“Thanks,” Tony replied. “That does wonders for my confidence.”
“Come on,” Cassie said. “You know what I mean.”
“Nah, I get it,” Tony said. “Your secret is safe with me. As long as you don’t tell anyone it was me you ran into.”
“Ahh damn,” she replied. “I was just getting ready to tweet about this and tag you. Can you imagine how many likes I’d get if I let everyone know I almost got paid to fuck my cousin?”
“I mean, technically you did get paid,” Tony said, laughing.
“You know what I mean, jerk,” she said.
“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Tony said. “We both take this secret to our graves.”
“Good,” Cassie said, breathing a sigh of relief.
=====
Cassie and Tony spent the next 20 minutes unsure of what to do next. On the one hand, they both wanted so badly to leave this room. On the other, they didn’t want to be the one to make the first move to exit.
So they did what any pair of cousins would do. They talked. A lot.
For 20 minutes, they each tried to make things as easygoing as possible and, if you happened to walk in on them, you’d think they were just catching up and casually hanging out.
Tony told Cassie all about his work and the projects he’s been doing around the house. Cassie told Tony all about her friends and the random Zumba class she started taking once a week.
It’s hard to describe how relaxed this all felt, Tony thought. It’s almost like this misunderstanding was a good thing and might even bring them closer together.
“So I have a question,” Cassie said. Tony knew immediately based on tone alone that those comfortable feelings were about to go out the window.
“Shoot,” he said.
“Why am I here?” she asked.
“Come on now,” he said. “You know why.”
“No, no,” she said. “I’m not asking why am I here in the literal sense of why did you call me. I’m asking why you hired an escort. Sorry. Attempted to hire an escort.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” he said.
“Try me,” she replied.
Tony spent a good 30 seconds trying to figure out how to phrase his next statement but it still came out more awkward than he intended. Talking sex with any family member, let alone one you just found out is a sexual professional, is not easy.
“I wanted to try it,” he said. “It’s a fantasy of mine. Has been for years.”
“Okay but why an escort?” Cassie said. “You said Kayla is okay with it, which I still can’t believe. Why not just jump on Tinder or something and find someone else to get your rocks off with?”
“The sex isn’t really the point,” he said. “I can’t really explain it and I definitely don’t want to explain it to you. This is really fucking weird.”
“Listen, I don’t know what you think I do when I’m working with clients but half my job is listening,” she said. “Try me.”
“I like the fantasy,” he said. “I love Kayla. You know that. There’s no one I’d rather spend my life with but sometimes … sometimes I just have needs she can’t fill.”
“Ahh,” Cassie said, nodding.
“She’s amazing but she’s my wife,” he explained. “And when you marry someone and you’re with them for years, the sex just … “
He really didn’t want to say this part.