Chapter 19
Ethan
The look on Mia’s face when we walked into Scores was priceless.
I knew it would be, so I snapped a picture with my cell phone without her noticing.
Maybe one day I’ll show her. For now, it’s the picture attached to her number in my Contacts.
I thought about making it my background picture, but Will would flip the fuck out if he were to see his sister on my screen.
Mia stares around the room and bites her cheek. She avoids the girls shaking their asses on the stage as if they don’t exist. It’s hard not to notice with all the men surrounding them. Clarke doesn’t seem the slightest bit phased. Mia keeps her gaze ahead and bites her lip.
I hook my arm around Mia’s and pull her closer. “You okay?”
She nods. “Why is everyone so worried about how I’ll react? I’m not a total prude.”
I dip down to whisper against the shell of her ear, “Oh, I know.”
She sucks in a deep breath and blows it out. “You’re the devil in expensive clothes.”
I laugh at her comment.
You have no idea.
Clarke approaches Mia and yells, “Will’s buying me a lap dance. Wanna come?”
Mia narrows her eyes at her. “Nah, I’ll pass. I have to do the thing, remember?”
I crane my neck to listen to their conversation, hoping to learn more about this secret mission.
Mia has always been adventurous. I worry about her digging too deep.
I know from personal experience that the underworld of Philly can be a cruel and dangerous place.
The places I would venture to get my next high almost got me killed a few times when I was younger.
If my father hadn’t found the box under my bed, who knows where I would be now?
I doubt I would’ve made it to the NHL without him forcing me to become a better person.
“You can have fun in the meantime,” Clarke says. “Have you ever had a lap dance?”
Mia scrunches her nose at her friend. Her innocence is so adorable.
“Nope, never had one,” Mia says. “Go with Will. I’m sure he’ll show you a good time. He probably knows this place like the back of his hand.”
More like his cock.
Clarke laughs. “I’m sure he does.”
We both do.
Scores is like a right of passage for everyone on our team. Tyler Kane brought Will and me here during our first year with the Flyers. Now that Kane’s married with a few kids and attached to his wife’s side, the tradition of breaking in the newbies has passed to Will.
Will winks at Mia. “I promise to take good care of her. Don’t worry. We’ll have fun for you.”
Mia waves her hand at Will and Clarke before turning to me. “You, too, Ethan. I have things to do.”
Will shoots me a look that says, Stay with her. I have no problem following Mia around for the night. Without Will hovering over her, I can give Mia a proper apology. She deserves more than one. I owe her much more than I’m sorry for being an ass.
Will waves to us and then leads Clarke through the crowd. She seems down for whatever and right up his alley. Hopefully, Clarke can keep Will entertained long enough for me to get Mia alone.
“You don’t have to follow me around just because Will is afraid to leave me alone,” Mia says after they disappear into the crowd.
I thread my fingers between hers and give her hand a good squeeze. “Someone has to look out for the lamb when all the wolves are around.”
She tilts her head back and laughs. “Why do you call me that? It’s a stupid nickname, you know.”
“No, it’s not.” I lead Mia over to a two-person table in the far corner, on the left side of the bar, and pull out a chair for her.
“The first time I saw you, I admired your innocence. You weren’t tainted by life or the hard choices you had to make.
There was something about you, something good and fragile.
Lamb was the first thing that came to my mind back then. ”
She sits, and I scoot her chair into the table.
“The name doesn’t make sense for who I am now. Maybe that’s how you saw me as a teenager, but I’m nothing like that now.”
“You’ll always be my little lamb,” I confess.
“Whatever.” She hugs herself, pushing her tits up in the process. Once she realizes where my eyes have drifted, she snorts, annoyed with me. “The last time I checked, you owe me an apology. Where have you been for the past two weeks?”
“I’m staying at the Ritz. I needed to get away for a little bit.”
“Why do you think it’s okay to keep disappearing on me? I texted and called you. You didn’t bother to answer a single message. One minute, you kissed me on my living room floor, and the next morning, you were gone.”
“I’m not good for you,” I admit. No matter how many years pass, I’ll never feel worthy of Mia. “A bastard like me doesn’t end up with a woman like you.”
She uncrosses her arms and leans forward, pinning me with her intense gaze. “Why don’t you let me decide instead of doing it for me? You and my brother think you know what’s best for me. For once, I’d like to have a choice.”
I reach across the table to touch her hand, feeling her soft, delicate skin. “You know it’s not that simple, Mia.”
“How about I go find Will? If he’s the reason you’re being a dick, let’s get it out of the way. You promised to tell him after the playoffs were over. He should know the truth, anyway.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
She rolls her eyes. “Well, I must’ve imagined your head between my legs. And that must’ve been another guy bending me over my kitchen counter… or sneaking into my bed late at night.”
I scan the room for Will and spot him entering a private room on the other side of the club accompanied by Clarke and a few girls.
“Oh, I see,” she grunts. “God forbid Will overhears us. I’m sick of lying to my brother. Either grow a pair and tell him, or I will.”
“I want you, Mia. But I can’t…”
She crosses her arms over her chest, nostrils flared. “Why the hell not?”
“Because you’re like a drug to me. I can’t kick one addiction to find another.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “What are you talking about? What addiction did you have before me?”
I wave off her question. “I’ll make a deal with you. Why don’t we see what happens between us before we tell Will?”
“I love how you assume our relationship won’t work before it begins.”
“I don’t do relationships, Mia. When was the last time you saw me with a girlfriend?”
She bites her lip, mulling it over. “Never, I guess. I’d assumed you intentionally kept that part of your life hidden from me.”
“No, because there wasn’t anything for me to hide. To date, you’re the longest relationship I’ve ever had, and we’re not even together.”
“If you say so.” She looks away from me, but not for long. As soon as a cocktail waitress wearing nothing but a gold thong strolls over to our table, Mia looks at me, cheeks flushed.
I give the pretty brunette our drink order, ignoring her advances. She only wants the money, so I drop a twenty on her tray. The girl rewards me with a smile that reaches up to her green eyes and shakes her fake tits.
A few minutes later, another girl with smaller breasts and reddish-brown hair emerges behind Mia.
She touches her on the shoulder as she locks eyes with me.
Mia jumps up from her chair as if struck by lightning.
Her reaction causes both the stripper and me to laugh.
Strippers love giving attention to women, and unlike other girls who come here with men, Mia wants nothing to do with it.
She came here for business and nothing more.
Once Mia settles back into her chair, the girl says something to her that I have trouble hearing over the loud music.
Mia shakes her head a few times before she smiles, a real one this time.
A few minutes pass, where they have a private conversation, whispering shit to each other.
What the hell could Mia possibly have to say to a stripper?
The drink girl places a bottle of Heineken in front of me and hands Mia an apple martini. Mia takes it from her and sucks down half the liquid in one gulp, and then holds her index finger up to indicate she would like another drink.
I hand the waitress my credit card. “Start a tab for us.” I tilt my head to Mia. “And another martini for my girl.”
She smiles and walks away with my credit card.
I called Mia my girl.
I guess she will be after she accepts my offer. If she still wants to give me a chance after acting like an asshole.
“Hey, E.” Mia props her elbow on the table and looks at me. “Roxie is going to show me how to give a lap dance. Want to be my test subject?”
I almost laugh. Instead, the corner of my mouth curls up into a smirk. “Yeah, actually, I do. Not out here, though.”
“Duh, silly.”
I look up at the redhead. “Just us, okay?”
“That will cost you,” she says.
“Money’s not a problem.”
She grins. “Good. I have just the place for us. What’s your name, cutie?”
At least she doesn’t recognize me.
“Ethan,” I tell her.
“Well, Ethan, I’m Roxie. I’m going take good care of your girl, and she’ll take real good care of you.” She says the last part with a wink.
“I’m counting on it.”
My cock gets hard thinking about Mia grinding on it. Fuck, yes, I want to be her subject. I’d pay any amount of money for this experience. Seeing Mia out of her comfort zone is priceless.
After we order another round of drinks, Mia spills some of the martini on her hand. Taking her hand in mine, I help her up from the chair and lick the sweet juice from her skin. She tastes like apple and vodka mixed with the scent of her body wash.
What was I thinking?
What if Will saw me do that?
Idiot.