Jake's phone buzzed, dancing across the nightstand until it nearly committed suicide onto his apartment's cracked linoleum floor.
"Fuck, it's Kora again," he groaned, squinting at the bright screen through his hangover. "I guess her man doesn't satisfy her this time either. Now she needs my help."
He stretched, his muscular frame taking up most of the bed. It was basically the only thing he maintained these days—his body. Old habits from his football days. That and the genetic blessing his mama had always told him would either be his greatest gift or biggest curse.
"Probably both," he muttered to himself, remembering how Kora's eyes had nearly popped out of her head the first time they'd hooked up back in high school. That look never got old, especially now that it came with cash attached.
He swiped open the message, already knowing what it would say. Same shit, different day.
*He's gone till tomorrow night. Come over? Got something for you.*
A notification popped up - $200 sent to his Cash App. Jake snorted. That was Kora - straight to the point, no bullshit. Always had been, even back in high school when they'd hook up behind the bleachers while she was supposedly dating the basketball captain.
Some things never changed. Except now her boyfriend wasn't some high school jock but Damon Santiago, a man whose name was whispered in certain parts of the city.
"Two hundred bucks," Jake muttered, running a hand through his unwashed hair. "Better than sitting here watching reruns and eating dollar store ramen."
He typed back: *Give me 30* before dragging himself to the shower.
The water ran lukewarm - never quite hot in this building - but it was enough to wash away last night's cheap whiskey sweat. Jake caught his reflection in the cracked bathroom mirror. Thirty-two looked rougher on him than it should have. Life had a way of beating the shit out of your plans.
"Look at you," he said to his reflection. "From most likely to succeed to most likely to be someone's dirty secret."
His phone buzzed again from the other room.
*Make it 20. I'm already worked up.*
Jake grinned despite himself. At least someone still wanted him, even if it was just for what was in his pants and not what was in his head. Even if he was just her little secret, her escape from the golden cage Damon had built around her.
Ten minutes later, he was dressed in his least-stained jeans and a black t-shirt that still smelled faintly of the bar he'd hit last night. He grabbed his keys and headed out, not bothering to lock the door. Anyone desperate enough to rob his place deserved whatever disappointment awaited them.
The bus ride to Kora's neighborhood was like traveling to another dimension. Every stop took him further from the land of check-cashing places and liquor stores and closer to pristine lawns and houses with actual security systems.
His stop came up - the entrance to "Lakeside Estates," which had neither a lake nor estates, just overpriced condos where people like Damon kept people like Kora.
The security guard gave Jake the usual once-over. "Ms. Williams called ahead."
"Appreciate it, man." Jake nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked through. He knew what the guard was thinking. Same thing everyone thought when they saw him headed to Kora's place when Damon was gone: there goes the side piece.
And they weren't wrong.
Kora's door opened before he could knock. She stood there in a silk robe that probably cost more than his monthly rent, dark hair tumbling over her shoulders, eyes bright with anticipation.
"Took you long enough," she said, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him inside.
"Had to make myself presentable for a fancy lady like you," Jake replied with a smirk that felt as familiar as an old scar.
She laughed, the sound sending him back to senior year for a split second. "Please. Since when do you care about being presentable?"
Her hands slid under his shirt, nails trailing lightly across his skin. Jake could feel her impatience, the way she pressed against him.
"You know," she whispered against his ear, "Damon buys me anything I want. Designer everything. Takes me to five-star restaurants. But you know what he can't give me?"
Jake smirked. "Let me guess."
"Nobody does it like you do, Jake." Her eyes locked with his, a flash of genuine desire breaking through her carefully maintained exterior. "Trust me, I've tried to find someone else who measures up. Even Damon with all his money and power..."
"Can't compare to what I'm packing?" he finished for her, his ego inflating despite himself.
"Not even close." She bit her lip, giving him a look that was pure hunger. "It's not fair. Why'd you have to be so goddamn good at this but so bad at everything else?"
He kicked the door shut behind him, already letting her pull him toward the bedroom. "So what's the deal? Damon in Miami again?"
"Some business thing," she said, her hands already working at his belt, clearly done with the conversation. "Who cares? We've got the place until tomorrow. And I've been thinking about this all week."
Jake pushed away the voice in his head asking if this was really all life had for him - being the backup plan for a girl he used to know, collecting cash for services rendered. But then Kora's robe fell open, and he remembered why she kept calling him, why she risked her cushy arrangement with Damon.
She pulled him down onto the king-size bed that Damon had paid for, looking up at him with those eyes that never seemed to change, no matter how many years passed between them.
Jake grinned as he hovered above her. "Time for me to punch in for work," he joked, winking at her. "Hope the boss doesn't fire me for poor performance."
Kora laughed, running her hands along his shoulders. "Trust me, you're the only employee who's never getting sacked," she murmured, pulling him closer. "Now stop talking and earn your paycheck."
He laughed and lowered himself toward her, pushing everything else from his mind. For now, nothing else mattered - not his failures, not her dangerous boyfriend, not the dead-end road his life had become. For now, he was exactly where someone wanted him to be.