I’d even considered starting a brand-awareness and content business instead of trying to build my own influencer brand, but that would be like saying goodbye to my pursuit of acting altogether, and I wasn’t ready to do that at the age of twenty-nine. Yeah, I knew my time for breaking into the business was running out, but I still loved performing with everything I had. I was desperate to find a way to do it. My dream of being in the entertainment business went practically back to the womb.
“You doing okay, sweetheart?” Mom’s concern turned to me since Jackson was no longer there to focus on. “I know seeing your brother like this can’t be easy.”
“He’s going to be fine. Last time they gave him a transfusion he was as good as new.” I didn’t mention it hadn’t lasted, but at least he’d be able to work again and he’d look less like a skeleton and more like the old Jackson.
“Yeah.” She blew out a breath and plastered on a smile. “Yeah, you’re right. He’s strong and we have time. All we need to do is be really careful with our expenses and try to get creative. The good news is, work is picking up since we’re getting closer to bathing suit season. You wouldn’t believe how packed the appointment book is.” As she continued to catch me up on work, I opened the door to the restaurant for her and followed her to take our place in the order line just as my phone rang.
I glanced down to see it was my best friend, Eli. He’d been researching what new tires I should get for my brother’s car since I was shit at anything having to do with cars and one of Eli’s brothers was a mechanic. Even though it would be a bitch of a drive to meet up with him, I hoped he could get me a good deal on the set.
After I asked my mom to order for me and handed her my wallet, I stepped back outside to take his call.
“Hey, bud,” I said. “How’s Crystal? She pregnant yet?” He was more in love with his favorite mare than his girlfriend.
His warm laughter came through the line. “No. Shut the fuck up. That damned horse I put her with must be shooting blanks. I need to look into alternative plans.”
“Too bad you can’t be the donor. That would be perfect.” I grinned, picturing his wide smile and warm brown eyes set in a weather-worn face. A face just like every other good-looking man in his family, including one that flashed in my mind’s eye damned near every night whether I wanted it to or not. I will not think of Nine. I will not think of Nine.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re not the first person to make that joke. But listen, that’s not why I’m calling.” He took a breath and blew it out. “I know this is gonna sound crazy, but my brother Nine has this, uh, tool company who’s been calling him about a sponsorship for his YouTube stuff.”
Dammit.
“Okayyy…?”
“Yeah, so anyway, apparently this company needs to find some, uh, gay people.” I could hear the sound of him swallowing. Despite being my best friend outside of my family, Eli had never been all that comfortable about my sexuality. “It’s only offering the sponsorship to the LBG…L…Q… community. Or whatever.”
“Why does it surprise me you doubled up on the lesbians and left out the poor trans folks?” I teased.
“What? Oh. Yeah, you know I don’t know much about all that stuff.”
His words started sinking in. “Wait. Are you saying Nine is LGBTQ?”
“What? No! No. That’s not what I’m saying at all. Christ.”
I rolled my eyes and wanted to call him out on his homophobic freak-out, but I bit my tongue. “Then get to the point. I’m about to have lunch with my mom.”
“I thought maybe you could help him pretend.”
A car honked at the red light out on the main road, distracting me for a beat. “Pretend what?”
“To be gay. For the money.”
“Wait. Wait. You want me to help your asshole, weirdo brother—the one who hates me by the way—pretend to be gay so he can defraud a company of YouTube ad money?”
Silence for a second. “You don’t have to make it sound like that. All you’d have to do is help him renovate a little cabin in the woods and take video of it for his video blog.”
That didn’t sound right. “Help him renovate? That’s it? What’s the catch? And how does this make Nine LGBTQ?”
“Well, I mean… I kind of told them you two were a couple, so you’d have to pretend—”
I cut him off. “No. No. Wait… you told them?”
Eli was quiet for a minute. “I… kind of snuck the guy’s phone number and pretended to be Nine’s agent. It’s cool though. The guy was really excited about it, and as soon as I—”