Walk of Shame Series (Books 1-6)

by Victoria Ashley

  The two lifting weights keep looking my way, talking loudly about my fine ass, but I ignore them and try my best to not give them a piece of my mind. As if they can’t make it any more obvious what they want to do to me. Not happening.

  After thirty minutes on the treadmill, I look around me to see that the guys are still watching me, so I give up on the treadmill and decide to move somewhere more private where I can have a moment to let my emotions out.

  There’s no one back there to see just how much stress and pent up anger that I really have and if I stay here with these ogling jerkoffs then I’m going to end up taking my frustration out on them and not in a good way.

  Slamming back some water, I take a few seconds to catch my breath, before shutting myself in the other room and grabbing the end of the battle ropes.

  Gripping tightly onto the ropes, I start out with some power slams, before moving onto some outside circles. I move for as long as I can, until my muscles ache and lungs burn as I fight for air.

  Then I toss the ends of the rope down and let out a small scream of anger and relief.

  I don’t even realize that I’m no longer alone, until I look up at the wall mirror and see a muscular guy with blonde hair and striking blue eyes.

  His arms are crossed and he’s leaning against the doorframe as if he’s completely comfortable just watching me.

  “How long have you been there?” I question out of breath.

  He lifts a brow and steps into the room when I reach for my Swig Savvy water bottle, just to be reminded that it’s empty.

  “Here.” He holds out a bottle of water. “Long enough to see that you must be thirsty from working all that frustration off.”

  Keeping my eyes on his, I grab the water, unscrew the cap and throw it back, almost emptying it.

  His eyes slowly move from my eyes, down to my lips around the top of the bottle.

  “You need me?” he questions.

  I pull the bottle away and laugh, while still fighting to catch my breath. “For what?”

  He moves closer to me and rubs his thumb over my mouth, wiping the excess water away. “To bring you a towel . . .” his eyes slowly scan me over, stopping on the sweat, dripping between my cleavage. “Or to help you work out some of that frustration?”

  Keeping my eyes on his cocky, but surprisingly smooth ass, I tilt the water back until it’s empty, then toss the bottle back to him.

  “No, thank you.” I flash him a sweet smile. “After this I plan to get wet anyway and work out my frustration on my own. I don’t need any help with that.”

  Smirking, he lifts a brow in amusement. “I like a woman that can work out her own frustration once in a while. I’m not gonna lie . . .” Walking past me, he grips the battle ropes in his hands and squats. “It’s really fucking hot.”

  Swallowing, I stand back and watch his muscles flex as he does some power slams, looking as if he has just as much or more stress than me to get out.

  His tattooed arms and hands have me completely hypnotized and I have to admit that he’s extremely hot in that bad boy kind of way.

  He looks nothing like the uptight men I have dated in the past. None of them have been able to handle me, but I have a feeling that he’d be able to do that and more.

  After a few minutes, he drops the ropes and turns to face me, his body dripping with sweat as he breathes heavily.

  I find myself checking him out completely, my eyes moving lower to check out his thick legs and then back up to admire his firm chest that his shirt is now plastered to. “Thanks for the water. I suppose I owe you now.”

  I reach for my bag and pull out my spare water bottle and toss it to him. “Anything else I can get you?”

  He grins. “You really want me to answer that?”

  I take a step back as he takes a few steps toward me, practically backing me up against the wall.

  Trying not to let myself enjoy his closeness too much, I place my hand on his sweaty chest and push back a bit. “I don’t know yet,” I say honestly. “I have a feeling that it might be something that I want, but don’t need.”

  He moves his face around my neck, to whisper in my ear. “I second that . . . Meadow.”

  I give him a surprised look as he backs away and goes back to grab the ropes. “How do you know my name? Should I be running right about now?”

  He winks. “Only if you want to.”

  With that, he starts on the ropes again, leaving me to either stand here and watch him like a creeper again, or leave.

  I find myself smiling, slightly amused, as I let myself out of the room to find something else to keep me occupied.

  I’m standing here, looking around to get familiar with the gym and how it’s set up, when one of the guys that was watching me earlier, steps up beside me and grips my waist. “You look a little lost.” He now squeezes my hip, letting out this creepy little moan as his eyes roam over my body. “Want me and my friend to show you around?”

  Disgusted, I remove his hand from my hip, but he quickly replaces it as if he has the right to touch me if he wants.

  “Get your fucking hand off of me before I break it off.” I push his hand from my body and walk away from him, hoping that he won’t follow.

  It does no good, because he ends up on the elliptical beside me, talking once again. “I love a girl with a little sass. My friend over here does too. It turns us on.”

  His friend appears next to me, watching me as he wipes his armpits off with a towel. “You single?”

  “No,” I bite out. “Now fuck off.”

  “Damn . . . those tits.” I cringe as his eyes roam my body just as his friend’s did. “And that-”

  “She told you to fuck off,” a voice booms, causing both the guys to look surprised and a little scared when the blue eyed cutie appears out of nowhere, looking extremely pissed off. “Get the fuck out, before I let you out myself.”

  The guy on the elliptical cusses under his breath and turns off the machine. “What’s up, man. Didn’t realize you were still here. We were just giving the lady a little company. No harm.”

  Not the least bit humored by the douchebag, he grabs both of the men’s gym bags and walks to the door, opening it and tossing them both outside.

  He holds the door open and turns back our way. “When a lady tells you to fuck off, you fuck off. Out. Now.”

  I raise a brow in humor and watch as the assholes argue with each other on the way out the door, not one of them brave enough to argue with the guy kicking them out of the gym.

  He lets out a long breath and then walks past me and back into the room where he came from.

  Jumping off the elliptical, I make my way over to the doorway and watch as he works the ropes again.

  Watching him has me completely hypnotized again, until he turns around and notices me creeping on him.

  A small smirk crosses his face, before he stops for a second to breathe. “Enjoying the view?”

  I ignore his question and just smile, before walking away, grabbing my bag and making my way outside to see a motorcycle parked next to my truck.

  When I go to open the door, I notice what looks like a flyer on my windshield. Grabbing it, I read it over, unable to hold back the smile that takes over, mixed with slight excitement.

  “Holy. Shit.”

  Yup. Definitely different than the men I’ve dated and most likely a lot more trouble . . .

  Styx

  IT FEELS LIKE IT’S BEEN weeks since I’ve had a day off at the club, so I choose to enjoy it, by spending some time working on my motorcycle and throwing back a few beers.

  I’m off in fucking La La Land, forgetting about everything else around me, until my father’s shitty voice pulls me back to reality.

  “Working on that old bike again. With all the money you make taking your clothes off, you think you’d purchase a new one and get rid of that junk.”

  Growling under my breath, I throw my torque wrench beside me and run my greasy hands over my face.<
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  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  My father chuckles and walks further into my garage, getting comfortable, touching my damn things as if he owns the place. I don’t even know what makes the piece of shit think that he’s welcome in my home.

  “Your mother wants you to come over for poker night. Maybe you can bet some of that G-string money you bring in. Unless you’re afraid to lose it to your old man.”

  Standing up, I kick my toolbox out of the way and reach for a towel to clean my hands. “You’re not my fucking old man.” I turn to face him so he can see all my hatred for him. “You’re a piece of shit that beat me up almost every day of my childhood and ruined any hope I had growing up. And my mother . . . well she’s stupid for taking you back and thinking that she can hide the bruises. I will always have her back and I’ll always protect her, but I won’t be accepting any invites to her home, anytime soon. Got it, Old man?”

  He laughs. He actually fucking laughs.

  The sound of his laughter snaps something in me, and before I know, I have him slammed against the wall with my hand wrapped around his throat.

  I lean in close and give his throat a tight squeeze. “Let me see one more bruise on my mother and I will snap your neck without a second thought. Got it! I’m watching you. I’m always watching you. Don’t forget.”

  My father’s eyes widen for a split second, letting me see the fear in them, before he quickly masks it with his stupid laugh that I hate so much.

  “You’ll be the one breaking your mother’s heart when I tell her that you won’t be coming tonight?” He pushes me away from him and fixes his shirt. “Your mother thinks you hate her.”

  “Leave,” I growl. “Before I throw you out myself.”

  He shrugs as if being thrown out is no big deal and walks until he’s standing just outside the garage door. “You’ve always been full of excuses, son. So your mother should be used to the disappointment.”

  Rotating my shoulders in anger, I hit my fist against the garage door button, and watch the door close in front of the asshole that raised me.

  He ruined my childhood and took everything away from me and my mother, yet she always takes his ass back as if there’s nothing else out there for her.

  That’s exactly why I’ll only settle down when I find the one. I don’t plan to just give my heart to anyone and when I do find her, I’ll give her everything of me.

  Having him show up unannounced has me so screwed up in the head that the last thing I can concentrate on is working on my bike.

  “Well fuck.”

  Going inside, I take a quick shower, before I hop on my bike and head back to my uncle’s gym for the second time today.

  Hell, I might as well call it mine, because he’s planning on me taking over soon so he can focus on his family.

  I’ve been here more in the last week than he has in the last six months.

  James, one of the personal trainers, greets me when I walk in. “Hey, man. Back again?”

  I open the door to my office and toss my bag inside. “Need to work off some more steam.”

  He looks me over with a small grin. “Fucking shit. You’re the busiest person I know, man. Between working out all damn day and dancing at the club, I’m surprised that you even have time to breathe.”

  “Me too,” I say as I walk past him and hit the weights.

  After spending a few hours at the gym, I shower for the third time today, and head over to the club to have a few drinks.

  Sara is working tonight, and she always finds a way to keep my mind busy and off all the bullshit.

  “How’s your dick?” she questions with a smirk. “Taking a break for the night?”

  I raise a brow and tilt back my beer. “He’s been getting more than a few breaks these days.”

  “I’ve noticed,” she responds. “Good for you and your dick. I’m sure the fucker’s tired.”

  “How about you? How’s that girlfriend of yours?” I ask, making her turn red. “Never thought you’d give up the dick.”

  She slaps my forehead and leans in close to my face, talking against my lips. “Who says I’ve given it up? Having both is a lot more fun and I learn new tricks every day. You don’t even know what I’m capable of these days, big guy.”

  I lift my beer to her and adjust my erection. “Might as well give me one more after that shit. Damn!”

  She smirks and slides me another beer, jumping back in surprise as Kash jumps over the bar and reaches for the bar gun to spray his body down with water. “Ah yes. This feels so damn good.”

  “Stop moaning like that or I’ll have to take you home to Kendal so we can take advantage of your sexy ass.”

  Kash raises a brow to Sara. “Damn . . .” he moans again, just to get a reaction of Sara. Then he looks over to see my unamused face. “Lighten the hell up, man.”

  I close my eyes and growl when water hits my face and then my chest.

  Both Sara and Kash laugh, before he throws the gun down and runs back over to the small crowd of women that are yelling for him.

  Sara takes a few seconds to check me out now that my shirt is clinging to my chest, before speaking. “There’s this sexy little blonde chick roaming around looking lost.” She looks over my shoulder. “Looks like she’s looking for someone and the boys don’t seem to be it.”

  Setting my beer down, I turn around in my stool to see Meadow, searching the room around her.

  For some strange reason, my heart starts beating fast, wondering if she could be here for me. It’s not even as if she would know to look for me here.

  I hope like hell that she isn’t here to see Kash or one of the security dicks.

  “I’ll be back.” Standing up, I walk up behind her and listen to her talk to herself.

  “What the hell am I doing here? This is ridiculous. I’m leaving.” She turns around, running straight into my chest with a grunt.

  “Looking for someone?” I question, while gripping her waist to hold her steady. “Leaving because you haven’t found them?”

  She smiles up at me and takes a step back. “Maybe.” I follow her as she makes her way to the bar and orders a drink. After Sara brings her a beer and eye-fucks her, she turns back to face me. “So tell me again how you knew my name?”

  I laugh as she eyes me over, her pale blue eyes spending an awful long time on my chest. “Is that why you’re here? To find out if I’m a stalker or some shit?”

  She walks away, leaving me no choice but to follow her again, as she takes a seat at a table, far away from the stage.

  She lifts a brow when I sit down, as if that’s her answer.

  I look her up and down and pull her chair between my legs so that I can look her in the eye. “I should be asking you how you knew to find me here. Maybe I should be the one concerned for my safety.”

  Taking a swig of her beer, she gives me a look as if I’m crazy. “You left a flyer on my truck . . . Styx. I think you wanted me to find you.”

  Fucking Kash.

  His ass thinks it’s funny to come to the gym and leave flyers everywhere to make it aware to all of its members that I moonlight as a male entertainer.

  There’s been times that I’ve walked in to over a hundred flyers taped to the walls.

  “So you came to see me strip?” I lock the leg of her chair in place with my leg and smile when she tries scooting back. “It’s my night off, but I can give you a private dance if you want. I’ll even do it for free since you look so fucking beautiful right now.”

  She about chokes on her beer, but clears her throat and plays it off, as if what I just said didn’t excite her. “You always kidnap a girl’s chair so she has no choice but to hang out with you?”

  “No,” I answer, honestly. “This will be the first. But I like you so . . .”

  “So . . .” She laughs and pulls her pale hair into a bun, making me look at her arms and take notice of her sleeve of tattoos, covering her right arm. She was wearing a V-neck long sleev
ed shirt the other night, keeping her arms hidden. Damn, that’s sexy. “You decide to stalk me and then keep me captive. Good game.”

  I wrap the single strand of hair, that hangs in front of her face, around my finger. “I know your name, because you work out at my gym. There was a new member signed up by the name, Meadow, and your gorgeous body was the only one that I didn’t recognize.”

  We sit here and just stare at each other for what feels like five minutes, before Meadow stands up and pushes her chair in. “I should go. It’s been a long night.”

  “Where?” I question.

  “Where?” she questions back, confused as to what I’m asking. “Where what?”

  “Where has it been a long night?”

  “The hospital. Have a good night, Styx.”

  She walks away, leaving me to watch the sway of her perfect ass, as she brushes right past Kash, not even stopping to take a second look.

  In fact . . . I don’t think she watched the guys dancing at all.

  This has me jumping to my feet and rushing outside to catch her.

  She lets out a sexy little laugh when she notices me following her. “What are you doing?”

  “Walking you to your car.”

  She stops next to a huge truck and gives me the cutest fucking look. “Who says I drive a car? I like my rides big and fast.”

  Impressed, I watch her climb into her truck, before she reaches for the door. “Then you’re going to love me.” I smirk.

  She tries to hide her smile, but completely fails as she pulls the door closed and drives away.

  Holy fuck, this woman is different from the rest and I really badly want to find out in which ways . . .

  Meadow

  IT’S BEEN A FEW DAYS since I saw Styx at Walk Of Shame and for some reason . . . I can’t shake him from my thoughts. I keep wondering about him and wanting to know more about this man.

  He’s a male stripper, everything that I should run away from, yet, I want to run back to the gym or club in hopes of seeing him again.

  He intrigues me. Even though he comes on a little strong, I don’t feel threatened by it. It doesn’t make me feel creepy and dirty like those guys at the gym did.