The only thing Mac wants is money. And he’s willing to do anything to get it. Money will make everything else possible: getting off his friend’s couch; smoking an entire cigarette at a time without rationing; and most of all—money will mean he can stop living with a heavy pit of fear and worry in his stomach all the time. When he’s invited to start working at a sex gym, it seems like an easy choice. Make good money having sex with people or make crap money working at a discount store. No contest. But Mac didn’t count on an intensive training program or mysterious bosses. He definitely never thought he’d actually…like some of his coworkers. Let alone the clients. He keeps telling himself he’s only in it for the money, but by the end of his first week in training things are already a lot more complicated than that. And this is just the beginning.

The only thing Mac wants is money. Well. Money and the respect of his boss. This was not the plan. Working at The Gym is supposed to be an easy way to make money, but things get complicated fast. Mac’s first week of one-on-one training in “personal attention” was intense. Week two is all about shadowing his coworkers on the floor, and Mac feels like a spotlight’s shining on him as he…watches. It’s his job to watch. So he’s doing his job. (And getting paid.) He wasn’t prepared for how weird it would be. And intriguing. And sometimes really freaking hot. Mac tries not to think about it, but since his job is getting off—or watching other people get off—it’s hard to ignore how it makes him feel. Especially since his bosses and friends are just as invested in his pleasure as they are their client’s. This was supposed to be a simple transaction. It isn’t. Trigger Warning: contains a very brief scene of consensual roleplay between adults in which the words “mama” and “little girl” are used.

The only thing Mac wants is money. Also dignity. Respect. And maybe companionship. He’s in trouble. Mac can no longer deny how much he needs The Gym—and not just for the money. He’s growing ever closer to his roommate, he’s intrigued by his friends, and he’s fixated on his boss in a way that makes him super uncomfortable. Now that he’s taking clients, he finds even some of them tug at the heartstrings he would have sworn he didn’t have. It’s supposed to be just a job, but it’s turning into something that feels a hell of a lot more like a family. And not the dysfunctional kind Mac had as a kid, but the kind that supports each other and wants everyone to be happy. And the worst part of it all? He wants this tentative sense of belonging more than he ever could have imagined.