I woke up and felt better. Much better. I didn't feel afraid anymore. Dion was sealed to my body, slung over it, sleeping. And snoring a little. It was cute.

The sun was shining outside, and I could hear the birds sing. I could finally breathe.

I curled around Dion, pressing him to me. He groaned a little tiredly, but he didn't pull back. Instead he kissed my collarbone and pressed his face to my chest, inhaling sharply.

"Hey cutie," he murmured, his voice muffled against my skin. "How're you feeling?"

"Good. So much better."

"Yeah? You ready for work next week?"

"Yeah."

He kissed my chest and then my throat. I exhaled loudly, biting down a growl. I moved my leg in between his and he gasped. I couldn't help but smile as I pulled him closer and further up my leg. He was so easy to please now. I had been so scared I couldn't keep up, but we were in sync. We moved together, in unison.

Our routines worked so well. I had gotten out of this funk way faster than I had ever done before with Oliver here. It was like Dion knew what I needed and just supported me in the right way. He didn't cure me, but he did all the right things at the right time, helping me to get up and out.

"Arlo," Dion purred and ran his hands over my chest.

"Yes?"

"Have you... Considered getting some... Help? For this thing."

"I've tried. It didn't work. I'm just like this." I pulled back and looked down at him. "There's nothing I can do to change."

"I'm not asking you to change, Arlo," he said softly and took my face in his hands. "I'm asking if there's something that could help you to feel better. To not feel like that again. I'd go with you to a therapist, if you need support."

As nice as his suggestion was, I didn't want it. I had been to therapists before and it didn't help. Nothing did. I was just like this and yeah, that was hard. Especially for people around me.

Maybe I should reconsider because of the people around me. It was a pain to be anxious all the time, and I couldn't imagine how scared I had made Dion. Oliver knew me and knew what it was all about, but this had been Dion's first time. I didn't want him to get used to it.

"I'll... I'll try again," I said with a tiny voice.

"Yeah?" He lit up, smiling very widely. "I'll find someone. Or you can find someone? I'll go with you. I promise."

I moved in and kissed him, making him sigh against my lips. I pressed him to my chest, loving how warm he was. I felt big and protective too. I liked that and I hoped Dion did too. He seemed to always melt into me when I hugged him. He'd inhale sharply, his ribcage expanding and then he'd almost turn liquid in my arms. I loved it.

And he was so nice. So supportive. I didn't deserve this kind of support and love, but there he was, offering it for free.

I stared down at my phone when Dion came into the kitchen, placing a kiss on my shoulder.

"What's up?"

"You have a job with Nikon. Someone ordered the both of you."

Dion snorted. "What?"

I showed him the text from Achilleus. He scratched the back of his head and glanced up at me.

"Well, it's not like it'll be the first time I don't work alone. I just hope Nikon doesn't screw it up."

"I'll brief him when we pick him up. We gotta get going."

We quickly got ready, were in the car and by Nikon's place in no time. He stood outside his apartment complex; his arms folded across his chest. He jumped in the back and smoothed his blue hair down.

"So, where's this client?"

"At the Elysian Hotel," I replied and tapped in the coordinates on my phone. It showed me the way and I put it on the little stand on the dashboard.

"You guys haven't worked together before, right?"

"No," Nikon said and leaned forward.

"Ground rules. Dion's horns are off-limits. Both to you and to the client."

"Cool. Top, bottom, verse?"

"Bottom," Dion muttered. "I mean I can do both? But no one ever asks me."

"Cool, I usually top. Depends on the client, obviously. Anything else we need to cover before we get there?"

Dion shrugged a little. "Dunno. You have any boundaries?"

"Bitch," Nikon snorted. "Yes, I have boundaries. I don't kiss."

Dion frowned and turned in his seat so he could see Nikon. "You don't kiss? Like at all?"

"No. They're free to kiss anything they want but my mouth is off limits. You kiss your clients?"

"Some. Most don't wanna since you know, I suck cock for a living."

Nikon grinned and leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on his knees. "I don't want their disgusting tongues in my mouth. I share that with my boyfriend and no one else."

"You have a boyfriend?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Yeah. Is that such a surprise, Arlo?"

"I guess not. I just thought you liked Apollo."

"I liked his money." Nikon shrugged and met my gaze in the rear-view mirror. "As if I'd fall for a client. Come on, man. We've both worked at Euphoria long enough to know that shit doesn't fly over well."

I nodded a little and glanced at Dion. He was leaning his cheek against his hand, sighing deeply. He looked like his head was far from here, until he flicked his eyes back at me and smiled. I smiled back and looked back at the road.

"Did we get any details?" Nikon asked then.

"No. Only thing I was told was that you were both ordered for one client."

"Hah, greedy." He leaned back and ran a hand through his curls.

I held the door for Nikon and Dion, letting them enter the suite first. We found the client on the sofa, the suite one of those big ones with several bedrooms and a living room.

"Hi," he said and waved. Both Nikon and Dion waved back. Dion slipped into his persona, his shoulders slouching a little and that sly smile on his lips.

"Money upfront and you've got four hours." I looked down at my watch and then looked back up at the client.

"Yes." He rose to his feet and patted his blazer until he found the envelope. He handed it to me, and I quickly counted the money, giving him a nod. "Come, boys." He held his hands out to Nikon and Dion and they both grabbed one each, following the client to the bedroom. He closed the door after them.

I dumped down on the sofa and pulled my phone out. At least the client looked nice. He was an older gentleman, but he had been pleasant enough. Some would get crude immediately. I hoped he treated both well otherwise there'd be hell to pay. From me.

After an hour, Nikon exited the room, wearing only a robe. He dumped down on the sofa next to me and grabbed some water from the pitcher on the table in front of the sofa.

"How's it going?" I asked and put my phone away.

"He only wanted Dion now," Nikon muttered.

"You know, he'll still pay full price for you. You'll get the pay."

"Yeah." He nodded and drank more water before putting the glass down on the glass table. "What does he have, that I don't?"

Everything. Literally everything. Dion's a god compared to you, I thought to myself before I sobered.

"He's not Dion when he's with clients. They forget he's a person because he wants them to. When he's with a client there's only the sex. Nothing else." I poured myself some water too and took a sip.

"I wrote the fucking book on prostitution, though."

"It has changed, Nikon. People wanna forget now. They wanna live in a fantasy that someone like Dion is having the time of their lives with clients like that one." I jerked my head towards the bedroom where Dion's voice seeped through the door.

"I know all that. That's basic shit, Arlo."

"But you don't convince them then. Not like he does."

"Or maybe I'm just not a cute little twink like him. He barely looks older than eighteen."

I frowned. "He's twenty, so it makes sense he looks young." I shrugged a shoulder and Nikon rolled his eyes.

"Even you are smitten with him. Everyone is. I'm so tired of it."

"Nikon. You're focusing on him while you should be focusing on you. Whatever he does has nothing to do with you. Nothing at all. You've been sharing clients with other workers in the club too. Apollo wasn't originally a regular of yours. He was Alejandro's regular before he was yours. It's not a competition. Stop making it into one." I took another sip of my water and dug my phone back out, annoyed and done with Nikon's pity party. He was still making a lot of money. He was still one of the best earning workers at the club. Whatever he had against Dion was something he needed to get over. Because it was getting old as fuck. And the clients could probably feel it. This one could anyways. Must've been why he only wanted Dion now.

"I'm... I'm considering quitting," Nikon said after a while.

I looked up from my phone. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. My boyfriend is totally cool with what I do, but like... I don't know. Maybe I'm getting too old. I'm still good at it. I know I am. It's the only thing I'm good at, to be honest." He scratched his pointy ear, glancing up at me. "You think I could do something else?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Because I'm stupid. Like, I know I'm stupid. I know I don't know many things. I know how to make men cum for money. I know how to entertain them, make them laugh, make them moan. I don't know anything else."

"You could learn."

"I'm too old."

"You're like... Twenty-three years old?"

He nodded.

"Your life has barely started. Get the fuck out of this job, find another, learn a trade, marry your boyfriend."

A smile fought its way through his otherwise stoic mask, and it was like I saw a whole new side of him. A genuine side that wasn't arrogant. The real him. A vulnerable and maybe even likable side.

Before he could say anything, the door to the bedroom opened and Dion appeared in it.

"Come on, Nikon," he said and smiled, beckoning Nikon back to the bed.

Nikon flashed me a smile that disappeared as soon as it had appeared, making me question if it had even been there in the first place.

I could have a lot of thoughts about the workers at Euphoria but one thing I couldn't let myself forget, was that they all worked there because they didn't have another choice. Maybe they did know another trade, but it didn't pay like this one. Alejandro sent all the money he made back to his parents and his sick little sister.

Strawberry desperately wanted a life that wasn't in poverty, like the one she had lived when she was a kid.

Dion wanted off the streets.

And Nikon? Nikon had been led to believe he wasn't worth more than what his body could give him. That he was legitimately stupid.

All of these people were somehow led to believe they weren't worth anything outside of their bodies. And it hurt to think about, to be honest. They were all people. Actual people with actual feelings. With thoughts and dreams of their own. But they had been pressured into this either by a need for more money or because they didn't think they could do anything else.

I was going to get at least one out. And that was Dion. He said he'd quit after this contract was up and I was going to support his decision. Maybe I'd quit too. I could easily get another job at another club. Everyone always needed more guards.