming pace, and all of a sudden it was 3:15 PM. Time for Eddie to leave, and drive over to the Wheelers’.
Oh God.
He smoked one last joint to calm his nerves. Normally he’d wait to smoke with Chrissy, but he figured she didn’t want her eyes to look red or bleary in the photos. And taking naked photos of her while she wasn’t 100% sober definitely didn’t feel right.
Muscle memory took over when Eddie got behind the wheel. He blinked and he was at the Wheelers’. Their station wagon was absent from the driveway.
He must have been over a hundred times— either to drop off Mike or Nancy, or later to visit with Chrissy when she came home on college breaks. But the house looked foreign, all of a sudden. It was like he had never been there before.
Eddie wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans, and caught his wild-eyed reflection in the rearview mirror. “Relax,” he scolded himself furiously. “What are you so scared of?”
That was the question, wasn’t it. What would be so awfully bad about taking some raunchy photos of Chrissy? He’d certainly have enough spank bank material to last him several lifetimes. And it wasn’t like he was afraid he was going to turn into a wild animal, who wouldn’t be able to control himself. Eddie would never do anything to hurt Chrissy— plus there was the whole sex-positive feminist ally thing he was pretty sure he was starting to get the hang of.
But Chrissy really was his best friend, as much as Eddie adored Dustin Henderson. What if this whole OnlyFans endeavor changed their relationship for the worse? What if it made things awkward between them?
What if it didn’t make things awkward between them, because Chrissy didn’t think of Eddie as…a man? Eddie didn’t think he’d be able to take it.
He eyed the house, chewing the inside of his lip. It was too late to back out now. Chrissy was in there, wearing…well, not much.
And she was waiting for him. All his blood surged south at the thought. He was truly powerless, when Chrissy was waiting for him.
Eddie exhaled and ran both hands through his hair before hopping out of the driver’s seat and slamming his door shut. His feet felt heavy as he stomped up to the Wheelers’ front door, wearing his usual combat boots. He’d tried on about eight different t-shirts, like a dipshit, before settling on his old Hellfire Club t-shirt. He couldn’t resist the idea that she might be wearing a cheerleader-esque skirt, and he wanted to match with a blast from the past of his own.
Eddie: i’m here
Chrissy appeared at the front door as soon as he texted, wearing the bleach-stained terrycloth bathrobe she always wore when she was sick. Eddie felt silly for imagining that she might greet him in her lingerie. She always made him feel like a teenager again.
“Hi,” Chrissy said, with her usual cheerful smile.
Eddie couldn’t help but smile back. “Hi.”
“Thanks for coming over.” She said it like he was going to help her change a lightbulb.
“Uh-huh.” All he could think about was what she might be wearing under her robe.
Chrissy made a face like she was reading his mind. “Is this too weird? Even for us?”
The even for us part got a laugh out of Eddie, and relieved the tension a little. “No. It’s okay,” he told her, sounding surer than he actually felt. “I might need a minute to catch my breath when you take that robe off, though. I’m only human.”
Eddie was gratified by the way Chrissy’s cheeks went pink at that. He was the kind of guy who flirted with everyone, but he’d always flirted extra hard with Chrissy. If anything, it made things feel more normal between them, like they really were about to watch a movie.
“So…” Eddie couldn’t help himself. “Which one did you pick?”
The flush on Chrissy’s cheeks deepened. “Let’s go upstairs,” she said, turning her back on him and leading the way.
Eddie followed her up to the second floor guest bedroom where Chrissy stayed when her classmates went home for breaks, and her apartment building on the outskirts of campus felt too empty and scary to stay in alone.
It was done up in the same fussy, old-fashioned style Midwestern mothers like Karen Wheeler always seemed to gravitate towards: white-and-pink floral prints, lots of ruffles on everything, and a creaky faux-antique brass bed frame. The tiered white curtains had been drawn almost all the way closed across the two windows, leaving small cracks that let in the dusky winter light. A faint golden glow emanated from a bedside lamp with a comically frilly lampshade.
Chrissy pulled her phone out of her robe pocket and handed it to Eddie. He took it, with a bemused look. “So you really want to do this whole pictures thing, huh?”
“Yep,” Chrissy answered, not quite looking at him. She crossed to the vanity on the other side of the room. Her long strawberry blonde curls were already pinned on top of her head, and she pulled on a wig that was a lighter, more platinum shade of blonde. “Gotta be safe,” she explained, catching Eddie’s eye in the mirror.
“Oh. Yeah.” To be honest, Eddie had almost forgotten about the part where she’d be selling these photos, in his excitement over the links she’d sent him the night before.
Then Chrissy took off her robe, and it was all Eddie could do not to fall to his knees.
She wasn’t wearing the schoolgirl costume, but he wasn’t exactly complaining. Chrissy was dressed in tiny black wrap skirt and a see-through white crop/top that secured— barely— with a tie between her breasts. Eddie could see her peachy pink nipples through the cheap fabric. Her bare legs were long and toned from walks around IU’s campus, bare toes curling in the thick cream-colored carpeting.
Eddie realized a beat too late that Chrissy was saying something, while he just stood there, clutching her phone to his chest like he was trying to keep his heart from bursting right out.
“What?”
Chrissy tucked her hair behind her ears. “I said the other ones just felt too cheesy, so I went with this.” She gestured down at the outfit, before looking bashful and crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s supposed to be, uhhh, a sexy secretary costume, but I threw the silly plastic glasses away. I was thinking I could just be, like, the generic sexy type.”
“Uh-huh,” Eddie managed.
“I’m going to put on some music,” Chrissy said, crossing back to the vanity, where her laptop sat surrounded by makeup. When she bent over the computer, Eddie could see her ass curving out from underneath the indecently tiny skirt. He wondered if the Wheelers’ house had always felt this stuffy and hot.
Pop music filled the room. Eddie didn’t recognize it. It was probably one of those Olivia Carpenter, Sabrina Rodrigo girls Chrissy was always talking about. Normally he’d tease her about her taste in music, and extravagantly faux-complain, but tonight, for once, Chrissy was doing to teasing. Eddie felt like hunter turned prey, completely on the back foot in a way he normally never was with Chrissy.
Now she was kneeling on the bed, tucking her legs underneath her. She took a moment to arrange the strands of the blonde wig so they framed her breasts instead of covering them, and Eddie could barely hear the music over the thumping of his own racing heartbeat.
Finally, Chrissy pressed her hands to the mattress on either side of her thighs and leaned forward. “Okay, let’s get started.”
“Alright.” Eddie hoped his hands weren’t too sweaty to work Chrissy’s phone. He lifted it up and, barely even glancing at the screen, snapped a few pictures of her just like that.
“You’re not even looking,” Chrissy complained, pouting.
Eddie took a picture of that moment, too. “Trust me— I’m looking.” He didn’t really care about the pictures. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she took off her robe. He felt like he hadn’t even blinked.
Chrissy hopped off the bed, breasts bouncing in a way that made Eddie feel like his jeans were suddenly two sizes too small. “Let me see,” she demanded, holding out her hand to take her phone back.
“I only took about four pictures,” Eddie said, but he gave it to her anyway. He would have given her one of his internal organs if she had asked, just then.
Chrissy scrolled through the pictures with a slightly disappointed expression. “I look so ordinary,” she sighed, in a soft voice.
Eddie snatched the phone back from her. “What are you talking about?” The photos he’d captured so far looked incredibly sexy to him, especially the one with her cute little pout. “You look hot. I’d send these to myself right now, if you’d let me.”
Had he said too much? Chrissy didn’t seem bothered. She flopped back on the bed, letting her knees dangled from the edge. “I look…shy!” she grumbled, audible frustration in her voice.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.”
Chrissy propped herself up on her elbows so she could see Eddie’s face. “What do you mean?”
“Wait, hold that.” Eddie took a picture of Chrissy looking up from the bed before going on. “I think a lot of people will go for the kind of shy thing.” How could he explain without sounding like a total creep? “You know, it’s the whole girl-next-door look.”
Chrissy considered this. “Like an ingenue?”
“Uhhh, sure.” That wasn’t the word Eddie would have reached for, but it seemed to make sense to Chrissy.
Chrissy nodded a few times. Eddie could tell she was trying to psych herself up. He had one more idea.
“Remember in high school, when you cheerleaders would get to the sexy part of your dances?” Eddie did his best imitation of one of Chrissy’s signature moves, pressing one hand to his chest, the other to his waist, and undulating his body.
Chrissy laughed. “You remember that one?”
“Oh, you’d be surprised what I remember,” Eddie told her. There was a slight pause as they both processed his boldness. “Anyway, whatever mindset you got into during that part of the routine, use that.”
Chrissy must have liked that, because he could see the uncomfortable tension in her shoulders disappearing. She shook the wig back and tucked her chin down slightly, looking up at Eddie through her lashes. “Okay, I think I have some ideas, then.”
She parted her knees slightly, and Eddie could see her white panties, peeking out from the wrap skirt. “Now take the picture,” she said, before biting her lip coquettishly.
Eddie did as he was told.
Chrissy’s initial timidity faded with every photo they snapped. Eddie found himself getting into the zone too. It was just like DND, or playing music, or anything; you had to get into character, let yourself get lost in the scene.
Chrissy, for her part, was taking to the role of the reluctant pin-up with aplomb. After a series of poses kneeling and lounging on the frilly bed, she had the idea that Eddie should take some pictures with her bent over, grabbing something out of a dresser drawer.
As Eddie snapped away, very much enjoying the sight of Chrissy’s ass in cheeky white panties, Chrissy reached back and tugged the minuscule skirt down in the back, throwing the camera a scandalized, caught-in-the-moment expression.
“Oh, that’s great,” Eddie said, without even thinking. It was as much an appreciation of her acting skills as it was of how hot she looked, which was really saying something. She really should join his DND campaign.
Apparently gratified by the compliment, Chrissy straightened up and went back to the vanity. “Do you think you could take a picture of me in the mirror, without catching yourself in it?”
“Probably, if I get the right angle.” Eddie was enjoying the artistry of it, now. He couldn’t help himself. He was a man who loved a project. “Yeah, there we go.” If he stood off to the side, he could capture Chrissy and her reflection without getting in the frame.
“Hmmm.” Chrissy studied herself in the mirror. She fiddled with the knot that held the thin crop top shut. “I guess I should just feel myself up.” She caught Eddie’s eye over her shoulder. “That’s what guys think girls do when we’re alone, right?”
Eddie laughed. That was why he and Chrissy were best friends, after all; they had the same blunt sense of humor.
She wasn’t wrong, though. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t imagined Chrissy, well, enjoying herself in her room, from time to time. Eddie snapped some pictures of her “adjusting” her shirt— if you could even call it a shirt— in the mirror.
Once they were done with that pose, Chrissy turned back to Eddie. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Umm…”
Eddie had plenty of ideas about what they should try next, but none of them involved taking pictures for other men’s enjoyment.
How about I lie back on your bed so you can sit on my face?
He cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t want to suggest anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.” Chrissy wrinkled her nose. “To be honest, I’m not ready to do some of the stuff I saw other women doing in their photos. Like…” She trailed off momentarily before completing the thought. “…Masturbating on camera, or anything like that.”
The mere suggestion knocked the wind out of Eddie. He tried to sound normal when he spoke, even though his mouth was weirdly dry. “Well, you probably have enough here for a first batch anyway. These’ll draw in some subscribers, and you don’t want to give away all the good stuff right up front.” He blanched at his own words. “I mean— not that these aren’t also good. They’re great, actually. I mean, not that I—“
Mercifully, Chrissy cut him off. “Eddie. I know what you mean.”
She held out her hand for the phone again, and flicked through the gallery of pictures Eddie had taken with her thumb. “Which one do you like best?” she asked, glancing up at him.
It felt like a trick question, so Eddie decided to treat it like one. “Oh, I could never decide,” he said, as casually as possible.
Chrissy passed back her phone and examined herself in the mirror one more time, fidgeting with the waistband of the skirt. “Might as well get a few more pictures in this stupid thing,” she mused, almost to herself. “It’s so stiff and scratchy. But that’s what I get for panicking and choosing from the costumes I could get one-day shipping on, I guess.”
Eddie didn’t reply. He thought it best to keep his five-star review of the skirt she was wearing to himself.
“Look, it doesn’t even have a zipper.” Chrissy tugged hard on the waistband and he heard the sound of Velcro ripping open. “It’s like the breakaway pants we used to wear before basketball games.”
Oh Jesus, she was wearing an outfit that was literally made to be ripped off? There wasn’t a cold enough shower in the entire world to calm the fire that was raging in Eddie’s belly. He felt horny enough to punch through the drywall.
Before he could even fully process that revelation, Chrissy had gone back over to the bed. In one swift movement, she reached under her skirt and hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties, pulling them down to the top of her thighs. She perched on the edge of the mattress and gestured at Eddie. “Take some of me taking my underwear off.”
Eddie obliged. Chrissy gave the camera— and by extension, Eddie himself— a coy, almost demure look as she slid the underwear slowly down her legs, first with her hands and then with her dainty foot.
Eddie, for his part, was struggling to remember that they were taking these photos to be posted online. It felt like he and Chrissy were the only two people in the entire world.
“Well…” Chrissy kicked her panties off and away. There was a beat of silence between them. “I guess that’s all.”
If Eddie didn’t know better, he’d think she sounded slightly disappointed. And as crazy-making as the entire experience had been, he found that he didn’t want it to end either.
“We could take some of you on all fours, on the bed,” he heard himself say.
Chrissy didn’t move at first. Eddie felt panic rise inside him, and he scrambled to find the right words to apologize, until she stood up and crawled onto the bed, with her rear end turned towards him.
Holy. Shit.
Chrissy looked over her shoulder. “Are you going to…?”
Eddie was just standing there, staring at her, with his hands hanging limply by his sides. “Oh, yeah, right.” He shook his head, trying to return to his senses, and lifted Chrissy’s phone up again.
“Do you think I should look eager, or more shy like before?” Chrissy asked, leaning on one hand and using the other to smooth the platinum wig out of the way.
“Hmmm.” There was no wrong answer. “We could try both?”
“Okay,” Chrissy agreed. She looked back at him with a timid, what are you going to do to me gaze that went straight to his crotch.
Eddie snapped a few like that. Then Chrissy re-balanced herself on one hand, leaning most of her weight on her knees, and reached her other hand back like she was desperately trying to pull her skirt down and cover up. It was one of those ridiculous porn scenarios that fell apart as soon as you thought about it too much— why would anyone wearing a skirt that tiny, and no underwear, be so worried about covering up their ass— but it was working on Eddie in the same way the images of the schoolgirl lingerie had. Chrissy was so good at tapping into what turned him on, specifically, that it was almost scary.
Gripping the hem of her skirt, Chrissy flipped it up over her bare ass. Now instead of pretending to cover up, she was showing herself off.
Eddie had imagined this exact sight so many times, that actually seeing it felt like an out-of-body experience. She looked even better than she did in his dreams, all smooth and firm and soft in the right places.
Numbly, Eddie tapped his thumb against the camera button, not even bother to check the photos he was taking. Chrissy was smiling at him over her shoulder now, as she arched her back and bent even lower against the mattress.
When she finally said something, Eddie thought he must have misheard her. “What?”
“I said you should slap me.” Chrissy tapped her buttcheek with a finger. “Right here.”
“I…what?!”
Chrissy rolled her eyes. If Eddie hadn’t been so confused and overwhelmed, he might have found that a little funny, since her skirt was still pushed up around her waist. “You should spank me. Not hard, just one good slap to leave a mark. A handprint would be even better. It’ll make a good picture.”
Eddie balked. “But I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It won’t really hurt.” Chrissy sat up, tucking her legs underneath her butt and letting her skirt fall back into place. “It’s just, you know, part of the scene.”
A long, quiet pause stretched between them. Eddie was the one who finally broke it. “Chrissy…I’m not doing that.”
“Why not?” Chrissy asked, wide-eyed, like he had turned down plans to go to the arcade, or something equally innocent.
“Because…”
She wouldn’t let it go. Not tonight. “Because why, exactly?”
Was Chrissy going to make him say it?
“Because we’re friends,” Eddie told her, starting to feel a little frustrated by the emotional rollercoaster of an evening. “And I don’t know where the line is, but I know that slapping your bare ass is over it.”
Chrissy’s only response was to blink hard a few times, before turning away and wrapping her arms around herself.
For a few moments she just sat like that, staring down at the bedspread. When she spoke, her voice was small and hoarse. “I get it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Chrissy looked back at Eddie with eyes that were too shiny. “You don’t want to touch me.”
“Chris, it’s not that.” She was really painting him into a corner here. “You know it’s not that.”
“How do I know?” Chrissy scowled.
This wasn’t getting them anywhere. Eddie sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. The mattress dipped slightly under his weight, but Chrissy kept her distance, still hugging herself tightly.
“Can you take off the wig?” he asked dryly. “As hot as Sexy Secretary Chrissy is, I want to talk to Normal Chrissy. Who is also very sexy, for the record.”
Chrissy made a face like she was trying not to smile, despite her watery eyes. She pulled the blonde wig off and threw it aside.
When she looked like herself again, Eddie felt better too. He wanted to clear the air between them, at the very least. “Did I do something to make you mad? Because this whole…thing, whatever you want to call it…it’s kind of felt like a punishment.”
“A punishment?!” Chrissy squawked, her eyes filling with tears again.
“Bad wording, bad wording,” Eddie corrected himself hastily. “More like a test.”
“A test,” Chrissy repeated, flatly.
“Yeah.” Eddie tugged on a loose thread in the bedspread. “How did you want me to react to this whole photoshoot?”
Chrissy sighed and lay back on the bed. She folded an arm over the top part of her face, so just her nose and cupid’s-bow lips were visible.
“I don’t know,” she replied, finally. “I guess I just wanted to see what you would do if I finally threw myself at you, after all these years. I’ve tried everything, so I thought I’d give it one last go.”
Eddie’s brain couldn’t quite catch up with his ears. “What?”
Chrissy uncovered her eyes and gave him a confused look, brow furrowed. “I thought I was being, like, super obvious.”
“Obvious about what?” Eddie asked, dumbfounded.
Chrissy only groaned and covered her face with both hands. Eddie thought her heard her grumble something that sounded suspiciously like fucking men.
“Chris.” Eddie pulled one of her hands away from her face by the wrist. “Obvious about what?”
Chrissy yanked free from Eddie’s grip. “I like you, you idiot.” She slammed her hands down on either side of her body and pushed herself up into a seated position, so she and Eddie were practically shoulder-to-shoulder. “I was flirting with you relentlessly when we went on that hay ride over Fall Break. I seriously can’t believe you didn’t notice. Everyone was making fun of me.”
“You were flirting with me?” Eddie couldn’t help but let a big, goofy grin stretch across his face.
Chrissy shoved him. “I was sitting on your lap!”
Eddie held his hands up in surrender. “I thought you were just politely making room for the other passengers!”
Chrissy rolled her eyes. “Do you really think I’d let just anyone take pictures of me in this getup?”
“I don’t know.” Eddie’s smile faltered. “Isn’t the whole point of the pictures to put them online?”
“I need the money,” Chrissy reminded him, frowning. “And it’s not the same thing at all. People will look at these pictures, yeah. And they can imagine whatever they want. But that’s not the same as knowing me, or earning my trust. It’s not the same as being here with me.” She placed her small hand on top of Eddie’s larger one. “I don’t want anyone else to be here with me.”
Eddie turned his hand over under hers, so it was resting palm up. Then he interlaced his fingers through Chrissy’s, tightly.
“You like me?” He wanted to hear here say it one more time.
“Yes, I like you,” Chrissy whispered.
“Good, ‘cause I’m in love with you.”
Chrissy shook her head, amused. “You’ve always got to one-up me, huh, Munson?”
But she let Eddie kiss her anyway.
Before he knew it, he was lying flat across the Wheelers’ guest room bed, with Chrissy sprawled on top of him in her miniskirt and sheer top. Eddie was almost tempted to pinch himself, to make sure he hadn’t slipped into another wet dream. But that would mean not touching Chrissy with both hands for a moment, and he didn’t have the strength. After holding himself back all day from showing any desire for her, even just kissing and embracing was like a physical relief.
“You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about this,” he panted up at Chrissy.
Chrissy smiled. She was so adorable. “I don’t know, I might have some idea.” She leaned down again to press a kiss to his neck.
“No, seriously.” Eddie thought his eyes might cross, like a cartoon character. Was neck kissing supposed to feel that good? “I’ve been going out of my mind since you sent those links last night.”
She was intrigued by that, he could tell. “Oh?”
“I had a very memorable dream involving you in that maid costume.” Eddie slid his hands down from Chrissy’s bare lower back and squeezed her butt through the skirt.
“I’ll wear it, if you buy it for me.” Chrissy squirmed where she straddled him. Eddie thought she liked the idea.
“I didn’t know that was an option.” He moved his hands under the skirt. “Does that go for other costumes, too?”
Chrissy sat up a bit, and started unpinning her hair, letting her signature strawberry blonde curls tumble back into place. “That depends on two things.”
“Oh yeah?” Eddie leaned up and gave her a little nip of a kiss on her lower lip, before laying back on the pillow.
“Yep.” Chrissy held up two fingers. “Number one, is the costume cute? Because I’m not going to wear something I really hate, something I don’t feel sexy wearing.”
The Chrissy Eddie knew in high school wouldn’t have made a rule like that. She’d been all about pleasing others, back then. Things had changed. Eddie wanted to believe he’d played a small part in that, but his heart swelled with pride in her either way.
“Okay, sounds good,” he replied, so he wouldn’t embarrass her.
“And, number two…” Chrissy bit her lip again. Even her teeth drove Eddie crazy. They were so pretty and unique. “Are you my boyfriend?”
Eddie had to laugh. “Didn’t I just tell you I’m in love with you?”
“That’s not the same thing,” Chrissy huffed.
“Yeah, I’m your boyfriend,” Eddie promised, trying to sound a little less tickled than he actually felt, as he pulled Chrissy back down into his arms.
He would have been fine with making out all night— he’d basically won the dream girl jackpot already— but Chrissy had other ideas. She rolled off Eddie, onto her back, and spread her legs apart, guiding Eddie’s hand between them.
“Do you think we’re moving too fast?” she asked, breathlessly.
“I don’t know.” Eddie couldn’t really think about anything but how wet and warm Chrissy felt. She was damp all the way down her inner thighs. “We’ve been best friends for like two years. Isn’t that kind of moving slow?”
Chrissy liked that answer. She wove her fingers through his unruly hair and brought his lips to hers for another kiss, as he circled her clit with the calloused pads of his fingers.
Eddie kissed her sloppily, hungrily. She made little noises, squeaks and whimpers, and he swallowed them all up. He wanted to catalogue her entire body with his tongue, starting with each and every one of her beautiful teeth. It was actually unbelievable that they’d held off doing this for as long as they had.
He felt Chrissy’s hand sliding between their bodies. Eddie pulled back so he could watch her undo the knot that held her crop top closed, while he stroked her. She was rolling her pelvis in tandem with the movement of his fingers, just like the cheerleading move Eddie had clumsily demonstrated. When her breasts sprang free of the flimsy top, and bounced along with the rest of her body, Eddie thought he might cum right in his jeans.
“You’re so wet,” he moaned. Sure, it was an obvious thing to say, but wasn’t all dirty talk? It wasn’t like there was anything else on his mind.
Chrissy giggled. “Yeah?” She arched her back up off the mattress, pressing her chest up towards his mouth.
“How long…?” Eddie couldn’t even make himself finish the question. He just cupped one of Chrissy’s breasts with his heavily ringed hand, and felt a shudder of pleasure go through her.
How long have you been wet?
“Since you came over,” she gasped, understanding without words. “Since we started taking the photos.”
Eddie hunched over her and groaned. He felt like a rock star. He felt like an animal.
Chrissy took his hand by the wrist and moved it out from between her thighs. “Okay, that’s enough.”
“But you didn’t cum.”
She didn’t seem bothered. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”
Eddie let her help pull his Hellfire shirt over his head and off before trying to slip his hand against her pussy again. Chrissy pressed her thighs together, and laughed at the puppy-dog look of despair Eddie gave her.
“Take off your pants now,” she requested, sweetly.
Eddie was undeterred. “Let me take care of you first.”
Chrissy had already proven she was more than willing to be the stubborn one in the relationship. “I don’t want to do that right now. I want to cum with you inside me.”
Now it was Eddie’s turn to shudder. “Okay. If you’re sure.”
“Take off your pants,” Chrissy repeated, tugging on his belt buckle, “And I’ll let you rip off my skirt.”
That was motivation enough for Eddie. He almost fell off the bed in his eagerness to scramble out of his pants and boxers, fumbling with a condom from his wallet. Chrissy watched with an approving smile, then lounged back on the mattress and held her arms open for a bear hug when he was done. Eddie belly-flopped into her arms, relishing the giddy shrieks of delight she let out when he landed on top of her.
Wrapped together as tightly as a pair of snakes, they rolled across the bed until Chrissy was on top again. She straddled Eddie’s waist, and rose up on her knees. “Okay, go for it.”
Eddie reached up and, with one swift motion, ripped off Chrissy’s cheap wrap skirt. The ripping sound of the velcro, combined with Chrissy’s little gasp at the sensation, made it feel even more like a fantasy come true.
Now they were both completely naked. Chrissy rocked back, still supporting her weight on her knees, and lined up Eddie’s cock with her warm opening. When she finally sank down onto him, though, it felt natural. It was good and safe and cozy— could sex be cozy?— like coming home after a too-long vacation.
Eddie bit back an I love you, but only because he didn’t want to say it for the first time while they were having sex. He didn’t want Chrissy to think that was the only reason he was saying it. She deserved much better than that.
They both watched, open-mouthed, as Eddie’s cock sank in and out of Chrissy’s pretty pink cunt. Eddie was lucky Chrissy was nearly as worked up from pent-up tension as he was, because he wasn’t going to last much longer. Especially when Chrissy looked like that, with her cheeks all flushed and her long hair swishing against her bare breasts. She was dripping wet, and it was deliciously easy to slide in and out of her in time with the pace she set. Eddie reached around and grabbed her ass, feeling the muscles of her buttocks clench and unclench with each thrust.
Finally, Chrissy started riding him in earnest. Her head tipped back, and her eyes fell closed. She pressed her hands hard against Eddie’s belly, shimmying her hips at an erratic, almost frantic pace. “Ohhhh, Eddie,” she whined, her voice almost breaking. “I’m gonna, I’m gonna—!”
Eddie moved his hands from her ass to his hips, holding them firmly and slamming her down against him. “Come on, baby,” he grunted, “I’m right there with you. I wanna see my girl cum.”
Chrissy scrunched her eyes tightly closed, finishing with a wail as she bounced up and down on his cock. Eddie was only a couple of thrusts behind her. When he came, he made a nose like air being let out of a tire. He thought it was kind of embarrassing, but Chrissy didn’t seem to care. She bent down to kiss the tip of his nose while he was still inside her, trying to catch his breath. Their chests stuck together, tacky with sweat.
When they finally peeled themselves apart, and curled up together under one of Karen Wheeler’s fussy hand-woven afghan blankets, Chrissy gave Eddie a sideways look. “Can I tell you something, and you promise you won’t be mad?”
“I promise I won’t be mad,” Eddie said immediately. Those words should have struck terror into his heart, but he was too exhausted.
Chrissy rolled over on her belly, and propped her chin up in her hands, elbows resting on the mattress. “I liked taking those photos with you. I mean, I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else— too embarrassing— but I think I…like how I look in them, you know?” She blushed, like it was hard to admit. “They kind of turned me on.”
“They kind of turned me on too,” Eddie teased.
Chrissy gave him a half-hearted smack before going on. “I think I will do an OnlyFans. I need the money and I…I want to do it. Does that make you mad?”
“No, it doesn’t make me mad,” Eddie told her, honestly. It was a lot easier to accept, with Chrissy lying naked in his arms. And if every photoshoot ended like this, who was he to complain? “You should do it if you want to do it, if you like it. But if money is the issue…I think I have a better solution.”
“Oh yeah?” Chrissy raised her eyebrows slightly, disbelieving.
“A roommate.”
That made her laugh. “My apartment only has one bedroom.”
“Well, this roommate can share your bed,” Eddie explained, waggling his eyebrows right back at her.
After another round of making out, Chrissy got up from the bed. “Ugh, the Wheelers should be home in like an hour,” she yawned, stretching her arms and back. “We need to get cleaned up.”
Eddie bent down off the bed and grabbed his jeans from the floor. He took his own phone out of the back pocket and snapped a picture of Chrissy stretching, her mouth open in a silent yawn.
She made a face and covered her breasts with crossed arms. “That’s not going online, you know.”
“Of course.” Eddie held the phone to his heart. “That one’s just for me.”
Chrissy glanced at herself in the vanity mirror and sighed. “My makeup’s smeared all over my face, and my hair is all weird from the pins.”
“Trust me, baby.” Eddie crossed the room and planted a kiss on top of her rumpled curls. “You’ve never looked better.”
***