"Yeah. She had a few parts. Mostly TV. But she wanted something bigger. So I'm at this dinner—some promo thing for a celebrity endorsement. And she corners me in the men's room."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah," he said. "And the way it looks, she's ready for a sequel."
"You're kidding."
"Only half," he said. "Because Brandy's not stupid. She knows damn well I'm not gonna fall for some secret camera thing again. But she still could use the publicity, right? So she gets half-naked and corners me."
"Youdidsay this was in themen'sroom, right?"
"Yeah. And as soon as I see her, I take off. But she follows after me, making this big scene. And from what she's yelling, it sounds like we just did it right there in the stall."
I'd seen pictures of their confrontation. It didn't justsoundlike they'd been having sex. It looked like it too. True, Lawton had been fully clothed, but Brandy was wearing next to nothing.
"So I get the hell out of there," Lawton said, "and she's following after me, acting like I'd just done the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am. And I see all these photographers."
"She set you up?" I said.
"Yeah. Did a good job of it too. Even hired these bouncers to keep me from leaving. She wanted a full spectacle."
"Boy, she sure got it," I said. The whole thing was still legendary. "How come you never told anyone?" I said.
"I did. I said flat-out that none of it happened. You think that got any coverage? Besides, you think anyone gives a crap?"
"They might've," I said, "if you had told the whole story."
"You think anyone wants the whole story?" His voice grew sarcastic. "Besides, she did me a big favor, right? Right after that sex tape hit, I was signed to that reality show."
Oh yeah.Hard World. He'd slept with practically every girl on the set. I felt my forehead wrinkle. Or maybe not. Was that also fake? "About that show," I said. "Was any of that true?"
"Which part?"
"You." I cleared my throat. "And all those girls?"
He'd slept with practically every girl in the household. But it wasn't the off-screen sex that had people watching. It was the fights -- notwithhim,overhim. The show was abruptly cancelled after one girl threw another one through a plate glass window. She'd survived, but the show hadn't.
His gaze drifted from my face and down to his feet. "Yeah."
"Oh."
"You've gotta understand," he said, "everywhere I looked, someone wanted something from me. I guess I was pissed off, maybe a little tired of fighting it." He squeezed my hand. "Until you."
"Why me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why not Amber? Or Brittney?"
He looked at me. "Is that a serious question?"
Was it? Yeah, I guess it was. "Well, take Brittney," I said. "You obviously liked her well enough a few weeks ago. And Amber too. Why not them?"
He blew out a breath. "Girls like Brittney are easy."
"That's for sure," I said.
"I don't mean that." He shook his head. "With girls like her, I know what I'm getting. And they know what they're getting too."