Chapter 39: Pizza Place

    A passing glance through the pizza shop’s storefront windows revealed the same bizarre and otherworldly spectacle Kelly had been slowly adjusting to all weekend. Clientele were obviously attendees of the nearby AnimeCon, many even still in cosplay. Three girls disguised as marionette maids sat in the first window booth, sharing an extra-large pizza together, and a monstrous alien aberration stood shoulder to shoulder with a samurai warlord in wait next to the pickup window. Fox-eared hats, ninja headbands, prop weapons, and bags bulging with otaku purchases were prominent on many of the other customers, giving the interior of the restaurant a festive, if somewhat surreal atmosphere. The place was packed.

    “Kelly!” An excited voice exclaimed, and Stephanie dashed out of the lines of people to grab her into an awkward hug. She was carrying Brian’s Darkmask helmet, for some reason. “I’m so happy to see you again! We almost didn’t spot you, without your dress.”

    “I… yeah,” Kelly said, half-heartedly patting Steph’s shoulder.

    “What’s wrong?” Stephanie asked, pulling away to arms length.

    “Oh, it’s nothing. I just… wait. What did you do to your makeup?” Kelly did a double take, eyes widening. She looks… great? Better than I made her up this morning…!?

    “Nothing?” Stephanie gave her a curious look as she stepped back, drawing Kelly deeper into the crowded venue. “I didn’t do anything with makeup, but... Brian’s over this way. I… Kelly, I need to thank you. For everything. For—”

    “You were able to sell the dress?” Brian was standing near the back of the pizza parlor, three drinks balanced atop the pizza box in his arms. “Kelly? You alright?”

    The smell of fresh pizza wafting through the air was making her mouth water and her empty stomach tighten up, but seeing Brian again… was somehow reassuring to her. The inside of her mind that had been running dark for hours seemed to light up with pinpricks of bright red light in response, and despite herself, she was simply glad she’d made the decision to see her two geeks again. Even if it’s just for this one last time.

    “Here,” Kelly said immediately, offering up the thick wad of cash to Brian. Fuck. This is so dumb of me.

    “From the dress?” Brian asked, carefully trading her the pizza box for the impressive stack of bills. Stephanie helped, taking two of the soft drinks off the top while clutching the skull helmet against her with both arms. “This seems like… a lot.”

    “There’s a lot of small bills,” Kelly shrugged, taking the last drink in hand so she could peek inside and see how many slices they’d left her. “It’s a thousand dollars.”

    “A thousand dollars?” Brian spread the notes in his hands so he could see some of the denominations. “You’re kidding.”

    “Did I do good?” Kelly smiled weakly. Whoa. The whole pizza’s still here. They… were waiting for me? “Or at least, not too shabby?”

    “You did fucking amazing,” Brian praised. “I never thought we’d get anywhere even close to that. Thank you. Really—thank you.”

    “Piece o’ cake,” Kelly shrugged it off as if it was no big deal. She closed the lid of the pizza box, feeling a little ashamed. I was so close to just taking the cash and bailing with it, too. What am I even doing? Blanching, she looked around them as they stood together. “Are we in line for something?”

    “Waiting for a free booth,” Brian explained. “I think that group over there’s getting up.”

    Oh, Kelly blinked. The pizza place was extraordinarily busy, but she hadn’t really realized it was well over its maximum seating occupancy until he’d pointed it out. Thankfully, a group happened to be leaving a short minute later, and they were able to snatch up the freed booth space. As Kelly and Stephanie settled across from one another, Brian stepped his way carefully back up to the front to grab napkins to wipe off their table with.

    “You look… really different,” Kelly observed, giving Stephanie a look. “Stephanie, did you… kiss him again?”

    “I did!” Stephanie beamed. “That’s not even the half of it! And, I don’t know what happened, but I feel different. Something happened. Brian even said I look more beautiful, somehow.”

    “You do,” Kelly stated honestly. She leaned forward, peering closer. “You—do your glasses seem different to you? Do you notice them in your vision, now?”

    “Um,” Stephanie squinted and then opened her eyes wider, focusing on the very glasses she wore. “Yes, now that you mention it…”

    “...Holy fuck, Stephanie!” Kelly finally exclaimed. “This all happened when he kissed you, this time?!”

    “What is it?” Stephanie asked excitedly. “Brian said that I just looked more me, but I don’t know what that—”

    “You have a completely new fucking face,” Kelly said, tempted to grab Stephanie and pull her onto the tabletop. “That’s what’s making the makeup I put on you earlier look wrong, now. You have double-lashes, Stephanie?! That’s not something that just fuckin’ randomly pops up!”

    “Doubl— what?!” Stephanie finally began to look alarmed.

    “Double lashes,” Kelly muttered. It’s more than that, too. Almost all the little imperfections are gone, her pores are practically invisible, and her eyes—! It’s like she was physically run through a filter app. I swear her eyes are proportionally larger than they were, they have to be. Like, two percent larger? Maybe three? They don’t even match up with her glasses like they used to! Do these fucking magic changes follow some plan, some specific beauty aesthetic, or is there a chance that—

    “There we go,” Brian returned, standing over the table with a fistful of napkins to swipe crumbs and drink condensation over from the previous customers onto the floor. Kelly and Stephanie rocked back in their seats in surprise. “You guys didn’t have to wait for me. Go ahead, dig in.”

    “Uhh… yeah,” Kelly mumbled, still in a daze.

    “Okay,” Stephanie agreed, still looking a little concerned by Kelly’s analysis.

    Brian slid into the side to sit next to Stephanie, and they lifted the pizza box top, revealing a large plain pizza, cheese still glistening with heat. The delicious smell rose into the air, and each of them grabbed a slice. They’d apparently ordered one without any toppings, which was a bit boring, but she was in no position to complain. Kelly bit into her piece ravenously, the implications of the strange things happening to Stephanie clouding her mind. As if I needed any more fucking incentive to want to kiss him…

    “Did Steph tell you?” Brian asked, looking from girl to girl.

    “We’re… um,” Stephanie blushed, giving Kelly a somewhat guilty smile.

    “We decided to date,” Brian revealed a wry smile. “You were right all along. I don’t know why I was ever dragging my feet.”

    “Oh,” Kelly said, giving them a blank look. Fuck. Guess that takes me out of the loop. Whatever. No loose ends here, then. “That’s... cool. No, really—good for you guys. Congratulations.”

    “It… might be a little more complicated than that,” Brian said. “Stephanie?”

    “Oof. What’d I tell you guys about overcomplicating things?” Kelly scoffed, shaking her head in dismay.

    “We… want you to be involved in some way, too,” Stephanie said. “If you’re okay with that.”

    “Oh!” Kelly gave Stephanie a surprised look that turned into a grin. “That kind of complication—that’s a whole different story. You guys’re really asking me to be in on a threesome with you?” Thank fuck! I needed this. You didn’t let me down after all, Steph!

    “No, no, not a threesome,” Brian explained. “We want you to be… a part of our relationship.”

    “Ehhh, no offense to you guys or anything…” Kelly laughed uneasily, tearing a chunk of the crust she was holding apart and popping it into her mouth. “A threesome, yeah, okay. I’d actually be down for that. But, I can’t do a relationship. Especially not right now.”

    “Can you explain?” Stephanie pressed, not willing to be deterred, this time. “Can you… talk about it? I’ve been worried about you.”

    “Hm,” Kelly pondered for a moment, tapping her lip. “I could. But, I don’t really want to. It’s been a long day, and all I really want to do is get drunk. And laid.” She gave them a pointed look.

    “Kelly… please,” Stephanie persisted.

    “Hah, she can resist all she wants,” Brian teased, wetting his napkin with the condensation from his soft drink and using it to clean his hands. He then slid out of the booth on Stephanie’s side and hopped over to sit next to Kelly instead. “But, I have ways of making you talk—the dreaded Darkmask interrogation ten-fingers torture technique.”

    “Oh, thank God!” Kelly dropped her remaining crust on top of the pizza box, twisting in place to turn away from Brian and present her back to him. “Please. I totally forgot about that, but I could actually really go for it, right now.” At her invitation, welcome fingertips began kneading into the stiff tension between her shoulders and neck. Today’s taut accumulation of stress was crushed and squeezed beneath his thumbs, probing deep into her in languid circular motions that had her writhing and arching her back in no time.

    Ohhh, fuuuuuck me that’s nice, Kelly purred to herself at the rolling sensations. As his fingers worked to sooth her knotted muscles, the twinkling red starfield in her mind seemed to shift, taking on a field of depth. Rather than a distant sky, it felt like she was moving among those burning red stars, through them, floating freely throughout the expanse.

    He wasn’t massaging in quite as deeply as he had last night, but even this more relaxed approach had Kelly feeling like she was going soft all over, like she wanted to bonelessly fall back into his arms. It wasn’t even a sexual sensation, not completely. Just a thorough sense of satisfaction he somehow knew how to conjure with the simple pressing and pulling of those magic fingers of his.

    “Okaaay,” Kelly sighed, “you can just keep doing that forever and never stop.”

    “That’s what it’s like in a relationship with me,” Brian joked. “Endless massages.”

    “Hah-ha. Up a little higher? Pretty please?” Kelly felt her lips part open and her eyelashes flutter as fingers worked their way up her slender neck, and another shiver of red starlight flashed through her mind.

    “What happened?” Brian asked.

    “Hm?” Kelly murmured.

    “You never really told us why you’re here at the con,” he pressed.

    “Hmmm.”

    “You can’t keep us out of this,” Stephanie insisted, leaning forward over the table.

    “Oh?” Kelly wondered. “And, why’s that?”

    “Because we care, and we’re asking you,” Stephanie said with an innocent look. “Please, Kelly?”

    “Ugh,” Kelly made a noise of disgust and turned back around to face the table, rolling her shoulders and stretching her back. “You know what? Fine. Doesn’t even matter at this point, right? Might be therapeutic.”

    For a long, tense moment, Kelly stared at down at the pizza box in front of them without saying a word. 

    “I... started fucking up and never stopped, that’s what happened,” Kelly finally muttered, wincing. “Right after that AnimeCon a few years back... my life just went in this different direction, a bad direction. Drugs, sex. Big falling out with my mom, burning bridges with stupid drama. I was doing a lot of dumb things back then, but... well, the absolute dumbest thing I was doing was this older guy named Dale. He had a band, he was popular. I was young and hot and had booze for brains. Ever hear of this post-hardcore band called The Ravaged Cassettes?”

    Brian shook his head.

    “I don’t think I have, either,” Stephanie said.

    “No big loss, there,” Kelly chuckled darkly. “Well anyways, it’s like, so right outta high school I was with him, and we got deep into the music scene, scene culture. Planning trips to concerts when the big names were on tour, getting our shit together and promoting so our group got gigs, that sorta thing. Later on, we were even doing our own shows, which are all kinds of fuckin’ crazy. 

    “The Ravaged Cassettes... they actually got to be kind of a big deal. After the first album took off, Dale got seen as this major rising talent, and as his girl, I became important by association. Head bitch, social queen bee in our little slice of the city nightlife, you know?”

    Brian and Stephanie exchanged looks.

    “Okay... maybe you guys actually wouldn’t be able to get that,” Kelly realized, making a face. “But, for a while there, I was living like a celebrity, like everyone dreams of. I was the girl all the guys wanted to fuck, and the girl all the other bitches wanted to fuck with—but couldn’t. Because, I was untouchable! For a while, at least, I was. For a while, I had... real power, that went way past money or responsibility. If I wanted to do lines of coke, I fuckin’ did lines of coke. If I wanted to go somewhere, I showed up with a fuckin’ entourage. Didn’t have to worry about where anything came from, whose it was, where it wound up, or how much anything ever cost. I was a name everyone in our scene knew, and I was worshipped.

    “Even got an offer to be an actress from this big-shot producer,” Kelly added, snorting sarcastically.

    “W-what happened?” Stephanie asked, interested. 

    “Well, the city music scene, it is treacherous,” Kelly said matter-of-factly, a grim smile playing across her lovely features. “And, it takes its toll. So, I was in this cycle of getting trashed pretty much every single night, doin’ late-night parties and waking up in the afternoons pretty much too hungover to function. And, I had this little scare, woke up next to a dead girl, decided to try easing up on the hard—”

    “Woke up next to a dead girl?” Stephanie interjected, paling.

    “Uh, yeah. Ashley Ainsworth. One afternoon when I woke up, she was fuckin’ facedown beside me, in a puddle of her own puke. OD’d on oxy or… well, doesn’t really matter now, I guess. Fuck.

    “So, I freak out a bit. A little bit. I try to go cold turkey on all of these different things at once... in a spectacularly unsuccessful way,” Kelly laughed. “And, all the while I’m this hot mess, of course there’s any number of these other scene skanks all too eager to spread those tawdry legs for Dale.

    “But... well, fuck. I was slow to catch on, caused some drama, made some rather choice mistakes, and... I was out. Out of the game. After almost a year livin’ life right at the top like a rock star, I went to rock-fuckin’-bottom, in, like, a single night, seems like,” Kelly said bitterly. “Out of Dale’s sweet pad, with just my stuff in some trash bags... just bags of my laundry dumped out in the hall by his cleaning lady. For him, forgettin’ me really was that easy. So, anyways, I’m suddenly out all on my own, and... well, all these things my body is accustomed to, well uh, addicted to, now costs money I don’t have. Or worse.”

    Shocked silence filled their booth as Brian and Stephanie took a moment to try to digest Kelly’s story.

    “Kelly…” Stephanie began, unsure of what else to say.

    “That was, like… four months ago. Chill you guys, I survived. Sort of. My last friend in the world, Chelsea—she’s the girlfriend of the Cassettes’ drummer—she took me in. I look after their one-year-old Skyler when I can, and I work two part-time jobs to pay a part of the rent… minimum wage shit jobs,” Kelly swore.

    “But…” It looked like Kelly was struggling to find the right words. “It’s just… it’s not working out. Suspended from my stupid fucking McBurger job for mouthing off, and the retail one’ll barely give me any hours. Owe everyone I know money, I’m pissed off all the time, I don’t sleep well unless I drink, and… yeah. That’s my story. I’m not actually a somebody, not anymore. I’m a has-been, a fuckin’... groupie social climber who couldn’t hold onto the top. That’s me.”

    “Saying that might be going a little far…” Brian said.

    “B-but, you’re still so amazing! I mean, um, what about acting?” Stephanie intervened, “The producer, who, um--” 

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    “Oh yeah,” Kelly remembered, her voice sounding dry, “The producer. That’s the plan, actually. The next big stage of my life. I looked him up not long after Dale threw me out. Turns out though... that the innovative artistic expressions he wants to explore with me? They involve facials and creampies.”

    “Cream... pies?” Stephanie asked, blinking.

    “I’ll explain later,” Brian winced, sounding uncomfortable.

    “Even better—you could just show her, right?” Kelly chuckled to herself. “Steph—the acting gig, it’s porn. That’s what I’m getting myself into, after this last little AnimeCon stint. It’s not something you ever really plan for, but… it’s something I can do, and be the best at. This life I’m living now… I can’t deal. I’m tired, I’m breaking down, I’m killing myself to get fucking nowhere, and… I need to be somebody. Yeah, even if it’s a porn star.”

    “Porn, though?” Brian asked. “Are you set on that?”

    “I think so, yeah,” Kelly murmured. “This one night after my shift, I was starting to think… you know, maybe Ashley had the right idea. Going out like a rock star—that’s not so bad, right? How fucked up is that? So I’m like, no, fuck that. Fuck this bullshit life that makes that start to not seem so bad. I want out. So. Porn.

    “Don’t give me that look,” Kelly chuckled. “Listen, I was never any kind of saint. It’s something I can definitely do, and be great at. That’s important to me. Being sexy was always a big part of, like, who I am. Maybe it was always bound to go this way, no matter what I did. And… yeah. I’m starting this new chapter in my life, and I’ve gotta leave some things behind because of that. That’s why I actually came to AnimeCon, to say goodbye for good to Sarah.”

    “Sarah?”

    “She’s… you know, an old friend,” Kelly’s looked away. “From before. I don’t wanna talk about her right now.”

    “You weren’t able to move back in with your mother?” Stephanie asked, bewildered.

    “My mother and I… we fundamentally cannot coexist,” Kelly said softly, looking down at her hands in her lap. “We tried. Over and over again. She’ll say something to set me off; I’ll get mouthy in return. She starts yelling, I start screaming. One of us’ll throw something, or break something, or take that first swing, and… it just keeps escalating right to violence when we’re together. Sarah had to call the cops on us the last two times, ‘cause we were so close to killing each other.”

    “Okay,” Brian sighed. “I understand that. I’m not on any kind of good terms with my parents, either. But, all of this—the getting into porn thing—is that really what you want to do?”

    “Don’t know if you were paying attention,” Kelly smirked bitterly at him, “but, I’m at the end of my tether. I’ve made too many mistakes, burned too many people, and I can’t fucking keep doing what I’m doing, Brian.”

    “That’s not what I asked,” Brian shook his head. “Yes, or no. Is that what you really want to do?”

    “It’s what I’m doing,” Kelly retorted, irritation and anger rising to color her face. “What the fuck am I supposed to do, Brian?”

    “Hear me out for a second,” Brian paused, sliding the half-finished box of pizza to the side and composing his thoughts. “It feels a lot to me like you’re headed towards a bad end.”

    “A bad end?” Kelly repeated, giving him a look.

    “It’s a term from Japanese RPGs and visual novels—the kind of stories that have branching paths leading to multiple endings, depending on how you play the game.”

    “Okay?” Kelly drummed her fingertips across the tabletop, looking unamused.

    “There’ll be a lot of different good endings, and, if you put in a lot of effort and really know the game, you can even score a perfect ending. It’s sort of like that. The bad end, it’s usually really, really bad, like you have to consciously make all the wrong choices to ever get there and see it.”

    “Sounds about right so far,” Kelly said. The last of her smile was disappearing.

    “If you go through with this, and get yourself into the porn star life—are you still going to be able to have a happy ending for yourself? Is it going to make it hard for you to find someone that makes you happy and get a real relationship with? Are you going to be able to stay away from whatever stuff—whatever substances you were getting yourself hooked on before? Are you going to feel like you’ve led a fulfilling life?”

    “I knew this was a mistake…” Kelly sighed and shook her head, looking away from them. “You sound just like my mother, now. Bye, Stephanie. Bye, Brian. Have a nice life, and go fuck yourself.”

    She rose out of the pizza parlor’s booth—only to be pushed right back into her seat, Brian’s hand on her shoulder.

    “Don’t fucking touch me,” Kelly scowled, grabbing his wrist to remove it. “Fuck off.”

    “Just—listen to me. Please,” Brian asked. He released his grip on her shoulder. “Please?”

    “Kelly…” Stephanie was on the edge of her seat, watching her friends with an anxious look.

    The pizza parlor was crowded, busy, and noisy enough that her outburst hadn’t turned any more than a few nearby heads, and all of them retracted their gaze as Kelly’s glare swept the surrounding tables.

    “Brian,” Kelly said in a cold voice, letting go of his wrist. “I haven’t believed there was a happy ending out there in a long, long time, okay? You don’t fucking know me, and you can’t unfuck my life. You can’t even fix your own life.”

    “No, I couldn’t fix my own life,” Brian admitted, spreading his hands wide in a helpless gesture and then dropping them to the tabletop. “But, the two of you could. And, you did. You and Stephanie saved me from what would’ve been just about the most miserable weekend of my entire life. So, who’s to say Stephanie and I can’t do the same for you?”

    Kelly stared him down for a long, tense moment before replying. 

    “You don’t get to pull the friend card on day one, either.”

    “Yesterday was day one,” Brian gave her a slight grin. “Will you at least let us try?”

    “Okay, yeah. Fine,” Kelly separated another slice of pizza from the pie and gave him a mocking smile. “Go ahead—explain to me what the fuck you two can even do to turn this around. I’m listening.”

    “This is a start,” Brian challenged, putting the thousand dollars back onto the table and sliding it towards her with his fingers. “It’ll help you get back on your feet. With your looks— with your personality, you could be an actress, a real one. Or, a singer. Or you could make a living doing videos online, covering interesting topics. Reviewing movies, or games or something.”

    “A thousand bucks won’t magically get me an acting gig,” She stopped the cash he was sliding to her with her free hand. “None of those other things are anywhere near as fucking easy as you think, either. And I don’t want your pity hand-out.”

    “I didn’t say anything would be easy,” Brian countered. “And, I don’t give hand-outs. This is an investment. I actually believe you have what it takes to really be someone, Kelly. More than just a porn star.”

    “Oh yeah?” Kelly snorted and took a large bite of the pizza slice she held. “Well, that’s nice, but even a grand still isn’t gonna get me anywhere.”

    “Yes, it will,” Brian insisted. “I live alone now, in a two-person apartment, and I’ve been covering all the bills there myself for a long time. Supporting you for a while, until you find your footing and figure out what you’re doing—I can do that, easy.”

    “Uh-huh,” Kelly kept chewing. “I’m just gonna mooch off of you, and hope things work out, huh? That’s your whole plan?”

    “No. Let me finish. Kelly, there’s someone I know—she’s as close as family to me—who used to be a successful model and an actress. Now, she makes a living teaching others to act. She still gets offers for parts in things, even after years and years of being out of show business. So, clearly her foot’s still in the door, and she has all those right connections. You could be her protege.”

    That… Kelly paused with her mouth still full of food. Sounds too good to be true?

    “Damn, wish I knew where my phone was, so I could show you,” Brian growled in aggravation. “There’s all sorts of photos and videos of the stuff she’s been in on the internet.”

    “I have my phone!” Stephanie said quickly, pulling it out. “If you know what I would search for to find her…?”

    “Yeah, actually,” Brian brightened, leaning towards her. “Search ‘Anne Garcia, Criminal Lives.’ That was her biggest role, I think.

    “It was a cop drama, and she was the wife of the dirty cop. She accidentally discovers some of his crimes, and was secretly covering them up for him. Until he really starts doing some really heinous stuff, that is—she ends up realizing he can never be redeemed. Amazing acting.”

    Hannah Hudson?! Kelly just barely managed to keep her outward composure, but on the inside, she was shocked. Brian knows the actress who played Hannah fucking Hudson on Criminal Lives...?!

    She didn’t consider herself a fan of that old show, and didn’t remember the various plotlines or anything. But just about anyone growing up with basic TV channels had sat through an episode of Criminal Lives at some point or another. As a matter of fact, the parts with the evil cop Officer Hudson and his stellar wife were all of the scenes from the show that stood out in memory. The actress that played Hannah Hudson was one of the few beautiful women that even Kelly found herself intimidated by.

    When suspicious cops were finally asking about her husband, Hannah Hudson was able to beg and plead, or other times tease and distract them—and, it was always believable! It was so believable that it seemed like her co-stars were no longer acting around her, just naturally reacting to how overwhelmingly gorgeous and charismatic Hannah Hudson was. There were moments in Kelly’s life where she’d subconsciously thought back to Hannah Hudson’s struggle. The look on Mrs. Hudson’s face when she decided she wouldn’t protect her husband anymore, and then the woman’s expression when she finally decided she would kill him herself… it gave Kelly chills.

    “Found it!” Stephanie nodded, taking a peek for herself and looking impressed. She helpfully slid her phone across the table towards Kelly. “Here.”

    “You… actually know this woman?” Kelly asked, setting the unfinished half of her food aside to take a closer look. Fuck me, it is her. No way.

    “Yeah,” Brian said. “She teaches theater courses at this expensive private school, now. She’s my best friend’s mom—that’s Emily’s mother right there.”

    “You’re serious,” Kelly looked up at him in disbelief. “Like, you’re actually not fucking with me?”

    “Yeah,” Brian said, giving her a nod. “I’m serious.”

    “But—why?” Kelly asked, feeling bewildered and uncomfortable. “Why would you do all that for me? Brian. You don’t know me. You’ve just barely met me. I… I don’t even think you like me?”

    “I… don’t know how I really feel about you,” Brian admitted, looking down at his hands upon the table. “And, I know I’ve been acting kind of… defensive, around you. After that break up… I need something to hold on to, something real.

    “Despite your flirting,” Brian awkwardly cleared his throat, “I never got any sort of impression that you wanted to be held on to, or tied down by anyone. Not for good, not like I need.”

    “Well… yeah,” Kelly frowned and stared at the tabletop, furrowing her brows. “So… what is this between us, then?”

    “I do know that there’s some things about you I love,” Brian said. “Maybe if we went with things, it could turn into something serious—something real. Maybe not. Be honest with me, is there anything about me you can love, or was all of that last night, and all of that today just because you wanted… uh, you know. Sex. A quick hook-up.”

    Suddenly and casually dropping the L- word into the topic was just as alarming to her as if he’d drawn a gun and began firing into the crowd, and Kelly glanced around nervously to see if anyone had overheard. People don’t just go out and say that. It’s goddamned embarrassing. And weird. Terrifying.

    “I don’t do love,” Kelly said, shaking her head at him. “Some amazing sex? Okay. That, I can do. If you want to head back to the room with me and we can—”

    “I don’t do random sex,” Brian countered. “I want something more real.”

    “Uh, well it sounds like we’re at an impasse, then, champ,” Kelly shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know what else you expect me to say, here.”

    “There can’t be an impasse, Kelly,” Brian smiled as if he’d been waiting for her to say those exact words. This wasn’t just the shy, directionless polite smile, either—this was a Brian smile, directed right at her. It was a luxuriant blend of interest, attraction, and charm, a look that had her getting lost in those mottled green eyes of his. Kelly felt a bright red tingle of stardust tickle its way down her abdomen.

    Fuck, can you not look at me like that when we’re trying to argue?

    “We have our tie-breaker here,” he said, taking Stephanie’s hand and pulling her into the conversation. “Our impartial third party, remember?”

    “Uhhm,” Stephanie blushed, giving both of them a nervous smile. “Yes. That’s me.”

    “So, what’s it going to be, Stephanie? Am I going to have to sleep with Kelly and then never see her again, or is she going to have to learn how to love me?”

    Love him? Is he for real? Kelly wondered. A future with Brian, instead of life as a porn star? Doesn’t that seem too unreal?

    Or… wait, does it? For the first time, she found herself actually considering his absurd proposal. Would that even work? I mean, I could do worse than Brian. He’s… kinda not bad. Okay, he’s not bad at all. Really, I’M the bad one. But could it… could we…?

    “...Yeah, Steph,” Kelly put on her most confident smile and leaned forward over the table with interest, resting her chin on her knuckle. “What’ll it be?”

    “I think…” Stephanie said, biting her lip. “That once we head back to the room, we can work out a compromise? Don’t you think…?”

    “Sounds perfect, let’s start with that,” Kelly agreed, looking from Steph to Brian with a hunger in her eyes. “We can get up to all kinds of fun.”

    “W-we’re not going to play truth or dare again, are we?” Stephanie asked.

    “Not this time,” Kelly said, wetting her lips and returning Brian’s smile. “This time, we’re playing a little game I like to call show and tell.”

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