by A R Steele
“These girls should,” Trenton said pensively. “It was our first try. Maybe they need to get adjusted to it. Once people are used to seeing it when they come here, it should be received better. They just need to spread the word about what they saw tonight. Then the girls who like it really dirty will start to come in.”
“Do that many girls like it that dirty?” Jesse asked.
“Of course. Well… I think so.” Trenton’s uncertainty was obvious. “It’s an experiment.”
“I don’t know,” Cooper said. “Why not just go back to how it was before?” And why had Trenton asked for their feedback if he wasn’t even going to listen to it?
“We might continue to get a bad reception. But I don’t think one night is long enough to judge.”
Cooper still disagreed, but it was Trenton’s club and Trenton’s choice. He had no plans to go toe to toe with the owner. He didn’t mind being naked or not being naked. It was Trenton’s club that was on the line, not his… even if he did feel responsible for this place.
“It’s too much dick,” Owen complained, finally turning. He’d stayed facing the locker until he was fully dressed.
At first Cooper smiled, assuming Owen was joking. But Owen kept his face straight. He honestly wasn’t amused. Owen seemed to dislike being naked more than any of the others. It was odd for a stripper. Cooper wouldn’t have guessed any of them would care too much either way.
Could Owen be homophobic? That might explain why he was so uneasy around the gay men. He had never said anything about them being gay, just that he himself was straight. Cooper looked at him carefully. That was fine and all, as long as he didn’t have a problem with the others. Cooper didn’t want any drama going down in his club.
Owen had definitely always acted more comfortable with the guys who were less open about their sexuality. The way he disliked Lev was pretty obvious. Of course, the little guy’s flamboyance made a lot of people dislike him. He was a bit over the top.
Among the guys, Owen definitely got along better with the more straight-acting gay guys, like Cooper. It seemed like Owen even got along with Ace and Gabriel less since they’d gotten together. Their sexuality was much more obvious now that they were a couple.
“Well, we’re going to continue to dance nude for the time being,” Trenton said. “We’ll reevaluate it at the end of the weekend. For tomorrow, let’s try being naked all night. I’ll get some armbands for you to collect your tips. You can strip down from your full outfit on stage, but you should wear nothing when you work the room. We’ll see how it goes.”
A hand tapped on Cooper’s shoulder, and he turned to see Lucas. “Ask if we have to,” Lucas whispered.
Even though Lucas didn’t like talking to pretty much anyone, he was fairly open with Cooper. Cooper didn’t mind speaking for him at times. He would rather that Lucas be heard in one way or another, even if he would have liked to see him speaking for himself.
No one else had heard the whisper, so Cooper repeated Lucas’s question.
“Yes,” Trenton said. “I want this to be a universal policy. I can’t have some of my guys in briefs and others naked. I want it to be consistent across the strippers. And if you’re not okay with it, I question why you’re working as a stripper.”
Lucas nodded. He kept quiet, although his lips were tight. Owen also looked less than thrilled as Cooper glanced back at him. The rest of them seemed unfazed. Trenton’s decision wasn’t a big deal to most of them.
“Have a good night, everyone,” Trenton finished. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Is everyone heading home now?” Lev asked. “I’m still amped up. No one wants to grab a few drinks?”
“Nowhere is open at this hour,” Jesse said.
“Not Man Planet?” Cooper asked. He only went out once in a while, but a cold beer would go a long way toward improving his mood. The local gay bar was always a good time.
“Last call is at three there,” Gabriel said. “I could go for a drink or two, too. Do you guys want to come to our new place?”
“Yeah, your place is the best,” Lev said. “We haven’t been there since we helped you guys move in.”
“Thanks for inviting everyone over without asking me, babe,” Ace said to Gabriel, although he was smiling.
“Can my friends come over, honey? Please?”
“Your friends? They were mine first,” Ace teased. “You’re not too tired, though?”
“No. I feel great now that I’ve been showing off the D all night.”
“Me too.” The two of them grinned at each other, and Cooper felt a twinge of jealousy. They did make a great couple. The way they interacted was just how he wanted his next relationship to be. He’d been like that with Xavier, but that had been over for a long time.
Lev ignored the display of cuteness. “So, we’re all going to Ace and Gabriel’s? Cooper, are you coming? Jesse? Elijah?”
“Sure, why not?” Cooper said. He had no plans in the morning. The guys only got to see each other a little during the work night. He wanted to bond with his coworkers outside of the change room.
Jesse nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go for a bit.”
“I’ll come,” Elijah said. “And I happen to have a little blow on me.”
Cooper raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything. These guys were adults, and they could do what they wanted. That still wasn’t going to stop him from disapproving. Elijah was a bad egg. He’d tried to guide him when he came to the club, and since Elijah had shut his help down, Cooper had kept his distance from him. If the guy ever needed a big brother, he knew where to look.
“What about you, Lucas?” Cooper asked, turning to his neighbor. The guy shook his head quickly, not making a sound. Cooper knew he probably wouldn’t go, but he wanted to make sure that he was included. It was a mystery to Cooper how a guy so quiet could function as a stripper.
One person hadn’t responded to the invitation. “Owen?” Cooper looked around, searching for the good-looking straight guy. He was nowhere to be seen. “Owen?”
Cooper went out of the room. Owen was there in the hall, several feet ahead of him. It almost looked like he was trying to get away. “Hey,” he called, catching up with him. “I guess you’re not coming to Ace’s place?”
“No, not tonight. Maybe some other time.”
“How come? It’ll be fun.”
Owen scuffed his shoe on the ground. “No, it’s okay. I have shit to do.”
“Are you sure?”
“Knowing you guys, it’ll turn into some kind of gay orgy. I’ll take a pass.”
Cooper stared at him. There was that undercurrent of homophobia again. He tried not to take it personally. To Owen’s credit, he apologized right away.
“I’m sorry. Being the only straight guy here just gets to me sometimes. You guys are great and all, but I don’t feel like hanging out right now.”
“All right, bro. Fair enough. You’re welcome to come, though. We’re not going to actually be getting it on with each other.”
“You could. I’m sure any one of those guys would love to date you.”
Cooper shrugged, oddly flattered. “Yeah, well, I don’t go out with coworkers. Already made that mistake once.”
“Why? What happened?”
“My ex, Xavier, worked with me at my last job. It was all sunshine and rainbows for a while. We moved in together. We’d wake up together, go to work together, hang out with the same people, go to bed together. We didn’t have any space apart. It was like we were the same person. Not too surprising when it all blew up in my face.”
Cooper was aware of the bitter tone that had crept into his voice. Since Owen was looking at him questioningly, he continued. He chose his words carefully, not wanting to give too much away.
“It was a big mess when we broke up… people taking sides and shit. I lost a lot of friends. Had to find a new job. Now that it’s all over, I’d rather avoid that kind of drama. I’m not about that. I come here to work, and I try
to support my bros. I’d rather keep my personal life out of this place.”
Owen nodded. “Makes sense, man. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Cooper went back into the change room, where the guys were ready to leave. He headed over to Ace and Gabriel’s place with them. Now that the couple was settled in, the other guys were quick to make themselves at home. Some draped themselves over the couch, while others helped themselves to the beer in the fridge.
“Are you sure there’s enough?” Cooper asked, watching over Jesse’s leather-clad shoulder. “We don’t want to finish all of their drinks.”
“Naw, it’s okay,” Jesse drawled. “If we finish them, I’ll go to my place and bring over a six-pack.”
“You’re not driving after you’ve drank. Either go get it now or forget the six-pack.”
Jesse scoffed for a moment, then nodded. “I guess you’re right.”
He fiddled with his keys. Cooper would have said not to bother going, but it was Jesse’s choice. Ace popped his head into the room, and Cooper explained the situation.
“Don’t leave,” Ace immediately said. “Tequila’s more fun than beer, anyway. I have half a bottle left from the other night. Let’s take some shots!”
Cooper raised an eyebrow at the solution, but it seemed to be good enough for Jesse. They always saw him as so mature and not completely one of the group, but he would get as drunk as the rest. He salted the glass rims and passed one to every guy in the place.
When he was done, Ace poured them each an ounce… and then another. Cooper tried to keep from coughing as he spat out the lemon slice. The other guys were all cheering, invigorated by the alcohol, but he was getting too old for this.
One by one, they set their shot glasses down on the table. “All right, who wants to get fucked up?” Elijah asked, waving a baggie of white powder in the air.
“You know you can fuck me up anytime,” Lev said, sliding into his lap.
Elijah gave him a peck on the cheek, which made Cooper tense up. He might have to intervene if he suspected any romance was going to bloom between them. Lev could take care of himself, of course, but Cooper would have had a problem with Elijah dating any of his coworkers. He was simply bad news. Thankfully, it looked like they were just playing around.
“Is it better shit than you gave us last time?” Jesse asked. “I hardly felt a thing after that.”
“This is high-quality shit,” Elijah said, holding the bag just out of Lev’s reach as he jumped for it.
“I’ll try it,” Ace said. “Haven’t gotten high in a long-ass time.”
“All right, it’s going to be eighty each.”
He wasn’t just giving them drugs, he was actually trying to deal them to his coworkers. What’s more, the guys’ lack of a reaction implied that it wasn’t the first time. Cooper’s opinion of Elijah dropped even lower. What was next, dealing at the club? Selling to customers?
With his arms around Ace, Gabriel spoke softly. “You know I’m not a big fan of you doing coke.”
“You’re right. I forgot. Elijah, I’ll do it another time.”
Jesse nodded. “Another time, E.”
Cooper watched disapprovingly as Lev pressed some bills into Elijah’s hand, then eased himself off his lap. “Give me a gram. I’ll use it later.” Elijah measured out some of the white powder.
At least no one was snorting it here. Things could always go wrong when it came to drugs. You never knew. One minute everything was fine, the next minute someone was in the hospital.
The atmosphere went back to normal after, and Cooper found himself having a good time.
Yet for the entire night, his mind kept drifting back to Owen. And he wished more than anything else that Owen had come.
Five
Owen pulled his Chevrolet into the driveway of the low-rise building. He tried not to make noise as he went up to his unit. The neighborhood was a residential one, and everything was silent at this hour.
He had adjusted quickly to this crazy schedule, although it had left his social life in pieces. There weren’t many people who worked similar hours, and he had no one to hang out with. The friends he’d had before always wanted to hang out at nine or ten at night, just the time when he was starting to work. He could still get together with them on Monday and Tuesday nights. But it wasn’t much.
The one good thing about it was that spending less time hanging out with people gave him more time for his MBA. He worked on his courses online in every spare moment he had. He only had to go on campus every few weeks to check in with his advisor.
He could have had company tonight, he thought as he got ready for bed. One of the regulars had asked him to go home with her. She was younger and prettier than the two women who had skeeved him out earlier. She’d been pretty upfront about it, too.
“You should come to my place later on,” she’d whispered in his ear. “We could get to know each other better.”
This was the first time she had propositioned him. Maybe seeing his “D” had made her want him for real. In any case, the offer hadn’t tempted him.
“Sorry, I’m working until late. It won’t work.”
Even without explicit offers, he knew he could pretty much have his choice of the women in the club. His height and build appealed to most girls. His attractive face and carefully messy hair, paired with his pierced eyebrow, made him like catnip to the customers.
But he didn’t get the big deal about sex with strangers. It had even been mediocre with his few ex-girlfriends. Sure, it felt good, but he had just wanted to get away from them afterwards. It was more effort than it was worth. At some point, he had realized he was mostly doing it for their sake.
He would have thought that at some point, he would have taken advantage of being in the middle of a sea of horny women. Inexplicably, none of the regulars had ever tempted him. Their invitations were usually more subtle than tonight’s, but how they went about it made no difference. His D just didn’t respond.
Once he was in a pair of loose boxers, he sat down in front of the computer. It was past five, but washing his face had woken him up. Maybe he could have gone over to Ace’s place after all. He hadn’t quite felt like it. He saw enough of those guys already. They were cool and all, and he saw them more than his old friends lately. He just found it hard to identify with them when they were all so openly into guys.
He clicked around on a few of his favorite websites, reading a news article here and a celebrity gossip tidbit there. After a minute, he ended up on the bodybuilding website that he liked to browse. The forums were great for information about exercise and nutrition. He had attained a pretty decent body, although it could always get better. He could still stand to add some bulk to his pecs and calves.
One of the new posts was a set of progress pictures. He clicked on it with interest. This guy had started off skinny and weak. In the “after” pictures, he was even buffer than Owen. Even buffer than Cooper, come to think about it. Cooper had one of the best bodies in the club.
Owen skipped over the text about how the guy had made the changes. He always found the pictures themselves more noteworthy. He looked at the photos for several minutes, his eyes lingering on the guy’s well-defined muscles. He would love to look like that.
He clicked on some other photo sets and checked out more buff guys with hard bodies. This one had a great upper body, but the next one had an amazing lower body. Owen swallowed. Surely something other than the guy’s monstrous thighs was making his mouth water. He fidgeted slightly in the computer chair. Then he clicked on the next set of pictures.
Wow, this guy had posted a few different angles of his back. Owen put his elbow on the desk, leaning forward to get a better look at all of those muscles. Hopefully the pictures would inspire him to improve his own back. That was the only reason why he kept looking at them for several minutes.
His cock twitched and swelled, which he ignored. It was odd how that always happened when he looked at pictures like this. It was ju
st a coincidence, though. That was the only possible reason.
Or maybe it was a Pavlovian thing. He always looked at these pictures late at night, which was also when he normally jerked off. His body could be conditioned to get turned on by anything on the computer screen at this hour. Coincidence or conditioning – either way, nothing more than that was going on.
If he had a boner, he might as well do something with it. He closed the pages of nearly-naked men and clicked over to a porn site. It took him a minute to find a video that he wanted to see. The thumbnails only showed the girls, and none of them were getting him too excited. He typed in “brunette,” but none of the nude bodies gave him quite what he wanted.
Frustrated, he clicked one at random. The video loaded, and a girl walked into the backyard outside a pool. She posed, the camera running up and down different angles of her body. Owen tapped his fingers on the desk. This was boring. Did anyone actually want to see all of this? Put a guy in there. Let’s get this shit going.
He skipped forward up until the point where the guy walked on. He was an okay-looking dude, but he had a big dick. Owen watched with interest as the guy stuck it in the girl’s face. It wasn’t the dick that turned him on, it was the excitement. A girl by herself was just boring. He needed more movement and sound. That was why he had skipped forward to see the guy.
He watched for another few minutes, but his dick made no response to the girl’s fake moans. He kind of wished she wasn’t there. Focusing on the big dick was the only thing that almost made this interesting. He considered picking another video to try, but he gave up. Frustrated, he closed the computer and got into bed. His cock was still kind of twitchy, throbbing every few seconds as if it wanted attention.
“You didn’t like anything I showed you, so cut it out,” he said out loud.
His dick disobeyed. The throbbing continued as he lay in bed. For some reason, he kept picturing his coworkers from the strip club. His eyes shut, and images of different ones went through his head. First Cooper, with his hard body and his bow tie and that rose tattoo above his heart. Then Elijah, Jesse, Lev, Lucas, and back to Cooper. Now he was at his full hardness. What was going on? Thinking about his coworkers shouldn’t turn him on… yet somehow, it did.
