“We should live together,” Asher said, setting his paper cup in the cup holder and turning to me.

“How? What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been thinking. What if we rented this place together?”

“Again. How? What? Why?”

“I’ll tell Dad I need some independence. Living at home is fine and all, but it’s time I get a taste of the real world. Once I’m done with school, I’d move out anyhow. Get a job. Figure things out. Be on my own. Why not now?”

“Because you have it easy right now. Dad is paying for your school, your food, your car, everything. You leave to live with me, and how are we gonna make it work? There won’t be enough from this gig for both of our tuitions. We’d probably get by on expenses for a while, but we’d struggle come the second semester. You said so yourself.”

“Or the money we get from Jay could pay our tuition, and the gig money could kickstart us here.” He nodded at the apartment. “We could both work part-time jobs, or…”

“Or what?”

Asher fidgeted with his fingers, twisting them in his lap. “There are more … opportunities out there like what we’re doing for Charlotte. I looked.”

“What do you mean?”

“Twins are a hot commodity. People have kinks, and we’re it. Twins who are willing to be … intimate and sexy… Let’s just say, if you dig deep enough, there are companies who’d pay us a hefty sum for pictures or videos.”

“Porn?”

Asher shrugged. “Most porn companies won’t do it even if they want to. Too much red tape because it’s technically illegal. But there are some who are willing to consider it and give us fancy stage names, pretending we’re just two guys who look a lot alike. I’m not saying make a career of it. I’m saying, let’s put ourselves through school and shed the ’rents. They kicked you out, and I’m lost without you at home, Atti. I don’t want to be there anymore. It’s negative and hateful. Your name has become taboo, and I don’t want to feel that way anymore. I don’t want to be there, not without you.

“I … kinda want to share a bed with you every night and be allowed to touch you as much as I can without too many boundaries or worries. Living separately makes that harder, especially with our conflicting school schedules. I know what we have isn’t normal. I know we can’t be out about it, but we can still make something of this. Can’t we? We can call it dating, just not to other people. We can be a couple. Twins with benefits.”

We both chuckled. It was funny, but Asher was serious.