by Hart, Rye
I kept the computer in front of me. “We can look at the profiles now.” I let out a deep breath and scrolled down through the gallery of profiles, each of which had a picture and a brief description. There was a search feature, and it had options to search for specific interests, but I glanced over several profiles on the page. The entire group was filled with attractive people, and even if someone wasn’t to my personal attraction, there weren’t any who looked like they belonged in prison.
That’s a win.
Rain whistled. “Nice looking bunch. I’ve heard when people pay to be on a site; it usually means they are going to put their best face forward, but then again, this site could be doing the same thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the site probably puts their more attractive people on the front pages.” She lifted her shoulder casually and leaned in closer.
“I guess I can see why they’d do that. Let’s dig around a bit.” I went halfway into the profiles and found that the further back into the pages, the less “apple pie” the people looked. Rain was right.
“Dang, he’s fine.” Rain practically pushed me aside and leaned in to get a better look. “Hellooo, Daddy.” She fanned herself as I giggled.
“You’re terrible. He is hot, though. It’s good to see a few rugged guys here and there, for a minute I thought we’d stepped into an ivy league yearbook.” I hit like, and she smiled.
“Yeah, but look at this guy. If he contacts you, I’ll be so jealous. He’s even making my ovaries boil. I think you better turn the page before we become pregnant by osmosis.”
“If only it were that easy.” I nudged her and scrolled further into the list.
“Wow, he’s got some serious hair.” I gave her a look and shook my head. “I think we better keep going.” We scrolled through all the pages, making comments and hitting the like button when necessary. We laughed at a few until we cried and couldn’t believe what some were putting in their profiles.
“I think you need to do your profile. We could spend hours here.”
“We have. I don’t know what to put. Do you think you could help me write it? I noticed many of them were written in the third person.”
“I’ll do what I can. We’ll have them lining up in no time.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted them lining up, but I had to get started somehow.
“First things first. Let’s add a profile picture.”
After we got my profile all set up and Rain left to go to work, I sat and scrolled through the guys one more time.
I sat and looked through the photos of all the “eligible bachelors near me.” I couldn’t help but wonder which one of them might make a good dad.
CHAPTER FOUR - TATE
I worked for hours on the images I’d captured. I raked my hand through my hair as I took a let my eyes rest. My photography was the only thing that took my mind off the impending deadline from my will. Finding a girl after an ugly break-up wasn’t as easy as I’d thought.
I needed help.
My head was pounding and I needed to take a break, so I put my computer screen on sleep mode. That’s when I heard the car pull in my gravel driveway.
Who the hell could that be?
I glanced out the window wondering who would show up at this time of the morning. With Megan over from her weekend visit, I thought maybe she was expecting someone, but instead I saw my friend Hazen’s blue Corvette.
I greeted him at the door as he made his way down the path. “Hey man, where the hell have you been?” He slapped my hand as he walked by and entered my home.
He went right to the bar I kept at the back of my living room and poured a drink.
“It’s a little early for that, isn’t it?” I didn’t mind that he made himself at home. I just enjoyed breaking his balls.
“It’s nearly three, man. Are you just waking up? I’ve tried to reach you all weekend.” He walked over to join me, slapping me on the back as he passed. I’d known the guy since we were kids. He was a character and one of my best friends.
“I went on a shoot. Got some great shots, but some assholes were camping nearby, and they had every light on in the fucking cabin. I’ve been on the computer filtering out the pollution all day.”
He had a concerned look on his face. “It looks like you have more than your shots on your mind. How’s the search for the Mrs. going?
“Not well at all. I’m screwed. I seriously don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Damn, that bad?
“You tell me. I have to produce an heir in about a year, or I don’t get my money. I’ll have to go on a fuck fest to make it happen.”
“Boo fucking hoo, man. So you go out and pay some chick to let you knock her up. It’s not like you won’t be able to afford it,” he said, totally missing the point.
“I’ll have a kid. I might not want kids, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to have a little me roaming the world without being in their life somehow. I’m not my father, and I swore I never would be.
“Not to mention you’ll have to put up with its mother for at least eighteen years.”
“Yeah, there’s that. Do you know any of the women I’ve been with over the past few years who I’d even consider spending a week with?”
He seemed to be thinking about it by the expression on his face, which looked like he’d sucked a lemon. “Not a chance. But maybe I can help.”
“No offense, but don’t think you’re going to be helpful. My kid will end up with a stripper for a mother if I let you help. I need someone who’s going to have her own life and talents in an industry that’s not going to tarnish my kid’s life. My dad will shit a solid brick if I bring some pole dancer into the family, although I’m sure that’s what he expects.”
He placed his drink on the table in front of us and undid the button on his cuffs and began rolling up his sleeves. “With your predicament, there’s a place for you on my dating site. I’ve had a lot of luck, and that’s partly because of a few of my strategies, which is why I need panty melters like you on my team.”
“I’m not sure if I’m the guy you’re looking for.”
“Oh please! Ladies swoon over you, and when a guy like you gives them attention, they tell their friends. Then their friends come and sign up.”
“So, I’m going through the biggest dilemma in my life and you want to pimp me out on your site?”
“Hear me out, man. You have a year to find a girl to knock up and produce an heir. I mean, it’ll be like having your very own catalog of hot potential baby mamas to work, though. Plus you’d really be helping me out,” he pleaded.
“One things for sure, you know how to make an opportunity out of anything,” I said, though the idea was actually a pretty good one. I mean, I was going to have to get a move on or I’d end up losing my inheritance.
“Hey, I’m a business man after all. There’s bound to be at least a couple of girls on there that want to have kids anyway, right? This will just help you focus. And your focus will help me get more traffic on my site. I mean, it’s really a win-win.”
Hazen had always had a way of talking me into things, ever since we had been kids. He was a salesman through and through, and everything was a pitch to him.
“What exactly is it you’re looking for me to do?” I sighed.
“First of all, I’ll give you access to everything. You’ll be an admin, without letting anyone know you’re an admin.”
“Why wouldn’t I want them to know?”
“Because to them, you’ll need to put yourself forward as a potential candidate. I want you to mingle, flirt, flatter; do what you do best.”
“I don’t have to meet them all up for dates, do I?”
“I don’t care what you do to them, for them, with them. Hell, you might find a few girls on the side. Just don’t let them know that you’re working for me. I need these girls to feel special enough to brag to their friends. If they think a handsome fella like yourself is interested,
they’ll spend more time on the site.”
“I don’t want them messaging me all day. I just want to focus on finding myself a girl.”
“That’s when you log out and turn off your notifications. I’ll handle the rest. Piece of cake, and I have a few other plants, both male, and female who work for me. Two of them are a married couple. Get this shit, the husband tells me it’s a total turn on for him. To each his own.”
“Wow, that’s a fight waiting to happen.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure how long they’ll last, which is why I need a guy like you. You’d love it, and you’ll be getting so many pictures of tits and ass. Your spank bank is going to be overflowing.”
“It is a little empty now that I’d deleted all of Terri’s nudes.” I’d cleared everything from my camera and everything she’d sent to my phone and email. The only pictures I had left in my porn file were stock photos of strangers.
“Dude, you didn’t.” He shook his head.
“Like I could stroke my cock to them and not hear her annoying voice anyway. Trust me; I’m better off without them.”
“If you say so. You could have passed them along to your buddy, just saying.” He chuckled as I gave him a warning glare and then he held his hands up as if to show he surrendered.
“With your site, I’m sure you’re doing OK in the pussy department.”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket as it pinged a strange bell tone. “That’s our trademark notification. You hear one of those, and you know someone’s interested. Lots of times, the girls send their tit pics in the first message. That’s how you know they’re DTF.”
“DTF as in down to fuck?” I wondered how many he was banging.
He glanced at his phone. “Oh yeah. Check this one out.” He turned his phone to reveal an image of a woman baring her breasts for him. “But look, she’s already sent me this.” He ran his finger over the screen and turned the phone again. The image was of the same woman, her legs were spread wide, and she was at least three fingers deep.
“Damn, man. Are sleeping with her?”
“Not yet, I’m seeing a different one at the moment, but she’s next.”
“What are you two talking about? Don’t tell me you’re preying on those unsuspecting women on your site?” Megan walked out from the guest room doorway where she’d been listening and crossed the living room to lean over Hazen’s shoulder. She took the phone and got a peek at the image before the screen darkened. “You’re such a pig!” She slapped his shoulder.
“How am I a pig? I have my intentions listed, and these girls send me the pictures all on their own. I don’t even have to solicit them.” Hazen stuffed his phone in his pocket, and she nudged him.
“You’re still a pig.” She curled her lip, and he chuckled.
“You know you want me,” he said, his eyes following her as she walked around and plopped down in the chair beside him.
“In your dreams, loser.” She stuck up her middle finger, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
I gave Hazen stink eye, but gave him mercy. My sister could take care of herself where he was concerned, and only because he was my friend and known my sister as long as he’d known me, did I let him have fun with her. Anyone else and I was busting heads.
“Come closer and say that, sweetheart.” He rubbed his foot up her calf, and she kicked it away.
“I don’t want your hands on me, much less, your nasty feet.” She folded her arms. “What’s this all about anyway? Why are you trying to lure my brother to your site? He’s got enough problems with finding a decent girl as it is. I highly doubt one of those chicks in your skank bank are going to be any better than the last one he dated.”
I got up and walked to the bar to myself a drink. “He wants me to help him with his site.”
“Doing what?”
“Confidence builder. Lure. Fluffer.” Hazen laughed.
“You called it an ‘admin’. I’m not doing anything you’re calling fluffer.” I took a long pull from my stiff drink.
As I rejoined them, my sister made a face. “What kind of an admin and what the hell do you mean?”
“There are some women who don’t get hits. Whether it’s their looks or personality, some are total train wrecks and get ignored.”
My sister opened her mouth to speak, but Hazen held up a finger. “Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not my fault no one talks to them, but with your brother on board, they’ll at least get a little friendly conversation and stick around longer.”
“That’s horrible. You want him to give those women false hope?” She shook her head. My sister gave me a disappointed look that reminded me of when she’d talk about our brother, Daniel.
“I’d think that some hope is better than none, and most of these women just want someone to boost their confidence. We don’t have to lead them on in any way. There’s no harm in being polite. But you have to realize, the women on the site outnumber the men six to one. There’s always going to be someone who gets overlooked.”
She shook her head and looked at him with disapproval. “I still think it’s a creepy thing to do.”
Hazen shrugged and looked at me.
“Check this out. I’ve got the perfect user name for you.”
“Hit me.”
“Foreplay. The ladies will be all over it. So, you ready champ?”
“Yeah, yeah. But the first time some psycho bitch shows up to boil my bunny, I’m directing her to your house.”
CHAPTER FIVE – KAMI
Another long day at the coffee shop had proven to be a pretty good one as I tucked the twenty-dollar tip into my bra and wiped the table clean. I was just on my way back behind the counter when the chimes over the door sounded, and I glanced up to see Devin coming in.
He gave a short wave and took the closest seat to the door. Even when we were dating, he’d never come into my work unless it was to meet with Rain when she was visiting me. Him being here now without her as a buffer, unnerved me.
I didn’t wait tables, so I let him sit there knowing if he wanted anything he’d have to come up to the counter to get it. But after a few minutes of his awkward sitting alone and my pretending not to notice him, I finally let out a breath of frustration and asked. “Can I get you anything?”
“I guess. Rain’s meeting me. Band talk. But I’ll have a small black.” He never even looked up from his phone, and I shook my head as I poured him his small black and walked it over.
As I placed it down, my phone pinged. The sound was specific to the new dating site I had joined.
“Sounds like your new boyfriend is calling. You better take that.”
“Maybe it is.” I took out my phone and swiped it on, my jaw dropping at the image of the guy who had sent me a ‘hello’.
I’d had a few messages from some nice-looking guys, and a couple that I had no interest in, but this one was so hot, my pink parts suddenly felt tingly.
I looked up to find Devin exhaling his cigarette. “You can’ smoke that in here.”
“There’s no one else here.” He curled his lip, and I wanted to slap the cancer stick right out of his mouth.
“I’m here, asshole. And it’s against the law. Put it out or take it outside.”
“Fine!” He snuffed it out on the table and then put it back into his pack. “And you wonder why I broke up with you.”
“I broke up with you , dick.” I was seconds away from tossing his coffee in his lap when the door opened, and Rain came inside.
Sensing the tension in the room, Rain spoke up. “You two really need to chill out.” Rain stopped between us and gave him a pointed look. “I didn’t agree to meet you here so you could be an asshole to her. She’s my best friend, remember?”
“He asked you to meet him here?”
“The band’s not practicing this week, so yeah. It didn’t take much convincing to get me inside the best coffee shop in town where my bestie works, no matter if you hate the guests or not,” she said, looking straight at me
.
“I brought him coffee, and I didn’t pour it over his head.” I wasn’t sure what else she’d want me to do.
Rain laughed and turned to Devin. “Come on, let’s go sit in the back and let Kami work.”
I mouthed her a “thank you” and continued my duties behind the counter. Just being around him made my skin crawl.
I’d already started cleaning out my home of all the old furniture and carpet and had spent one of my only days off stripping the old floors. They were beautiful, and my next buy would be the rug and my new couch. I had tried to make the place mine, though every time I turned around, Rain had Devin over. I couldn’t move on with him constantly under my feet.
“Can I get a large vanilla and caramel latte?” I looked up at Rain who had come to place her order.
“Sure.” I got busy making her drink, and she waited at the counter watching my every move. When I brought it to her, she paid and then leaned in.
“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have met him here. I just hope that the site has been paying off already.”
“I’ve gotten a few hits, and I wouldn’t care if he was around if he’d at least act like a human being. He’s such an asshole.” I glared across the room at him.
“So, you did get a few? Any hot ones?”
“Actually, the notification sound is what set him off.” I pulled out my phone and lit up the screen with the guy’s profile. “His screen name is using name is Foreplay, and apparently his real name is Tate Evans.”
“Holy shit, he’s hot. What did he say?” She fanned herself and gave me a wink.
“Just a simple Hello, Beautiful , and hope we can chat . He might do that to all the girls.” I wasn’t inclined to trust the sites at all, and I had even second-guessed signing up.
“You should say hi back.” She couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.
“Maybe I will. How’d it go with Daren Craig?” They were supposed to have had a hot date over the weekend.
“It’s good. He’s so dreamy and just my kind, but this one,” she tapped at my phone screen. “He could convince me otherwise.”