25. Chapter 25
25
Miles
Vegas has been fun, but I’ll be glad to get home. The drive is just under five hours unless I hit traffic, so I’m able to make it by late afternoon on Sunday. It’s too expensive to stay a full holiday weekend in a place like Las Vegas. I just hope I don’t interrupt Brody’s fuck fest.
The thought makes me smirk as I pull into the driveway behind a familiar car. I can’t place it, but I know I’ve seen it recently. I’m still trying to figure out where I’ve seen it when I enter the house and freeze.
There’s a woman standing at the kitchen sink, her back to me. Her brown hair tumbles down in soft curls, stopping above the middle of her back. Gold streaks are highlighted in the sun coming through the windows along the back of the house. A sundress covered in purple and blue flowers swishes around her legs, mid-thigh, and her tawny skin is covered in black and gray tattoos. There are flashes of color in the ink here and there. I recognize some of them. I recognize most of them.
“Sophie?” The word comes out hoarse, but she hears me and spins, her hands still wet.
“M-Miles?” Her eyes are wide with shock.
The sink is still running while she takes me in, looking as if she’s short-circuiting. Brody comes striding out from the hallway that leads to his room. The smile on his face drops when he sees the expression on mine .
“Er, Miles, this is Sophie. Sophie, this is Miles.” He speaks slowly, carefully, as if one of us might attack him or each other at any moment. While we’re silent, he leans over and turns off the faucet behind Sophie.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
Sophie is his girl. Brody is my competition.
Sophie is the woman he’s been seeing. Brody is the dick-for-brains I’m trying to make her forget.
Fuck.
He has never said her name when talking about her. Why hasn’t he ever said her name? Why haven’t I said her real name when we talk about her?
“We, er-” Sophie turns her head to focus on Brody. I can see the worry on her perfect face. She doesn’t want to hurt him and neither do I. “We know each other.”
“Oh.” It takes him a moment to process, but then his eyes go wide. “Oh, you mean you’ve worked together?” His cheeks flush, whether from embarrassment or anger or some combination, I’m not sure.
“Brody.” Sophie’s voice breaks. “Miles and I-”
“We’ve been on a couple dates,” I finish when it’s clear Sophie can’t find the words.
“Wait.” Brody holds up his hands, shaking his head and looking down. “Dates, you mean-?” He stares between us, hands still held high. “Oh, fuck.” The curse is a whisper and I pray it’s not one of defeat. If I hurt him, I’m not sure what I’ll do.
“Brody, I’m sorry.” I step toward him, but think better of it. Will he back off, knowing how I feel about Sophie? Should I be the one to give up? Will this even be something our friendship can survive? “I didn’t know you two were- that she’s the one you’ve been-”
“Miles, stop.” His voice is strong, but still low. He shakes his head, blinking slowly. A deep rumble of laughter starts in his chest before ripping from his throat. It’s not angry or sad–if anything, it’s a little crazed.
“You know, I didn’t think this could last.” His eyes fall on Sophie. “You’re too fucking perfect and there’s no way I measure up to the guys you’ve worked with.”
“Woah, hold on.” Sophie holds up her hands, shaking her head and scoffing. “Measure up?” she repeats and then angrily, “ Measure up ? Brody, my god, are you serious?”
I watch this unfold with a mix of shock, disbelief, and amusement. I’ve only seen Brody naked once by accident–he wasn’t exactly athletic in high school, so it’s not as if we saw each other in the locker room–and even I’m impressed with his size. Measuring up will never be an issue for him .
“I-” Brody’s eyes flick back and forth between us. “I-I just meant-”
“Regardless of what you meant,” says Sophie, “I can promise you that measuring up isn’t an issue.” She places a wet hand on his upper arm. He brings his opposite hand up to cover hers, still looking at me. “And I had no idea about… this.” She motions toward me.
“I believe you.” Fuck those eyes are sad.
“I don’t want to come between you two,” Sophie continues. She looks back at me. “Not that I think I could. I just mean-” She takes a deep breath, then mutters while looking at Brody, “Your best friend. I could’ve handled good friends, even neighbors. Best friends.” After a heavy sigh, Sophie shakes her head yet again. “I’ll get my things and leave.”
Brody’s hand tightens on hers as she moves, keeping her by his side. Those brown eyes of hers, golden pools I know Brody wants to fall into as badly as I do, are questioning, but she doesn’t speak.
“No,” he sighs. “No, I’ll, er, bow out.”
“The fuck you will.” The anger, not just in my voice, but in my whole goddamn chest, surprises me. Dating the woman I’m obsessed with doesn’t mean he has to back off.
“You guys have a lot more in common,” Brody protests. “Why would I- How can I be enough?”
“Shut up, man.” I shake my head and take a few more steps closer until I’m able to stand on the opposite side of the counter, my hands on the cold granite while I lean forward. “Sophie,” I look at her and she meets my gaze, “I know you can make your own decisions, but Brody clearly cares about you. I’m not letting him end this.”
“Excuse me, but your friendship is way more important than me.” Her expression is stern.
“Doubtful,” says Brody just as I laugh. “No, I’m,” he squeezes Sophie’s hand again before dropping his, “I’m done.”
“Shut up.” I slam my hand on the countertop loud enough to get their attention but not hard enough to hurt. My eyes find theirs–emerald and gold staring back at me, waiting for answers I definitely don’t have. I run a hand through my hair. It’s been a long trip full of making content and I’m exhausted, but this is important. “Look, don’t… don’t be weird about this, but,” I focus on Sophie, “what if we continue like this?”
She frowns.
“Miles,” Brody groans .
“This isn’t the dark ages.” I ignore him. “Polyamory is a thing. I’ve never tried it, I know you’ve never tried it,” I add, looking at Brody, “and I’m guessing it’s new for you too.” Sophie nods when I meet her eyes. “So it’ll be an adventure for all of us.” Why the fuck do I sound so excited?
“Polyamory,” Brody repeats, skeptical. “Is that a big thing in the adult industry?”
“I don’t know, fuck the industry. This is about us.” I motion between the three of us. “Sophie, I’ll give you up if that’s what you want, but I really hope it’s not because goddamn it, I like you. I’m not asking you to choose between us. I won’t put you in that position. Other positions, sure, but not that one.”
“Miles, I-” she begins to protest, but I hold up a hand to silence her.
“Let’s just try sharing. Brody?”
He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the effort, then looks down at the woman still clutching his arm.
“I’m in.”
“Men.” Sophie rolls her eyes.
“Is that a yes?” I ask, a hopeful smile on my lips.
“I guess?”
We pass the rest of the week only seeing Sophie one more day each. I start to wonder if she’s trying to give us space. I certainly hope not. Brody and I avoid the subject of her unless she’s in the room, which only occurs once. On some level, it feels strained, but on another, it feels perfectly normal. If Brody feels weird about the situation, he doesn’t let on. He does, however, hide away in his office more than usual.
When Sophie calls me about a party on Friday, I’m shocked to get the invite, but happy to accept. The party is held in Glendale, an area I’m very familiar with, so I offer to drive.
“So, how did you find out about this?”
“I did an interview for Sara Sitwell’s podcast when I was in New York last month.” She stares out the window as we pass house after house. “She invited me and told me I could bring a plus one.” Sophie looks at me. “Is Brody ok that I chose you?”
I snort .
“I don’t think Brody would be comfortable at a party like this. Any other time, yeah, he might be jealous.”
“Are things… ok between you two?” She bites her lip, waiting for my response.
“He’s quiet,” I admit, turning onto the last street. I slow down, checking the house numbers on my side. “But so far, he seems ok with the arrangement.” That is definitely not the right word.
“Arrangement?” Sophie smirks. “We need to find a better way to say what we’re doing here.”
“Let’s focus on the party tonight.” The house comes into view. “Here we are.”
The street is lined with cars, but it looks like someone is about to pull out of a space a couple of houses down, so we park there and walk toward the party. As we approach, I can hear music coming from the backyard. A sign on the front door says to head around back. I let Sophie lead the way since she’s the invited guest.
When we enter through the gate in the privacy fence, a cacophony of laughter and music meets our ears. The pool, which is being used to its full extent, is filled with other adult performers. A couple of tables sit a few feet from two large grills being manned by two very burly men. Both of the men are shirtless, covered in tattoos, and wearing ‘kiss the cook’ aprons. There’s a bar set directly against the house and it looks like our hostess hired a bartender. Two, I correct myself, as a young woman joins her male counterpart behind the counter, serving drinks to bathing suit-clad guests.
A woman who looks a few years older than me waves at us. Her dark blonde hair is pulled back in a French braid, her pale skin shining with what I can only assume is sunblock–baby oil or something similar would be horrible for that complexion. She’s wearing a black, one-piece suit with a slit down the middle that goes most of the way to her belly button. Her eyes are hidden behind huge aviator sunglasses, but she’s grinning at us.
“Honey!” she squeals, hurrying over, moving just slowly enough not to spill her drink. “You made it!” She embraces Sophie with one arm, holding her drink away from their bodies with the other hand.
“Thank you so much for inviting me. This is an amazing party. An amazing place ,” Sophie adds as the woman lets go. She motions at me. “This is Lance Kixxx. Lance, this is Sara Sitwell.”
“Nice to meet you, Sara.” I shake her offered hand and she continues to smile .
“Right back at ya! Hey, if you need local collabs, hit me up on Twitter or something. If Honey brought you, that’s all the reference I need.”
“Really?” I raise my eyebrows and look over at Sophie.
“Absolutely. Did she tell you she was on my podcast? So much fun. We should do it again.” Sara babbles away while I survey the crowd, my sunglasses hiding my wandering eyes. “Maybe you can pop by sometime for an interview too, not just a shoot.”
“That would be great. I’ll definitely reach out. Thanks again for having us.”
“Oh, don’t thank me. Just have a good time.”
With that, Sara practically dances away to greet someone who walked through the gate after us. The sun is getting low in the sky, but even when it sets, I don’t anticipate it’ll cool off too much.
Sophie and I grab drinks from the bar and find a couple of chairs around the edge. She doesn’t seem too keen to jump into networking, even though that’s exactly what this event is for. I don’t plan on pushing her. I’ve seen her come out of her shell and I know she can do it on her own when she’s ready.
“Do you know anyone else here?” I ask, looking through the sea of faces
“I don’t think so,” she says slowly, doing her own surveillance of the crowd. “Some look familiar though. I’m sure I’ve seen them on my feed somewhere.”
“I’ve seen a few people I’ve worked with. No one recent,” I add, though I’m not sure why. Just as I finish speaking, a woman at the bar waves to get my attention before heading our way.
“Lance!” she calls, a grin on her pale face. Huge sunglasses hide eyes that I know are bright blue.
“Hey, Talia!” I call back when she’s still halfway across the yard. “I’ve worked with her a lot for a pro company,” I explain to Sophie. “You’ll like her, she’s sweet.”
In her hot pink string bikini, her blonde hair swinging in a ponytail, she looks every bit the picture-perfect porn star that she is. She was snapped up by a big talent agency within weeks of coming onto the scene as an amateur and she hasn’t looked back since. Not that she should.
“What company?” Sophie asks. She’s smiling and even though I can’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses, I know the smile reaches them. The lack of jealousy is refreshing.
“It’s,” I pause to chuckle, “it’s called Gargantuanal. ”
“What?” Sophie throws her head back in a fit of giggles. “That’s amazing!” I join her in laughing at the ridiculous name. It’s not the weirdest I’ve heard–there are plenty of production companies in the adult industry with names like it.
“I didn’t know you were coming,” I say, standing and hugging Talia before sitting back down.
“Yeah, Sara and I have worked together a few times.” She looks down at Sophie and extends a hand. “I’m Talia Sins.”
“Honey Dee Vine.” Sophie takes the offered hand and shakes it politely. “Lance was just telling me you’ve worked together a lot.”
“Oh yeah.” Talia pulls up a chair from a few feet away to sit opposite us. “The one I’ve been with a lot recently is focused on anal content, but mostly with those extreme toys that are huge.”
“That explains the name,” Sophie chuckles.
“He told you?” Talia’s voice is full of mirth.
“He couldn’t say it fast enough. I love hearing some of these company names. They’re just so dumb.”
“But they know what they are.” Talia motions at us with her cup instead of pointing and I imagine she winks too.
“That, they do,” I agree, holding up my own drink in response.
“So,” Talia crosses one leg over the other and sits back in her chair, “are you guys going to SpicyCon? I’ve heard it won’t be a huge crowd since it’s new.”
“I am.” I turn to look at Sophie. We haven’t talked about the convention next week. It hasn’t come up in all of our conversations about work.
“Yeah, I’ll be there Thursday to Sunday,” she says.
“Sweet! I’ll be at the Gargantuanal booth all day Friday, but maybe the three of us can grab dinner or something one night if you have a free evening.”
“Sounds good,” I say with a grin.
“Oh! I need to go say hi to someone who just walked in. I’ll catch you guys later, or at SpicyCon. Whatever.” She dashes away and I’m left feeling like a tornado has gone through.
“So, Talia Sins?” Sophie has pulled her sunglasses down to stare at me with those amber eyes and takes a sip of her drink.
“Just a filming history,” I chuckle.
“It’s fine, I wouldn’t judge you if it was more,” Sophie giggles. “She seems really nice. ”
“Ouch.” I wince.
“What? She does!”
“It’s just, well, I grew up with Brody and his sisters. I’ve heard some catty comments.”
“I’m not trying to be catty.” She rolls her eyes before readjusting her sunglasses. “I mean it.”
“You really don’t get jealous, do you?” I lean away and study her.
“I kind of don’t have a right to be jealous, do I?” she asks. “I mean, we both work with other people and…” she trails off, biting her lip and looking away toward the pool.
“And I’m sharing you with Brody,” I finish for her. She nods but doesn’t turn her head. “Trust me, I know how weird it sounds. And I’m not a cuck or a stag or whatever. I just want you to be happy and if your happiness includes someone else.” I shrug.
“So we’re ignoring the fact that you wanted to make me forget about the competition?” Sophie raises her eyebrows above her sunglasses.
“Well, I can’t compete with my best friend. Not for you, at least.” I pat her hand.
Throughout the late afternoon, Sophie and I venture around to meet other creators. I introduce her to a few people I know, helping her to gain more reliable contacts in the industry. It’s one thing to meet at an event like this, but it’s another thing entirely to have someone introduce you. It’s like a reference: I worked with this person and I’m introducing you, so you know that they’re one of the good ones.
As the sun sets and the guests get drunker, things get a little louder and more rambunctious. The games of chicken have already begun with squeals of delight and victory echoing around the backyard. The two men who had manned the grills earlier in the evening have either drawn the short straws or the long, depending on how you look at it. The muscular meatheads are the chosen bases for every chicken challenge. Having a woman’s thighs wrapped around their head doesn’t seem like the worst way they can spend their evening.
“Hey, gorgeous!” One of them calls out to Sophie, waving his arm to join him. “Come on in, let’s knock Buddy’s gal right off his shoulders!”
“I’m good,” Sophie chuckles.
“Aw, you sure? I’ll bet your thighs are nice and soft!”
“They are!” she shouts back with a grin. “But they’re closed for the event.”
“Oh boo!”
He doesn’t seem too upset because he finds another woman to hop on his shoulders within minutes. She falls right off as soon as her opponent makes one good shove .
“Looks like you’d have had some real competition,” I muse.
“Yeah, I think I would have crushed the poor guy’s head trying to stay on.”
“You want a go with me? You can crush my head any day.” I waggle my eyebrows for emphasis.
“You think you can hold all of this,” she motions to her body, “on your shoulders long enough for me to kick some scrawny girl’s ass?”
“You betcha.” I wink. “Easy.”