Rebel Soul

Mildly intrigued, I tap the enter button. The screen immediately fills with what looks like a grid of social media-ish profiles—all women. Tatted up, pierced, stunning women. Beneath each picture is a username, along with a series of symbols and abbreviations. I notice some women have a camera, while others have a video camera or a microphone, followed by things like DP, BBC, BBW, CFNM. Literally, the only thing there that makes sense to me is SOLO; the rest is gibberish.

“What in the hell does all of this mean?” I ask, a little overwhelmed.

Maren peeks over at the screen. “Oh! Those are the types of videos they do. DP is double penetration; BBC is big black—”

“Got it!” I shout, feeling like a freaking prude, which I’m certainly not. I watch as much porn as any other twenty-something-year-old woman with a healthy sexual appetite, but I’ve never paid attention to stuff like that. I just click what looks good and suits my mood, get off, and get out.

However, my brain keeps going back to solo. “And solo is…”

Grinning, Maren explains, “It’s exactly what it sounds like. The woman all by herself. Masturbation, strip teases, showers, that kind of stuff.”

“And there’s no guy or sex or anything?”

“Nope, not with solo. Some girls even just do dirty pictures.”

“Huh.” My mind is reeling, and as much as I hate to admit it, thoughts are wheeling around and around in my brain. Things like how much do these women make—how much is enough for me to…

“Well, I’ve got a hot date tonight.” Maren pops up from the table, derailing my runaway train of thought. “Wanna do my makeup before you go?”

“Um, yes!” I say, freshly cleaned brushes be damned, because Maren hardly lets anyone make her up. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s an honor that she asked me.

The following morning, I wake to a text from AJ, asking if I’m down for a mani-pedi after we hit up Benny’s. My natural inclination is to say hell yeah, girl, and let’s hit the mall but that was before. Now, instead of feeling excited, a lead weight sits in my gut.

With trembling fingers, I log into my bank account app and check my balance. While it’s not necessarily a number to frown at, I know it won’t get me far now that I’m not living under my parents’ roof—not that they can call it theirs anymore.

As spoiled as it makes me sound, I need to learn to budget and fast.

As I head downstairs and make some coffee, I do a quick tally, estimating what I’ll owe West for this month as well as the next. Add in gas, my cell phone, and car insurance, and yeah, things are tight.

Me: I think I can only swing brunch today if that’s cool.

AJ: Why don’t we just do each other’s nails?

“What’s got you smiling?” West questions, joining me at the island in nothing more than a pair of low-slung sweats.

I turn my dopey grin his way and gasp. Holy-dick-print, Batman.

He chuckles and palms his morning wood. “I’d apologize, but it’s a natural reaction.”

Finding my voice, I say, “Noooo. No need to apologize. Everything is great. Fine. Perfect.”

West chuckles and flexes his hips so that his sizable erection virtually leers at me. “You keep staring at him, and he’s gonna think you want sausage for breakfast.”

I tear my eyes away from his groin as we both guffaw at the utter absurdity of what he just said. “Damn, dude. You spit game like that, it’s a wonder women aren’t beating down your front door!”

A scoff passes his highly kissable lips. “Please. You know firsthand exactly how much game I have. As I recall, it landed you in my lap in Brock’s back seat.”

I roll my eyes even as I feel my cheeks heat. “Once, and you didn’t even get to seal the deal.”

He steps closer to me. “Only because Brock and Abby Jane came back. If they’d have been thirty—hell, ten minutes later, I guarantee, I’d have had you writhing in pleasure and chanting my name like a sacred prayer.”

I laugh him off, unwilling to admit that my panties pretty much just burst into flames.

He moves away, and while I feel like I can breathe again, my body misses his closeness. “For real though, what’s got you smiling so early?”

“Uh, it’s after nine. But, I have plans with AJ today. Is it cool for her to come over later?”

West eyes me oddly. “You live here. You don’t have to ask permission for your best friend to visit.”

“Right. Yeah. Sorry.”

He presses the brew button and tosses a wink my way. “No problem. Oh, before I forget, Colton is supposed to bring the contract by for you to sign. I know we should have done it last week, but he’s been working on some big case and we fell to the wayside.”