by Joanna Blake
“It gets easier.”
I opened my eyes and one of the older girls was standing there. Barbara I think. But on stage, she was Bambi. It was ridiculous. Sad. Pathetic.
But her eyes were kind.
“They hassling you?”
I shrugged.
“You know you could make triple the money at least if you got up on the stage. You would blow most of these other bitches away.”
I knew she meant it as a compliment. But it was the last thing I wanted to hear at the moment.
“I don’t think I could do it. Thanks though.”
“Hey, you know what makes it a lot easier?”
“No, what?”
She pulled me into the dressing room and held up a bottle of tequila. The good stuff too. Clear, not yellow. And not a brand I’d heard of before.
Which basically meant it was fancy as hell.
“Mother’s milk!”
I watched numbly as she poured out two shots into dixie cups.
She handed me mine and I took it. I didn’t want to offend her. Besides, its not like I had to drive home.
I could ride a bike after a drink or two.
Haha.
That was almost funny.
I downed the shot. And the next one she handed me. Then I thanked her and headed back to the floor. Another guy reached out to touch me as I passed his table and I wiggled out of the way, giggling.
Bambi was right.
Mother’s milk was a huge fucking help.
Chapter Twenty
Clay
I sat in the darkest part of the club waiting. I knew she was here. I didn’t want to believe it but I fucking knew it was true.
After all, the private investigator I’d hired had told me so. Even showed me a picture of Nevada tottering around in high heels and a skimpy cocktail waitress uniform.
With too much makeup on her young and pretty face, she’d looked like a child playing dress up. But her body was all woman. She’d get eaten alive in that outfit.
It had cut me like a knife.
My father and I had gone to the motel, but Dana and Nevada were long gone. The clerk had been unhelpful once again. So had calling around to the other inexpensive places to stay.
It had been weird to see my dad in a place like that. Cheap. Shoddy. But even weirder had been the look of worry on his face.
He actually fucking cared about her.
Like, a lot.
We’d gone home and shared a bottle of booze.
The next day, I’d hired a private detective- with my dad’s blessing.
It had led me here. Nevada was working in a fucking strip joint. Not as a dancer, but still… My blood boiled as I sat there. She wouldn’t take my money, but this was okay?
Half-naked women were everywhere but I barely even saw them. I was looking at the men in the place. Wondering if they’d touched her. Talked to her. Tried anything.
Because if they did, there would be hell to pay.
A girl with her hair pulled back in a chignon came in from the back. She was laughing with one of the strippers. Her long neck and graceful shoulders drew my eye.
I knew her, even in the darkness across a crowded room.
Nevada Jones.
She looked older somehow. Jaded. And that’s before they sent her over to take my order. Before her eyes turned cold and hard as she stared at me.
“What can I get you?”
“Nev, what the fuck are you doing here?”
She looked up from her pad.
“I’m trying to take your order.”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
“Do you know what you want? I have other tables to attend to…”
I watched her walk off. I could sit here all night. And the next night.
There was no way I was leaving her alone in a place like this.
Eventually she’d break down and talk to me.
She fucking had to.
Nevada
He was back.
Again.
The second night in a row that Clay sat in the back, away from the stage. And glared at me.
I felt like there were two holes burning into my back as I leant over my table and took the orders of a group of middle-aged business men.
The tequila Barbara kept in the back room was working wonders. I was almost having fun. I even started to enjoy the attention from all these men.
They wanted me.
They desired me.
Me.
Turns out, I could be with a lot of guys if I wanted to. Not just Clay. Not that it was surprising really. But I’d never had real grownups pay me the least attention.
It was heady.
Or maybe that was the tequila talking.
I was sashaying across the bar when he grabbed my arm.
“What the fuck are you doing Nevada? Are you getting off on this?”
The bouncer was over there in an instant.
“Don’t touch the merchandise man.”
I tossed my head and threw Clay a look. I couldn’t stop him from sitting there. But he sure as shit had better behave.
I saw Sheila wave me over while I was filling my drink order.
Sheila was sitting at the bar in one of her kaftans. I liked her. She was a bit vulgar, with her cheap sequined gowns and perpetually full martini glass. But she looked after us girls.
Us girls.
I was already becoming one of them.
We were a fellowship of women. Armed against the world with push up bras and stilettos.
And lipstick.
And hairspray.
And vaseline on your teeth. Who knew?
“Honey it’s a slow night and we are having amateur hour. I thought you might be interested.”
“Oh. Really?”
She grinned at me.
“Sooner or later everyone takes it off. Besides, you’re ready. And I know you would win.”
She made it sound like I had earned her respect somehow. I had passed her test.
“You don’t have to do nothin’ fancy. Just show ‘em your cute little bra and panties. Five hundred bucks is the prize.”
I froze. Five hundred bucks was a lot of money. Besides I wouldn’t be naked. Just, slightly more naked than I currently was.
What was a few flimsy scraps of fabric between friends?
“I saw the way you handled that young buck. I’m impressed. You got the makings of a real career girl here.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Clay. He was nursing a beer and glaring at me. Again.
I turned back to Sheila and smiled.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“You have a song in mind?”
I looked back at Clay over my shoulder.
“Yeah. I got it.”
“Alright honey. Well tell the DJ and get your fannie up on that stage!”
“What, right now?”
“You need a minute?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“You got five.”
I ran backstage and told Barbara what was happening. She opened the cap and I swallowed rapidly, drinking straight from the bottle. That must be at least three more shots. Plus the two I’d had at the start of my shift.
I was pretty much going to be shit faced in five, four, three, two-
“Next up on the stage is our very own little cocktail waitress Nevada. Put your hands together!”
Oh shit, they’d used my real name!
Not that it mattered. Not really. My heart was pounding as I heard the slow sensual strains of my song one on. I walked through the backstage area to the heavy velvet curtains. I took a deep breath and stepped through them.
Then I started dancing.
Not like the girls did. No, I just sort of swayed and played with the straps of my uniform. Apparently that was all I had to do because the crowd went wild.
Suddenly I was standing in a shower of singles. I looked down. There were some tens and twenties mixed in as well. Emboldened I slid a str
ap down over my shoulder, staring coyly into the darkness.
You really could only see the guys sitting closest to the stage.
And I just didn’t look at them at all.
That made it a whole lot easier.
I pulled the other strap down and another shower of money washed over me. Then I turned and shimmied the top of my uniform over my bra.
There, I was practically topless. Hoots and hollers came from everywhere. It was scary but I can’t lie.
It was quite a rush.
Until I felt the hand yanking me off the stage. I stared up, startled. Clay was looking down at me, looking furious. For a minute, I was actually scared by that look.
Right until the bouncer got to him.
Crap.
I watched as Clay was dragged forcibly out of the club.
I ran outside trying to tell Troy not to beat the living shit out of Clay.
I pretty much convinced him after a few choice hits.
The weird thing was, Clay didn’t fight back. That wasn’t like him. He just stared at me, looking deeply wounded.
Judging from the blood trickling out of his mouth, he kind of was.
“Stop it! Stop! I know him!”
Sheila had followed us out.
“Old boyfriend?”
“I’m sorry Sheila. I didn’t tell him I was here.”
She smiled at me sadly.
“That’s okay honey. You take a few days and make sure this is what you really want.”
She patted my shoulder.
“You sure got the looks for it. But if I had a guy that looked like that not wanting me to dance. I wouldn’t dance.”
I glanced at Clay who was staring at me. He wiped his mouth and rubbed the blood on his pants. He looked so fucked up. I knew it was because of me.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.”
His eyes were still dark as he took my air and propelled me towards his car.
“Wait, my bike!”
“Fuck your bike.”
He ignored me, putting the car into reverse and snarling ‘put your fucking seatbelt on’ as he revved off into the night.
Chapter Twenty One
Clay
I followed the signs to Wright’s beach. It was a camping spot I’d been to a few times with my mother. I don’t know what made me drive all the way to the coast this late at night.
Probably because it was so far away.
I’d driven for an hour to get here.
That’s exactly how long it took me to calm down.
I could still see all those men looking at her. Wanting to touch her. It made the bile rise in my throat.
I pulled into the parking lot and finally looked at her. We hadn’t spoken a word. Not fucking one.
Nev’s arms were wrapped around her as she stared straight ahead.
She was shivering. I cursed. And I’d had the top down during the entire drive.
“Don’t you have anything else to put on?”
She shook her head no.
I felt rage welling up inside me again.
“Are you fucking saying that you biked to the club looking like that?”
Her mouth dropped open. She obviously had no idea the effect she had on men when she was fully dressed. Being half naked was just asking for trouble.
I jumped out of the car and popped the trunk. I had some towels in there I thought… I fished around and grabbed two towels and a sweatshirt. I handed her the sweatshirt. Wordlessly she took it and slipped it over her head.
Then I walk toward the path, glancing over my shoulder at her.
“You coming?”
I heard the car door slam and the click clack of her high heels on the pavement. When we got to the path I turned and hoisted her into my arms. She looked at me in surprise and I shrugged.
“I don’t want you to twist an ankle.”
We were both silent as I carried her down the steep path to the ocean. Out here the beach was wild- craggy outcroppings of rock and swirling rip tides. The moon was bright so we could see the waves. I lay the towel down and lowered her onto it. Then I spread the other towel over her legs.
That should do it.
We sat there staring at the water for a long time.
Finally we looked at each other.
Nev looked like she wanted to tell me off. But then she started laughing. I laughed too.
“I think that’s the booze talking. You smell like a bar.”
Slowly our laughter faded. I brushed her hair out of her face. It had come loose during the drive and cascaded over her shoulders.
She blinked up at me, her feelings shining in her eyes.
She loved me.
She fucking had to.
“What am I going to do with you Nev?”
She smiled, her eyes dipping to my lips.
“Kiss me?”
I groaned and pulled her into my lap.
“Yeah, for starters.”
I kissed her softly.
“But what am I going to do after that?”
She shrugged.
“I have a few ideas.”
I laughed. She was being really cute. I still had a big problem though. I could not let her work in that place. And it was 100% my fault that she’d ended up there.
Right now my body had different ideas. I slid my hand up her back, caressing her skin. It was warm under my sweatshirt. I guided her arms into the sweatshirt so I could pull her top and bra off. Then I slid everything down over her hips.
“Nev…”
I kissed her forehead softly and stood to pull my pants off. It was chilly but I didn’t mind. Even though I hated it, seeing her on that stage had done things to me.
Lit me up in a way that was going to take a long, long while to cool down.
Nevada
We were laughing as we did it. That was a first. We were both naked from the waist down and fully dressed from the waist up. It was so cold though that it was really a matter of necessity.
Still, it was kind of funny.
Three times we did it on that towel. Three times with just a short break in between. Somehow, he managed to keep me warm.
And keep the sand out of my you know what.
Well, mostly.
Clay was dozing with his head on my lap when I shook him awake. The sun was coming up over the Pacific Ocean. His beautiful blue eyes blinked at me in confusion and then he smiled. So warmly that my heart seemed to actually flutter.
“We have to go.”
He sighed and sat up, pulling me against him.
“Wait. Not yet.”
We watched the sunrise in silence until the sun was fully up. At last he stood, helping me to my feet. We walked slowly to the car, not laughing now, not joking. Even though we were full of sand and shaking ourselves out.
He turned the car on and looked at me.
“Let me take you to school with me. We can get an apartment off campus and enroll you someplace nearby for second semester. If we are together then you can’t object to me helping with some of the costs.”
I looked at him.
“What and give up your previous frat?”
He swallowed.
“Shut up Nevada. You know you mean more to me than that. I-“
I stopped him. I knew what he was about to say. So I said the cruelest thing I could.
“Take me home Clay. You’re no good for me. And I’m no good for you.”
His face paled but I blundered on.
“This is my life now and I just have to make do with it.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it Nev.”
I said nothing, just waited. He drove me back towards home, stopping once to get us each a coffee. As we got to the outskirts of town I told him to pull over.
“You can leave me here.”
“No, Nev. Let’s go get your bike and get you the whole way home.”
I shrugged.
“Whatever.”
He cursed under his breath and started d
riving back towards the club. When we got there my bike was gone. Typical.
Clay stood beside me staring at my cheap bike lock on the ground.
“Where to?”
I sighed and gave him the address of the apartment complex we’d moved into.
Chapter Twenty Two
Clay
We pulled into Nevada’s apartment complex. I looked around, feeling my temper start to rise. It was better than the motel, but not by much.
What the hell was I going to do with this girl?
We parked and I got out. She was trying to tell me something when we both saw it.
Rather, we heard it.
My father was standing outside their apartment.
Apparently the investigator had found out more than he’d told me.
And he’d told dear old dad instead.
“Dannnnaaaa!”
People were looking out their windows to see what the early morning commotion was all about. I watched as Dana opened the door and stepped out. She immediately started taking my father to task in a low, but distinctly angry, tone.
Two things became clear to me. One, that they didn’t realize we were there. Two, that my father was begging.
Begging forgiveness. Begging for a second chance. Begging for her to marry him.
Holy shit.
I glanced at Nev to see how she was reacting to the scene as it unfolded. She looked horrified. And then amused.
By the time my father had mollified her mother, Nevada was all out laughing. Fuck it. So was I.
How much crazier could this get?
My jaw dropped as it got much, much crazier.
My father got down on his knee and proposed to Dana.
The fucker even had a ring. A big shiny ass ring.
We watched as Dana nodded and my father swept her up into his arms. They kissed for a few minutes. Then they finally noticed us.
I knew suddenly that my problems looking after Nev had been solved. She’d take tuition from her stepfather. But I had a much, much bigger problem now.
The love of my life and I were about to be related.
Nevada
We sat around the table at the diner perusing the menu. I was starving after a night sleeping on the beach with Clay. Well, laying on the beach.
