“I was saying . . . okay.”
“Put the dress on, I’m gonna get something else to drink.”
I watched him head to the room’s minibar in his wrinkled clothes while I stood holding the minidress. I lifted it to examine it and noticed it was so full of sequins that it jingled every time I shook it.
No, I definitely wasn’t putting that on.
“I hope you’re changing,” he urged unnervingly.
James moved the curtain again, this time to jerk his head at me not to do it. On the other hand Will gave me a thumbs-up behind him. He seemed so convinced that it led me to keep the ruse going.
My gaze went from the minidress to my anonymous and unattractive hoodie. When Austin turned back, William closed the curtain again. I felt my muscles freeze. They’re here; he can’t do anything bad to me. I threw the dress on the floor and looked Austin right in the eye.
“So you changed your mind. Do you want to be naked?” he sneered before plopping onto one of the leather couches surrounding the poles. “So?”
His intimidating tone made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Stall.
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m losing my patience, sweetheart. I’m giving you an ultimatum: Take off the hoodie or put the dress on. How the fuck else can I see what’s under there?”
All of a sudden, a metallic sound pierced the air, followed by a thud. Austin jumped up. “What was that?”
3
June
I noticed something move behind the curtain. They were fighting, and Ethan Austin was about to catch them red-handed.
Before he could bolt in their direction, I took off my hoodie and stood in front of him in my bra.
“So? Can you put some music on?” I asked, trembling, hoping it would muffle the noise Will and James were making.
Austin looked around suspiciously one more time, but the scene in front of him seemed to pique his interest.
“What song? Do you really think you have to dance for me?” He sneered in such a slimy way that it made me want to hide in a corner.
Instead, I held the hoodie tight around my chest to cover my breasts. But when Austin sat back down on the couch and stretched his legs out, I understood that I didn’t really have another choice.
“Come on, I’m joking.”
James was right, it really did look like it was going to end badly.
“Full disclosure, I’ve never—”
“You don’t have to be a particularly good dancer. Move.” I struggled to continue. I had to hold back a groan of fear while he put music on. After a while, a song I didn’t know came on the speaker, but I didn’t move an inch. I stayed glued to the pole. The cold metal against my bare back made me shiver.
I thought about my mom and the fact that I’d have my English test tomorrow. Shouldn’t I be at school instead of what I was doing here?
I let my hair loose just to hide my face. The last thing I saw before starting to move was Austin’s smug face as he licked his lips, both hands on his knees. I threw the hoodie onto the floor, took two steps, and moved my hips a bit, then turned around with the only goal of not looking at him in the eye. Without even the slightest hesitation, I threw my head back and forth, maybe because of the beer. I didn’t cling to the pole or make any winding moves. I was probably the clumsiest person he’d ever seen in his life. At a certain point, I finished what I was doing and froze. He turned the music down. “Well, there’s only one criteria, and you exceeded it with flying colors,” he remarked, pointing at the crotch of his pants.
I quickly grabbed hoodie as my eyes widened in horror. “What?”
When the music stopped, I breathed such a heavy sigh of relief that I felt my lungs completely empty out. But this time, it was really impossible not to hear them, though the thuds that were so close to us now sounded increasingly distant. Austin stood up and rushed toward the cloth behind him. I couldn’t breathe again. My heart almost skipped a beat as he lifted the fabric up. Nobody was there anymore. My phone vibrated in my jeans.
William:Get out
I threw my hoodie back on and got another text from James.
