Free Wild Licks by Cecilia Tan

my doubts about my underlying motivations and focus on concrete goals. I had tasted the forbidden fruit and all I could think about was how to have more of it.
    I sat down with my tablet in my room and drew a circle on one end and wrote GWEN in it. On the other end I drew a triangle with MAL in it. Okay. Now to visualize the paths from one to the other.
    One potential path was going to be through the publicity dates, so I wrote the word DATES in the middle. The obstacle there was Mal’s rules. He would have to get over the whole rule thing—let’s face it, he’d have to get over himself, too, and what were the chances of that? I suspected if he really grew to like me that he’d start to bend the rules or decide that they no longer applied, but he had also demonstrated a fairly iron will, so it wasn’t going to be easy. I made a dashed line through the word DATES to indicate the shaky nature of that plan.
    Of course another potential path was through the Governor’s Club. C-L-U-B. Axel was already a member. Just a few weeks ago Ricki and I had floated the idea about whether the rest of the band, being so intimately linked to Axel, should be invited, too. It was obvious to me now that Mal was a kinkster at heart. Would he be able to resist me if the right situation in the dungeon came up? Maybe he’d consider anything that happened in the dungeon to be under a different set of rules from either groupies or dating. Certainly worth finding out. I drew another dashed line, this one through the word CLUB . There was still the question of whether he would accept an invitation, and even if he did, whether I could get through his resolve.
    Then there was a third way. I wrote SUPERFANS on the tablet and swooped my finger through a thick black line. Obviously given what I had seen, Mal would have rock star sex regularly with girls he didn’t know. I still had the contact information of the superfans I’d met at the show. I’d have to cook up a convincing disguise, but hey, if it worked once, it could work again.
    I liked the third way best because it was another test of my acting skills and it was the plan that relied the most on me and the least on anyone else. Mal could just be Mal; he wouldn’t have to change anything, and we’d both be happy.
    Time to set up a fake e-mail address.
    I had just finished setting up an alias and mail-ordering a black wig when a text came from Ricki:
    Next week, Bob Monteleone fund-raising bash, you, me, Axel, Mal?
    I pulled up my to-do list and drew a circle around the word DATES . If it was going to work, I just had to be ready when he changed his mind. I called her instead of texting back. “Fund-raiser, you say?”
    “Yes, a banquet. CTC has a whole table.”
    “Well, if he’ll put up with it, I wouldn’t mind having Mal Kenneally as my date.”
    “Was he that bad? I thought you were getting along great at the premiere.”
    “Oh, he’s a sweetheart, but I think he’d rather be sitting in his crypt pulling the wings off bats than talking to me.”
    Ricki laughed and then tried to stifle it. “Oh, Gwen. That doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement.”
    “Don’t take it the wrong way! He’s interesting to talk to and I could listen to his accent all day. But I’m not the one you might need to convince. Mal told me it was his manager’s idea that we should be seen together for publicity purposes. I think I might be more willing than he is.”
    She clucked her tongue. “Does this mean you’re getting used to the idea that raising your public profile could be good for your career?”
    I held in a sigh. I still didn’t really like that idea, but now that I had ulterior motives for being with Mal, I rationalized it. “Maybe I’m finally figuring out that being seen is part of the job description.”
    Besides, I was already planning the ultimate test of my acting skills.
    *  *  *
MAL
    Why do rock stars wear sunglasses so much?
    Perhaps some enjoy the mystique. I have