Chapter 15

Rory had learned something valuable: having good sex was better than anything else he’d tried to chase away his depression over his mother’s death. He’d slept great the previous night and woke up early, ready to tackle the world.

Since no one was up yet when he went to the house, he decided to just grab something to eat on the way to the gym. It would be the first time he’d been there since before his fight, and Rory was eager to find someone to spar with. He’d received a message from Marcus, who said his doctor was holding him out until Friday. Rory could only do so much on his own.

He walked in, and the place was almost empty. Rory should have expected that because it was typically the same way Monday mornings went at his old gym. He spotted West in a heated conversation with a Hispanic girl, so Rory decided to get changed before talking to him.

When Rory came out, the two of them were still arguing.

“I told you that none of the other girls will spar with you. And you’ve nut-punched the only guys who got into the cage with you. And I don’t have time,” West said.

“What about him?” she asked, pointing at Rory.

He’d sparred with women in Chicago, but that was when he was smaller.

“Rory’s a complete rookie, and I don’t need you chasing him off,” West said.

“You’re not scared of a girl, are you, Rory?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, amused at her taunt. West wasn’t worried that might hurt her, which told Rory she must be good enough to get into the cage with him.

“If you punch my nuts, I’ll put you down,” Rory warned.

“See? He’s not scared,” she told West.

“I’ll spar with you,” Rory decided.

West just shook his head and walked away. They made their introductions. She was Juana Maldonado, a professional who had easily won her first three fights. Rory admitted that he’d won his first amateur bout, which didn’t impress her.

She removed her sweatshirt, revealing a slim, razor-sharp body. There was not an extra ounce of fat on her. When she got into the practice cage wearing just shorts and a sports bra, she looked like a drawing of the human anatomy, with each muscle group carefully delineated. They were about the same height and weight. For a girl, Juana was a spectacular specimen.

Guys, in general, are stronger than girls, but Rory wouldn’t assume that he had an advantage, given how ripped she looked.

Rory made sure his cup was in place before joining Juana in the cage.

“Is there anything in particular you want to work on?” Rory asked.

“How about we just spar at first? And don’t hold back because I’m a girl,” Juana ordered.

They squared off, and Rory put his hands up and stood there, waiting to see what she would do. When she did the same, he secretly smiled. Juana was waiting for him to initiate so that she could defend and counter. He knew that fighters who took that approach were the hardest to work against because that was how he fought. More importantly, it was how he survived when facing better opponents.

He raised his front foot and stomped it on the mat, feinting an opening move. Rory watched as she exploded forward. Her eyes got big when he quickly sidestepped her rush and used her momentum to take her to the mat. Rory didn’t follow up because he wanted to see what she would do.

This time, she waded in and threw a flurry of punches. For a girl, she hit damned hard, so he bobbed and weaved to negate her power. Rory waited until she overcommitted on a right and hit her square in the face with his left.

She blinked because Rory had not held back. He hadn’t hit her with the intent of knocking her out; he’d wanted to send the message that she needed to respect his power.

That was when she threw a punch at his junk. Rory had been anticipating that move, so he turned his hip to prevent disaster. It still pissed him off. Rory threw a left uppercut right into her crotch.

“What the fuck?!” she bellowed as she staggered back.

One of her gloved hands went to her hip, and the other went to where he’d hit her.

“I think you broke my pussy,” she said as she tried to catch her breath.

West came into the ring and was in her face.

“I saw what you tried, and I told you if you did it again, you were out of here,” West said.

“I think we’ll be fine. Juana and I have come to an understanding,” Rory said.

“See? We’re good,” Juana said to West.

“You two do what you want,” West said as he left to go back to whatever he’d been doing.

“Are you okay?” Rory asked.

“No. That friggin’ hurt.”

“I have some cream that I could rub on it,” Rory said with a smirk.

“You’re a tool.”

“Rub some dirt on it. I came to spar,” Rory said.

From there, they both got a good workout, and no one’s privates got slugged. Rory finally had to go.

“Same time tomorrow?” she asked.

Rory realized it might be a mistake, but she wasn’t half bad.

“Sounds good.”

Rory had ridden his motorcycle to the gym that day. He was weaving in and out of lanes—because people were driving like old women—when he got a notification on his phone.

Rory had spent a little of his money to make a couple of upgrades to his new motorcycle. The first was a phone mount so he could see his phone’s screen for GPS and the like. The second was a Bluetooth-enabled helmet. It worked similarly to cars with hands-free phone hookups, allowing Rory to talk on his phone and listen to music while riding.

It had the added benefit of allowing him to talk to other motorcycle riders within a thousand meters of him who had similar setups. Of course, when Sean and Jace saw how it worked, they upgraded their helmets. It reminded him of playing video games and talking to his fellow players.

“Read message,” Rory said.

“From contact Sarah Murphy.”

She was the girl who worked part-time for a local realtor and had been one of his first interviews. Sarah was living with a bunch of brothers and a dad who treated her like crap, so she was desperate to make enough money to get her own place. She’d also given him his first blowjob.

The phone voice continued. “Just moved into an apartment and wanted to show it off. Are you free for lunch?”

“Answer Sarah Murphy,” Rory said. “Does one o’clock work?”

A moment later, he got ‘one’ back to confirm.

Rory stopped at a convenience store and bought a prepaid debit card as a housewarming gift. That way, she could buy whatever she wanted.

Rory got his Monday-morning checkup from Nurse Kelly before going to his office.

Someone had bought bagels and cream cheese for a morning meeting that were now free game in the break room. Rory snagged one and grabbed a cup of coffee before going to his office. Crystal’s PA must have spotted him because he was summoned to Crystal’s office as soon as he sat down.

When he walked in, Crystal held out her hands.

“You’re a godsend. How did you know I was starved?”

He thought about telling her ‘no,’ based on the advice Sophie had given him about being a doormat. But he knew Crystal probably hadn’t eaten, and he’d grabbed something before working out.

“Because I wasn’t home to cook for you,” Rory guessed as he handed over his food and coffee.

“I told Tyler that we should look into getting a cook. We haven’t had one because we always eat out. With you here, and Sophie ... well ... I think having family meals together is important. It’s also not fair to make you do all the cooking.”

“I’ve never had a cook before, but I can see how that would be nice,” Rory agreed.

“Me, too,” she said, then got down to business. “You have two appointments this morning. Tim suggested two of his friends, and I think you know them.”

“Danica and Aaliyah?”

“Those are the two. Are you comfortable doing the initial interview with someone you know?” Crystal asked.

“I don’t really know them. Danica is Tim’s girlfriend, and Aaliyah’s her roommate. I met them briefly, so I should be okay.”

“Good. Before lunch, I’m meeting with an established male talent. I’d like you to sit in because he and I did a scene years ago, and it wasn’t a great experience. I want your take so I don’t reject him because I can’t let go of old feelings,” Crystal said.

“Sure, I can do that. I just need to jet by 12:45 because I have lunch plans.”

Crystal looked nervous.

“There’s something else I have to talk to you about. I’ve had conversations with Tyler about porn class and your concerns. This week, we’re going to get seriously hands-on. Today I’m teaching sexual positions and how they appear on camera. This will be tied in with how the process of filming sex scenes works.

“Everyone in class will be partnered up, and by Friday, you’ll film a short using what you’ve learned during the week,” Crystal said.

Rory’s first thought was that his dad was a blabbermouth. But everything he’d told his father, he would’ve said to Crystal. The second was that this was a big step. He would not only be having sex with someone in his class but would later be filmed. He worried he would have performance issues again.

“Before I answer you, I have a couple of questions. I thought I was too young to be filmed; isn’t that right?” Rory asked.

“You are, but this will never be released. It’s only for your training, and we’ll destroy the clip after the class sees it and offers their critique,” Crystal said.

“I’m assuming I’ll be paired with Stacy. Or will I be with someone else?”

“Honestly, we want Stacy to work with Dick since she knows him. It will be a chance for her to get comfortable working with other talent,” Crystal said.

“After having had sex with Julie and Clare, I can’t see myself objecting to doing this for work.”

He’d obviously overshared, given Crystal’s reaction. Tyler might not be a blabbermouth after all.

“You and I need to have a talk about that at some point, but we don’t have time right now,” Crystal said.

Rory made a hasty exit and then a beeline to the break room.

’Crud!’ All the bagels were gone.

The interviews with the girls went well. He’d learned that if he got aroused when filming an interview, it strongly indicated the girl would look good on film. Being a teenage boy, he got hard a lot, but if a girl didn’t do anything for him and he passed her on to Crystal, she was usually rejected.

He went to Crystal’s office when it was time for the man she was interviewing.

“Who’s this guy, and if he’s a professional, why are we going through the whole process?” Rory asked.

“Johnny Lawless,” Crystal said as she handed Rory his application.

Rory recognized him from some aggressive porn where the girls were abused by throat-gagging and brutal penetration. It was a fetish that some people had, but Rory had found it wasn’t for him.

“Every performer goes through precisely the same process. We do that for several reasons. The primary one is that no one can claim favoritism if you do it the same way every time. And in the case of someone like Johnny, we want to confirm his body still looks the same,” Crystal answered.

The front desk called to say Johnny was there, so Rory went down and got him. When Rory saw the seasoned pro, he observed that the actor’s appearance had changed from the picture in his file. His head was shaved smooth, and he looked to have put on about thirty pounds.

“Mr. Lawless, I’m Rory Walsh. Let me take you to the interview room.”

“I thought I was being interviewed by Crystal Foxx, not some kid.”

Foxx was Crystal’s stage name.

“Crystal will be in the room. She asked me to come down and get you,” Rory explained.

“Good. It’s been a while, but I remember she was a real squealer. I can’t wait to see if she’s still as hot as I remember,” Johnny said with a creepy leer.

Rory debated whether to just turn around and show him the door. He decided to take Johnny upstairs because Crystal and Tyler must have a reason for interviewing him.

Rory led Johnny into the interview room, and when Crystal saw the man, she stiffened. Johnny moved toward her, but Rory stepped in between them and faced Johnny.

“Have a seat. Do you mind if I record this?” Rory asked.

“No, that’s fine,” Johnny said.

Crystal didn’t look like she wanted to be in the room with the man, let alone talk to him, so Rory took the interview questions from her and began reading them off.

The next portion was eye-opening. When Johnny took his clothes off, he had a beer gut and boobs probably bigger than Crystal’s. The only way they could shoot him was if the camera showed just his cock and the girl.

“Can you get yourself erect?” Rory asked.

Johnny reached down and stroked his manhood as he stared at Crystal. He did have a big cock, almost as large as Tyler’s.

“Okay. You can get dressed,” Rory said.

“Not until I get off. Come over here, sweet cheeks, and let me fuck your mouth,” Johnny said as he began to move toward Crystal.

“That’s not happening,” Rory said. “This interview is over.”

“Shut your mouth, boy,” Johnny said and backhanded Rory, knocking him to the floor.

Rory stood back up and found his lip was bleeding. Crystal’s eyes were huge with fear.

“Can I take out the trash?” Rory asked her.

“Yes, please,” Crystal’s tiny voice said.

Johnny took a step toward Rory, who ducked to avoid another backhand. As Johnny’s arm swung over his head, Rory sprung back up and threw a vicious hook into the man’s gut. Johnny doubled over and threw up on the floor.

Rory had a random thought: Why was it that people and dogs all seemed to throw up on rugs? There was tile just half a foot away.

“I was gentle with that one, but if you don’t get dressed and leave, I’ll kick the crap out of you, old man,” Rory said.

Johnny got dressed and wasn’t happy when Rory walked him out the front door. When Rory returned, he found Tyler and Crystal talking; it was clear that Crystal had been crying. When she saw Rory, Crystal gave him a hug.

“He’ll never work in porn again. I’ll have him blackballed,” Tyler vowed.

Rory was impressed. He’d never seen his father this fired up about something. Well, besides Rory kicking the stuffing out of Chad.

“I’m just thankful Rory was here. I was so scared when he hit you,” Crystal admitted.

“Are you okay?” Tyler asked Rory.

“I’m fine. I’m just glad that Crystal asked me to help her with the interview. I hate to think what would’ve happened otherwise.”

“Agreed,” Tyler said and turned to his wife. “If you ever think you need Rory, be sure to ask him. He’s proven he can handle things.”

“I’ve got to go. I have a lunch date,” Rory said.

“Which one are you seeing today?” Tyler asked.

“Sarah Murphy just moved into her first apartment. When I interviewed her, she said she’d invite me over when she did.”

“Everyone loves working with her. Give her our best,” Tyler said.

“Will do.”

Sarah had found a studio apartment in the downtown area where the ground floor was businesses, with housing upstairs. She resided over a coffee shop. She loved the smell of coffee and baked goods in the morning; the aromas gave her a reason to get out of bed.

When there was a knock at her door, Sarah felt her stomach clench. Even though she knew it was probably Rory, she worried her family might have found her. When she moved out, Sarah left a note telling them she was gone and not to bother trying to find her.

She peeked out the peephole and felt relief. She quickly unlocked the door and pulled it open.

“Welcome. You’re my first guest,” Sarah said.

Rory stepped in and looked around. She knew it looked terrible. In the corner were garbage bags full of her clothes, and her pillow and folded-up blanket were stacked on top. The rest of the place was empty. She didn’t want her dad to be able to say that she took anything of his. Sarah wanted to do this on her own.