Learning the Hard Way Read Free Page B

fingernail.
    At this point in their friendship, Troy knew his buddy had lied about something in his story. Gross could never look Troy in the eyes when he lied.
    “I bet she did.” Troy snickered.
    Gross waved his hands in the air. “Forget all of that. What I need is for someone to be my backup. You can have the tips.”
    Troy put his hand to his chest and bowed his head. “That’s so gracious of you.”
    “I know, right?”
    At his age, Gross should have been a lot sharper. Maybe while Gross enjoyed his trip, Troy would do him a favor and get rid of the illegal substances growing in his closet or shed.
    “Like I said before, no.” Troy stared at his friend so that he understood he meant business.
    “Why? It’s not like I’m asking you to do something major.” A whine started creeping through his friend’s voice.
    Troy laughed. “No, prostitution is never a big deal. Just ask the cops.”
    “I’m not a trick. We have ads in the Yellow Pages. All we do is provide companionship to women who need it. Almost all of the time, the women are old, crusty hags who probably would need to be submerged in the Atlantic Ocean to get wet again.” He completed the statement with a shiver.
    “You are such a charmer. How is it that you’ve not gotten married yet?” He gave him a playful hit on his shoulder.
    Gross shrugged. “Lucky, I guess.”
    Troy shook his head. “God looks after babies and idiots.”
    Gross smiled. “Yeah, He does, doesn’t He?”
    Troy couldn’t take this conversation any longer. “Again, no. I’m not going to be your relief ho.”
    “It’s an easy gig. You’ll get a call from the office if anyone is interested in you. The woman pays upfront and decides what kind of package she wants, whether it’s the basic: you meet her at the event, be a little arm candy for her, and take her home. Or she could go for the deluxe, which means she pays for limos, a tux for you.”
    Troy blinked. “Tux? Wow. You’re kidding.”
    Gross shook his head. “No, she’ll do it. And she pays for dinner, if that’s what you all do, and that’s it.”
    “I don’t like for a woman to pay for dinner or anything when I’m on a date.” Call it a gentlemanly gesture or just his need to control, Troy couldn’t get past the idea of being a piece of meat on the arm of an influential woman.
    “Man, it’s just a job, not, like, a real date or something. They want to pay, let them.” Gross lowered his voice and nudged Troy’s side with his elbow. “That’s all that Master/slave stuff you do, right? I think the women would dig that. A few times a couple of them asked me to get rough with them.”
    The hairs on the back of Troy’s neck stood on end. “BDSM is more than just rough sex. Anything else is just kinky sex.”
    Gross held up his hands like he needed to calm Troy down. “Easy, man. Didn’t mean to offend your thing. I thought when you told me you were into that shit when we graduated high school that you would have grown out of it by now.”
    Gross talked about Troy’s chosen lifestyle like he had a disease or disorder. Growing out of BDSM would be like saying a person could grow out of heterosexuality. He wouldn’t apologize for his life. Since he hadn’t played with anyone in a while, he did have to lament his relationship status.
    Troy directed his attention back to Gross. “So you’re saying in all of the times you’ve done this, none of these ladies wanted something more from you.” Troy crossed his arms over his chest. “They pay for your meals and your tuxes, and they want nothing in return.”
    “Not exactly.” Gross tugged on his shirt.
    Troy shook his head. “That’s what I thought.”
    “There was one who wanted me to rub her feet. Another one wanted me to hold her hand while she got a tattoo.”
    Those things seemed pretty harmless. Maybe Troy blew this situation out of proportion.
    “Oh, and I guess my reputation of licking pussy has gone out to these ladies. They like when