by Teri Kay
“Seems easy enough,” I replied with a nervous smile. The rest of our lunch went by smoothly. We talked about the policies and the rules at The Cave. The differences between pole, floor and stage dances and how with each you created a different character. Each of the girls at the club had a signature dance. I was going to need to figure out mine and soon. “So when will they teach me the dances?” I questioned.
“Oh girl, no one teaches you,” Bree informed me with her cute southern drawl. “Nope. You're on your own to figure out your moves.”
Vanessa must have sensed my nervousness, and sought to put me at ease. “Ready for your make-over?" she asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess.”
“Ladies, we'll see you later. I'll bring Ry with me tonight and then I think I we need an emergency girl’s night after work. I’ll text you all the details.” Vanessa grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me out of the restaurant.
The drive to Vanessa’s place was quiet. The thought of whether or not I had the confidence do this kept running through my mind. I was honestly scared to death. What no one knew, not even Rose, was that I could dance. And I was pretty damn good too. After Lucas left me, I needed to find something to make me feel like a woman again, something to make me feel sexy. I found a pole fitness Groupon and figured why the hell not. I became addicted. So instead of the gym, I took classes twice a week. In private or in Jewel’s dance studio I was a sexy beast, but this had yet to be tested in front of others. It was my dirty little secret.
Vanessa had a small place on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Perfect for her and her cat, Hairball. The extra room was set up as a complete dressing room. I was undeniably jealous.
“So we have a good five hours until we have to leave for work. Let’s figure you out,” Vanessa said as she started pouring us a glass of wine. Vanessa was the entertainment manager for the club. She was more like a den mother to the girls at The Cave than a boss. She was in charge of helping the girls get settled in and to find their way, so to speak.
We walked back and sat in front of the vanity mirror in the dressing room. “I’m scared, Nes. I’m older than most of the girls at the club. What if I get rejected because they think I'm too old? What if I fall flat on my face? What if someone recognizes me?” I rambled on.
“Rose was right. You do worry too much,” she answered as she got up and stood behind me. “One thing at a time. First, I’m eight years older than you, girl. I don’t get rejected. It’s all in your attitude. You have a smoking hot body. Get up. Go stand in front of the mirror.
“What?” I questioned. “Why?”
“Do it,” she demanded. Even though Vanessa is only five foot three and I stood a good five inches over her, I wouldn’t dare argue with her. “Strip. Take it all off, Ryann.” I took off my clothes and stood there looking at myself in the mirror. I felt exposed and tried to cover myself up. Vanessa pulled my hands down. I've always kept myself in good shape, but I’ve been less confident in myself as a woman since the divorce, even with the classes. The feeling that I was somehow broken, not good enough has been slowing dragging me down as my situation got worse and worse. “If you can’t feel comfortable being naked in front of me, how can you do it in front of hundreds of men and women?” she asked softly.
“Women?” I shyly repeated.
“Yes, honey. It’s Vegas. They all show up. Do you know what I see in front of me?” I shook my head. “A striking woman who will soon gain back her confidence this summer. You're tall, with amazingly strong legs. You have these cute perky tits, just like mine,” she laughed as she grabbed her own boobs and jiggled them around. “Not saggy from those pesky kids sucking on them for years. And obviously you do some squats, because this ass is like two perfectly shaped globes. You want to look different, I can make that happen and I understand your reasons, Teach. But embrace this body you have. Not all of us are as blessed as you.” I put on one of the silk robes that she handed me.
“Do you really think I can do this, Vanessa?” I searched her face for the reassurance I needed.
“This might sound weird, but hear me out. You teach kindergarten, right? So what’s your day really about? Putting on a show to keep the attention of a group five-year-olds. Essentially, throughout the day you become many different characters to teach them what they need to know. The purpose at a strip club quite similar. Most of our customers are overgrown drunk boys anyways. Become the character, but rather than teach them, take their money. The best advice I can give you is listen to your customer. They are paying you. Create their fantasy.” She finished her speech and I started to feel a little more confident in the situation.
“Alright. Let’s make me over,” I said to her with a cautious grin.
Dance for You
It felt so good to be home. I took a long swig off my beer, my eyes glued to the latest MMA fight that I missed, while playing catch with my pup. I loved what I do, but all the traveling begins to wear on you. I spent the last week in Atlantic City playing in a week long Texas Hold’em tournament. I guess I couldn’t complain too much, I made over $122,000 for five days of “work”.
Poker is something that requires one’s complete attention to be successful. All week, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to thoughts of Vaughn. That blonde hair, her dark brown eyes, her perfect curves. It really didn’t help my game. That girl had quickly captured my attention. I wanted to call Rose and ask about her, but as far as anyone knew, I was just a club regular. Even though I’ve hung out with Jeremy and Rose casually outside of The Cave, I wasn’t ready to share my actual involvement in the establishment. And a customer calling a bartender for her drunk friend’s number may not go over too well. I guess I could have sent Vaughn a direct message on Instagram, but after she didn’t follow me back I again didn’t want to turn into that creepy dude in the background. Even though that’s exactly what I was.
“Well, shit. That fight lasted less than fifteen minutes. Now what?” Eight-fifteen on a Saturday night and I had not a damn thing to do. You would think that living in Vegas I would never run out of things to keep me busy. But the party lifestyle just wasn’t me. I liked to drink, but for the most part, I was pretty mellow. Most of my friends are still in California or are just poker buddies. And when you live your life in casinos, they're the last place you want to go on your time off. But there’s no way I was sitting at home by myself my first night back in town.
I grabbed my iPhone and hit the Facetime App. I scrolled through my list of contacts until I found her name. I hit call. She picked up within two rings.
“Hey, beautiful.” I smiled as her face appeared on my screen. Those eyes got me every time.
“Hi,” she said sadly, and gave me that cute pout.
“What’s wrong, baby girl? Where’s that smile that makes me so happy?” I asked.
“It’s in Las Vegas,” she replied with that nine-year-old attitude I had grown to love so much.
“What does that mean?”
“I miss you, Daddy,” she whined. “It’s almost summer break and I really want to come and visit.”
“I miss you too, J-Ella Bean. That’s why I’m calling. Talk to your mom. Figure out the days when you can come and spend a couple weeks with me. I’ll text you both the few days I will be gone this summer for tournaments, but you can always stay with your aunt and cousin during that time,” I told her. We continued to talk for a few more minutes about all the end of year things going on at school and my latest trip. We blew each other our special father/daughter kiss and ended our chat. The day I moved away from Ella was the worst day of my life, but to continue my career I needed to be Las Vegas. I hated not being able to tuck her in each night, so video chats were our next best thing. She said she understood but it still broke my heart.
Well, that was a half an hour off my nothing to do Saturday night. Might as well shower and go hit up The Cave, have a few good drinks and maybe a lap dance or two. I may not be into dating strippers, but Ashlynn is that typ
e of girl that can make your body forget the stresses of traveling and sitting on uncomfortable poker table chairs for five days.
I decided to ride my Harley to the club. Saturday night traffic in Vegas could be a bitch, and my bike allowed me to get around much quicker. I loved the free feeling of being able to roar up the downtown strip. The parking lot to The Cave was packed. Typical for a weekend night. I pulled up around back and went directly into Damon’s office.
“Hey, bud,” I greeted him as I entered the club. “How’s it going?” I dropped down in the chair in front of his desk.
“Nuts! Good to see you, buddy,” he shouted. “How was the tournament? Better yet, how were the hotties of Atlantic City?”
“You’re lucky I like you, asshole.” I gave him a dirty look. He’s the only person that can still get away with calling me nuts. I met Damon White at UCLA our freshman year. He had just started an underground poker tournament each month in the dorms. I got the nickname nuts a few years later in one of the weekend tournaments. It didn’t seem to matter which table I was at that night; I was constantly being dealt the best hands. After that night, I began to take my poker playing a little more seriously. “It was good. Fourth place. Dude, it’s Jersey. There are no hotties. How’s business?”
“Boomin’ buddy! Boomin’!” He smiled.
“That’s what I like to hear. I'll catch up with you later. I need one of Rose’s Flaming Doctor Peppers,” I told him as I walked out. Nobody ever thinks much of me coming and going from the back because Damon and I have been best friends since college. The Cave is even more crowded tonight than a usual Saturday. These music festivals really upped the number of people in here. The husband’s send their wives to the concerts and they come and hang out here for the night. Smart if you asked me. I made my way through the crowd to the main bar to grab a drink from my favorite bartender.
“Hey, handsome,” she said as she dropped the shot into the beer. She must have seen me coming from the back. “I have a break in twenty minutes. I’ll meet you upstairs.”
I nodded and headed toward the VIP lounge. I loved the view that the corner booth gave me. I was able to see the entire stage, two of the three bars, and the front door. I believed seeing who was coming and going in the club was important. Being a professional gambler, I never liked to be blindsided. I only put myself in positions where I held the cards.
Ashlynn came over with my usual beer and Jack Daniel’s shot. “Hey, stranger. Haven’t seen you in a few weeks.” She bent over to put the drink down on my table and I could see directly down the small, pink camisole thing she was wearing. Her perky, petite tits were actually looking quite luscious. Ashlynn had natural strawberry blonde hair and soft, pale skin. The pink in her top almost perfectly matched her erect, little nipples. She crawled in the booth behind me, sat on top of one the seats and started rubbing my shoulders.
Shit, she didn’t remember last weekend. Ashlynn was pretty well shit-faced drunk when I put her in the limo with the other girls. Should I say something? I let out a moan as she rubbed my neck. The last thing I wanted was for things to become awkward between Ash and I. She’s been my girl for the last few months, and she's never mentioned being in a relationship with Vanessa. “Tournaments have been keeping me busy,” is all I could think of saying. She moved down the bench next to me and pulled my legs over her body. Ash began rubbing my quads in a way that made my whole body shake. “How’s school?” I managed to spit out. My eyes practically rolled back in my head. Damn the woman had magic hands.
“Good. Hard. I didn’t realize how much medical terminology there is in massage therapy. But I'm enjoying what I do and the clients I get to practice on,” she answered with a wink.
“Well I love being your massage dummy, Ash.” The D.J. played the siren which told all the stage performers of the night that they had five minutes until their next number.
Ashlynn hopped up. “That’s my cue, babe. It’s Beyoncé night.” She bounced down the stairs and disappeared through the back curtain. I enjoyed watching the group dances that are performed at the club. We definitely had some of the sexiest woman in Vegas. Within minutes, Beyoncé’s Dance for You was playing throughout the club and most of the dancers were on the stage. It’s a slower song and the girls used it to bring those “totally unsuspecting bachelor's” up on stage and gave them the lap dance of their life before they ran off and got married. I watched as Jade and Ashlynn worked together and scared the piss out of a young kid. The poor guy looked like he just came straight off a farm in Iowa. Jade was standing behind him, having him look up as she shook her tits right over his face. Ashlynn was doing this reverse cowgirl kind of thing, grinding her ass in the guy’s lap. By the time the song was over, it wouldn’t have surprised me if farm boy down there didn’t bust a nut in his pants.
It’s long past twenty minutes and Rose had still not come up to talk to me. The bars would usually clear out a bit when there were group numbers on the stage. I spotted her talking to a hot new redhead. She was sitting on one of the tall stools legs crossed, you could almost see the defined muscles in her legs. Definitely a dancer’s legs. Her back was bare, except for a small tattoo that I couldn’t make out from my position. Her natural tan practically glowed under the low club lighting. Screw watching from up here. Time for another FDP.
As I made it to the bottom of the stairs, the little red headed vixen walked away with Vanessa. Damn. Next time. I made my way over and occupied the stool she was sitting in. There was a lingering scent of coconut in the air. Immediately, my dick jerked in my shorts. I looked around for my blonde beauty but no such luck. Probably just a coincidence. I mean coconut had to be a popular scent among the ladies during the summer. I watched the girls on stage as Rose finished up with other customers.
“Hey, Nathan. Sorry we’re busy tonight. I just wanted to say thanks for making sure my girlfriend and I got back to our hotel safely last weekend. Jeremy also says thanks. He says hit him up for a workout sesh,” Rose shouted over the music as she poured my drink.
I didn’t even notice that Vanessa and Vixen returned to the bar while I was finishing my shot. “Hey, champ,” Vanessa bumped me with her hip. “Meet my newest summer dancer…” I glanced over to my right and saw her standing there. Vanessa ceased to exist for me after that.
I would have recognized those dark eyes anywhere. They'd invaded my dreams for the past week. Why was my blonde beauty now this red headed vixen? Was this her? Or was I just that exhausted that I was thinking that any girl that smells like coconut was her? She turned to grab a drink off the bar, and I saw them; the two butterfly tattoos that decorated her side. She shook my hand, “I’m sorry, I missed your name,” I questioned.
“Vaughn. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Sims,” she said demurely.
No. Fucking. Way. Vaughn. My blonde beauty was a stripper.
**
“I’m going to lose it all, man. Everything I worked so hard for is going to shit and all I can do is admit that you were fucking right,” Damon said as he put his head in his hands. His wife left him three months ago when she decided that being married just wasn’t for her. I warned him not to marry Isabell. There was always something about her I didn’t trust. Fake, little gold digger from Miami. I saw that one coming a mile away, and ran. Damon was convinced Isabell was his soulmate and married her way too quickly. Within a year they bought a house, two new high end cars, and he even put her name on the deed to his fucking club. I had been hearing the gossip around town about her only being in it for the money. Vegas may be a big town, but people here love to run their mouths. Especially strippers. Rumor had it, Isabell only planned to stay long enough to take half and then she was out of there. I hated to say I told you so, but I called it on day one. I’m a poker player. I could usually see when people were bluffing. Damon doesn't have an ounce of card shark in him, and when it came to Isabell he only saw her with his dick rather than his eyes.
“Dude, we will figure it out. We always do. Give me a week
. I may have a solution,” I told him as we watched the girls dance on stage. Life may suck at times, especially when your lady walked out on you and took half of everything, but having a huge set of tits bouncing up and down in front of you, can certainly make you forget for a while. As for me, I might just reap the benefits of my friend’s misery. The tits were just a perk. Yeah, I'm a selfish bastard sometimes.
A week later, I invited Damon, his lawyer and my financial advisor to lunch. “Gentlemen, I have a business plan that may get us all what we want in this situation. My advisor and I have been looking for different ways to invest my poker winnings, something where I can be a silent partner. And all I know is poker and women. Everything else is left up to Damon.”
“Man, really? I know my way around the ladies,” Damon laughed.
“Dude, if you did, none of us would be here right now. Now, back to business. In front of you is a business plan for The Cave, what could be Vegas’ hottest new strip club and bar. The club you have now, Damon, is not the club you dreamed of having. We can sell it. Give Isabell half of the money and get the hell away from her. I've found the prime location two blocks from the Aria that's twice the size of what you have now,” I explained.
“Sounds great man, but the half I get from the club won’t be able to buy and create The Cave. Nice idea though,” Damon voice held a hint of defeat.
“And that’s where I come in. I need something to invest in. I’ll be a silent partner. The plan we’ve drawn up say the profits are one hundred percent yours until you're free and clear from Isabitch.” The whole table chuckled. “Once you pay me back, we’ll split the profits seventy-five and twenty-five percent. If that works for you. I’m serious about being a silent partner, besides on paper this is your club. I just request my own VIP booth,” I laughed as my friend and his lawyer were going over the paperwork.
