Three, Two, One (321)

But fuck it. Fuck her too. He can have her. I saw some bruising on her arms and she looks strung out. Beyond the fact that she’s half naked and sobbing, I mean. She looks like she just came down from some goodass shit.

And that’s something we do not fuck with. No druggies. They steal, they lie, and they don’t eat enough to make them curvy.

By the time I round the corner JD and the girl are gone. Already inside, I suppose. I walk a little faster. I don’t want him to get her home with too much lag time. Fucker.

We own the top floor of a building on California Street. When we bought that place with cash, the shit got real.

We are fucking rich.

I press the button on my electronic key and open the thick wooden door to find JD and the girl sitting on the steps. She’s in his lap and he’s kissing her.

“What the fuck?”

JD laughs. “I was waiting on you, dude. Ready?” He stands up, the girl sliding down his legs as he does it, then grabs her by the hand and pulls her to the elevator. She stumbles after him, dead on her feet. She probably won’t make it through a shooting. What a waste.

We get in the elevator and I press the top floor, because JD’s hands are all over this girl. Pressing up against her breasts and sliding around her neck as he continues to kiss her.

I shake my head as the doors open and head across the hall to the only loft up here. Ours. The penthouse.

When I open the door, I let JD go first. He walks the girl backwards, still kissing her like his life depends on it.

“Wait,” she whispers against his lips. “Wait, what are we doing?”

“Taking some pictures, darling. Remember?” He knows she’s stoned from the night before too. “You still got your money?” She looks down at her clenched fist filled with twenty-dollar bills. “Good, baby. Don’t let go of it, OK? It’s yours. And we’re gonna give you more. Just let me take care of things so Ark can get the photos, and then you can have the rest. OK?” He kisses her and then turns back to me. “Where do you want us?”

We are all sopping wet so I point to the terrace. JD kisses her one more time to stop the whimpering protests, and then walks her backwards a few more paces before twirling her around and pointing her to the terrace doors. He slides them open and drags her through.

“Up against the glass,” I call out when he looks back at me. “You two, leaning up against the glass so I can get a good view of the city in the rain. I’ll set the camera up in here with a long lens.”

By the time I get it set up on the tripod JD is ready to tear her clothes off. What the fuck has gotten into him? He’s never like this with the girls. He can take or leave most of them, and most of them are cute. But this one, she looks homeless. She’s skinny. She’s dripping wet, and not only because he’s fingering her pussy through her panties. Her lips are practically blue, she’s so cold. And yet he acts like this girl is the love of his life.

I don’t get it.

“Leave her clothes on,” I call out to him.

“What?” he laughs, looking over his shoulder at me.

“Leave her clothes on. I want her in the wet dress. I’m the photographer and I say leave her fucking clothes on.”

He draws in a long breath and stares at me for a moment. “OK, dude. Whatever you want.”

Fucking prick. I’m not sure why, but the thought of JD taking off that dress and palming her bare breasts just pisses me off. “Turn to the side,” I call again. The rain is coming down good and hard now and I zoom in on their lips. The water trickles over the curve they make as they press together. His tongue. Her tongue. Lick. It swipes over her top lip to catch the rain running down her nose in a stream. Her eyelashes are clumped together and the makeup from last night has left dark gray streaks down her face.

Her head turns into the light—not a ray of sunshine exactly, but some play of light from somewhere unknown to me—and her eyes sparkle. They are blue, but they are not just any blue. They are like the ocean water in the tropics.

They are the most beautiful color I’ve ever seen.

“Just like that,” I call out. But she’s distracted by JD’s mouth. And he is groping her now. He fists her breast and yanks on her hair until her head tilts back. The light catches her face again, but this time her eyes are closed. She moans.

My dick swells.

JD’s hand slips under the short dress. It’s got a yellow flower pattern to it with a little ruffle along the hem, a hem that’s barely long enough to cover her panties, which are white. White cotton panties. All stuck to her, showing off her pussy and, if I look through the lens and zoom in, her little button of a clit. All swollen and ready for JD’s fingers to do their magic.

I draw in a breath as he makes his move. My anger is mounting. I cannot believe he stole her right in front of me. And I don’t give a fuck if she’s drugged up from a wild night out. Or that she’s cold and shaking all over from fear. I saw her first. That’s the rule. We’ve had it for years, and we’ve never broken that one rule.

Until today.

And fuck that. She’s mine.

I’m about to charge out there and start shit when the girl’s legs buckle and she slumps down to the ground. JD follows her, effortless, seamlessly, like the actor he is, and then he’s pulling her into his lap. I adjust the camera just as he opens up her legs, pulling her panties aside. She’s shaved bare, which makes me pause for a moment. But then his fingers dip into the v of her legs and slip under those perfect pink lips, and that’s all I can take. I reach behind my neck and pull my shirt off, then walk out there to set his ass straight.