Page 21 of The Money Shot
I shook my head, feeling a little embarrassed, but she just shrugged it off. “No worries—they’re pretty cheap. I actually just upgraded to panel lights myself, so if you want, I can give you my old ring light.”
“Really?” I was relieved, grateful even, but the rush of gratitude died with her next question.
“So, what kind of content are you thinking about making?”
I stared at her, completely blank, and then felt my face burning. Truthfully, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I’d just been focused on getting in the door, not on what I’d do once I was actually there.
Laura burst out laughing, covering her mouth. “Oh my god, Liam, you’re blushing. That’s so cute.”
I tried to shrug it off, scratching the back of my neck. “I guess I haven’t exactly planned that part yet, and well, I don’t have a ton of, you know, experience.”
She gave me a sympathetic grin. “Well, there’s time to figure it out. It’s all about finding your niche. Trust me, there’s a market for just about anything.”
I gulped, wondering what that meant. But before I could dwell on it, she asked, “You ever think about what you’d do if your family found out?”
It was a damn good question. Honestly, I didn’t know if I could go through with any of this if I thought it might end up on my mom’s radar.
“No, do your folks know about…”
Laura shook her head, unconcerned. “I told my parents I freelance for political campaigns,” she said with a wink. “It’s great. They can’t fact-check that stuff. They think I’m some backroom fixer pulling strings. So, no—I’m not worried.”
She leaned forward, squinting at me with a curious look. “But before anything else, you need a stage name. Gotta keep real life and FantasyFans life separate. You…you kind of look like a sexy Italian guy.”
The first name that popped out of my mouth was, “Lucien Steel.”
She snapped her fingers, laughing. “Lucien Steel. Perfect.”
I swallowed, wondering what kind of guy “Lucien Steel” would even be. It sounded like someone who knew what he was doing, someone…sexier than me. A character. I could live with that.
Laura leaned in, giving me a conspiratorial look. “Let me tell you how I started. I started by setting up my social media. Instagram, X, Reddit—all that.”
“But…why?” I asked. “It’s not like you can get naked on Instagram.”
“Oh, honey,” she said, eyes gleaming. “You most definitely can get naked on X and Reddit. As for Instagram, that’s just to lure them in with thirst traps—tease them, you know? Then they’ll find the link to your FantasyFans profile and see the real you. Or, uh, the real Lucien Steel.”
The way she said it made it all sound so easy, but there was something electric in her tone, like she was letting me in on a secret club. And weirdly, I felt like I was just daring enough to want to be part of it.
Laura leaned in, giving me a serious look. “Listen, starting out with no content is tough. You need to build up a backlog of stuff you can post right away. I’d plan on taking a ton of pictures, at the very least. Get comfortable in front of the camera, you know, doing…whatever it is you’re planning on doing.”
I felt my cheeks heat up again. I wasn’t exactly used to thinking of myself as, well, doing anything in front of an audience, even a camera. Laura just smirked.
“So, do you have someone to film you, or…?” She raised an eyebrow, trying to keep a straight face.
“No,” I stammered, the embarrassment creeping up to my ears. “I, uh…I don’t think I could handle anyone else seeing…that. Not yet, anyway.” The idea of even one person watching me was mortifying.
Just then, an older waitress bustled over, her hair a startling shade of red that almost matched her lipstick. She gave us both a no-nonsense look, a pad and pen ready.
“What’ll it be?” she asked, her voice as abrupt as her expression. She obviously didn’t have time to waste.
“Iced tea and a bowl of matzo ball soup,” Laura said, not missing a beat.
I nodded, scrambling to catch up. “Same for me, please.”
The waitress gave us a brisk nod and headed off. I turned back to Laura, trying to shake off the embarrassment. “How do you even come up with ideas for videos? I mean, how do you keep it…interesting?”
Laura grinned. “There’s only so many scenarios you can act out on film. Trust me, it gets repetitive fast. So, I started using a holiday calendar to keep things fresh.” She pulled out her phone and flipped to a calendar app, scrolling for a second before handing it over. “Take October, for example.”
I glanced down and saw a note at the top: National Kink Month. My stomach did a weird flip at that.