Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Gavin. Hating how my body began to react, I buried my face in my hands. Since I’d essentially become a single parent at twenty-three, I hadn’t made any time for myself, and that included sex. And while Gavin knew I was gay, I didn’t dare mention it to anyone else here. It was abattle I didn’t feel like fighting.
“You’re on,” Stacey, the manager, called out, pointing to Gavin. It was no secret she had a thing for Gavin; she made that very clear on the day we auditioned. She made no point of hiding it around the other strippers. Luckily, Gavin was charismatic enough to deflect their comments. And even if they did have something going on after hours, he never told anyoneabout it. Not even me, but honestly, I didn’t care. If she was happy, and more importantly, if she was focused on Gavin, she wouldn’t notice me. The longer I could sneak under her radar, and go home with a few hundred bucks in my pocket, the better.
“Yes, ma’am.” He flexed his muscles and slid on his game face as the emcee announced his name. “I’ll get them all hot and bothered for you,” he jokedas he walked past me.
“With an ass like that, of course you will,” I said to myself when Gavin was out of earshot. Hating myself for being attracted to my best friend, I shook my head, hoping to shake away the chaotic emotions swirling around in my head. I certainly didn’t love him. Fuck, there were times I didn’t evenlikehim very much. I knew most of what I was feeling was need. And I hadno way to soothe that need. Not when my sixteen-year-old brother was waiting at home.
As he performed his number, a few other guys moved around the changing room. I didn’t talk to any of them. They didn’t talk to me. It was just how it was. They didn’t like the new kid, and they certainly didn’t like the poor kid. But I didn’t let it bother me too much because, to be honest, I didn’t care forthem either.
Rather than dealing with the other guys, I moved to the space by the side of the stage. From there, I could see Gavin perform, while making it look like I was scoping out the crowd. While they paid well, I never understood how some women checked all their rules for decent behavior at the door. It was as if they entered another dimension when they came here. All around the stage,women waved money in the air, some even folded the bills and shoved them down their cleavage, making Gavin pull it out with his teeth.
And the bastard ate it up, literally.
But sitting right there next to the cleavage-stuffing bride-to-be was a guy, shaking his head at his friend’s craziness. After a quick scan of the rest of the crowd, I saw he was theonlyman out there. Usually, there wereonly two reasons for a male to be at this strip club—overprotective boyfriend, or gay best friend. And considering he handed his friend another stack of bills to shove down her bra, I would have to assume he was not her boyfriend.
And in that instant, my night took on a completely different look. With my eyes set on the target—the chiseled jaw, covered in a light scruff, bright blue eyes, clearlysparkling even in the dark club, and a rugged face—I couldn’t help but envision him looking up at me from his knees. I hatched a plan to get as close to him as possible.
The music on Gavin’s number ended and I was so focused on getting close to whatever his name was I didn’t even hear what Gavin said to me as he walked past. The only thing pulling me out of my lusty haze was Stacey’s hand clappingdown on my shoulder. “You’re up, Professor.”
After straightening my tie, I pulled a pair of Clark-Kent-inspired glasses from my pocket. Sliding them into place, I took a deep breath and hoped for the best.
Even in the worst case, I could at least give him a lap dance and grind out some of my frustrations.
