"And twenty years younger."
He angles his head, smirking. "You still look good."
I return the compliment. "So do you."
It's an inside joke, the looks thing. We look quite similar, sharing a sort of surfie vibe, each with messy hair, although Zak's grown his down to his shoulders this past year, similar builds, and similar facial features. My hair and eyes are a bit lighter, but we get mistaken for brothersall the time. We also get plumber for some strange reason, too.
That's a big part of why we succeeded, looking like regular guys. Not at acting like we originally intended because that is one cutthroat and competitive motherfucker neither of us had the mindset for.
No, we succeeded in another area of entertainment.
Porn.
It's the most random story ever. A guy approached us at the gym and asked us to join him for dinner to discuss a business project. Being broke, we agreed for the free food alone. Turns out, the guy, Decker, was a successful businessman. A successful businessman who made us a wild offer.
He said he had a major cum fetish, was super into 'regular-looking' dudes, and offered us ten thousand dollarseachif we'd let him indulge in his ultimate fantasy––blowing his load on our faces.
I'll never forget Zak's reaction. He was eating soup as Decker was speaking, and as soon as Decker made his offer, Zak dropped his spoon and covered all three of us in bright-red tomato sauce.
We said we needed time to think about it. Zak and I discussed it, did a deep dive into a world of cum neither one of us knew existed, and ultimately decided to go ahead with it.
The experience wasn't bad. In fact, we both enjoyed it. Decker had connections and said if we ever wanted to do it professionally, as in, work in porn, just say the word. Apparently, there was a strong demand for 'regular-looking dudes' doing this niche of porn.
We decided to give it a try and shot a few scenes with a couple of studios. Things took off from there. This was in the early days of social media. We were early adopters and quickly grew a massive, loyal following. Being business-minded, we wanted to break out on our own.
With Decker's financial backing, we launched FaceBros, a porn studio specializing exclusively in cum content. Facials, bukkake, cumkissing, cumplay—you name it, we do it. And we've got supercool merch, too.
Even though we both quit appearing on camera over ten years ago, both of us are active behind the scenes. Zak casts, directs, and produces most scenes while I handle the businessside of running the company. In the past two years, I've also gotten involved with advocacy work, especially regarding legislation to ensure sex workers and adult content creators get the same rights and safeguards other workers enjoy.
Mental health is also important to me. Emotional flattening, difficulty accessing desire, and hyper-self-monitoring are just some of the mental health issues porn stars experience and no one is addressing properly. I know firsthand how hard it can be. I was so burned out after almost a decade of performing, I still haven't fully recovered.
"Man, you must be tired," Zak says, flashing a toothy smile as we reach the front porch. "You totally spaced out."
"Yeah, sorry."
"Don't apologize. You've been busting your balls lately, taking on way too much. I want you to relax and unwind. These next few weeks are all about decompressing and doing as little as possible."
I swing my arm over his shoulder. "Sounds like heaven."
2
Harvey
"Mommy, Mommy! Look at the giant!"
Ihatecoming into town.
I look down at the tiny blonde girl clinging to her mother’s leg, wide-eyed, her lower lip trembling, right as her mother cranes her neck up at me.
The woman's eyes bug out momentarily, before she clears her throat. "Now, Ellie. That's not a very nice thing to say." Then to me, "Sorry."
I clutch the white paper pharmacy bag tighter in my hand, wishing a sinkhole would open up and swallow me whole. It'd have to be a huge sinkhole for me to fit in it.
"It's fine, ma'am."
The woman stares at me for a beat before taking her daughter's hand and scurrying down the street.
Thisis why I've set my life up to avoid human interaction as much as possible. I bought the last house on the outskirts of town. I get everything delivered, from groceries to clothes, which I have to have custom-made, to toiletries and everything else.