Chapter 11 Cole
COLE
Standing under the steam of the shower, I sigh loudly, closing my eyes.
My mind drifts back to ten minutes ago, when I came harder than I ever have in my life.
Sex has always been blah, but holy shit, sex with Oak is unbelievable.
Who would have thought the key to amazing sex is to make sure you’re having it with your best friend?
I can see myself getting addicted to it, wanting to do it repeatedly.
Especially since I’m already thinking of when we can do it again.
I’ve always been the type of guy who didn’t constantly crave sex, but between the kissing and now the hand jobs.
Phew, I’m starting to see what other people are talking about.
It’s mind-blowing. Not only the way his hand knew exactly what to do, but when he placed his lips on mine, too.
Ugh, I was a goner. Ten out of ten recommend sex with your best friend.
I spend way too much time in the shower, becoming a pruney mess by the time I finally exit and dry off. My watch buzzes with a text, and I quickly check it as I’m drying my arms.
Lennox: Don’t forget practice in twenty minutes. Don’t be late.
Shit. I forgot we were planning new choreography today.
I am really not in the mood to go; I’d rather stay at home and hang out with Oak, but I know if I don’t show, they’ll never leave me alone.
Heading into my room, I pull open my drawers, grabbing some underwear and basketball shorts.
I toss a white shirt over my head, then top my outfit off with a hoodie.
After hopping around trying to pull on a pair of white socks, I rush out of my room, running directly into Oak with a thud.
“Shit, sorry,” I mumble, my fabric-covered chest hitting his naked one. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” I lean away, trying very hard not to look at his chest.
Oak chuckles, and for a second I wonder if he’s caught me looking at him. “No worries. Why are you in a hurry? I thought maybe we could go out and do something later today.” His hands reach out, rubbing up and down my arms.
“Ah.” My body deflates because hell yes, I would love to hang out with Oak today. Fuck, that’s my favorite thing to do all day, every day. “I forgot the guys wanted to choreograph some big dance number involving all five of us, so I have to go do that.”
His hands still on my arms as he says, “How long will that take?”
My mind tries to calculate how long it would take us all to learn a new dance.
If we’re all focused, we could do it in less than three hours.
But knowing this group of guys, it’s going to take us a lot longer.
Closing one eye, I tilt my head, pursing my lips.
“Maybe three hours,” I drag out, “maybe a little bit more. Hopefully not much longer than that.”
“Hmm. That would actually be perfect. I have to log in to work for six hours, then I thought we could do something after?”
“Okay,” I tell him, happy that I’ll be able to do both.
I don’t want to upset either Oak or the guys, so this actually works out perfectly.
“That’s probably better since I can guarantee Bash and Declan will play around forever, and it will take us twice as long to learn whatever dance we come up with. ”
“Sounds good. I guess I’ll see you later, then?” he inquires, squatting down an inch so our eyes meet.
“Yup. See ya.” I place a quick kiss on his lips, smiling when he deepens the kiss. Our tongues don’t intertwine, just the soft feeling of his lips against mine. A feeling that’s familiar yet so damn new too.
Pulling away, I skip around him and head down the hall to find my tennis shoes. I grab my car keys and wallet, yelling out “Goodbye” before heading over to Peaches. Oak and I don’t live too far from the club, but far enough that I get to have a few minutes to myself before getting there.
My thoughts drift back to earlier today and what happened with Oak.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m already wanting to do it again.
It’s as though a new level of friendship has opened up for Oak and me.
And now all I want to do is put my hands on him and have him do the same for me.
I’ve never been able to come as fast as I did earlier.
And not only was I shocked by how fast I could orgasm, but I was also fucking shocked by how damn good it felt.
With my exes, it felt like I was going through the motions, having to force myself to enjoy it.
But with Oak, I was able to relax my body and just fucking take the pleasure from it.
And now that I know what it’s like to do it with Oak, I want to do it again.
Repeatedly. And in different ways. All the ways.
Every which way. Too much, too fast? Probably. Do I care? Not even a little.
I turn into the parking lot of Peaches, parking into a space when the sound of yelling from afar hits my ears.
Looking to the right, I see Declan and Caleb sitting in Caleb’s car, while Declan’s yelling something.
Caleb is sitting in the driver’s seat, his head facing forward as though he’s ignoring him.
I crouch down in my seat, trying to hide myself, way too nosy not to try to see what’s going on.
Some days, it seems as though Declan and Caleb are best friends, and then there are times like right now, where it’s like they can barely stand each other.
Declan’s hands are flying, his mouth moving a million miles a minute, while Caleb isn’t saying a word; he’s seemingly just listening to him.
I lean up a little to get a closer look, but Declan is stepping out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
Deciding to wait, I stay down in my seat until I think the coast is clear.
Putting the seat back up, I turn my car off and step out, only to come face to face with Caleb.
Caleb is the owner of Peaches, and he’s about my height but around fifteen years older.
With brown hair and blue eyes, he is a complete recluse.
He usually hides out in his office, only coming out to check on all the workers before going back to hide out.
He’s also the best boss I’ve ever had. When I first applied to work at Peaches, I was a nervous wreck.
Not only because I had never stripped before, but because I’d heard horror stories about the types of interviews that happened at some seedy strip clubs.
But with Caleb? It was amazing and not creepy at all.
He had a few of his dancers be in the interview with him, and they all got to ask me questions, such as my music choices or what type of outfits I would want to wear on the stage.
When they wanted me to show whether I could dance, they taught me a quick dance that I just had to replicate.
Everything about the encounter was so welcoming, and I might have squealed and done a happy dance with Oak when I found out they were offering me a position.
And now I’m standing in front of him after just witnessing Declan going off on him, and yeah, it’s awkward after witnessing that.
“Oh. Hey, Caleb. What’s up? How are you? Didn’t know you’d be here today,” I ramble, closing my eyes and silently cussing myself out. He has to know I was watching him and Declan. There’s no way he missed my car pulling into the parking lot, sitting idly the entire time they were in the car.
“Didn’t know I’d be here at my business?” His chuckling has me opening my eyes, and I sigh in relief to see a huge smile on his face. He runs his fingers through his hair, quickly glancing off in the direction that Declan just walked. “I’m pretty sure I’m here every day of my life.”
It’s true, though. From the stories I’ve heard from the other guys, Caleb doesn’t ever take a day off.
He usually works during the day, but still stays until the club closes.
Preston told us that Jonas has tried so many times to get him to take a vacation, but Caleb always has some type of excuse as to why he can’t.
I don’t know how he can survive working such long hours. And nonstop too.
“You should really learn to take a break,” I tell him.
“Working every day can’t be good for you.
Don’t you have managers or someone who can help?
” My eyes widen when I realize I’m talking to my boss, not a friend, and I rush to clarify.
“Not that I’m trying to tell you what to do or anything, but uh, yeah, forget I said anything. ”
Caleb laughs loudly, his blue eyes shining in the sunlight. “It’s not anything I haven’t heard before. You all tell me at least once a day to take a break. Maybe I will. One day. Who knows?”
He turns to walk to the entrance, and I trail behind him, not knowing what to say. “So, uh, how have you been?”
“Good,” he smirks, giving me a quick glance. He pulls the door open, his arm going straight out, giving me the all-clear to walk ahead of him. “Have fun at practice today. Will you tell Declan I need to see him when you guys are done?”
“No problem.”
He gives me a small salute and walks off down the hallway to his office.
I wonder what’s going on with him and Declan.
They’re a mystery that I’m trying to solve.
You would think after just getting chewed out by him that he’d be done, but not Caleb.
He wants to see him again after. Doesn’t make sense to me at all.
Turning left right after the door, I walk down the darkened hallway, the sound of the guys talking getting louder the closer I get to them.
“All I’m saying is if I could find a way to incorporate more candy into my routine, I could earn so many more tips,” Bash says as they all come into view.
They’re sitting at the bar counter, Bash spinning himself on the stool, twirling a lollipop around his fingers.
Lennox is sitting up on the counter, his legs swinging back and forth as he nods his head, listening to Bash’s rambling.
Declan and Tristan are next to them, both just staring at Tristan’s phone in his hand.
Declan says something to Tristan that has him swiping his finger on the phone.
Probably some dating app. Scratch that, probably a hookup app. They tend to look at those a lot.
I’ve never understood the appeal of a hookup app.
How do you hook up with a random person you’ve just met?
I couldn’t do it. Oak tried to explain it to me before when he was using them for a while.
Said sometimes you don’t want to date, you just want to have a fun night with another person, and usually the person you match with on those apps is looking for the same thing, so it makes it easier.
I tried to act as if I knew what he was talking about, but it made little sense to me.
Still doesn’t. But to each their own, I guess.
“All right. Now that Cole is here, we can get to work!” Bash shouts when he sees me. He looks great today; he’s wearing this plaid pleated skirt with a white button-up top. His black hair is styled perfectly like always, his lips a rosy red, like a cherry lollipop.
I step closer, trying to get a good look at his eyes. “Oh, I love that,” I say, pointing to the gold shimmer lining his eyes. “It really makes your eyes pop.”
“Thank you. I might have gone a little shopping crazy earlier today and bought way too much makeup. But I love it. I’m going to shimmer and glitter everything on my body from now on.
Actually, I bet your eyes would look amazing with this silver I got.
We’ll try it tomorrow night.” He tells me, trailing his finger next to my right eye.
“Sounds good. As long as you don’t make me look bad.”
Bash chuckles, jumping off the counter and landing down easily. “Honey, I don’t think there will ever be a time when you look bad.”
Pursing my lips, I shake my head. “Out of all the guys here, I am the worst-looking.”
“Bullshit,” Tristan cuts in, hearing our conversation. “Between your athletic body, your hair, and your big doe eyes, you draw in almost every guy in the club. Even the ones who come in looking for someone else end up staying for you.”
“You think?” I preen, my confidence bubbling a little bit. I’m always worried that I’m not cutting it as a dancer here, so to know that the guys think I draw in a crowd has me pumped up.
“Oh god,” Declan says, walking toward us. “Now it’s going to go to his head. Quick, tell him something to bring him down a notch. Your breath stinks.”
I gasp, placing my hand over my mouth. “Liar.”
Declan laughs hard, slapping at my stomach. “Yeah, I was. At least now I know what to say to mess you up.”
“All right, time to get to work. I want to go home and cuddle with my man.” Lennox jumps up onto the stage, dragging a chair toward the middle of the stage.
Learning our new routine takes way longer than I thought it would.
Four hours later, all five of us are lying on the stage, a sweaty mess, each one of us trying to catch our breath.
I have to admit that the dance we came up with is amazing, but fuck, am I tired.
All I want to do is go home and crash on the couch for a few hours.
I swear this dance better last us for the next year because I don’t want to have to do this again.
Learning a dance for just Bash and me is hard enough.
Learning a dance involving five people? Ugh, it was a headache trying to make sure everyone was hitting the right moves, but also that everyone had time in the spotlight.
“So, we’re all in agreement to not do this again for a while, right?” I say, sitting up and looking at everyone. There are grunts, moans, and whispers of yes, and I chuckle, knowing they are all worn out. “I’m going home. I’ll catch you all later.”
We all say goodbye, my legs carrying me straight to the car. My couch is calling my name, and I can’t wait to crash out.