Rio, Ex-Pornstar Pt. 17

Rio uploaded his honest, confessional video to Onlyfans on Saturday night before joining Jay in bed. He checked that the upload was successful, then quietly shut his laptop down.

"Well, it's done," he said, slipping under the bed covers. "It's posted."

Jay knew what he meant.

"It's out there now. Out in the world of zeroes and ones." Rio paused, contemplating what he'd just done. It was life-changing in every sense of the word, and potentially career-destroying, too. He felt like a reptile shedding old skin. He listened to the sirens in the distance; they never went away. There was too much crime and too many emergencies, but not enough people to respond. "Like, even if I changed my mind right now and deleted my post, someone would've already seen it. Someone, somewhere, has already watched my post and knows what I said. Maybe someone has even downloaded a copy. And if logged back on and deleted it now, I'd look like a fuckin' coward."

Jay rolled over. "I don't think you're a coward," he said, placing a reassuring hand on Rio's chest. "Actually, I think you're extremely fucking brave. I mean, you're asking people to view you differently to how they've viewed you in the past, which is hard enough for anyone in your position. But in your case, it's also tied up with your career, and I know how hard you've worked recently to resurrect it." He felt Rio's chest rise and fall underneath the weight of his hand.

"Yeah," Rio agreed. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see how people react tomorrow. I'm tryin' hard not to think about it anymore tonight." He spooned Jay from behind.

"I love you, Rio, whatever happens."

"I love you too."

"I'll get you a job at the library if I need to."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Jay reminisced. "Hey, you remember the time you came in to join the library and you asked me, very fucking loudly I might add, where the hardcore porn section was?"

Rio laughed. "Yeah, bruh, I do. That was funny. I'm just glad I didn't kill that old lady."

"She was deaf as a fucking post. I heard she made a recovery, but she didn't hear any of your complaint that the library didn't store porn mags on its shelves. She passed out because she came across a racy paragraph in the Barbara Cartland novel she was reading."

"Fuck around and find out," said Rio. "That Cartland skank had a dirty fuckin' mind."

Jay laughed hard. He went to sleep with a gigantic grin on his face.

*

Jay woke alone on Sunday morning -- the other side of the bed was vacant.

Rio was already up; he woke with the sun. He poured himself a coffee and logged on, steeling himself for the worst of all possible worlds. He began scrolling through the comments to last night's post. While there were a few nasty and ignorant comments, most of the feedback from his followers was either neutral or positive. A few people offered praise for the guts he showed in owning his truth, even though he feared for his career in doing so.

Jay padded out to the living room where Rio was sitting with his laptop. "How did it go?"

Rio peered at Jay over the top of his reading glasses. "I'm feeling very relieved, bro."

Jay sat next to him and gave him a big hug. "I mean, I've got a few less followers this morning than I had last night," Rio continued, "but most of the comments are good."

So some people had unsubscribed. "Show me?" Jay asked. Rio turned the laptop screen in Jay's direction.

Jay began scrolling down through Rio's feed. Some of the negative comments were downright nasty and offensive, but Jay felt way more upset about them than Rio did. He kept his thoughts quiet. This morning was about Rio, and not himself.

Rio pointed at the screen. "Look at this comment, Jay. That's a word I never thought I'd ever be called."

Jay knew the pain that six-letter word beginning with the letter F could bring. He'd been on the receiving end of it a few times himself. "I know."

"You know what? Fuck 'em," Rio decided. "If people like that have unfollowed me because of what I said, I'm glad they've gone. I don't want people like that as my fans."

He quietly closed his laptop and made breakfast for Jay and himself. Poached eggs on rye toast, with wilted spinach, hash browns and an abundance of coffee.

They thought no more of it until Rio's cellphone rang in the middle of the afternoon. He was sitting outside, enjoying a cup of herbal tea, but not doing anything in particular. He picked up his vibrating handset, but he didn't recognise the caller's number.

"Hey, Jay," he hollered, "what does it mean when you get a call from a number with a plus sign in front of it?"

Rather than shouting back, Jay stepped outside to join Rio. "It means it's an international call. Someone's calling you from overseas."

Rio's phone stopped vibrating -- the caller had given up.

"Who the fuck could be calling me from overseas? I don't even think I know anyone from out of the country."

Jay shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me."

"Must be a wrong number," Rio concluded. "Someone's doin' an international buttdial. They're gonna get a surprise when their next bill arrives."

A few seconds later, Rio's phone sprang to life again, buzzing loudly. He looked at the screen. "I think it's the same number, Jay. There's a plus sign on my screen, followed by 61. So if the plus sign means international, what does 61 mean?"

"Wait a second." Jay unlocked his own phone and googled international dialling codes. "So, 61 is the international dialling code for Australia. Someone's calling you from down under."

Rio looked perplexed. "Who the fuck do I know from Australia?"

His phone rang again. Same number. This time, out of sheer curiosity, he answered. The line wasn't very clear, but he heard a distant female voice.

"Uhh ... yeah ... g'day. Am I speaking with Rio?"

"Yeah, I'm Rio. What can I do for you?"

"My name's Sandy. I'm calling from Australia. I'm a journalist from the Sydney Evening Garbage. I believe we've met before. In Fiji. You might remember me."

Rio put his handset on mute for a second. "Fuck. Jay, it's that fuckin' Australian whore with those terrible plastic titties who hounded us on vacation. Remember?" Jay nodded, and Rio returned his attention to the call. "Yeah, I remember you. But how'd you get my fuckin' number, bitch? My digits are private."

Sandy's answer was nonchalant. "I'm a journalist. Phone numbers are easy." She pressed on with her inquiry. "So, Rio, I follow your Onlyfans account, and I was interested in the post you uploaded last night where you said you were bisexual and that you live with a guy. I was wondering if the guy you mentioned was the business partner you were vacationing with in Fiji."

Rio wound up. "Listen, whore, I said what I said last night, but I ain't got nothin' further to add. My life ain't none of your goddamn fuckin' business ..."

"I just want to let you know," interrupted Sandy, "that I took some photos of you both in Fiji. You were splashing around in the pool, throwing a plastic football back and forth to each other in the sun. I think I overheard you talking about libraries. Is your business partner a librarian? I know librarians don't get paid very much, so I assume that's why you both shared the same room."

Rio's mouth opened, but no words came out.

"I also took some photos of you both when you were watching a football game at the bar one night. You were high-fiving each other and hugging. I guess that means you and your business partner follow the same football team. You both looked happy. Decades ago, people might have described you as having a gay time that night."

Rio said nothing. He knew precisely what she meant by that word, but he refused to bite.

"So did you enjoy your vacation?"

"Until I met you, I did. Now listen, bitch, I thought I made things clear before. I ain't your fuckin' property."

"I know that, Rio," she said. "But the photos I took of you and your business partner are still on my phone, and they *are* my property. It'd be a pity if they ... you know ... got accidentally leaked to the internet."

Rio wasn't ashamed about anything. Personally, he couldn't give a fuck if this sleazy journalist uploaded private pictures of him, but he wanted to protect Jay. He thought hard: nothing in last night's post mentioned who his partner was. His shoulders sank. "What do you want?" Rio asked.

"An interview. An exclusive one, where I ask you about your ... journey. My newspaper will pay you."

"Listen. Why don't you write some bullshit 'bout Taylor Swift and leave me the fuck alone." He ended the call. His face was a scowl.

"What did she say?" asked Jay.

Rio sighed. "She saw my post last night. And she took photos of us in Fiji when we were in the pool, and when we were at the bar watching the Raiders game. She wants to interview me, and threatened to publish the photos she has of us if I don't agree."

Jay waited for Rio to continue.

"I've got nothing to hide anymore, but you ain't part of this story and I wanna keep it that way. In my post, I mentioned I lived with a dude, but I didn't say anything about who you were. So this ain't about me right now, but about you. I wanna protect you and keep you outta this, but fuck, Jay, this bitch is blackmailing me right now."

Jay rubbed Rio's sculpted shoulders. "Fuck, dude, that's what journalists do. They work in the fucking gutter. But you don't need to protect me. I don't care if she publishes those photos either. And if she's got photos of me, she already knows what I look like, and it's probably only a matter of time before she learns we did a scene together."

As if on cue, Rio's phone received two images. The first was a screenshot of Rio's huge dick buried in Flower's ass, with Jay sitting in a chair in the distance, jacking off as he watched. The second was of Jay's tongue slurping Rio's thick nut out of Flower's ass.

"So it's true," texted Sandy. "He really *is* your business partner, isn't he? You're definitely 'working together' if these screenshots are anything to go by."

Rio showed Jay the screencaps she'd sent. "Fuck, dude," he said. "That didn't take long."

His phone beeped again. "I can't publish these screencaps," Sandy messaged. "Besides being a breach of copyright, they'd be too raunchy for my newspaper to print. But there's nothing stopping me writing about them."

"If you're not intimidated by her, neither am I," declared Jay. "But if you agree to an interview, do it for your own sake, and not mine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Rio smiled. "Imma fuckin' skewer this bitch." He called her back, and she picked up almost immediately.

"Shut yo' mouth, whore, Rio be talkin' right now," he boomed. "Now you fuckin' listen to my gospel. I ain't fuckin' scared of you, or your shitty-ass column or the shitty-ass bullshit rag you write for. Imma agree to an interview wit' you because it'll be good for my profile. But Imma name my price. I want a hundred thousand."

Sandy croaked. "Dollars?"

"Nah, bitch, a hundred thousand grains of sand. Yes, dollars."

Sandy did some rough math in her head. "American dollars?"

"Well, I ain't talkin' 'bout Australian dollarydoos, am I? By the way, I ain't got nothin' against fake titties, but you ought to see a lawyer, yours are terrible."

"I'll need to ... take your proposal ... to my editors," Sandy stammered.

"Yeah, you do that, bitch." Rio hung up and looked at Jay. "Well, at least she ain't gonna release those pictures just yet. Fuckin' whore got somethin' to think about first."

Jay felt the need to reassure his partner. "Don't worry about me. You've got no reason to. I'm personally not upset by any of this. Fuck, I mean, nobody knows who I am, so why should I care if those photos get published? Besides, I was a million times more worried about the scene we did, but that's been released and the world hasn't ended. I'm still waiting for the awkward phone call from my parents when they eventually find out that I've appeared in a porn scene and I'm living with a male pornstar, and having that conversation with my parents worries me way more than anything she can scribble."

Rio's phone vibrated with a new call. This time, the number was local, and Rio recognised it. The caller was the producer of his most recent scene. Here it comes: the end of everything. He pressed the green button.

"Hey, dude, wassup," greeted Rio.

"Hey, Rio, I saw your post last night," said the producer. "I'll get straight to the point."

Rio braced for impact.

"If you're free, we wanna get you on set for some new scenes," the producer continued. "We wanna craft a feature-length adult film around you. No pressure, it'll just be you fuckin' five different bitches like old times, and then we'll shoot some continuity to connect the separate scenes."

Rio's jaw dropped. "Wait a second. I just need to check. You said you saw my post last night, right?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?" the producer asked.

"Because what you're saying feels like a step up, and that was the very last thing I expected." He paused for a second. "Like, I half-expected my career to die today."

"Why?" asked the producer.

"Because ... you're commissioning me to fuck women when you now know that something about my personal life is ... different ... and I've been hiding it."

"So what?"

Rio took a deep breath. "So ... wait, lemme check ... the fact I just told the world I'm bisexual and I sleep with a guy hasn't changed anything?"

"Not as far as we're concerned," said the producer. "You're an artist, and your canvas is the female body. From our perspective, absolutely nothing has changed."

Rio blinked in sheer disbelief. "You bein' fuckin' serious with me right now, dawg? You ain't playin' me?"

"If you doubt my word, you can drive over here right now and sign on the dotted line. Your contract is already printed. You're gonna be working with Tory, Loni, India, Brigitte, and Flower. If you want to, that is. I know you've worked with them all before."

Rio was completely speechless.

"I've spoken with them all earlier today," continued the producer. "They've all watched your post, they understand where you're at personally, and as long as you pass the regular medical tests, none of them have any concerns about working with you. Flower asked if you're living with that guy Jay, from the cuck scene you did. She said the three of you went out to dinner after the shoot. She said he was very polite, funny, and cute."

Rio was smiling so hard his jaw began to ache. "Yeah, that's him. Jay's my bro. And I'm 100% in on this project, dude. Absolutely 100%."

"Sweet," said the producer. "Like I said, the contract is here for you whenever you're ready to ink it."

Rio ended the call and looked at Jay. "I feel like ... umm ... I feel like I just won the lottery." There were tears in his eyes.

"Tell me?" asked Jay. He'd only heard half of the conversation.

Rio's mind was exploding. "I don't know if I can, but I'll try to summarise. When I went to bed last night, I thought owning my truth might mean the end of my career, but so far, it's turning out to be the exact opposite." He chose his words carefully. "They ... they want to make a full-length adult movie based around me."

Jay beamed. "Fuck, no way."

Rio nodded. He'd never smiled so hard in his life.

"Are you sure?" Jay queried.

"The producer told me the contract was already printed and was sitting at the front desk waiting for me to sign."

"This deserves a toast," said Jay. He scooted inside and pulled two icy beers from the fridge. After flipping the tops off, he brought them back outside. "I'm living with a stone-cold legend of adult entertainment."

Rio accepted his beer and took a satisfied slug. "Nah, not really. I'm not a legend. I just got lucky."

Jay took a sip of his ale. "Lucky in what way?"

Rio answered Jay's question by grabbing his fat junk through his pants.

"Well, yeah, you've got an enormous cock," Jay said, "which I guess was your ticket to ride, but I'm sure your craft requires more than just your natural endowment. I mean, you need to be able to get on well with the cast and crew and make them feel comfortable, you need to have chemistry with the women you're working with, you need to have patience and stamina, you need to have a sense of humour, and you need to be able to nut on cue. Shit, dude, not many people can muster those skills, and on top of that, I think you're an excellent actor. I mean, you could probably be an action star. Bruh, you're not just a legend, you're the fucking GOAT."

Rio took a chug of his beer and looked up at the clear blue afternoon sky, feeling privileged to be alive. "I feel like I'm a thousand feet tall right now."

Jay smiled out the corner of his mouth. "So nearly as tall as your dick, then."

Rio hugged Jay tight and kissed him hard. "I'm so lucky to have met you."

"I feel the exact same way about you, Rio."

Rio grabbed Jay's hand and led him into the bedroom. They undressed each other slowly, then lay side by side on the mattress. Jay ran his fingertips up and down Rio's beautiful torso, feeling his sculpted pecs and his tight abdomen muscles. He touched Rio's beautiful flaccid penis before looking up into Rio's fiery, dark eyes. "A full-length adult film, huh?"

"That's what the producer said."

"We're gonna need some shelf space for all your Oscars," Jay joked. He knew there was a similar awards ceremony for porn, but he couldn't remember what it was called, and right now, it didn't matter.

Rio chuckled. "I'm gonna be working with Flower again. She remembers you. The producer told me she said you were polite, funny and cute."

Jay's heart swelled. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's so fucking sweet! I'll never forget meeting Flower through my boyfriend!"

The word was out there. Conversation halted, and Jay took his hand away from Rio's chest. He worried that he'd crossed a line.

"I'm ... fuck ... I'm really sorry," stammered Jay. "I know you called me your boyfriend in your post last night, but I don't know how you feel about me calling you *my* boyfriend." He paused for a moment, not sure how to proceed. "I mean ... that's definitely how I feel about you ... like, to me, you're my boyfriend ... and I've felt like that ever since I moved in with you ... but if you don't want me to use that word, I won't."

Rio immediately put Jay's mind at ease. "I've just spent the past 24 hours being as honest with myself as I can, so there ain't no way Imma tell you to be any different. I'm not 'bout to tell you not to use a word that you wanna use. Does that make sense? So yeah, it's cool. I mean, I never thought I'd be called the F-word, but I also never thought I'd have a boyfriend. It's a day of extraordinary terminological discoveries."

"I'm gonna hide that fucking thesaurus from you and your 'extraordinary terminological discoveries'," Jay grinned. He'd rarely felt this happy in his life.

"Just for saying that, Imma tickle you to death." Rio knew exactly where Jay's ticklish spots were and he zoned in. Jay's body thrashed and contorted as he tried to hide his vulnerabilties from Rio's touch, giggling uncontrollably the entire time.

Eventually, Rio showed mercy, and Jay caught his breath. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, in a state of near-delerium. Ecstasy didn't feel this good. He tried hard to pull a serious face. "No, but seriously, that thesaurus is in my sights. It's going down."

"But have you considered the downside?" asked Rio. "You won't get to see me wear my reading glasses no more?"

Jay pouted. "Fuck." Rio's frames were sexy as hell, and he wasn't willing to pay that big a price. He turned his mind back to Rio's upcoming film. "Anyway, so tell me about the movie?"

Rio propped himself up on one elbow. "I don't know too much. They said it'd be five or six scenes with me fucking different chicks, and they'd shoot some bridging material to stitch the scenes together into a storyline that's at least semi-coherent."