by N. K. Love
With a purposefully nonchalant tone I say, “Well Jax, I could stand here chatting all night but I’m afraid there’s some talented men over there demanding I go and fangirl all over their choreography, so it’d be rude not to.” I flash him a killer smile, utterly aware that he’s still holding onto my hand. “You coming?” I purposely smile too sweetly and flutter my eyelashes innocently.
He smiles quizzically at my double entendre and bats it straight back at me with ease. “Only if you are—”
It’s a miracle I manage not to react to the tingles. Instead, I take his right upper arm with my free hand, give it a gentle pull and he obliges with ease. My left hand’s lost around his bicep whilst the other’s enveloped by his and this is just one of his goddam arms for God’s sake. I’m pathetically clinging onto this one limb like it’s my lifeline as he takes the lead, navigating us through the crowd. With his left arm outstretched behind me, I fall in line, letting his colossal frame create a slipstream of a path for me. Thankfully he takes his sweet time so I take advantage by leaning in to breathe him in. Mmm… Staring at his huge ‘V’ back as we walk, I imagine it naked, sweaty, with my nails running down it…
Clearly I’m horny as hell but I can’t really blame myself considering he’s occupied my headspace for a while and now I’m in his personal space. I look at my hand engulfed in his and I like it. Amongst the chaos around us, I’m completely absorbed with him stroking his thumb over my knuckles softly as we walk. Yes, I really like my hand in his.
I know it’s not intentional and it’s a bi-product of his amazing aura and physicality but I can’t help but feel special and protected when I’m around him. That feeling simply rockets when he’s actually touching me. Yes, I feel so safe with him and it scares me witless.
By the time we reach the group, he doesn’t shrug me off as anticipated. I let go of his bicep and go to move my hand from his but he tightens his hold subtly so we remain hand in hand. I notice a few of the girls linger their eyes a fraction longer than necessary, but not in a bitchy way, it’s more out of curiosity and maybe, like me, a little surprised.
Now the girls are clapping their hands excited and I hear them saying that it’s a strip show. Wills, the sneak, left that part out. She told me they were just dancers. As much as I love watching dancers, right now, seeing some buff men semi-nude is far more appealing. Plus another one off my list, albeit not quite the sex show Wills had hoped for. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
Wills then tells the room to divide again but this time she makes a point of saying to divide by sexual preference not gender. I wonder if a heterosexual host would’ve made the same consideration. I try and crack a joke with Jax about staying with him to watch the female dancers, secretly I’m genuinely tempted to so that I don’t have to let go of his hand. But it’s like he’s eyes are having their own conversation with mine, I don’t even know if he listened to me. He flashes a beautiful smile and squeezes my hand before letting go. I catch up to the girls as Wills announces the dancers onto the floor and makes her way over to enjoy this part of the night with us.
“Hope you enjoy your surprise babe.” I give her a big squeeze then the crowds get hyped up by the DJ some more.
The dancers put on quite a performance. The music, outfits and routines, everything is just awesome. There’s tearaway clothing and baby oil flying in all directions. I take a moment to watch how the female dancers work their crowd too. They subtly manage to perform on the right side of the line between seduction and awkward. I see Jax and the rest of the lads but he doesn’t look anywhere near as interested as the leering men that surround him.
Intermittently the male dancers go and work the crowd into a frenzy letting people rub oil on their pumped up chests and backs. I sip away at my hip flask throughout, whilst giggling with the girls. We’re all very vocal in screaming our appreciation to the dancers and cheering them on. We don’t behave as crass as chanting ‘Off, off, off’ but we come close.
A male dancer in a thong makes a beeline for Shona. She’s a good sport and happily dons some handcuffs behind her back then takes an ice cube out of his mouth and rubs it all over his chest from between her teeth, sinking as low as his bulging thong for good measure. Good girly fun times.
The dancers get down to their underwear and finally the men remove their thongs and the women take off their bras, leaving their thongs on – It’s all timed to perfection with the music as they drape themselves in union jack flags to hide their assets. The crowd goes crazy and Wills is beaming, as am I! That was a brilliant, well-deserved one to mark of my list!
The female dancers strut off in nothing but heels, a thong and a flag and disappear through a door beside the bar. The male dancers, wearing army boots with their flag, follow after but not before thrusting their impressive oiled up semi’s from behind the flags and taking a bow. The sound of girls screaming for more is deafening but it dies down once they’re out of sight and the DJ’s music kicks back in. Rest assured Wills handpicked her dancers well. Note to self: Reprimand Wills for not inviting me to the ‘interviews’!
Chapter Fourteen
Saturday 4th April 2015
12:05am
I pop to the bar and grab a single vodka and iced coke in a tall glass, I’ve learned my limits lately so I decide to ease up and enjoy the buzz rather than testing my tolerance too much. I’m very merry but I can still walk straight, which is my ideal level of inebriation.
There’s a couple of missions left to go before Wills announces the winner of the battle of the sexes and the strip tease has just hyped everybody up even more. Mr Stryder and a couple of others are acting as casual judges, awarding victors in each mission on a huge wipeboard. He told Wills in the week that if the night goes really well he’ll consider making her the permanent co-ordinator for themed nights, starting by doing a battle of the sexes gig either bi-annually or quarterly. Plus branching this out to his other bars too.
There’s loads of friendly banter and we’re ready for the penultimate mission. This one involves having three volunteers from each team on the dance floor. Wills shouts out random items and they have to run into the crowds and come back with that item. She starts off simple with things like red lipstick for the girls and a condom for the guys. Then they get more difficult; a red bra and a red sock, a lacy thong and blue boxer briefs. It was a fun game and the girls won it with ease. Us women are very resourceful creatures!
Wills tells the room that the last mission will be in fifteen minutes. She then gets some of her colleagues to set up four chairs on the dance floor evenly spaced apart. She marches up to me like a soldier with a look that tells me she’s the one on a mission.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I eye her suspiciously and she drags me to the side so nobody else can hear.
“I need you to help with the big finale B. Predictably, you haven’t volunteered all night, so now it’s your time to step up to the plate.” I’m already shaking my head before I even know what it is. “Wait, wait, let me tell you, hold on… Okay, it’s a dance off; first four girls then four guys. Loudest cheers wins it… The only twist is it’s a lap dance off…” She already knows what’s coming.
“What? Are you kidding? Do you seriously think I can do that? Come on Wills.”
“I knew you’d be hesitant, that’s why I didn’t tell you before. I didn’t wanna give you time to work yourself up and over-fucking-think it. Come on B, I told you I’m not gonna wrap you up in cotton wool. You can do this, man, I have every faith. It’s actually the perfect mission for you. It’s like it was designed for you—” She winks and nudges me, which tells me everything.
“So you planned this all along? And my outfit, is that why I got the hot pants?”
“Yep. Didn’t want you flashing your fairy in a skirt and trousers aren’t sexy enough.” Unbelievable, yet not, it’s Wills after all, expect the unexpected. “Look, with your moves, that body and this outfit... Just look at you for fucks sake! Fuck yo
ur inhibitions, you left them at home tonight remember.”
“Wills, how embarrassing, all these people watching me grind up on some pervy bloke?” As much as I would love to have the balls to do this—and I do feel pretty goddam sexy in this outfit. Wait, is this the alcohol talking or maybe it’s Miss Alter Ego coming out to play? Wills reads my fickle mind and goes in for the kill, throwing everything at me.
“You really don’t have a clue how unbelievably gorgeous you are B, it’s endearing… but it’s also fucking frustrating. Please just trust me, you can do this. It’s a major one on your ‘Fuck It’ list. I’ll make sure you’ve got decent music to dance to, just sex it up a bit more than usual… Plus there’s going to be three other girls up there with you too… Pleeeeease… The guys aren’t allowed to touch you and I’ll make sure you get a good one. It’s just for fun, don’t take it serious—” She must’ve run out of her obviously rehearsed persuasive points so reverts to pulling out the puppy dog eyes and pouty lips.
“Arggghhh! You are so annoying Wills. It’s a good job I fucking love you and I’m a little drunk—”
Her excited face takes over. “Say it, say it!” I start nodding in agreement.
Then in unison we shout “F-fuck It!”
“Wait, one condition, I want the men to dance first, I need to see what I’m up against!” My inner tag team are already in a huddle discussing choreography and tactics.
“Done. Thank-you-I-love-you-you’re-my-hero… Kill it B, let go, no holding back. Promise yourself that and you’ll feel amazing afterwards.” She gives me a swift kiss, yanks my jacket zipper down and disappears to announce the final mission before I change my mind. My heart starts pounding and nerves creep up on me, reminiscent of my Uni exams.
Four team players for the men happily volunteer, as do the willing recipients of those lap dances, who take their positions on the chairs. The DJ plays the obvious “Pony” by Ginuwine and I pray they come up with something similar for the girls because I could totally work with this. There’s lots of teasing at first, subtle movements that quickly build up to blatant grinding and thrusting. They all take their tops off. I look down and completely zip my jacket back up. A couple get down to their briefs; they straddle the girls and gyrate, the girls are absolutely loving it. One guy must’ve done it before because he’s got a whole routine down, working it like it’s an audition. Jeez, how am I going to beat this? It’s a good job I’m competitive, I quickly plan some sultry moves and down a shot from Shona to help banish these nerves. Time to get my tipsy temptress game plan together.
Three or four minutes later and the crowd whoops and cheers as the men encourage them to shout louder whilst they grab their discarded clothes. Shit, shit, shit. Wills asks for a show of hands for female volunteers and when my hand gradually goes up the girls slap my back cheering and push me forward. Jax has his back to the action chatting to Craig, too pre-occupied to notice.
Wills points to three other girls and then me so I cautiously take my place beside the final chair in the row. The four of us look at each other with encouraging ‘come on!’ gestures. My nerves aren’t bad now I’m up here with them, the lights are low and the crowds are mostly drowned in darkness so I don’t feel totally exposed.
But still I have to pinch myself because this is actually really happening. I block out the silhouettes of the crowd and quickly give myself a pep talk, reciting my mantra. As Wills asks for our dance recipients she marches in and out of the crowd, allocating the first three seats. I trust her to follow through with her words and pick me a good one, actually maybe I’d feel more confidence with a not-so-good one…
As that thought crosses my mind I focus in on where Wills is heading. She marches towards our group who I can only see because the DJ is lighting Wills up with a mobile spotlight. Every one of our lads has his hand stretched up high with massive grins on their faces. My shoulders sag in relief when I don’t see Jax’s hand in the air but not for long because as Wills gets closer to him he turns slightly and I see that his hand is casually half raised with an arrogant look plastered on his gorgeous goddam face.
I’ll kill her, I will kill her! She wouldn’t—but I already know she totally would and as if in slow motion she points at Jax who swags his way to the dance floor towards me with an egotistical expression that’s begging to be wiped off his handsome face. I roll my eyes and catch the envious looks on the faces of the other three girls… In fact, the more girls I can make out in the crowd, the more I see that distinct look of envy. Some look at me in an excited fangirl way and some in a finger snapping bitchy way.
When he reaches me I mutter under my breath but loud enough for him to hear. “You have got to be kidding me.” I’m at a loss of what to actually say to him. “Why—w-why would you—”
“Now, now Angel. Play nicely, come on, you wanted to know if it was loaded… Now’s your chance to find out. Unless of course you and your witty little mouth can’t handle it?” He takes a seat and hangs his sunglasses off the neck of his tee so casually it’s as if he’s sitting down to watch the footy. He drops his cap onto the floor and sits on his hands, as instructed by Wills. How can he still look sexy when his smugness is at my expense? Dammit.
I’m already sizing him up and not just in an I-wish-your-body-was-my-temple kind of way. His knobnoxious fighting talk is exactly what I need as I mentally squash my nerves into a ball and bounce them across the floor.
Looking across at the other three girls again, it seems like we have all dropped into a new confident persona. Fight or flight. Sink or swim.
As we wait for the music Wills is rallying the crowd into a frenzy again and the atmosphere is electric; girls cheering us on and the men whistling and clapping. I zone them out, like I zoned Shona out when I first laid eyes on Jax. I coolly turn my back to him and walk away a few paces, swinging my hips slowly. Deep breaths. In and out, in and out.
It’s time to step up to the challenge and out of my comfort zone. Wills doesn’t disappoint as the tell-tale piano notes spring the speakers to life and I hear the husky, seductive voice of Usher, it’s “Trading Places” – Now this has potential! ‘Kill it B, let go, no holding back’. Nobody will think I’m sexy if I don’t believe it myself.
I lock my game face down putting my faithful trust in my inner duo. The other girls have already swung into action but I have to do this in a composed manner otherwise I’ll panic and freak myself out. I casually adjust my cap so it’s low and tight and don my sunglasses. Stay in control. Now with this mask I’m able to slide effortlessly into my alter ego state. Fuck It!
Jax
When Wills collared me earlier and asked me to volunteer for this if Beth did, I went along with it thinking there’s no chance this girl’s getting up here. But once again, she pleasantly surprised me, my sweet Little Miss Contradiction. The look on her face when Willow chose me was absolutely priceless though; like she wanted the dance floor to swallow her up. Unfortunately, just like how things were left between us at Tricks, I’m still struggling to figure her out. The other week, she was a feisty sexy tiger. But tonight she’s been a timid little sex kitten. Yet she doesn’t come across as the mercurial type, so what’s happened between now and then?
Earlier, after delighting me with the fact that she’s straight, she made it clear that she’s not interested in me – other than for a flirt. I respect that, I don’t fucking understand it but I’ve got no choice but to take her lead. It’s a ball crushing shame, especially when she was standing there against the wall, in this outfit, that is practically screaming for me to rip it off. The fucking thigh holster was just the icing on the bittersweet cake.
When she said that she’s not used to attention, I could see in her eyes that she genuinely meant it. It wasn’t just a case of a pretty girl fishing for compliments to boost her own ego. So what’s her story?
Anyway, she can’t blame me for this. She was the one who said she’s happy to play, so there’s no way I was going to pass up the opportun
ity to make her squirm. There’s something about this girl that’s got me captivated so any chance I’ve got to peel back another layer, I’m going to take it.
Now, let’s see if she can pull this out the bag.
Wills, the spoilsport, has got us sitting on our hands but that’s not going to deter my enjoyment. Beth’s peachy fine ass is perfectly in my line of sight. She’s standing with her feet apart and hip cocked to the side but the music’s just started and the other girls flew into action but Beth is still standing there, with her back to me…
I catch a swift look at the other three girls and they pale into insignificance even though Beth hasn’t even budged. Has she bottled it?
My answer comes immediately as she swivels on the spot to face me. Fuck me, she’s scorching… Mmm-huh… this could actually be interesting. She’s kept her glasses on and pulled the beak of her cap down low. I can still see those suckable plump lips though and there’s no question that she’s completely focussed on me. My body impulsively reacts to her, she commands its full attention.
