Lissy’s face flashes through my mind, her rich chocolate brown hair, her big blue eyes and deep dimples set into her chubby cheeks. It breaks my heart to leave her and my baby sister, but I need this.
Logan helps me carry my stuff out to my car, tossing them into the trunk. I hand him the keys to the house. “If there’s anything you or your mom want of Grace’s, feel free to keep it. I can’t bring myself to go through any of it.”
“I’m gonna miss you, brother, call me when you get to wherever you’re going, alright?” he asks.
“Of course. I’ll miss you too.” I draw him into a hug, and he claps me on the back. I hear him sniff and I pull back. I narrow my eyes, a smirk toying at my lips. “You crying?”
“No I’m fucking not, I’m no pussy,” he replies too quickly, avoiding my eye which tells me everything I need to know.
A laugh slips free and I shake my head before I look over at my parents, my dad has his arm around my mom who cries into his chest. I walk over to them and pull them both into my body. My mom’s arms wrap around me instantly in a vice-grip and for a second I’m worried that she’ll never let go, but after a moment she pulls away, looking up at me.
“I love you, Dwight. We both do,” she sniffles.
“I love you too, always. I’ll keep in touch.”
“You better do, fucker,” I hear Logan say behind me.
I say my goodbyes and slide into my car, revving the engine and pulling out of the driveway. In my rear-view mirror I see the three of them standing watching as I drive away.
My chest squeezes painfully as I turn the corner and they disappear from my sight.
Chapter 1
Quinn
Present
“So, what makes you think you have what it takes to dance in my club?” The guy on the opposite side of the desk reclines back in his seat, his head tilted at an angle as he takes me in.
His name is Rick, and I’ve been in this room less than five minutes and he’s already giving me the creeps, but I need this job, so I have to let it slide. He must be in his mid-forties, he’s big and stocky, but not in the muscular way, he’s sprouting a short and uneven beard and his hair is thinning, so much so that he looks bald in this light.
He tugs at his bottom lip with his teeth while his eyes rake up and down my body, the look he’s giving me sends an involuntary shiver rolling through my body.
I straighten my spine and raise my chin in an attempt to appear more confident, despite my heart beating out of my chest and my knees on the brink of collapsing from under me.
Jesus, I would never have imagined that I’d be in a situation like this, but when has life ever been a bed of roses? When has it ever not royally fucked me over?
“Let me dance here tonight and you can find out,” I reply, trying not to let the tremble in my voice show through.
I get the feeling he likes what he’s hearing because the corner of his mouth curves upward and he rises to his feet and makes his way over to me. “How old are you?” he asks and my heartrate spikes.
“Twenty-one,” I lie with ease.
I’m really nineteen, but what’s a couple of years? I’ve often been told I look mature for my age, so it isn’t hard for me to pass for twenty-one, and from what I can guess, I don’t think Rick would care if I was fifteen, let alone nineteen. As long as you have a decent set of tits, you can dance and make him a shit-ton of money, that’s all that matters to him.
When he reaches me, he gives my body a closer inspection, looking me up from head to toe and back again. He rests his hands on the tops of my arms, running them up and down before licking his lips.
“What’s your name, sweetness?”
“Quinn.”
“Cute, but it won’t do. You need a stage name. Sugar sound good?”
“Um, yeah, I guess. So, you’re offering me the job?”
“You’ll get up on stage tonight, and provided I like what I see and the clients like you, then yes. If not, you’re out of here.”
Relief floods me. “Thank you so much. I won’t let you down, I swear.”
