Chapter 34

The SUV's conversation was livelier. The first order of discussion, of course, was the house.

"Even if we don't go in as partners, I will convince Daddy to either let me buy it or to give it to me," Rachelle stated. "We will be living in that house in June, one way or the other. We will be frolicking in that tub and lying out topless on the back deck by June 1st. That is my vow."

Mary laughed.

"You're getting a little frisky, aren't you," she said. "Shelly, do you remember the first few weeks that the guys lived together? Rachelle would never leave the bedroom without a full-length burka. Now she's prancing around practically naked in front of our men."

Shelly chuckled slightly. She had reacted the same way, rarely venturing out of the bedroom in any state less than full conservative dress.

"What is everyone planning for Break?" Rachelle asked to change the subject. She didn't like revisiting the first few weeks of the first semester.

"Break?" Sarah asked. "I heard you guys mention it. When is it?"

"Next week," Mary enthused. "It starts at noon Friday. Classes resume 10 days later. I am stoked. Walt and I are going to Frisco. We planned to go up Monday and come back Friday but we can leave on Friday now and spend the weekend there – thanks to Shelly and her brilliant ideas."

"So you're back next Friday?" Rachelle asked. "What time?"

"No real itinerary," Mary answered. "We're renting a car – from your father, incidentally – so we figured we would drive down the coast, probably getting back at 5 or 6 p.m."

"Shelly, do you have plans?" Rachelle probed.

"Not a one," Shelly answered. "I'm going to live a week like Allie and Sarah. Sitting on my ass all day eating bon-bons in my underwear."

"Are you two ladies planning to be in town weekend after next?" Rachelle inquired of Sarah and Allie.

"Right now, I am," Sarah answered first. "I've got a couple of things on the burner – a cover shoot for Dazzle and Peaches Magazine. But that's all. Peaches might want us to go somewhere for the shoot but I've heard they try to contain costs by shooting locally. But that is all I've got going on."

"All," Allie muttered. "Isn't that enough? I'm here and probably won't work again until my contract ends with Elite. I get the impression I'm being frozen out of decent jobs by my rep. So unless Daystar contacts me directly, I won't be working. I'm glad I made so much in the last couple of weeks."

"Don't forget Peaches," Sarah said. "Tara will come through. Elite will not let Sven screw them out of a deal with Peaches Magazine. That will pay a good bit, I'm positive."

"Depending upon how much of screw job Sven does on my reputation, it might be all the money I bring in for a while," Allie lamented. "We'll have to see where I am in the business once that is said and done."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Rachelle said, with genuine sympathy in her voice. "I hope it doesn't come to anything major. But it sounds as though you've got at least one major player in the industry on your side. Daystar is the fourth-largest distributor in the industry. Dazzle is 11th, but most of its content is same-sex.

"I think it will rise because they are grabbing a section of the market that is under-served. Enough of business for one night. My Dad has a condo a little south of Hermosa. I thought we might like to spend next Friday and Saturday nights there. There is a, uh, clothing-optional private club nearby. I am almost positive we would be allowed to visit as guests one night or maybe both."

Shelly, Sarah and Allie were sitting in the backseat. They exchanged glances. Shelly wasn't opposed to the idea. She was anonymous, just one of 20 million interchangeable faces in the greater metropolitan area. Even people who had the opportunity to spend several hours gazing at her were unlikely to recognize her the next time they saw her.

Mary and Rachelle were the same way. Even though Rachelle's father owned many businesses in the region, he was not a major player. He was probably not among the richest 10,000 people in the area. Rachelle could come and go without anyone knowing her father or caring if they did know. Mary was as anonymous as Shelly. She was unlikely to meet anyone who could pick her out of a police lineup 10 days later.

But Allie and Sarah were not faceless. Between the two of them, more than a million people had purchased or pirated their videos. They altered their day-to-day appearance somewhat to avoid recognition on the street. But it didn't always work, particularly for Allie who had been in the business longer and had a larger core group of fans.

"I figured you two would be the least worried about it," Rachelle admitted. There was no hostility in her voice. She was simply making a statement.

"It's a little different for me," Sarah said. "I really don't mind what I do. I'm not ashamed of it but at the same time I am ashamed of it. I would never do what I'm doing under my own name. I would never give out any personal detail about the real Sarah."

"That's a matter of safety and privacy," Shelly replied.

"Partly," Allie interjected. "But it's also because there is a part of me that is embarrassed by walking around nude and having sex with men I don't know. For instance, I know each of you has seen a picture of me nude. I would guess each of you has watched a video of me having sex. I would be leery about having sex in front of Rachelle or Mary. Obviously I'm not shy around Shelly or Sarah, but that is more personal, you know.

"Actually, it might be that I would be uncomfortable having sex in front of Sean and Walt. I'm not sure. I didn't mind wearing a revealing swimsuit today or even my underwear tonight. Yet I'm not positive I would have joined any of you if you stripped down to nothing. Does that sound silly coming from me?"

"Not to me," Sarah said. "On a video, I am out of reach. I am playing another person who is pretending to be a third person. It is different. I don't mind nudity. I went to a topless beach out here when I first arrived. Rachelle, it is not going to be a bunch of good-looking people. If it is anything like the one I went to, it is mostly going to be balding old men and scaly old women."

"Oh, I understand that," Rachelle pointed out. "I have no expectation of what the others might look like. I think it is more about expanding my horizons in safety. After my initial flurry of sexual activity, I went the other direction. I stopped dating – or fucking random men – and started to look for boyfriend-material guys. I stopped dressing like, well, a streetwalker and started to be more prim. I even transferred to a public school where no one knew of what I used to be like. Now I remember the excitement of being dangerous.

"But I don't want to go back to being as dangerous as I was. I know, around the seven of you, I am safe. I know that everyone understands the boundaries even if they are never really defined and I know no one will push the boundaries. I can see the eight of us sitting naked in the tub. I don't worry that Walt is going to feel me up or Shelly is going to try to slip her mouth between Sean's legs. I think bringing in Sarah and Allie has really given me the chance to explore parts of life that I want to without worrying about consequences."

She was silent for a moment.

"You know, I think Sarah and Allie's arrival was more just coincidence, now that I think of it," Rachelle continued. "I think a whole series of events have taken place over the last three or four weeks. It started when Mary and Walt convinced Adam he could make money in the adult industry."

"You can call it porn," Allie offered. "It doesn't bother us."

"Porn, then," Rachelle said with a smile. "I was amazed to learn that Sean was interested in looking at the sites. I already knew I was. But that helped broaden things for us as a couple, you know. Not the sites themselves. A lot of them were, uh..."

"Disgusting," Sarah supplied.

"As good a word as any," Rachelle admitted. "But Sean found some of the women interesting – particularly a girl named after a wet desert, as I recall, and a redhead named, Encino Barbie or something."

The girls in the backseat laughed at Rachelle's humorous take on their porn names.

"Then we got rid of Eric," Rachelle said, casting a sad glance toward Shelly in the rear-view mirror. "Today would have never happened – any of it, I'm afraid – if Shelly hadn't dropped him on his ass. The final piece fell into place a little earlier today, when Adam put his arm around me and kissed me on the top of the head."

She smiled wanly.

"You know, the first time I saw him do that to Mary, I thought it was condescending," Rachelle admitted. "Like he was giving her praise like she was a good little girl or something."

"I am a good little girl," Mary replied, sticking out her tongue.

"True," Rachelle answered. "Do you remember the first time Adam did that to you, Mary?"

"It was the day he found out about his parents," Mary answered immediately. "I didn't really know what to say. I was the only one home with him when his sister called. He, well, he looked stunned. He looked like a 10-year-old boy when he put the phone down. Like he was a lost child in the mall or something. When he told me what had happened, I hugged him. I didn't know what else to do. I mean, you know, at that point, we barely knew each other. I knew he was a good guy but, well, we weren't as close as we are now."

"That simple act probably is what made you as close as you are now," Sarah remarked.

Mary smiled sadly.

"Maybe," she said. "But I'd probably trade that closeness if he could have his parents back. It was three or four hours that he and I were alone. I helped him make flight arrangements and to pack his clothes. I alerted the dean of the college of business so they would know. I felt, I don't know, protective of him, I guess. He was so hurt but he was trying to be so stoic. I would catch him just standing there, staring at nothing and chewing on his lip. He wanted to wait until someone else got home before he left. He wanted to make sure we still had use of his car but he didn't want me to have to drive back from the airport alone in the middle of the afternoon."

She shook her head.

"You know, that is just like him," Mary continued. "Until I just said that, it never dawned on me that even while he was in such misery, he still thought of us. I think Walt got home a few minutes before you did, Chelle. I would guess you saw Adam put his arm around me and kiss me on the head just before we left for the airport. He was thanking me for looking out for him."

"I did, although I didn't know at the time what was going on," Rachelle admitted with chagrin. "I hadn't made a complete conversion to the Adam Fan Club, I guess. When I saw him do something that made you seem so, I don't know, childlike, it bothered me. Like he viewed you as a simple pawn in his grand game and he was mollifying you like he would a temperamental six-year-old. I felt pretty stupid when I found out what really happened. I feel even stupider now."

"We live and learn," Shelly said. "I guess I sort of viewed things like you did, Rachelle. He and Mary were really tight when he got back. He was already friends with Sean. He was quick becoming friends with Walt. But he was always so reserved around us females."

"I thought it was because he was too full of himself to notice us," Rachelle said sadly.

"It sounds to me like he was more comfortable around guys than girls," Sarah offered.

"Which is exactly what it was," Mary said. "Adam is like Walt. Sean grew up with his mother and his sister in close proximity. Some you haven't met his Mom but I have. She is no shrinking violet. Neither is his sister. But Walt and Adam, they grew up around men – Adam in particular. His only real interaction with women was his mother. Even at school, he wasn't around them except for classes until he was old enough to drive himself places. To Adam, a kiss on the head is the highest form of praise, mostly because that is how his father and mother praised him. Does that make sense?"

"It does to me," Allie said. "I've seen it – and experienced it – firsthand. But it's not praise. It's appreciation. It is his way of telling you that his little section of the world is better because you're in it. That is definitely what he meant today, Rachelle."

"Insightful," Mary said, turning around in the seat. "I had never really looked at it that way. But you're right. That is exactly what it is. He is pointing out for the whole world to see that he is happy that you are a part of his life."

"I can see that, now that I think about it," Rachelle said. "You know, the walls have really started to come down with him and me in the past few days. Today, you know, was the first time I really felt like he accepted me – that he had forgiven me for how I acted."

"I think it was just a matter of explaining it to him," Shelly said. "But, back to the beach. I have no trouble doing it. Hell, given half a chance, I might walk naked from one apartment to the other. But I don't think the guys will go for it."

"Right," Mary said with derision. "The guys will pass up the chance to see all of us naked for an extended period of time."

"I think she might be right," Rachelle admitted. "Actually, I don't think Sean and Walt will mind. I think they get a charge out of guys looking at us because they know we're with them. And, I know this sounds sick but I don't mean it that way, I think they both really enjoy the fact that Adam finds us attractive. They know he could probably get about half the women in L.A. with a little effort. I think they really get a kick out of knowing he gets a hard-on from looking at us."

"Does anyone else find it vaguely amusing that we're trying to convince three porn stars that nudity isn't a bad thing?" Shelly remarked with a loud laugh. "The rest of us would be down to skin in two minutes flat. But we're going to have drag the three people who fuck on film into it kicking and screaming."

Rachelle and Mary joined the laughter but Allie and Sarah didn't.

"It is not that we're opposed to nudity," Sarah said. "It is more a fact that we're still trying to dispel some of the misconceptions that might exist about us."

"And we also have a little better idea of the potential problems that might arise," Allie put in. "Look, I like Walt and Sean. I really do. But I'm not interested in having sex with them."

"I'll ask you like I asked Shelly when she said the same thing about Rachelle and me," Mary began. "You are not interested or you are not going to?"

"Not going to," Sarah admitted. "At least for me. If I met either of those guys and they were single, I'd like them and might date them if they could handle what I do."

"Same here," Allie interrupted.

"But they are not single, and I guess neither are we now," Sarah continued. "I don't want the friendship we have to devolve into something less than it could be. I don't want to see us push things too far. And I can see that happening if we keep going the way we are. Today was fine. A nude beach would probably be fine. But what's next?"

"Whatever we're comfortable with," Rachelle said.

"So would you and Mary be comfortable watching the four of us have sex?" Shelly wondered. "Of us watching you?"

The pair in the front seat considered the question.

"No," Rachelle admitted. "At least not right now and maybe not ever. I understand what Sarah said about the difference between watching a video of people acting and seeing the real thing. Plus, I think it would cheapen what you four have started to develop. Maybe in a year or so, after we're all together longer and know each other better. But I would probably be comfortable watching you three have sex. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I've never really seen it, you know, in person."

"Would you want to join in?" Mary asked.

Again Rachelle paused.

"Not yet but maybe in the future," she answered honestly.

"That is what Sarah is talking about," Shelly opined. "Over the next month or months, the boundaries might shift. But we can't force them. For me, until the past week, I probably would have gone down on either of you if you would have hinted you wanted me to. Now, I don't think I'd be comfortable with it. I'd feel like I was cheating on people I love. I would feel like you were cheating on someone you love. Sean would probably agree to allow it. I don't mean allow, but he would tell you it was OK with him. It might even be OK with him but I doubt it. Adam, I think would have a problem with it. Not because I wanted to try it but because it was you I was trying it with."

"Oh," Rachelle said, misunderstanding the comment.

"That is not how she meant it," Allie said quickly. "What she meant is that Adam doesn't want to ever see anything cause problems for you and Sean. Sex outside of a committed partnership can do that. You know that firsthand."

"I do," Rachelle admitted.

"I know I joke about it, hell, I dream about it sometimes," Mary said. "But I can't ever see me doing that with another guy as long as I'm with Walt."

"I understand that," Rachelle said. "This really isn't about me getting with Adam or even with one of you. Especially at the cost of the friendship we're developing. I guess it's about reliving some of the wild stuff I used to do, about not missing out on the fun parts of being young and stupid. Maybe we should see how the rest of the week goes and then talk about the beach later. The house will still be there in a few months if we still want to go. I'm sorry for pushing you guys in a direction you're not comfortable with."

After a glance at the other two, Sarah answered for the three in the back.

"It's not a matter of what we're comfortable with," she said. "It's more a matter of making sure we don't rush forward and into a mistake that costs everyone dearly."

The two women in the front seemed satisfied with that answer – for now.

The guys got a start on the delayed cookout while the women shopped for staples for the lower apartment. After a few minutes of preparations, they stood out back around the grill, picking up the conversation where it left off in the care.

"Is anyone else really excited about the prospect of nude sunbathing?" Walt asked, seemingly out of the blue. Adam couldn't decide if Walt was in favor of the idea or against it. His tone of voice gave no indication.

"I can guess the vote will not be in the favor of anyone objecting regardless," Sean said. "But I wasn't kidding about trying to catch a glimpse of Mary's butt. And Shelly, my God. That girl has turned a complete 180 in just a few days. That suit today, I swear to heaven, she was the sexiest one out there. Then there is Allie. Like she isn't a living, breathing doll. And Sarah is a walking wet dream. So, I guess you can say I'll vote with the girls on the matter. Even if I don't measure up well with our resident horse cock."