34
CHELSEY
MY DATE WITH CHARLES WAS A BUST.
I spent the rest of the date wishing it was over. After Blaine left us, Charles’ attitude toward me changed. I didn’t even bother filling him in on the situation. Another date with him was out of the question. Not only did Blaine ruin it, but I was completely bored, which said a lot.
After Charles dropped me off at my door with a chaste kiss on the cheek, I went inside and went straight to bed. I didn’t get much sleep. Nightmares haunted me, and I kept waking up out of breath. By the time the sun was creeping in through the window, I knew my day was going to be crap. I had three classes to deal with and I’d gotten no sleep.
I was lying in bed, watching the fan above me turn, when a loud knock sounded on my door. I never had unexpected company, so it was a shock to me. I climbed from the bed and dragged myself across my apartment to the door. Another knock sounded before the doorbell began to ring over and over again.
“I’m coming!” I yelled out.
Pulling the door open, Lynn stood there staring back at me.
“Hey!” Her smile was huge as she tugged her suitcase behind her and squeezed between me and the doorframe.
“Um… hi. What are you doing here?”
“I’m surprising you, silly. Are you surprised?”
She slammed her suitcase down on my couch, and fell beside it. Blowing a piece of hair from her face, she propped her feet up on my coffee table.
“Yeah. I’m surprised.”
“Good. Things are getting kind of crazy back home with Momma and Daddy so I thought I needed a break. Plus, we had such a great time together last time I was here.”
Shutting the door, I turned to her with my hands on my hips. Something was off. Lynn wasn’t someone who’d just show up out of the blue. She wasn’t telling me something.
“Okay. Now tell me the real reason you’re here.” I sat beside her on the couch.
She laughed. “We’ve known each other too long.”
“You’re stalling,” I pointed out.
“Okay, so I met someone.”
“Okay. And?”
“And he lives in New York.”
“Wait. I’m confused. How did you meet someone in New York when you live in Georgia?”
“Well, I kind of met him last time I was here.”
“Oh my God. When? Why didn’t you tell me?” I pushed playfully at her arm.
“Because I know you, Chelsey. You’re not going to approve of him.”
“What do you mean? What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing. It’s just—”
“It’s just what?”
“Well, he’s kind of a male stripper.”
“How can he be kind of a male stripper? Either he is or he isn’t.”
“Okay. He’s a male stripper. I met him at The Golden Banana when we went for Sherry’s bachelorette party. And before you say anything, he’s amazing. He’s just working there to pay for college. He goes to Julliard. He’s an amazing dancer.”
“Yeah. I bet the ladies shoving money in his underwear would agree.”
“Come on, Chels. Don’t be like that. Anyway, we’ve been talking; Marshall and I, and well, I thought maybe I could stay here for a bit and get to know him better. I can help out anyway you want. I just really like him. Actually, I think I might be falling in love with him.”
“You’re more than welcome to stay. Just be careful, Lynn.”
“Always.” She smiled. “So, while we’re on the subject, I’m supposed to go to the club this Thursday to see Marshall.”
I knew where she was headed. “No, Lynn. I’m not going back to that place. You can’t make me.”
“Oh, geez, Chelsey. Don’t make it sound like I tortured you. You had a good time. What girl wouldn’t in a place like that?”
“Me. I’m a girl who wouldn’t. It was hell.”
“Yes. I saw the devil there. He was the one in the red thong with the six pack abs and monster cock. He possessed me with his moves. I need a preacher. Stat,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m being serious, Lynn. I can’t go back there.”
“Come with me.”
“No. You’re not pulling me into that strip club again. Seriously, it was hell last time.”
I didn’t tell her I couldn’t go back because of Blaine. I had yet to admit he was there. Let her find out on her own. I didn’t want to see him again, and I definitely didn’t want to spend another night watching a bunch of guys get groped.
“Please,” she begged. “Are you really going to send your best friend out on her own all the way to New Jersey? You’re my wing-girl. I need your support. Plus, I could get murdered and left in a ditch.”
“I’m pretty sure Jersey doesn’t have ditches.”
“Fine. I’ll be taken hostage by a fist-pumper with an orange tan and too much gel in his hair. That sounds equally bad. Is that what you want for your best friend?”
I wasn’t going to win. I might as well give now and save myself the argument.
“Fine, but I think there’s something you should know first.”
If I was being forced to go to the strip club again, I at least didn’t want any surprises.
“Blaine works there,” I blurted out.
Lynn’s expression dropped and her face paled. “What?”
“I saw him the last time we were there. You would’ve noticed, too, if it weren’t for the lighting and all the alcohol you’d had.” I ran my hands down my face roughly. “And now he’s everywhere. During the day he works for a lawn care company and every time I leave class he’s there trimming bushes and mowing the lawn. It’s been hell.”
I couldn’t hold back anymore. The tears began to flow.
She put her arms around me and held me tight. “Why didn’t you tell me this, Chelsey? I could’ve kicked his ass for you.”
“It’s nothing. It’s just hard seeing him. It was completely unexpected.”
“Yeah, I bet. So he’s been living in New York this whole time. What a fuck face.”
“He can’t know how bad off I am. It’s embarrassing. If I go with you, there can’t be any drama.”
“Maybe I should go alone. I didn’t know any of this. I would’ve never asked you to go back there if I’d known.”
“I know, but I can’t run from him forever. Plus, what kind of friend would I be if I let you get caught up with a gorilla fist-pumper?” I laughed through my tears. “Just promise me no drama, and I’ll go.”
She laughed with me. “It’s going to be hard, but I promise I’ll keep my lips sealed.”
It was nice having Lynn there. Although she spent most of her time on the phone giggling in the spare room than she did with me, I wasn’t complaining. At least she had something to do while I had my face in a book studying.
Thursday came way too fast, and soon we were getting ready to go to the strip club. I was crazy nervous, but I knew I had to face him. He needed to know he didn’t have a hold on me anymore. Even though secretly he did.
We left ten minutes later for the club. I could hardly believe I was returning. I was walking straight into the mouth of hell, and I was doing it willingly. But that’s what you did for friends. Lynn was there when I needed her. She’d been there to dry my tears after Blaine and after the baby. Being there for her was the least I could do. Even if it meant sticking myself in a room with Blaine and spending the night wishing I wasn’t there.
The same bouncer was at the front door, except this time he was expecting us. I guess Marshall, Lynn’s new stripper boyfriend, had warned him. Again, we went through without our IDs being checked and again, Lynn went straight to the bar.
I kept my eyes glued to her back the entire time. I didn’t want to let them wander and accidently land on Blaine. Maybe I’d end up lucky and he wouldn’t be working. That would be great. Then I could try and relax.
There was a dancer on stage in a white G-string and a captain’s hat who was finishing his routine. Soon the MC was on the mic announcing the next dancer.
“Okay, ladies. Are you ready to get hammered?” The MC said into the mic.
The room full of women went crazy, and my heart dropped knowing Blaine was about to step on the stage.
The MC continued to announce him, but I couldn’t hear anything over my heartbeat. Then the lighting changed color and he was on stage. He was dressed as a construction worker, his hard hat pulled low over his face. He held a sledge hammer, and when the beat switched, he stuck it between his legs and pretended it was his penis.
He ran his hands down the sledge hammer like he was touching himself, and then he pumped it toward the crowd, making the women all but swoon.
The bar dug into my back as I pressed against it with the need to disappear.
“Is that him?” Lynn asked at my side.
I couldn’t answer. Words were impossible. So instead I nodded my answer.
“Damn, Blaine has grown in the last year.”
I turned my eyes on her and she laughed.
“Seriously? Is that all you can think about right now?”
She covered her smile with her hand. “I’m sorry, but look at him. He was always sexy, but damn.”
I swore I wouldn’t drink again, but it was needed. Reaching over for Lynn’s glass, I downed it in one gulp.
The liquid burned through my stomach and did nothing to calm my nerves.
When my eyes landed on the stage again, Blaine was already mostly naked, and pumping his hips in his signature jack hammer motion. My body felt heated, and no matter how badly I wanted to turn away, I couldn’t.
Then his eyes met mine across the room, and he was jumping from the stage and coming my way. I panicked. I looked around for a place to hide, but I wasn’t quick enough.
He scooped me up, earning a loud response from the women in the room, and tossed me over his shoulder. I held on to his hot skin as he jumped back onto the stage. I wanted to fight him—I wanted to throw a fit—but there were so many eyes on us. All I could do was go with it when he laid me flat on the stage.
He leaned over me, his mostly naked body hot against mine. Then he proceeded to do a few push-ups on top of me, teasing my breasts with his chest every time he came down on me. He smirked as he thrust his hips against me.
“Isn’t this how you used to like it?” he said for my ears only. The music was so loud around us there was no way anyone could’ve heard him anyway. “You used to love it when I pressed my hard cock against you,” he said, thrusting his hips into me as he grinned into the crowd. “I wonder if I can get you off in front of all these people.”
His hardness pressed into me, and a tiny moan I hoped he didn’t hear moved past my lips. Thankfully, he kept looking out into the crowd of women instead of down at me.
It was all for show, but still, my body responded the way it used to. It felt unnatural considering there were so many people staring at us.
“Blaine, stop,” I said, making him turn his eyes on me.
“What’s wrong, Little Doe? You came to the strip club. I’m just giving you the full experience.”
Then he spread my legs wider, my skirt bunching around my thighs as he held himself above me with his arms and worked his body into mine.
My body was flushed from embarrassment and desire. Closing my eyes, I pretended I wasn’t there. I pretended I wasn’t being dry humped in a room full of horny women. I pretended Blaine wasn’t above me making my body weep with want… making the beginnings of an orgasm climb up my spine.
It was wrong. So wrong.
Finally, he pulled me up, kissed my hand for show, and let me climb from the stage. I ran like a scared, little girl straight to the bathroom. Lynn was on my heels.
“I can’t believe he just did that,” I said, ripping a paper towel from the dispenser.
I wiped furiously at any skin he’d touched. I could smell him. I could still feel him.
“What an asshole,” Lynn muttered. “Say the words, Chels, and I’ll kick his ass.”
Her face was red and flushed from her anger and alcohol.
“No. Don’t. Go back out there with Marshall. I’m fine. I just hadn’t expected him to do that.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? If I didn’t hate him so much I’d say that was actually pretty hot.”
Wiping at my face, I looked at her like she was crazy, making her giggle.
“Just give me minute to collect myself. I’ll be right out.”
“Okay.” Lynn grinned. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were totally turned on.”
I tossed my paper towel at her face before she let the bathroom door shut behind her.
She was right, as usual. While I was seriously embarrassed, I was more turned on than I’d been in my entire life.
35
BLAINE
EVEN IF I HADN’T TAKEN
a dose of Viagra for work, I would’ve been hard as a rock. Damn, Chelsey did something to my cock I couldn’t put into words. I almost came just pressing into her on stage in front of a room full of women.
She felt just as amazing as she did a year before—sweet and soft in all the right places—and completely clueless to how perfect her body was. It was wrong to still want her. It made me a weak man considering how badly she’d hurt me, but I couldn’t help it. She was everything I’d ever wanted.
After my set, I stayed in the back to collect myself. If I stayed in the back, I wouldn’t have to see her face. I was confused by the fact that she was there. I never thought I’d see her face at the banana again.
What was she doing there?
She wasn’t with a group of girls or anything.
Was she there for me?
As soon as the thought went through my mind, I dismissed it. It didn’t pay to start thinking crazy shit. It was over. We were over. She’d made it so the night she went off fucking with Josh, the night my life shattered around me and I needed her.
I wiped at the sweat running down my face and downed a bottle of water. I had to get my head right. I still had a full night of work ahead of me, and Grandma’s new prescriptions were fucking expensive as hell. I didn’t have the luxury of getting off track… even if my heart and mind needed a night to get their shit together.
“Hey, man, you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost,” Marshall said.
He’d just got off stage, doing his football player routine, which the women loved. He was a big motherfucker, with huge shoulders. The football uniform was perfect for him.
We’d grown close since I started working at the banana. Not close enough to hangout outside of work, but he was one of the boys I trusted the most. He was a good guy.
“Yeah, man, I’m good. Just tired.”
“Well, you better put some pep back in your step. You got the back rooms tonight, too. Plus, my girl came tonight. I want you to meet her.” He grabbed my shoulder and shook it. “Well, speak of the devil. Here she is now.”
I looked up and my eyes clashed with Lynn’s. I hadn’t seen her since high school, but she looked exactly the same. Beside her stood Chelsey. Both were staring at me letting their eyes drop to my hard cock. I had on my G-string, but it left little to the imagination. Chelsey had already seen everything I had to offer, it was Lynn’s eyes on me that made me flinch.
“We keep running into each other, huh, Little Doe?”
Marshall’s brow pinched in. “You guys know each other?”
“We went to high school together,” Lynn said. “This is the asshole who broke my best friend’s heart.”
I laughed. She was obviously clueless about the situation. Of course, she’d only know Chelsey’s side, and of course, Chelsey would make herself out to be a fucking saint.
“You think that’s funny?” Lynn snapped.
My eyes moved over Chelsey. Her shoulders were tense and she was digging her nails into Lynn’s arm as if to tell her to shut the fuck up.
“I think it’s funny you believe that bullshit.” I stood. “I have work to do. Women to please. If you don’t mind.”
I walked past them, ignoring Lynn’s glare. Stopping at Chelsey’s side, I bent down and whispered, “Thanks for the ride on stage. I felt how wet you were through your panties. It’s nice to know I still got it when it comes to you.”
Her eyes cut across my face and her lips pinched together.
“Fuck you, Blaine.” Her words shocked me and turned me on all at once.
“Been there done that.”
I left her standing there with her mouth wide open and angry eyes.
Fuck it. Fuck it all to hell.
I spent the rest of the night in the back rooms. Even though it felt wrong, I fucked two women. It was becoming harder and harder to do my job. Especially when all I could think about was Chelsey. It was like I was tainting our memories together or something, which honestly, they’d been tainted for over a year. None of it made any sense to me.
Going in the last room for the night, I found Rosie sitting on the couch waiting for me. She was a big spender, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Still, I gave her what she came for.
“You going to come on this fat cock?” I asked as I fucked her hard and fast.
“Yes. Please make me come, Jack,” she screamed out.
The sounds of our bodies filled the room as I took out my frustrations on her pussy. I kept my eyes closed the entire time. The burn of guilt so strong I felt sick to my stomach.
“Fuck! Your cock is the best, baby. It’s so fucking good. I love it when you fuck me like this. Fuck me like your little whore.”
I pulled her hair, making her gasp at the pain of it, and then I smacked her ass hard, making my palm sting. “You like getting fucked like a little whore? Oh, I’ll fuck you like a little whore. You’re Jack’s little slut, aren’t you, dirty girl?”
“Yes. I’m your slut. I’m your dirty, nasty whore.”
And then she fell apart around me. It was then that tears threatened. I blinked them away as I kept going, fucking her through her orgasm and feeling like the biggest piece of shit to ever grace the Earth.
Then I opened my eyes, and my heart stopped. Chelsey was standing at the door staring back at me. She was watching me with shocked eyes as I fucked another woman. She’d seen me pull Rosie’s hair and smack her ass. She’d heard me say all the vile things Rosie liked to hear… things I’d never dream of saying to Chelsey.
In that moment, I cracked. I couldn’t do this anymore. I’d known for a while it was coming, but I was done. I couldn’t continue to fuck women like this—to have them use me the way the girls in high school used to—the way I believe Chelsey did.
I pulled out, my cock still hard as a rock, and I blushed with embarrassment when Chelsey looked down at my condom-covered cock.
Then she was gone, and the door slammed behind her. Tugging my jeans over my hips, I left Rosie lying on the couch and went after Chelsey.
She was speed-walking down the hallway and I caught up with her easily.
“Chelsey, wait,” I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. “I’m sorry.”
I don’t know why I said those words. It’s not like I meant anything to her anyway. I never had and probably never would, but still, I felt so fucking bad. I felt sick to my stomach knowing she’d seen me with another woman. I knew what it felt like. She’d done the same with me.
I should’ve been happy she’d walked in. I should’ve been a lot of things, but I wasn’t. Chelsey hurt me, but I wasn’t so sure I had it in me to hurt her anymore.
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” she said. She swallowed and blinked at the tears that filled her eyes. “You’re a single man, Blaine. You can do whatever you want.”
“But you’re upset. I can tell you’re upset.”
The bigger question was, why I gave a flying fuck that she was upset. She hadn’t cared about my feelings a year before when she was out having a fucking blast with fuck face.
Then she shocked me.
“Blaine, why did we never do it like that?” she asked.
My grip on her arm loosened and I looked down at her in confusion. “Excuse me?”
She blushed and looked away. “You were always so soft and sweet with me. Why? Were you not into it with me like you were with her?”
I could hardly believe my ears. Did this woman not know what she did to me? Did she not know the things she did to my body or my mind?
Of course, I was always soft and sweet with her. Chelsey was soft and sweet, and I’d been her first. I didn’t want to hurt her or scare her, but it never mattered. She was always the best I’d ever been with.
“Is that what you want, Chelsey. You want it rough?” I felt myself lean into her.
She was like a fucking magnet with me. Always a fucking magnet.
“Yes.” Her eyes widened at her confession. “I’m sick of being treated like a princess. I want what that woman had.”
My cock jerked at the thought of fucking her. Giving it to her exactly like she wanted it, but I couldn’t. I still smelled of another woman. I was still sweaty from fucking another. I couldn’t touch her. Not the way I was. Chelsey deserved so much more, and I wanted to give her more.
“I can’t do that with you,” I said honestly.
I couldn’t. Not at that moment at least. Not until I was cleansed of the dirty shit I’d been doing in the club.
“Well, if you can’t, I’ll find someone who can,” she snapped.
Then something crazy happened. I let her see my cards. I hadn’t even realized how adamant I was about Chelsey being with someone else. I knew it bothered me, but I didn’t understand how badly until she talked about another man fucking her senseless. The thought of another man touching her lit fire to my nerves, and I slammed my fist into the wall beside her.
“No one touches you. Got it?” My teeth grinded together, the muscle in my cheek popped painfully.
She pushed against my chest, her angry eyes matching mine.
“Why not? You can do it! You can get on stage and show all those women all your business. You can fuck them until they’re collapsing on the couch, but I can’t,” she yelled, her voice echoing off the black walls surrounding us. “If you can do it, then so can I!”
“Over. My. Fucking. Dead. Body.” I emphasized each word.
And I meant them. I didn’t care what I had to do.
“That’s too bad. Your little sister’s going to miss you.”
Then she tugged her arm loose and ran away from me. I started to go after her, but Rosie was at my side rubbing her hand down my arm.
“Everything okay, lover?” she asked.
I pulled my arm away from her, hating the way her touch felt. “No. Everything’s not fucking okay.”