by Hart, Rye
“Hand’s off. If I message him, I’m not sharing.” I laughed, and Devin cleared his throat.
“Hey, am I supposed to sit around waiting all day? I want a smoke.” He took the cigarette he’d lit and put it between his lips.
“Just behave, Devin. I’m on my way.” She gave me another apologetic glance. “Sorry.”
I walked to the back and leaned up against the counter. The guy was almost too good looking to be true. I scanned his profile, and he liked photography. My heart stopped. Could this be a guy I could actually talk to? Someone, to spend time with? Someone who was interested in what I had to say, not only how I looked. Someone who wanted me for more than a groupie or arm candy?
He was a few years older, which was good, liked the outdoors, which was fine by me. I’d learned to love camping as a kid and hadn’t been in forever. Tate Evans sounded like a total winner. He was my solid match. I scrolled back up to his image and studied his features; his dirty-blond hair, tanned skin, and eyes so blue that they pierced right through me. They seemed to stare into my soul and pull me in.
I messaged back. Hello, I’d love to. I see you like photography? I hit send and waited to see if he’d message me back. I worked on a few things around the shop, and sure enough, half an hour later, he messaged me back.
It’s a passion. Are you passionate too? The words sent a warmth down my spine, which spread out to all the best places. My nipples tightened, and heat bloomed between my legs.
I’d like to think so. I went to school for it and had studio for a few months. That’s another story.
That’s amazing. I’m totally self-taught. I’d love to see yours and show you mine. *wink*
“Shit, he’s asking me out,” I mumbled to myself. I looked up, and Rain was sitting at the table twirling her straw as Devin talked on his phone. “Rain, get over here!”
She wasted no time crossing the room and sitting up the counter’s small bar area. “What’s wrong?”
“He wants to meet me and talk about photography. What should I do?”
“Uh, you should message him back, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get laid.” She turned the phone to her again, seeing his profile picture from the chat. “God, he’s hot. I bet he’s packing a big one too. I’m so jealous.”
“I don’t want to get my hopes up for anything.”
She pulled the phone from my hands and started typing.
“What are you doing?” I read over her shoulder and found her asking for a picture.
“Are you crazy? That’s too soon! Besides, there’s a profile picture.” I took the phone back and waited to see if he’d respond.
“Look, this is how you tell if they’re a pervert or not. A nice guy will send an appropriate picture, but a perv is going to send you a dick pic.”
“Ew, why would I want that?” Though, maybe I should get a look, seeing as I was on the hunt for a sperm donor.
“Please, you can’t tell me that no one had ever sent you a dick pic.” She turned around and looked at Devin who was still gabbing away on his phone.
“God, no. Do you have men send them?”
“I’ve had a boyfriend or two; there’s nothing wrong with it. Besides, some women think it’s hot when it’s solicited, of course, to see their man’s proud erection. Especially if she caused it.” She let out a giggle, and we heard a ping. My heart raced wondering if it was going to be a picture of his penis or of his smiling face. I closed my eyes, and she opened the message.
“Oh, nice.” Her reaction was hard to read, with my new knowledge of what she might find nice, so I opened my eyes to see his fiery eyes staring back at me. “He seems like a good one.”
“Now it’s your turn. Show me your smile.” She read his words out loud. “God, he’s so cute. Here, you have to send a selfie.”
“I’m a mess!” I turned my phone on and used the camera to fix my hair before taking the photo. I held the camera out, but Rain shook her head.
“No, do a downward shot. Let him see that body, girl. Besides, it makes your tits look amazing, trust me.” She opened the front of my blouse, and I slapped her hand away and positioned the camera. I smiled, snapped the picture, and hit send before I could talk myself out of it.
“This chat feature is the shit.” She watched the screen. “You don’t have to even use your number, so it’s all private. You can’t get any better than that. It’s best to make sure these people aren’t serial killers before you give them all your information.”
I nudged her. “If I get hacked up, I’m coming back to haunt you for introducing me to this site.”
“Relax, you’re good.”
Devin knocked on the table across the room. “Hey, are you two finished gossiping like two old women?”
“Chill, I’ll see you at the table in a few minutes.” Rain then looked at me and mouthed the words ‘You got this.’ She gestured to the phone and went back to join Senior Royal Dick at the table.
Another customer finally came in, and I poured their order when the next ping occurred. I excused myself to the back and quickly opened the phone.
You’re a knockout! The Loving Cup is still my fave for a good cup of coffee.
My blood turned cold. I glanced back at my picture and realized that I’d shown him where I worked. My blouse had the Loving Cup’s logo stitched right on the pocket above my name tag. Now this complete stranger knew how to find me whether I wanted him to or not. Great, if this went sideways, I was going to have to quit my job.
Panic set in. “Rain!”
CHAPTER SIX – TATE
I’d spent another long day on my computer doing touch-ups to photos and working my inner Casanova on Matched Solid. I couldn’t believe how immature some adults could be and the types of things I’ve read in the forums.
I’d also been bombarded with over a hundred nude images and offers and invites across the area and beyond. I tried not to lead anyone on, and there hadn’t been anyone I was interested in - except for one girl.
The moment I saw her, I knew she looked familiar, and not because I’d seen her profile before. When she sent that image from the Loving Cup, I knew I’d seen her there back before I stopped drinking coffee months ago. Out of all the other beautiful ladies in the crowd at the time, she was the only one hard at work. She’d stopped to take a tray of coffees around to a table, and the people were giving her hell. She’d kept her head held high, a smile plastered on her face, and just did her job.
I realized suddenly, this was the girl from my fantasy, the one I’d thought about when I jerked off. What were the odds of that?
Never in a million years, had I intended on finding anyone on this site that meant anything to me, but there she was; my dream girl. I kept checking my phone for her response, but she’d gone into radio silence after sending me a picture of herself at work.
I turned on my phone and glanced down at it again, and my cock responded with a twitch. I’d told her she was a knockout and I wasn’t insincere about it. Everything about her was perfect; her long wavy hair, nothing like the fake blondes I was usually attracted to, and her skin was pale, not like the overly tanned Terri. Looking at the picture, I could make out the perfect swells of her breasts and the flat plane of her stomach beneath them, the curve of her hips and more importantly, how pouty her lips were. I couldn’t help but think of them against mine, and my mind sunk even further into the gutter as I closed my eyes and imagined her down on her knees in front of me. She was smiling up at me just like in that image, only her mouth opened wider, and she took my cock between those perfect lips to suck it.
I was just about to touch my half-erect cock when my sister knocked on the front door of my house, proceeding to let herself in. “Tate?” Her voice carried across my house. “Tate it’s me.” I got up, bringing my phone with me, and went to the living room.
“Do you mind if I stay here again?”
“Roommate issues?”
“Yeah. She’s always bringing home a new guy like every oth
er night. I’m not really into the lack of privacy, and she’d prefer I’d leave when they’re there anyway. I’m only doing this to help her out and since dad won’t pay for me to get a place of my own.”
“You know you should get your own place.”
“Dad would be there every waking moment. Besides, I love shopping too much. If I spend all my allowances on the house, then how am I supposed to dress?”
“Come on, did you just hear yourself? You’re not that girl. You’re the most responsible, intelligent, and practical girl I know, even if you do like to shop a little too much. You can make it on your own.”
“Could I stay here while I figure it out?”
“As long as you need to, you know that.”
“Thanks, bro. You’re the best.”
“Mhm. Mom should have had me first.”
She stuck her tongue out at me before she turned and went out to her car, and came back with her overnight bag.
“What’s that?” I looked up to see her peeking over my shoulder. “Or should I say, who?”
“It’s a girl I met on that dating site. I really like her so far, but I’m not sure she likes me. She’s gone quiet.”
“Let me look.” She studied the image and smiled. “She’s beautiful, and so not like your type. What’s up with that?”
“There’s just something about her. I’ve actually seen her before at her job—”
Megan looked at me and shook her head.
“You told her you to know where she works? No fucking wonder, genius, you probably scared her to death. She’s gonna think you’re a psycho stalker, idiot.”
“Shit. I hadn’t even thought about that. It was a just innocent conversation. I was actually happy she hadn’t sent me a nude. So many have.”
“See and here I thought nude shots would be right up your alley, though I didn’t think you’d ever admit otherwise.” She walked over to the couch and took a seat. “You should really message her back and apologize.”
“Is an apology really necessary? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Could you be more of a guy right now? I’m telling you, you creeped her out. That’s the only explanation, and even if you didn’t, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Fine. What do I say, since you’re so good at this stuff?” I got ready to type a message when my sister shrugged.
“How the hell should I know, just tell her you’re sorry, you didn’t mean to be too personal and take it back to photography talk. Ask her what she takes pictures of. Anything.” She took out her fingernail file and went to work on her claws, as I liked to call them.
“OK.” I typed what she told me and waited.
“You really like this one, huh? Maybe she’s a real keeper, not like that Terri; she was awful. I was afraid she’d be the one you’d tie the knot with just to meet the requirements of your inheritance. That would have the worst mistake of your life. You haven’t had the best history when it comes to girls.”
“Am I really that bad?” I asked.
Megan shook her head. “Relax. You’re not a total screw up all the time.”
“Gee, thanks,” I replied.
“But even if you think she is different, you should still hold off on flashing your cash around until you know for sure.”
I nodded. “You’re right. But right now, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, because she hasn’t even responded to my apology yet. I might have fucked it up beyond repair.”
Megan went quiet and stared at her nails for a minute. “I hope not. I really hope you find someone you want to stick around for. For the right reasons,” she said softly.
I leaned in closer and brushed back my sister’s hair to see her eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not going anywhere. Daniel is fine. One day he’ll call, and we’ll all catch up, it’s no different than mom. She calls when she’s ready.”
She hugged me hard and then pulled away to go into the kitchen. I caught a glimpse of her eyes and could tell that she was about to cry from the glassy look and the way they sparkled in the light.
We’d had it rough after mom and Daniel left, and though I’d resented their selfishness, I couldn’t help but care about them and where they were, but I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life worried about them. I couldn’t.
While she was gone, milling around in my kitchen, first digging in the fridge and then the cabinets, my phone let loose of another Matched Solid ping.
I looked down to see that it was another girl; one who had contacted me before and she wanted to chat. I didn’t want to talk to her, but since I was logged on, she could see my profile was active. I hadn’t remembered to fix that feature to private as Hazen had suggested.
Do you want to play? The message raised my interest, but I didn’t want to get anything started with the woman. She was hot, but I wanted to see where things would go with Kami, and while I liked rubbing one off as much as the next guy, especially to a hot, young woman, I couldn’t get Kami out of my brain. She was the one I wanted to play with.
I ignored the message and let my mind wander to the fantasy in my head until my sister passed by. “I’m going to go out for a bit. I will pick up some things on the way back so we can eat a decent meal. You really should eat at home more.”
“Well if you’re cooking, I’m eating. Did you make a list? Add peanut butter and those sandwich stacker pickles. Oh, and some beer.”
“Anything else, Your Majesty?” She let loose a soft giggle.
“No, that should do it, thanks.”
As she grabbed her keys and pocketbook, my phone let out another ping. I didn’t bother looking until she’d shut the door behind her.
I glanced down thinking it would be the same woman, but instead, it was Kami.
I love micro, macro, HDR, and forced perspective.
I instantly grew a hard on.
CHAPTER SEVEN – KAMI
I couldn’t believe all the hits I was getting from the dating site, but I hadn’t been interested in a single one of them except for Tate Evans, the photographer. He was by far the most handsome and the most talented by some of his profile shots, and when he messaged me back, I felt horrible for going quiet on him.
His ping had come through just as I was about to climb into my big clawfoot tub for a soak and had just removed all my clothes. I contemplated not responding, but after a minute, I decided it was as good a time as any and responded by answering his last question.
I threw out a few types of photography that I’d experimented with and sent the message. I was curious to know the same of him, and when he responded, I’d ask.
His message came right back. Have you ever tried astral photography?
I haven’t, but I’d love to. I’ve always loved looking for constellations .
A few minutes went by, and I washed my hair, then scrubbed myself down thinking he’d gotten busy. But then the next ping came, taking me by surprise with his request.
Not trying to come on too strong, but I’d love to hear your voice. Call?
My heart raced at the idea, and even though I knew I wanted to be discreet until I got to know him better, he did already know where I worked. If he was a serial killer my fate was already sealed with that first picture. I typed back to him: Sure.
My phone rang about a minute later, and I let out a long-held breath. “Tate?”
“Yeah, hey. Kami.” His voice was so sexy that my body responded immediately.
“Hi,” I said, not sure how to start the conversation. Luckily, he jumped right in.
“So what are you up to?”
“Um, nothing really, I just got off work and am winding down a little.” I slumped back down into my bath water and caused a wave that splashed up against my breasts and made a sound.
“Are you in the tub?” He sounded a bit hesitant to ask and released a short chuckle.
“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t want to tell you.” My face turned red, and I hoped he didn’t think I was the kind of
girl to do something like this deliberately for attention.
“No, it's fine. I mean, we can talk later if you want. I’m just in my room.”
“Are you in bed?” I asked, trying my best not to make it sound dirty.
“Yeah, actually. Most girls don’t get me into bed this easily,” he joked, trying to lighten the awkwardness.
“Well, you got me naked, so I guess you win.” When he laughed heartily on the other end of the line, I relaxed a little and settled into the flow of a normal conversation. “What have you been up to today?”
“I went on a trip to shoot recently, and it’s been a pain in the ass trying to get the touch-ups right. I need to find a nice dark place to shoot next time.”
“That sounds exciting. I’ve never really gone on a trip to shoot, not with the types of things I like to do. I just set up my equipment and see what I can find around the house. I once took a beautiful picture of bread mold.” I regretted telling him that the minute I said it, and my cheeks reddened again. I didn’t want him to think I was a total photo nerd.
“That sounds interesting, actually. I like people who find beauty in the most unsuspecting places.” His words were a comfort, and suddenly I didn’t feel so silly after all.
“Thanks. You’d be surprised of the colors.” I lifted my free hand and cupped it full of water, releasing it across my breasts.
“Is your bath cooling down? Bubbles all gone?” His voice was so sensual; he made the word ‘bubbles’ sound amazing.
“I didn’t have any bubbles, but yeah, it’s cooling down. This old place I’m living in doesn’t have a shower. So, I get to bathe in the claw foot.” I realized I was steering the conversation away from photography and I didn’t need him focused on my naked body. Another lick of heat coiled deep in my tummy to call me a liar.
I wanted him focused on me. Every bare, unclothed inch of me.
I was torn. I didn’t want to come off like a total slut, but part of me wanted to follow the path he was trying to lead me down.
“Hmm, that sounds nice, but I prefer it standing up in the shower,” he said, his voice dropping.
