Three, Two, One (321) Read online

  “Jesus Christ, Ark. No wonder you can’t get a girlfriend. Fuck him, little darling. I’m guessing you don’t have somewhere better to go, otherwise you wouldn’t be out here in the rain on Sunday morning.”

  He’s right. I have nothing. Literally nothing but the dress and panties I’m wearing and the two hundred dollars. That’s not enough to make a difference. But five hundred more can. Five hundred more changes everything for me.

  “I don’t,” I admit, ashamed. More ashamed of how I got here than I’ll ever be after sucking the cock of this man for money.

  “Then let’s go.” JD pats his back and I grab his shoulders and jump. His strong hands clasp under my knees and he hikes me up, rubbing my already throbbing pussy across his wet flanneled back.

  And the three of us run out into the rain.

  I met JD four years ago when I first made my way into Denver via the Greyhound bus terminal. I had money. And I had a contact. One contact and that was it. So I basically started this new life alone. Just me and my camera.

  But JD was there that first night after I got off the bus.

  It was a fight, but not a fight. It was a breakdown, that’s for damn sure. His life was over. The very moment I stepped outside the terminal was the very moment he learned he lost everything.

  And he was getting his ass kicked. Which I didn’t realize then is a pretty big deal. Because JD is a dangerous guy. He’s no stranger to fights, but he is a stranger to losing them.

  It was four on one that night and even though I was brand new in town and my business was so many shades of shady, I stepped up.

  Because that’s what I do. I step the fuck up.

  We didn’t quite win that fight. But we didn’t lose either. And after I told him I was new in town and was just on my way to find a hotel, he offered me a place to stay.

  And this friendship grew out of that first night. His story was a blessing and a curse. A reason to stay and a reason to leave. We are polar. I am north and he is south. We are equal and opposites in almost every way imaginable. We are this and that. Black and white. Rough and calm.

  And yet there is this straight line that connects us. One to the other. No matter what, we are bonded together by some law of the universe.

  And now he is a brother. A best friend. A business partner.

  But back then JD was making money as a stripper for some company who specialized in bachelorette parties. So it was not hard to convince him we could do better on our own.

  And that’s how Public Fuck America was born.

  We approach women in public venues. Clubs, festivals, concerts—shit like that. And we make an offer. Very nice offers. Because I had that start-up money when I blew into town, so we could afford to set this shit up so it was legal.

  Once we have the girl spinning with dollar signs in her eyes, we bang out a contract and set up the testing with a local clinic. We pay up front for that and take it out of their contract pay. So this girl who ditched us today was a hundred-and-twenty-dollar loss because she never worked. Once we get them tested and on board for the first shoot—which is always outside, early AM, and in a recognizably public place—we typically get them to do more.

  That’s where the clubs and concerts come in. And those get the online hits like nobody’s business.

  But a few months after we started, a guy approached us. Asked if we’d like a steady paycheck. We could keep the Public Fuck America name—which was not even negotiable, since we bought the domain name for it on day one—and just upload our videos to his boss’ aggregated site. We have a quota of three videos a week and we make money per view on the site once it’s live.

  We make bank.

  Bank.

  Like we make more money in a month than my old man did in two years back when I was a kid.

  But it comes with a price. Three vids a week is one of them. That’s three girls you gotta have set up and ready to go to work each week. They do it a few times, most of them. And then they’re out. Either onto bigger things—porn is everywhere. Why stay loyal to us?—or we find out they can’t pass the STD testing. Or they have a drug habit, that’s an automatic, Get out of here. Or whatever. But they never stay long. So this week, man, we are fucked. Good and royal. Because we are two videos short.

  But now JD has this girl in his sights and we’re taking her back to our place. There’s no way we’re doing a movie. She’s got no contract, no test, and no ID because from the looks of it, she’s got a dress and some panties to her name and that’s about it.

  Panties I’m staring at right now. Her ass bounces along JD’s back as he jogs through the rain and my dick grows a little as I imagine what that might feel like. Both for her and for him.

  Dammit. This is not going to work. She’s good for some gifs on my Tumblr blog, but not a whole lot else.

  JD runs faster, making the girl give off a little squeal of surprise.

  I walk. Fuck that shit. They round a corner and disappear. My jaw is clenching hard and the anger inside me is building as I think of all the ways JD just refused to take the hint. And why? To meet our quota? We’re too far behind this week. Even if she was legit, and she’s not, this one girl sucking his dick is not enough to keep the boss happy. We need her, plus one more, to break even. And one more to stash away for when the Public Fuck America site launches on Christmas Day.

  We have been making four videos a week for four years—three for our boss, Ray, and one for us. That’s two hundred extra porn videos, give or take, which is just barely enough to launch the site and start our own aggregation business where we have other dudes do the legwork. And even though this is the whole point of the last four years, I’m stressed, man. I’m stressed bad. I do not need this girl complicating things this week. Especially when JD refuses to acknowledge that she was mine first. That shit just pisses me off.

  But fuck it. Fuck her too. He can have her. I saw some bruising on her arms and she looks strung out. Beyond the fact that she’s half naked and sobbing, I mean. She looks like she just came down from some goodass shit.

  And that’s something we do not fuck with. No druggies. They steal, they lie, and they don’t eat enough to make them curvy.

  By the time I round the corner JD and the girl are gone. Already inside, I suppose. I walk a little faster. I don’t want him to get her home with too much lag time. Fucker.

  We own the top floor of a building on California Street. When we bought that place with cash, the shit got real.

  We are fucking rich.

  I press the button on my electronic key and open the thick wooden door to find JD and the girl sitting on the steps. She’s in his lap and he’s kissing her.

  “What the fuck?”

  JD laughs. “I was waiting on you, dude. Ready?” He stands up, the girl sliding down his legs as he does it, then grabs her by the hand and pulls her to the elevator. She stumbles after him, dead on her feet. She probably won’t make it through a shooting. What a waste.

  We get in the elevator and I press the top floor, because JD’s hands are all over this girl. Pressing up against her breasts and sliding around her neck as he continues to kiss her.

  I shake my head as the doors open and head across the hall to the only loft up here. Ours. The penthouse.

  When I open the door, I let JD go first. He walks the girl backwards, still kissing her like his life depends on it.

  “Wait,” she whispers against his lips. “Wait, what are we doing?”

  “Taking some pictures, darling. Remember?” He knows she’s stoned from the night before too. “You still got your money?” She looks down at her clenched fist filled with twenty-dollar bills. “Good, baby. Don’t let go of it, OK? It’s yours. And we’re gonna give you more. Just let me take care of things so Ark can get the photos, and then you can have the rest. OK?” He kisses her and then turns back to me. “Where do you want us?”

  We are all sopping wet so I point to the terrace. JD kisses her one more time to stop the whimpering protests,
and then walks her backwards a few more paces before twirling her around and pointing her to the terrace doors. He slides them open and drags her through.

  “Up against the glass,” I call out when he looks back at me. “You two, leaning up against the glass so I can get a good view of the city in the rain. I’ll set the camera up in here with a long lens.”

  By the time I get it set up on the tripod JD is ready to tear her clothes off. What the fuck has gotten into him? He’s never like this with the girls. He can take or leave most of them, and most of them are cute. But this one, she looks homeless. She’s skinny. She’s dripping wet, and not only because he’s fingering her pussy through her panties. Her lips are practically blue, she’s so cold. And yet he acts like this girl is the love of his life.

  I don’t get it.

  “Leave her clothes on,” I call out to him.

  “What?” he laughs, looking over his shoulder at me.

  “Leave her clothes on. I want her in the wet dress. I’m the photographer and I say leave her fucking clothes on.”

  He draws in a long breath and stares at me for a moment. “OK, dude. Whatever you want.”

  Fucking prick. I’m not sure why, but the thought of JD taking off that dress and palming her bare breasts just pisses me off. “Turn to the side,” I call again. The rain is coming down good and hard now and I zoom in on their lips. The water trickles over the curve they make as they press together. His tongue. Her tongue. Lick. It swipes over her top lip to catch the rain running down her nose in a stream. Her eyelashes are clumped together and the makeup from last night has left dark gray streaks down her face.

  Her head turns into the light—not a ray of sunshine exactly, but some play of light from somewhere unknown to me—and her eyes sparkle. They are blue, but they are not just any blue. They are like the ocean water in the tropics.

  They are the most beautiful color I’ve ever seen.

  “Just like that,” I call out. But she’s distracted by JD’s mouth. And he is groping her now. He fists her breast and yanks on her hair until her head tilts back. The light catches her face again, but this time her eyes are closed. She moans.

  My dick swells.

  JD’s hand slips under the short dress. It’s got a yellow flower pattern to it with a little ruffle along the hem, a hem that’s barely long enough to cover her panties, which are white. White cotton panties. All stuck to her, showing off her pussy and, if I look through the lens and zoom in, her little button of a clit. All swollen and ready for JD’s fingers to do their magic.

  I draw in a breath as he makes his move. My anger is mounting. I cannot believe he stole her right in front of me. And I don’t give a fuck if she’s drugged up from a wild night out. Or that she’s cold and shaking all over from fear. I saw her first. That’s the rule. We’ve had it for years, and we’ve never broken that one rule.

  Until today.

  And fuck that. She’s mine.

  I’m about to charge out there and start shit when the girl’s legs buckle and she slumps down to the ground. JD follows her, effortless, seamlessly, like the actor he is, and then he’s pulling her into his lap. I adjust the camera just as he opens up her legs, pulling her panties aside. She’s shaved bare, which makes me pause for a moment. But then his fingers dip into the v of her legs and slip under those perfect pink lips, and that’s all I can take. I reach behind my neck and pull my shirt off, then walk out there to set his ass straight.

  Because she’s mine.

  As soon as I step out onto the terrace, JD stops what he’s doing and shoots me a look. “What’s up?” he asks with a smile.

  I ignore him and walk to the other side of the girl and bend down in front of her. Her head is lolling to one side, that’s how out of it she is. “What’s your name?” I ask her.

  She straightens her chin and shrugs JD’s hand off her shoulder as he tries to get her attention back. “Fuck you,” she spits. “I just want my money.” Her words come out slurred and her head drops down towards her chest.

  “Well,” I say back calmly, “I’ll call you Blue Eyes, then. How’s that?”

  “You can call me whatever—”

  I lean in and grab her face, my fingers wrapped along her jaw and my thumb pushing into her cheek. “Do you want your money or not?”

  She slaps my hand away and tries to get up, but her legs buckle underneath her again and she falls into JD.

  “Jesus, Ark. Just go back to the camera and let me handle this.”

  “Fuck that,” I say back, my eyes never leaving the girl. “I want in on this one.”

  “What?”

  I look over at him, logging his surprise, but not caring much.

  “Why?”

  “Why not?” I say back, settling down next to him, my back against the clear wall that separates us from the Denver city streets eight floors below. “Is she even conscious, JD? Look and see.”

  He leans down to try to see her face through the curtain of long hair and the drooping slope of her neck. “Fuck, I don’t know.”

  I reach for her hand and she’s suddenly all arms and legs as she tries to push me off. “Get away,” she growls. “Get off me. If you try to take my money—”

  “Quiet,” I snap back at her, forcing her face close to my mouth. She’s panting, and the hair falling over her face puffs out with each breath. “You’re on something. We don’t film girls on drugs. So we’re gonna have to cut this short. You can take your two hundred and go.”

  I start to get back up to my feet, but her small hand darts out and grabs my wrist. “Wait.” She pushes her hair out of her eyes with her other hand and tries to look me straight on. “Wait, please. I’m not a druggie. I swear. I’m not. They shot me up with something last night. They got me high and I don’t know what happened next. I just…”

  Her words trail off and I look over at JD and shrug. “Dude, this is bad news. She’s not good for anything. We’ve got no contract, we’ve got no test, and there’s no way we can sell anything we’re doing here. Why bother?”

  JD opens his mouth to say something, but the girl beats him to it. “Just, please. One more chance. I’ll sign anything you want. I’m not underage. I’m not on drugs. I just got caught up in something bigger than me. I just need money to get home.”

  “Ark,” JD says. He takes a deep breath. “Maybe we can’t use her for business, but we can make some good memories trying.” He laughs a little and that smile he’s famous for breaks through. “Right?”

  The girl turns to him now, realizing he’s her ticket to the promised money. “Please.” She places her palm flat against his stubbled cheek. “Please, JD.”

  The fact that she knows his name is what does it, I think. Because he slips a hand up her thigh, grabs her leg, and hikes it over his, spreading her halfway open for his pleasure.

  I see red again. But instead of putting a stop to it, I pull her closer to me so her ass is straddling both our legs, and I slide my hand along the soft inner skin of her thigh. She moans out, and I’m not sure if it’s JD’s kiss or my fingertips pressing against her wet cotton panties that makes that noise come from her mouth, but it’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.

  “Dude,” JD says, pulling his lips away from hers. “Get back to the camera. We’re missing the moments.”

  “It’s shooting right now,” I say. “It’s gonna keep going until it runs out of battery.” And then I turn the girl towards me and lift her chin. Her eyes are closed and her mouth is open. “Look at me.”

  She struggles to open her eyes, heavy from whatever drugs she was fed last night, but she manages to get them to half-mast. Help me, she mouths. No sound comes out. Just her lips move. Help me.

  I look up at her to make sure I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing. “What?”

  But instead of a silent Help me, she says, “Take me. Please, just take me.”

  JD’s hand wanders down the inside of the thigh draped over his leg, softly caressing her. Just then the sky l
ights up with the crack of lightning and the rain pours down so hard, the noise drowns out all the questions.

  Her words.

  My thoughts.

  She wiggles against me as JD’s hand crashes into mine, which is still cupping her cotton panties. And then he’s past me, his fingers underneath the soaked fabric, searching for the release she wants. I can feel his movements, just the thin fabric between us. He plunges inside her and she buckles her back, shifting into my lap. I grab her throat with my other hand and she tilts her head my way. JD goes down on her tits, biting her through the dress that clings to her hard nipples. And then he yanks the front of her dress down, making her breast spring free, and he devours it.

  I take her mouth at the same time. She moans into the kiss. Little mewling whimpers. Slight squeaks as JD reminds her whose fingers are between her legs. And then a hard grunt as he pushes another finger inside her.

  My hand is still over the top of his and I feel all this like it’s me spreading her folds apart, and suddenly I can’t stand the fact that he’s inside her and I’m not. I rip the crotch of her panties and seek out her warmth.

  JD laughs. “Fuck, Ark. You’re possessive today, dude. If you wanted in, all you had to do was say so.”

  “Fuck you, man. I saw her first and you know I did.”

  He shrugs and withdraws his hand from her pussy. “You take the front, I’ll take the back.” His hand dips deeper between her legs, seeking out her asshole as I push my fingers inside her pussy, taking his place. Blue Eyes moans, turning her face towards me, her tongue licking my lips as we fill her up. “Kiss me,” she begs. “Kiss me.”

  I tighten my squeeze on her throat and pull her forward so she’s at an awkward angle. She readjusts the leg still draped over JD’s leg, her knee coming forward towards me, closing her legs. But it’s too late for that move, because we are both deep inside her.

  I bite her lip as I kiss her and she opens her mouth wider. I picture what it would be like to stuff my cock down her throat as I add another finger to the party between her legs. JD does something to her ass that makes her gasp, and then she’s moaning, and writhing, and panting into my mouth. My thumb finds her clit and I strum faster and faster until her muscles clamp down on our fingers and she explodes between us.