Chapter 16: The Live Stream Surprise
The cold light of the rigs was a familiar shock to the system. Suki adjusted the focus on the main camera, her finger tapping the screen of her phone where the livestream chat scrolled in a manic, relentless cascade. The numbers were already good—better than the first time. The “girlfriend” reveal and the raw, unedited intimacy of their last stream had sparked something. Subscribers were craving the authenticity.
“Audio check,” Catriona’s voice came through the small laptop she used to monitor the feed. She was perched on a stool in the corner, just outside the frame, wearing a tight black tank top and cotton shorts. Director mode.
“I’m good,” Suki said, smoothing her hands over the silky lavender chemise she wore.
“I’m golden,” Aidan added. He was sitting on the edge of her bed, shirtless, in grey sweatpants. He looked more relaxed than the first time, a faint smile playing on his lips as he watched Suki work. The easy confidence he’d had at the restaurant was still there, softened by the bedroom lighting.
Suki started the stream. The greeting was practiced, warm, a little shy. “Hey, everyone. Thanks for coming back.” She gestured to Aidan. “You all know him by now.”
He gave a little wave. “What’s up, chat?”
The comments exploded. HE’S BACK. THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER. ASK HIM ABOUT THE RESTAURANT.
Aidan laughed, reading them over Suki’s shoulder. “The restaurant was great. Tiramisu was a highlight.”
They fell into the rhythm they’d established. It was easier now. The initial, jarring novelty of performing with a friend—with her boyfriend—had melted into something collaborative. He knew when to touch her, when to let her take the lead. She knew how to angle her body toward Camera B to capture the stark contrast of his hand on her thigh. It was still a performance, but the seams were hidden. The desire in his eyes wasn’t faked. The soft sounds she made when he kissed her neck weren’t fabricated.
They were twenty minutes in, Aidan kneeling between her legs, the thin strap of her chemise dangling off her shoulder, when the notification lit up Cat’s screen. A distinct, loud cha-ching sound effect they’d programmed for major tips.
Catriona’s eyes widened. “Uh. Sook. ‘DragonSlayer42’ just dropped a thousand. With a request.”
Suki felt a jolt. That kind of money wasn’t unusual for a top creator, but for her, it was a landmark. “What’s the request?”
Cat read it, her voice oddly flat. “They want… they want the director to join. Specifically. They want to see you kiss me.”
The air in the room changed. The hum of the lights seemed to grow louder. On the bed, Aidan went very still, his hands resting on Suki’s hips. He looked past Suki, to his wife in the corner.
Suki’s gaze flicked to Catriona. This had been an unspoken boundary, a line they’d never drawn because it had never needed to be. Cat was the architect, the safe harbor off-camera. Not a participant.
Catriona stared at the screen, her playful smile gone. She chewed her lip. The chat was going berserk, the request repeated, echoed, demanded by a dozen other usernames now, scenting blood in the water.
“Cat,” Suki said softly, the microphone picking up the whisper.
“A thousand dollars,” Catriona murmured, more to herself than anyone. Then she looked up, and the mischievous spark returned, brighter and more dangerous. “Fuck it. It’s just kissing.”
She stood up. In the frame of the main camera, she was a silhouette against the bright lights. She pulled her tank top over her head in one swift motion, then shimmied out of her shorts. She stood there in just a simple pair of black underwear, her auburn hair a messy halo. She looked at Aidan, a question in her eyes.
He gave a slow, almost imperceptible nod. His expression was unreadable—not upset, not excited, just intensely watchful.
Catriona walked into the lit circle. The temperature seemed to rise. She knelt on the silk sheets beside Suki, the mattress dipping under her weight. Suki could smell her perfume, the same one she’d worn since university.
“Hi, chat,” Cat said, her voice a little breathless. She leaned in, her eyes on Suki’s. This wasn’t the peck they’d shared a thousand times. This was different. “You okay?”
Suki nodded. “Yeah.”
The first kiss was tentative. Closed mouths, a press of lips. The chat scrolled too fast to read. Then Cat’s hand came up to cup Suki’s cheek, and she deepened it. It was familiar and utterly foreign. Catriona kissed like she talked—confident, playful, all in. Suki felt herself responding, her hand coming up to tangle in Cat’s hair.
When they broke apart, both were breathing heavily. Aidan hadn’t moved. He was watching them, a statue of flesh and muscle.
“They want more,” Cat whispered, her eyes glinting. She took Suki’s hand. “Here.” She guided Suki’s fingers down, past the waistband of her own underwear, showing her. “Like this.”
Suki’s touch was hesitant at first, then, guided by Cat’s own moving hand, more sure. Cat’s head fell back, a genuine moan escaping her lips. It was a raw, instructional intimacy that felt more exposing than anything Suki had ever filmed.
Aidan moved then. He didn’t speak. He just shifted behind Suki, his body aligning with hers, his chest warm against her back. He kissed her shoulder, his hands sliding around to cover hers, his larger fingers intertwining with hers over Catriona. He was guiding her now, too. A joint effort.
The dynamic shattered and reformed in an instant. Catriona’s eyes flew open, meeting Aidan’s over Suki’s shoulder. A silent, electric conversation passed between them. Then Cat surged forward, kissing Aidan hard, her hand leaving Suki’s to fist in his hair.
Suki was sandwiched between them, the center of a swirling storm of heat and skin. She was being kissed by Cat, while Aidan’s hands were everywhere on her, and she could feel him, hard and urgent against her back. It was overwhelming. It was incredible. The cameras saw everything: the three-way kiss, the tangle of limbs, the slick, shared touches.
“Aidan,” Catriona gasped, pulling away from his mouth. “Her. Now.”
He understood. In one motion, he rolled Suki onto her stomach, Catriona shifting beside them, her hand never stopping its slow, circling motion between her own legs. The clinical lights now illuminated every detail: the flex of Aidan’s back as he pushed into Suki from behind, the bite of her teeth into the pillow, the way Catriona watched them, her eyes dark with a mixture of voyeuristic thrill and genuine arousal.
He took Suki hard, the pace frantic, a release of the coiled tension they’d all been building. Catriona leaned over, capturing Suki’s mouth in another kiss, swallowing her cries. The world narrowed to the slap of skin, the ragged symphony of their breathing, the glaring, all-seeing eye of the lens.
When Aidan came, he pulled Suki up against him, one arm locked around her chest, as he buried himself deep. The groan he let out was guttural, real. Catriona immediately brought the handheld camera close, zooming in on the proof as he withdrew, the thick, white contrast stark against Suki’s skin as it dripped onto the sheets.
The chat was a solid block of screaming text, emojis, tipping sounds that blurred into one endless noise. The viewer counter in the corner of Cat’s laptop spun, climbed, and settled on a number Suki had only seen in her dreams.
Aidan collapsed, pulling Siku with him. Catriona put the camera down and simply lay beside them, her head on Aidan’s other shoulder, her leg thrown over his. For a long minute, the only sound was their struggling lungs and the digital buzz of a record-breaking stream.
Catriona turned her head, her nose brushing Aidan’s shoulder. “So,” she panted, a wild, exhausted grin spreading across her face. “That just happened.”
Aidan let out a shaky laugh, his arm tightening around Suki. “Yeah. It did.”
Suki couldn’t speak. She just stared at the blinding lights above them, feeling the physical evidence of her two best friends cooling on her thighs, the seismic shift in the room settling into her bones. The performance was over. Nothing about this felt like a performance anymore.
On the laptop, the stream had ended. The final image frozen for the subscribers was the three of them, a spent and tangled knot, forever captured in the cold, perfect light.