Summertime Sins
Chapter 1: Silk
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 3.5 | Chapter 4-1 | Chapter 4-2 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6
And I know this may sound narcissistic
I like the lips you kiss with
But I want to wear your lipstick
'Cause it means I got to kiss them
Bad Behavior, The Maine
Inside and out, the waterfront watering hole was a boisterous cacophony of noise and perspiring bodies. It was late May, the beginning of the summer tourist season, and Jake Riley hustled to and fro as he confidently manned the bar. For the last few years, Jake took every summer off from the land surveying business he ran with his uncle in Northern Virginia to stay with his retired parents in Bayport: a coastal town that was lodged on an idyllic strand of the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway just across the South Carolina border from its northern counterpart. Rather than spend his vacation time lazing around with the local beachcombers, Jake was more than happy to take over management duties at his parents’ establishment, which helped to fund their retirement.
While bar patrons caroused and conversed with one another, the swaggering groove of Bruce Springsteen’s Pink Cadillac could just barely be heard as it started to boom from the digital jukebox.
“Hey, Riley! It’s your favorite!” Jake’s fellow-and much younger-bartender, Ben Wilson, teased from across the counter. Jake grimaced.
“Just about the only good song the man ever wrote.”
“I put it on just for you. You didn’t think I’d forget about your world-renowned dislike of the Boss, did you?” a new voice joined the conversation, feminine and melodious. Jake looked up in surprise…and nearly dropped the beer bottle he was uncapping for a thirsty regular.
“Kate?! What are you doing here?”
“I came to see my favorite bartending beach bum, of course!”
Slim, blonde, and blue-eyed, wearing a revealing bikini top and form fitting waist wrap, Kate Bennett looked like she’d just stepped out of the pages of Sports Illustrated. Jake curiously noticed that Ben wasn’t the only guy staring open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the gorgeous woman.
“I wasn’t sure if I’d see you this summer. I’ve barely heard from you all year,” Jake said, somewhat sullenly.
“I’ve been…busy,” Kate replied evasively.
“Too busy to respond to the occasional text, or phone call?”
“I’m sorry, Jake. Truly. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” She reached across the bar top and affectionately squeezed his hand. Jake suddenly felt the familiar yearning of romantic fervor well up inside of his chest.
“I’ll explain everything,” Kate continued. She glanced around uneasily, absorbing the lustful gazes directed at her. “Just not here. Meet me at the pier in an hour.”
“What if I can’t get out of here by then? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re pretty busy today.”
“Jake, darling, you think I’ve forgotten that you own the place?”
“My parents own the place. I just work here.”
“The pier. One hour.” Kate responded, unfazed by his snide retort. She turned her attention to Ben, who had been staring in unblinking wonderment the whole time. “Can I help you?”
Her annoyed query snapped the young man out of his daze. “I-I’m sorry. It’s just…I’m a big fan.”
Kate’s annoyance abruptly turned to embarrassment as she dropped her gaze in undisguised shame.
“Thank you,” she mumbled. Tears sprang to her eyes and, much to Jake’s surprise, she left in a hurry.
“What was that all about?” Jake wondered. He gave Ben a hard stare. “What did you mean by you’re a ‘big fan?’”
“Dude, don’t you know who that is?!”
“That’s Kate Bennett. We sort of dated last year while she was down here on vacation.”
“Kate Bennett?!” Ben howled incredulously. “That’s Sarah Silk! She’s one of the most famous porn stars in the world right now!”
“Sarah Silk? Porn star?” It was Jake’s turn to be incredulous.
“Wait…did you say you dated her?”
Jake nodded absentmindedly, his head reeling at what Ben had revealed about the woman he’d spent the entire preceding year pining after. “I guess you could say that. We spent most of the summer running around together.”
“‘Dated’ as in…had sex with?” Ben stared intently at his friend, breathlessly awaiting a response. Again, Jake responded with a vague nod.
“Only a few times. In the last couple weeks before she went home.”
“Hot damn, dude! You had sex with Sarah Silk!” Ben crowed triumphantly. “That’s unbelievable! Do you realize what a stud you are?!”
“I had no idea,” Jake whispered in disbelief. Ben fixed him with a dubious look.
“Seriously? You didn’t know you were hanging out with a world famous porn star?” Ben’s derisive tone shook Jake out of his stupor.
“I don’t watch that garbage!” he snapped vehemently.
“Right, of course: you’re not a sex-crazed degenerate like the rest of mankind.”
“I didn’t say I never watched it. But I sure as hell don’t anymore.”
Ben rolled his eyes in exasperation, then a calculating look spread across his face. “So, did you have to use protection, or were you allowed to go au natural?”
“That’s none of your damn business.” Jake ground his teeth and balled his fists in aggravation.
“Come on, man. I’ve seen her videos. I know how she likes it.” Ben smirked wantonly. Jake grabbed the lascivious young man by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the liquor shelf so hard that numerous bottles rattled, threatening to tumble off the rack.
“Whoever she is…whatever she’s done…she’s still a human being, and she deserves respect!” Jake snarled at the flailing victim of his ire. Ben squealed in fright, having never seen his friend so angry before. A tense silence had descended upon the bar as the revelers warily observed the explosive confrontation.
“Jesus Christ, alright! I’m sorry! I won’t say another word about it!”
Jake released his hostage and leaned in until the two men were nose-to-nose. “You’re Goddamn right you won’t.”
“Damn, bro,” Ben huffed. “You really like this girl, don’t you?”
“I need to get out of here for a while. Cover for me will you?” Without waiting for a response, Jake gathered his keys, sunglasses, and wallet from behind the counter. Gossip laced conversations slowly broke out among the bar patrons as a brooding Jake made his way out into the blistering heat of a South Carolinian mid-afternoon summer day.
Afterword: To enhance the impact of this story, listen to the song below after you read.
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Well, well. It was the perfect opening to the romance genre, which is not one I really like, although I am trying to give the genre a chance. I apparently write mostly relationships, not "romance" -- I don't hit the "beats." I was about to write it off with no comment (no sense criticizing people for stuff I don't read or write) when you got to Ben.
If you're really going to deal seriously with a man coming off of porn, and a woman trying to come back from doing porn, then I am definitely in for the ride. I have a similar sub-plot (promiscuous woman, porn consuming man) in my novella Down Pad. This is a BIG PROBLEM in our culture.
Hooked me. When’s the next one!