by Quinn, Taryn
I pulled his favorite chair from the far side of the room to directly in front of my pole. Finally, some of the heat had broken today. I set the overhead fan to low, closed the drapes over my windows, and draped a few of my silk scarves over my lamps.
The room took on a pink and purple hazy glow.
I curled my hand around the pole to make sure it was slick enough for me to work with, then did a few stretches.
I’d been working my way up to the advanced class online. Pole dancing wasn’t exactly the kind of thing one would find in the small town of Crescent Cove. Maybe in nearby Syracuse, but that probably included a darker element than I was looking for.
I flicked through my playlist as I pushed myself for a wider split on the floor. Stretching was one of my favorite things to do, but it took a damn long time to get my body to comply sometimes.
Making Caleb lose his mind was on the agenda tonight, and I wouldn’t even need tequila to start the party.
I sent off a text to tell Caleb just to come inside as I put my warmup song on. Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” was the best song to do the long slow swivels on the pole. When I danced for myself, I didn’t usually bother with shoes, but I thought the extra effort would pay off.
I tied on the five inch Mary Janes I’d found online during a late night shopping session. I loved the paisley purple skin on the glossy black heels. I’d never be able to walk around town in the stupid things, but a little murderous pole action?
Yes, sir.
The sexy tones of the piano and Queen Bey’s breathy voice helped me slip into character. I bent my knee around the pole and put myself into a light spin. Slowly, deliberately, and with a shit-ton more effort than it looked like to anyone watching, I climbed up so I could do a backbend and brace myself with the pole.
Just as I inched to the top of the pole and flipped, the door opened. I forced myself not to look at him. I kept myself in the zone as I tightened my hold on the pole and lightly spun upside down, bending my hips and waist around the steel as my muscles warmed.
I did a slow spin and finally touched the ground before I glanced up.
Caleb stood in the middle of the kitchen, his mouth slack.
Somehow I managed not to laugh. I did a slow walk around the pole, the click of my insane heels so loud as the song ended. I did a backbend and glossed my lips with the tip of my tongue.
“Hey, babe.”
Caleb dropped his bag. “Fuck.”
“Thought you might like to see one of my routines.” I nodded to the chair. “Would you like a front row seat?”
“Absolutely. I’m the luckiest fucking man.” He left the bag where it landed and started toward me.
“Bring the tequila and salt.”
“I’m a dead man,” he muttered as he spun around and dug into the bag.
“Limes?” I asked as the song changed to a decidedly naughtier one.
“Dead man,” he said again as he craned his neck to keep watching.
I laughed and undulated my hips through a backbend before I did one of my fast flips. The pole shuddered, but his reaction was worth it as I grabbed my heel with one hand and clamped my arm and knee around the pole with the other.
My muscles strained as I stared at the mandala I’d pinned up around the pole on the ceiling. The wild kaleidoscope of colors blended as I sped up and slowly spiraled toward the floor.
Just before my knees touched the hardwood, I extended one leg and heard something hit the floor in the distance. I laughed and gently brought myself into a handstand then lightly did a backbend and stood up.
I’d worked up a nice sheen of sweat.
I walked slowly into the kitchen where he’d lined up shot glasses. I trailed my fingers down over his T-shirt then over to his arm. I lifted his wrist to my mouth and licked him. “Salt?”
Caleb blinked. “Salt?”
“Salt.”
“Right.” He grabbed the salt shaker and shook it over his wrist.
I lifted one of the shot glasses with a wink and tucked a wedge of lime between his teeth. “Cheers.” I tossed it back, licked the salt off his wrist, then stole the lime and strutted my way back to the pole.
Caleb followed me with the bottle and dropped into the chair. “Have you done this before?”
Lightly, I trailed my fingertips over the pole as I lowered to my knees. “I’ve been dancing for a few years.”
He opened his legs and his eyes went heavy-lidded in response as I slowly crawled his way. The song changed to a raunchy Nickelback song. I took the bottle from him and dipped my finger in to coat it then dripped the tequila on his lips. I licked it off his lower lip and inched away when he tried to deepen the kiss.
This was way too fun.
I returned to the pole and did a quick hop up to the middle, clamping my hand near my chest and high above my head. I tucked my knee around the pole to spin in a wide arc. As the song came to a close, I pushed out my tits.
“Hello?”
Was that…? Holy shit.
My Alexa speaker overrode my playlist, and my best friend’s voice boomed through the room.
“Hello?” I squeaked out my reply.
“Lu?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah. Just a second.” I waved at Caleb, who shook his head at me.
“No,” he mouthed. He gestured for me to call her back.
I quickly rushed over to him and kissed him. “You know that saying bros before hoes?” I whispered against his mouth. “Same applies for girls. Out you go.”
“Are you serious?” He looked down at his straining hard-on.
“Did I interrupt something?” Ryan questioned.
“What? No. Nothing. I was just dancing.” I shooed him out of the seat. “I’ll make it up to you,” I purred before brushing my knuckles down the impressive erection he was sporting.
“You fucking better,” he growled against my ear. He palmed my ass and gripped hard enough that I wavered for a split second.
“Oh,” Ryan said. “Sorry. I’d call back, but it’s kind of important.”
The tone of her voice told me there was no way I could tell her to call back. “Yeah, totally. No problem at all, girl.” There was a touch of regret sitting in my chest as the door closed behind Caleb. “Okay, you have my undivided attention.”
“Was someone there? Oh, man, were you…”
“Nope. All good. Nothing to see here. Was just my neighbor.”
I winced at the blurted half-confession. I still hadn’t told Ry about Caleb. I kept assuming things would just fizzle out, but somehow they only got more tangled between us. Not the bad kind of tangled. More like the twisted sheets and long summer days kind.
“I thought you were dancing.”
“I was.” Abort! “Anyway, it’s not important. You sound stressed, girl. What’s up?”
Man, I sounded like a flake, but she seemed too distracted to notice. I sidestepped the kitchen island and almost turned my ankle.
Being a seductive pole dancer was dangerous work.
“Hurricane Rainbow showed up.”
I bent over to undo my Mary Janes with a wince. Well, that explained Ryan’s frazzled tone. My bestie never enjoyed her motherly visits. That was one thing we had in common. Luckily, mine didn’t actually want to see me.
“Oh, shit. Are you okay?” I stepped out of the heels with a sigh, then went to the fridge. This was not the conversation to have with Patron Silver swimming through my veins. At least Caleb had brought the good stuff this time.
A smile twitched on my lips. No more questionable coconut rum.
I grabbed my pitcher of filtered water and filled a glass. “How much did she want this time?”
“Oh, if it was only just money.” I heard a clunk through the speaker. “So much other stuff is going on.”
I paused with the glass at my lips. “Do you want me to come over?”
“No. I’m heading out with Rainbow.”
“Wait, what?” I took a big swallow of water so I would
n’t start swearing. What the hell was going on? Ryan would never go anywhere willingly with her mother. Mostly because it usually cost her too much money. “What do you mean you’re leaving?”
“She wants to do this road trip thing, and I kinda need to get out of here.”
I snapped the glass down on the countertop. “What the heck is going on? I knew something was up, but I figured you’d come talk to me when you were ready.”
I stared at the ceiling. Goddess, I was a shitty friend.
“Yeah, well, I’m not ready. For any of it.”
I opened the fridge and took out a stem of grapes and leftover watermelon. I desperately needed something in my stomach besides tequila. “You’re not making sense.”
“I know.” She blew out a breath. “I did something.”
I put the grapes down. “Like bank robbery? Murder?” I lowered my voice in case the neighbors could hear. “Do I need to bring my shovel? Go buy supplies in cash three counties over?”
She was my best bish. I would totally bury a body for her. In a hot second.
Ryan’s laugh came through the speaker. “No, there’s no body.”
“Remember that little white fox I used to draw on everything?”
“Of course. I still have it on my journal. I paid some kid on Etsy to make me stickers of it. You’re welcome.”
She laughed. “You did not.”
I popped a grape in my mouth. “I sure did. I hoarded them in my keepsake box. My bestie’s artwork is priceless.”
“Aww.” Ryan sniffed a little. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“That’s what best friends do, girl.”
She sighed. “Well, I did something stupid last night. I actually posted one of my comics on a story. You know those quick twenty-four hour things. I figured it would just go away, and no one would really notice.”
I took my fruit and water over to my couch and curled into the corner next to my speaker. “You know the universe doesn’t work like that.”
She let out a strangled laugh. “That is the truth.”
“So, did you blow up the internet?” I picked out a fat triangle of watermelon.
“Kind of. Penn Masterson reposted it to his bazillion followers, then he sort of slid into my DMs.”
She kept babbling about names and people I didn’t really know, but finally, the name clicked in. Masterson was sort of a big deal around here. Although he lived in New York City, Penn had a sister and a bunch of brothers who lived in town. That bunch included Christian, our favorite cop, who kept crashing our rooftop parties—and not in the fun way. I’d overheard people talking about Penn at Kinleigh’s store, and I was familiar with one of his graphic novels.
“No way! So, that dude you made me read—Penn Masterson—he contacted you? The famous dude?”
“Yes.” Her voice was a squeak. Very unlike Ry.
“This is amazing!” My girl was going to be freaking famous.
“No, it’s really not. I’m not ready. I can’t do this.”
“Of course you can. You’re a kickass goddess who can do freaking anything. Let me come over, and we can talk about this.” I started to heft my tired butt off my couch. “We can throw some cards and drink lots of wine. I’ll be a buffer between you and Rainbow.”
I’d done it plenty of times. I liked her mother, to be truthful, but I knew she could be a bit much for Ryan.
“Thanks. I think I just need to get out of here. Go think about it. Maybe go through my drawings and fix them up.”
I rolled my eyes. The curse of the perfectionist best friend. I could practically hear her brain moving a mile a minute. I also knew when she was in supreme avoidance. That was the trouble with knowing one another so well—and why I hadn’t really wanted to talk about my stuff either.
“Okay, I get that. But is there something else going on? What did PMS do?” I stood up. “I’ll kill him.”
Her laugh came through the speaker. A more natural one that made me feel better.
“He didn’t do anything. I mean, we did a lot of stuff, but none of it was bad. Exactly.”
I picked up my plate. I didn’t really believe her. And sometimes I needed to see her face to face to get her to really talk. I heard a few electronic dings.
“Ry? My spidey sense is vibrating like my rabbit, girl. What’s going on?”
“I need to figure some stuff out. Then I promise I’ll talk about it.”
“Seriously, so I need to get my shovel?” I brought my plate into the kitchen, then grabbed my keys.
“No. But I think we both need to have a little discussion.”
I put down my keys and leaned on my counter. I hadn’t exactly been hiding Caleb, but I’d been enjoying our private bubble. “Looks like we both have some tea to spill.”
“With all the wine. I don’t think tea will cover it.”
I went back to my living room and pulled the silk scarves off my lamps. “Are you sure you can do this trip with Hurricane Rainbow alone?”
“No,” she said with a laugh. “But I think I need to. I need to ground myself. I’m a freaking mess about everything.”
I stepped in front of the speaker and crossed my arms. “I hate this. You should let me come over.”
“Rainbow is gassing up the Rainbow Mobile, and we’re heading out.”
I knew she’d made up her mind, dammit. “Make sure you at least text me while you’re on the road, so I can make sure you’re all right.”
“Yeah. I will.”
It was a rare moment that my girl’s voice wavered. Instantly, I took all her twisted emotions inside of me. Being an empath sucked sometimes. “Take care of you.”
“Take care of you,” she answered automatically.
And then she was gone.
I sighed. The urge to dance for Caleb had disappeared. But I didn’t really want to be alone either.
Grabbing my phone, I went across the hall and knocked on the door.
Caleb answered with interest in his eyes, but he quickly banked it under concern. “Hey. Everything okay?”
I shrugged. “She’s okay. Just going through some stuff.”
He cupped my cheek and gave me a soft kiss. “Chinese food and some Lucifer?”
“You don’t mind?”
He laughed and backed up to let me in. “Not at all.”
He was a good man. Probably too good for me, but I really wanted him to hold me. I wasn’t used to leaning on someone, but maybe I’d give it a spin.
Giving and receiving comfort was part of being friends with benefits, right? Or it could be. No harm, no foul.
It wasn’t as if we were already getting in too deep.
Eleven
“Are you sure about this?”
“About what?”
I looked over my shoulder at the crap-ton of cars in the parking lot of St. Agnes Academy. Ivy and her ice cream truck had a line winding around the parked cars as if she was selling tickets to a One Direction reunion.
I sort of wanted a Bomb Pop, but I didn’t want to end up wearing it as it melted. I pulled at my cropped T-shirt. Maybe I should have gone with a longer top.
“I mean, we haven’t really done the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing.”
“Is that what we are?” He gave me an arched brow as he laced our fingers together.
“Asshat.”
His smile got wider. “You look beautiful. And you’re way more interesting than I am. I’m going to be the one in the background, refilling soda cups.”
“Stop.”
“What are you worried about? You can command a room at ten paces.” He hefted the soft-sided cooler we’d filled with a fruit and veggie platter, since he’d asked me to come to this shindig with him on relatively short notice.
Not just any picnic. The one with all the teachers and their families, for goddess’s sake. “I know. I just haven’t really hung out with any of your people except Lucky.”
“Well, Lucky is my best friend. But I
definitely wouldn’t take him here. He’d make all the nuns faint.”
“Nuns? A fleet of penguins will be here?”
“You met Sister Tobias. It’s no big deal. The school is a mix of nuns and laypeople.”
“Laypeople,” I muttered.
This was definitely not my current world. Not even my old world.
Which I absolutely wasn’t thinking about today.
He released my fingers to wrap his arm around my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my temple. “Don’t worry, the nuns don’t drag people around by the ear anymore. At least not when anyone can see them.”
He waved to a woman with three dogs and a child—all on leashes.
Another man and woman came rushing across the grass. A boy of indeterminate age was racing ahead of them.
“Dammit, Wes, slow the hell down!”
“You cannot say dammit and hell at the same time at a Catholic picnic, Dare!” A red-haired woman punched the guy in the shoulder.
“We’re not in friggin’ church,” her companion muttered. He was big and broad and scowly.
The little boy seated on the man’s shoulders giggled. “Daddy said a swear.”
“He sure did.” Suddenly, the redhead waved at us.
As they approached, we slowed down.
“Hey, Caleb,” she said cheerfully.
“Beck,” the man said with a near growl.
Caleb didn’t seem afraid of him. He gave him a cheeky smile even though the dude seemed as if he could put Caleb into a deep freeze with the power of his gaze.
“Don’t mind my husband,” the redhead said.
I shook hands with her. “I’m Luna.”
“I’m Kelsey. I’ve seen you around at the store, but I don’t think we’ve ever been able to chat.” She nodded to the small boy riding on her husband’s shoulders. “This is Sean, the reason why I’m forever rushing.” She nodded ahead. “That’s Wes, our pre-teen and the bane of our existence.”
The man grunted.
“And the delight next to me is my husband Dare.”
I looked between Caleb and Dare. Had to be a story there.
“I’m a teacher here with Caleb,” Kelsey volunteered before I could ask.
