Throb(24)

There’s a crowd off to the left. It’s not hard to find the taping when I see a hoard of predominantly boys and men. Kissing booth. I want to kick Miles’s ass. It’s hard enough to think about Kate kissing Dickhead, let alone a few hundred in line. Thanks, Miles. Way to go, little brother.

“I guess this stunt is a success,” I say disparagingly to Miles when I’ve finally made my way through the crowd of horny assholes.

“Free publicity. This shit will be all over the news tonight.” My brother beams with pride.

“What’s the winner get?”

“Immunity from going home this week.”

“So they don’t have to grovel at the asshole bachelor’s feet to stay for a few more days?”

“What’s your problem with Flynn? He’s a good guy.” Miles looks at me, finally peeling his eyes from his prized production.

“A good guy? What kind of a man goes on a television show to date twenty women?”

“Not everyone lives a golden life and has women throwing themselves at their feet, my brother.”

I ignore him. My eyes focused on only one thing. Across the pier, Kate smiles and kisses a boy on the cheek, but he tries to turn his head and catch her lips. He almost manages to do it too. Kate leans in and whispers something to the boy and he beams. Two seconds later he runs to the back of the line again, digging a dollar from his pocket. I smile as she kisses a few teens innocently on the cheek. Then a muscle-head who must have escaped from Venice Beach saunters up to the table. My teeth clench so tight, I give myself an instant headache.

“Saw you pulling out of the parking lot with Kate in your car the other night.” Miles turns to watch me.

I shrug, keeping my stare straight ahead and try to sound casual. “Found her with her hood open. Car problems. I gave her a lift.”

“Camera loves her. But she seems to have lost some of her interest in Flynn. Think we need to script her to get back in the mood.”

“It’s disturbing the way you think you’re a puppeteer, Miles.” I turn to glare at my brother.

“Get off your high horse, Coop. We’re a lot alike. We both hire people and expect them to perform for us. We make them into entertainment.”

“I expect them to act, Miles. They know what they signed up for.”

“So do these women. Do you really think any of them are naïve? Look at them.” My brother looks around the pier. “They’re all playing a game. No one is forcing any of them to be here. In fact, it looks like they’re quite enjoying themselves. I see smiles behind those booths, not chains holding them there.”

“Maybe they don’t have a choice.”

“I’m sure the street walker tells herself the same thing right before she bends over in the alley every night.”

“Ten minutes left, everyone!” the director yells through a bullhorn.

“I’m going on line. Gotta put my dollar in for the one I want to stay.”

“Whose line are you going on?”

“Jessica’s.” Miles nods toward her booth. She’s wearing a strip of material as a top. Her breasts look like they’re about to bust out of the ties that hold everything in place. The show may go from R-rated to X in a few seconds.

“Why don’t you spend a buck? Maybe for two, one of them will let you cop a feel?” he says smiling, completely oblivious to the scowl on my face.

Ten minutes later, I’m almost to the front of the line. Kate and I have been playing cat-and-mouse with our eyes since hers landed on me. I wait patiently for the guy in front of me to stuff his dollar into the box and then it’s finally my turn.

“Didn’t take you for the kind of man to pay for a kiss,” she teases.

“First time for everything.”

“That will be one dollar, please, sir.” Kate extends her open palm.

“So you don’t have to make nice to Dickhead if you win?”

“The winner gets immunity from Flynn sending them home this week, if that’s what you mean,” she challenges.

“Is there a limit to how much a man can pay for a kiss?”

“I don’t think so. But they’re only a dollar.”

I dig into my pocket and pull out a wad of hundreds, our eyes locked as I shove them in the box. “Now give me my money’s worth.” I lean in.

“Bossy,” she breathes.

I seal my mouth over hers and don’t stop until the director yells time’s up.



I only made it worse going to see her today. Kissing her. In the moment it was worth it, feeling the way she melted into me and let me consume her, not pulling away, even though anyone could look over and see us. But the afterglow has worn dim and now I’m sitting home alone like a chick pining for some kid who won’t give her the time of day. With all the women I’ve dated over the years, the one that decides to walk the other way makes me want to crawl after her to catch her.