Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

Eric

“You what?” Julie gasped on the other end of the phone.

“You heard me,” I said, tinkering with the cables in my studio as I unhooked my equipment.

Finally, the AC had been fixed, and with my sudden departure from my long-time job, I didn’t think I needed everything anymore. Just keeping a ring light and a professional mic would be enough for recording my content now.

Jordan had introduced me via email to the founder Only4U, a platform which housed more than just Jordan, Sticky, and I, and covered more than just Only Fans.

The owner, Paris, had intentions of launching her platform with courses that covered content creation on all platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, and more. Courses were curated and taught by those who were bigger names on their prospective platforms. Jordan, Sticky, and I were a team, our course content specifically geared toward creating different types of marketable OF content and how to get your content shown and in regular rotation with the algos—even if your content wasn’t sex.

Most people tended to think of Only Fans as being a sort of porn hub, and while they wouldn’t be incorrect, plenty of people have a variety of non-sexual accounts and content on there—and while sex may have been what we sold for a long time, I didn’t start out that way, and neither had the boys.

“How do you feel about this transition?” she asked, surprise still evident in her voice.

“Good, I guess. I mean, maybe a change of pace is good for me. I’m not going to be young forever,” I lamented. “Guess I really do work in social media now,” I said with a chuckle.

Julie snickered. “Please, like there aren’t thirty-something or fifty-something dudes out there making steamy Daddy content.”

“And you would know this how, Jules?” I teased.

She snickered on the other end of the phone. “I might be taken, but I ain’t dead, Eric.”

I laughed a deep, rib-splitting laugh at her words. Julie was truly something else, and a part of me was glad to have a friend like her in my life.

Always supportive, and always a fucking hoot.

Then her tone shifted, changing like the chameleon she truly was.

“So what are you going to do now? About Riley?”

I nearly bumped my head on the desk at her words. I sat back on the floor, tangled in cords.

“I don’t know, I haven’t uh, really thought about it.”

“You should tell him how you feel. Tell him the truth.”

I sighed. “The truth is what I’ve been dying to tell him since I met him.”

“What happened? Why didn’t you?”

“Because I worried he’d just split, like everyone else. Because maybe I couldn’t face the truth myself.”

The silence was palpable between us as I listened to the sound of her soft breaths.

“You deserve to be happy, you know,” she said seriously.

“I know, Jules. I just—” I swallowed harshly as I looked at my studio in disarray. “I think I’m on my way there, I just need to take care of some things first, you know.”

“I know. I get it. But there’s never going to be a right time, Eric. All you have is the here and now, so if you want him... go fucking get him. Tell him the truth, and if he can’t see that you are an amazing person, beneath the sex appeal, he isn’t for you.”

I sighed at the weight of her words. “Do you think he is? For me, I mean.”

“Shit, Eric I wouldn’t have set you two up for a blind date if I thought you were bad for one another, you know that right? I mean, I like drama as much as the next girl, but I don’t need to create any between my friends.”

I smirked as I nodded in understanding. “You really think we’re good for each other?” I asked, my voice small.

“I know you are. I think you know it too.”

Just at that moment, Riley texted me. I swiped up, telling Julie I had to go, and she didn’t press me.

Instead, she told me good luck, and hung up as I stared at Riley’s text.

How about a do-over? Tomorrow night is bar bingo at M’s Place...

I didn’t hesitate to answer, Yes, it’s a date.