He shoved my shoulder, laughing. “Dude, I agreed to get naked and kinky with you for the camera. Believe me, if I hated you, this wouldn’t be happening. Besides, our clothes won’t matter once we get there because she wants to see us in less than, remember?”

I glanced down at myself. “Right. Shit. I wore boring underwear. Maybe I should change.”

“I’m sure your underwear is boyish and adorable like the rest of you.”

“Fuck off and drive.”

Asher laughed. “Where am I going?”

“The Holiday Inn on Remington Avenue. Sixth floor. Room 608. They said the front desk knows we’re coming.”

“And we aren’t going to get murdered by some crazy serial killer who set this whole thing up?”

“Probably not.”

Asher took the overpass to the freeway. “Probably not, he says. Lovely.”

We drove with the music keeping us company. Asher wove through traffic, one hand on the wheel as he sang along under his breath.

“Are you nervous?” I asked when he took the exit that led to downtown.

“I’m trying not to think about it.”

“I’d like to think we’re comfortable with each other’s naked bodies. Remember that time we had a penis dancing contest in front of the mirror? We cranked ‘Jump Around’ and tried to outdo each other by swinging and slapping our little dicks all over the place.”

Asher laughed and threw his head back. “Oh fuck, that was awesome. But we were seven or eight at the time. I’d say that’s a little different. My dick’s all grown up now.” He eyed me. “Not sure how yours made out, and I can’t say it was on my list of need-to-know items.”

“I have a nice dick, thank you very much. Never had a single complaint.” I shrugged. “I’m just saying. Let’s look at this as a brotherly adventure.”

“A brotherly adventure?”

“Yeah.”

Asher grew quiet. We both knew it was far different, and no amount of pretending would make it a fun brotherly adventure. It was twisted and ten kinds of wrong, but whatever, it was twenty-four thousand dollars.

Asher pulled into the Holiday Inn and found a parking spot. He shut off the Jag and sat staring at the building. “Are we really doing this?”

“I’m running out of options.”

Asher pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. “Just acting. Fuck me. Okay, let’s go before I change my mind.”

We wandered inside, both of us with stiff shoulders and our hands jammed into our pockets. At the front desk, I gave the woman behind the counter our names.

“Ah, yes, the Charming twins. Ms. Jones is waiting for you. Go on up.” She directed us to a bank of elevators on the left.