Seto needs it for his mental health.

A little squeeze from Joan stole Mokuba's attention away from the food. "Of course he's paying me."

Jessica swallowed. "OK, but you . . . you're different. You do a lot of things most people wouldn't normally do. You're technically an escort anyway though, right?"

"Technically, but that's just the word we're using to avoid legal issues since escorts don't guarantee sex. Call it whatever you want, but copulation is part of my job description, especially when I'm working for Seto."

"Sex should never be a guarantee," Dimitri said.

"If I may weigh in," Mokuba said, "My brother would have gone crazy years ago without consistent access to sex. It never really made sense to me until recently, but he never wanted a girlfriend. This whole love thing just sorta happened to us."

"So how long have you been a, uh, client?" Jessica asked.

"Just a couple of weeks, but Seto has been at it for more than a decade. It stabilizes his mood, and I've found it beneficial too."

"Kinda like your weed," Joan pointed out.

"You know that's for PTSD, right?" Kris said.

Joan nodded, but Mokuba twitched. "What do you think my brother has? Our parents died when we were really little, and we were adopted by one of the most heartless men on the planet. Seto sheltered me from that man and many others who tried to take advantage of our vulnerability as kids. He couldn't afford to go soft or numb his mind with substances. I don't know what your experiences were, but don't think for a second that growing up rich made our lives easy."

A tense silence settled over the group before Dimitri said, "Thank you for sharing."

"How about we go play a board game?" Jessica suggested.

Joan smiled with relief. "Great idea. Got anything new?"

André and Kris went back to playing music while everyone else headed upstairs, past a mural of a tropical jungle with Wendy and the Lost Boys painted on both sides of the stairwell. The stairs opened up to a spacious game room with two couches and shag rugs. Shelves with games and textbooks lined the walls, and a chalkboard displayed an eclectic combination of drawings and equations.

Toad followed them up the stairs and plopped himself on the coffee table. He meowed until Joan petted him. Jessica let Mokuba pick out a game, and they played around the cat. Tamara joined in the game as well, but Joe simply stood watch.

Later that evening, Jessica and Tamara helped Joan set up the tent in the back yard. Having never set up a tent before, Mokuba merely watched the ladies handle it. Once finished, Joan and Mokuba bid the others goodnight and got settled.

Mokuba and Joan inflated the air mattress with an electric pump, zipped up the tent, and enjoyed a leisurely fuck. The scent of reefer floated through the thin nylon as André and Kris enjoyed an evening smoke. Joan and Mokuba stifled their moans, but the two Neverlanders still noticed.

André waited until the moans subsided to call out. "Yo Joan! Got your daily dose of cock?"

"Yeah, but I could always use more," Joan replied.

"I thought you told Seto you weren't taking on anyone new," Mokuba hissed.

"Yeah, well André isn't exactly new to me. Jessica had a dream about us hooking up, and then we did that just for fun."

"Girl, if you'd asked me earlier, I'd be all up in you, but this shit makes me soft," André said. "Let me know if you're still down for it tomorrow."

"OK," Joan called back.

"I'm not ready for another threesome," Mokuba whispered. "Seto and Marc were one thing because I've known them longer than I've known you. Plus you've got your IUD out."

"How about I just give him a quick blowjob tomorrow while you chill with the Neverlanders? André has the best-tasting cum I've ever had."

"Even with the marijuana?"

"Maybe because of it. Tobacco, on the other hand, makes cum taste downright toxic. Michael used to smoke, and his cum got so much better after he quit."

"I'll keep that in mind," Mokuba said.

They lay in silence for a while, listening to Kris and André chat about theoretical physics. The words flew over Joan's head as usual, but at the same time she found them comforting coming from such familiar voices. The whistle of a nearby Coast Starlight train as it approached a station brought a nostalgic smile to her lips. She drifted off to sleep on Mokuba's chest, surrounded by more love and friendship than she could fairly ask for in a world of broken dreams.