This is a story about cheating. I don’t condone any of the behaviour here but this is just a story. None of the characters are based on real people, it’s entirely fictional and any similarities to real people or situations is entirely coincidental. It’s only meant to be a bit of fun, so try not to take it too seriously.***
*****
Ash couldn’t help but feel proud as the photos flicked past on the screen. She was stood next to her college friend Gavin as he went through the photoshoot they’d done two days before. In each picture she was posed provocatively in a state of undress. She wasn’t naked or anything and nothing was visible, but they were all suitably risqué. Her boyfriend Thomas was going to love them. The photos were to be his surprise birthday present when he turned 33 next week and she knew his jaw would drop. With her slim figure, sparkling eyes, wide smile and feminine curves she already drove him wild, but when he saw these…
“So, what do you think?” asked Gavin.
“They are amazing, thank you so much!” she beamed.
“Well the credit has to go to you,” he replied, “Glamour photography is only ever as good as the model. And you’re a natural.”
“Thanks,” she smiled, she’d known Gavin since they were teenagers and while he’d clearly had a crush on her in the early days, years of familiarity had worn away any sexual chemistry. They were friends who drank beer, watched movies and told terrible jokes together, but never flirted. Sometimes she wondered if he thought of her as female at all, so to hear him complimenting her looks was surprisingly refreshing.
“When’s birthday boy’s big day then?” Gavin asked.
“A week tomorrow,” she said.
“Cool, well just pick ten or so and they’re all yours.”
“You’re a star,” she smiled, “How much do I owe you?”
“Ah nothing, this one’s on me,” he said.
“Now come on, I won’t have that,” Ash replied, “I insist, how much?”
“Ash you’re one of my oldest friends,” Gavin said, “I can’t ask you to pay.”
“Well, I owe you big time,” she said, “Do you have any favours you need doing?”
“No, honestly it’s fine,” Gavin said, then after a brief pause, “Although…”
****
An hour later, Ash was in the changing room again. She had stripped off her clothes and was wearing only a white cotton bathrobe. Her heart was beating fast, any minute now she would get to meet her co-star. Gavin had asked her to help him with a new set of photos intended for a good sex guide. The original model was at home sick and there was nobody else available, so if he didn’t get them done today he stood to lose a lucrative contract. It would mean posing nude in simulated sex positions with a male model, but he’d sworn nothing would be visible. It would be naughty and borderline softcore porn, but nothing that bad and if she felt uncomfortable she could call time at any moment.
Sure, she was a bit concerned that someone she knew might see them but Gavin told her these books were intended for affluent middle-aged couples. Ash was 25 and none of her friends fit that stereotype. The guide was meant to get people that had been together for decades hot under the collar and humping again, the younger generation never bought them. Thomas might be on the verge of his mid-thirties, but he was easily the oldest of her friends, he had at least three years on all the others.
Truth be told, the age-gap was one of the things that caught her eye when they first met. They’d sat next to each other on a crowded train once and hit it off instantly. The journey lasted two hours but the time had flown past. She’d been delighted to find he lived only one stop up the line from her. A week later they’d met for drinks, a week after that she’d welcomed him into bed and they’d been together ever since. He was a bit full of himself, but he was good looking and well-off too. Ash and most of her friends were penniless post-graduates struggling through menial customer service jobs at the time, but Thomas was co-owner of a successful garage. He wasn’t rich but he wasn’t far off, he knew how to fix a car (and just about anything else) and was the archetypal alpha-male.
Some people might find that off-putting but despite being a bit flashy, he was a good guy. He treated her like an adult rather than a fragile princess and that was a relief after years of dating younger guys. Plus, he helped to get one of her university-friends a job. Alex was an engineering student who’d been stuck behind a KFC counter for almost a year, now he was a respected mechanic and it was all because of Thomas. He was a good man and he deserved to see her looking sexy in her glamour shots, if posing for a good-sex guide was the price then so be it.
“You ready Ash?” Gavin nudged the door open and called in.
“Yeah, all set,” she replied, heart racing.
“Cool, whenever you’re ready.”
It was funny how Gavin wouldn’t look in on her while she was in the changing room yet in a minute she’d be parading herself stark naked in front of him. Taking a deep breath and feeling just a bit naughty, she stepped out of the changing room and walked round to the studio.
There were lights and photographic equipment everywhere. The studio was done up to look like a bedroom filtered through a middle class erotic fantasy. And sat on the edge of the bed was her male counterpart.
“I won’t be a minute,” said Gavin, fiddling with a camera, “Say hi to Dale.”
“Hi,” she said, reaching her hand out, “I’m Ash.”
“Dale,” he replied.
She’d been expecting a self-assured, arrogant pretty boy but he looked more nervous than she was. He was no older than twenty, boyishly handsome and he could barely look at her he seemed so scared.
“Are you okay?” she smiled, his very visible nerves giving her a rush of confidence.
“Oh yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he stammered, “Just…you know, a bit nervous.”
“Well relax,” she replied, “It’s not like we’re making a porno.”
“No, not a porno,” he smiled then looked sheepishly at his feet.
“Two minutes guys,” said Gavin from the corner, “I just need to fetch another memory card.”
As he darted out the room and to his office at the other end of the corridor, Ash reappraised her co-star. His robe was hanging open slightly and she got the glimpse of an incredibly toned and muscular physique, but there was an inescapable air of innocence about him.
“So…how’s it feel doing a dream job?” she said playfully.
“How do you mean?”
“Oh you know, getting paid to simulate sex with women on camera. I know a few guys that’d kill to do this full time.”
“Yeah, I guess,” he shifted again.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just…”
“What?”
“Well, this is my first time.”
Ash couldn’t help herself, the laugh escaped her throat instantly and she immediately regretted it. Dale looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up.
“You’re kidding?” She said, “I thought you were going to be a pro.”