Chapter 9
C H A P T E R
MANHATTAN MALL WAS BUSTLING WITH PEOPLE ON A FRIDAY MORNING, and Nikos was one of those people as he was dragged along by Allison, a dancer from the club, who clasped his hand tightly, leading him through the crowded mall.
“Come on, Nikos. We’re late,” she said, tugging him harder.
Technically, she was late. His initial plan after waking up in Allison’s bed in the morning was to return home and get some rest because he hadn’t gotten much of it last night.
Yesterday, after he dropped off another delivery to his uncle, Allison had cornered him in one of the private rooms, demanding to know what his relationship was with Brittany, another dancer at the club.
After having an honest conversation about what their relationship was and wasn’t, Nikos had been certain that he would never be able to have sex with Allison again.
But surprisingly, the brunette said she was game for a casual relationship and took him back to her place, where they had fun throughout the night.
Right now, he should have been back at home in his own bed, but he had gone to Allison’s place in her car, and when she had told him she would give him a ride back, he found himself here, inside of a mall.
“There they are,” Allison said as they went up the escalator.
Nikos looked in the direction Allison pointed at and saw some of the dancers from the club.
They were huddled together near the bench on the wall on the second floor of the building.
Idle chatter took place amongst them until Amber spotted them too as they ascended onto the second floor.
Soon, a bunch of eyes turned on him, and Nikos grimaced inwardly, already spotting two women he had slept with recently.
Sweetie was there, and he had just hooked up with her last week.
Rachel was there too, but she was cool. Unlike some of the other girls who had gotten a little attached like Allison had, Rachel wasn’t one of them.
The brunette had been the one to tell him herself that she wasn’t looking for anything serious, and it was a one-time thing only, which Nikos appreciated.
Though Amber was beautiful, he hadn’t attempted to do anything with her, knowing that she had some kind of relationship with his cousin.
He didn’t know if their relationship was serious or not, but his cousin was blood, and he would never do that to him despite how charming and flirtatious Amber could be.
And then there was Rita, a voluptuous Latina dancer that Nikos hadn’t talked to.
Though it might have seemed like he had slept with every woman at the club, it wasn’t true.
They came to a stop in front of the group, and Nikos spotted the last girl who sat on the bench with her head down as she looked at her phone.
Nikos couldn’t tell who she was. He didn’t recognize her, which was strange.
It had been over a month since he had come to New York, and by now, he had gotten to know all of the women at the Gentlemen’s Club, some in more ways than one.
“I’m sorry I’m late! My alarm clock didn’t go off,” Allison said as she shot him a glare.
Nikos lifted his hands in mock surrender.
Her alarm clock did go off, waking them both up from their slumber, but when they were supposed to get up, that quickly turned into another round, and time had all but faded into the background for them.
“I wonder why is that,” Rachel said knowingly. Allison blushed as she hit Rachel’s shoulder.
“Ladies,” Nikos said, greeting them with a smile. “It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is. You’re all always so beautiful.”
Amber shook her head fondly. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”
“Not around beautiful women,” Nikos said, winking.
“Why did you come here with Allison?” Sweetie asked with a small frown as she folded her arms on top of each other.
“Because he had fun with me last night,” Allison said smugly, slipping her arm through his.
Nikos looked between the two girls uneasily.
If he would have known Allison was taking him here, he definitely would have taken a cab.
Though he had made it clear to all the women he slept with that he was only having fun and wasn’t looking for anything serious, some of them still got possessive, and it was awkward for him.
Sweetie sneered, taking a step forward just as Allison did the same.
“Please, don’t start today. We’re here to shop, not to fight over a man,” the girl on the bench drawled out as she stood, lifting her head up, and Nikos blinked.
“Honey,” he said, slightly baffled to see her here and like this.
He hadn’t recognized her because of her hair.
Usually, her hair was blond, but it seemed that her natural hair was dark brown.
Her ringlets of curls hung out freely, with a few pieces of her hair from the front tucked behind her ears.
It felt like he was seeing a different person.
She looked much softer this way, different from the Honey that worked at the club, though that hint of disdain she had on her face whenever she saw him was still there. To be honest, he had grown fond of it.
“Nikos,” she said, barely refraining herself from rolling her eyes before she turned to the girls. Nikos bit back his laugh, having a feeling that she wouldn’t appreciate it.
“Honey’s right,” Rita said, smiling brightly. “Let’s have fun today, girls! No fighting.”
Sweetie grumbled under her breath while Allison clutched his arm tighter. But it seemed that they both decided not to fight anymore, which made Nikos feel relieved. He was a lover by nature, but that didn’t mean he wanted to cause problems between friends.
“Let’s go shopping, ladies,” Rachel said as she led them through the mall.
Nikos found himself dragged along as he hit up different shops with the ladies while they brought items for the club, which surprised him.
He would have assumed that their clothes were given to them by Antonis.
But it seemed that wasn’t the case as they paid for their stuff out of pocket.
“What about this one?” Allison asked him.
They stood in the dressing room while Allison tried on outfits.
She stood in front of the mirror, checking how she looked in the neon green net suit and matching green pasties she wore.
It definitely didn’t leave much to the imagination, and to Nikos, the fantasy was the best part. It must have shown on his face.
“You don’t like it,” Allison said, frowning as she angled herself left and right before she sighed.
“But it’s cute,” she complained in a nasal tone, and Nikos chuckled.
“Then wear it if you like it.”
“But I want to wear something you’ll like,” Allison argued. “So, when I perform, you’ll know I’m performing for you.”
“You really don’t have to do that,” Nikos said.
He was flattered that Allison cared about his opinion that much, but he didn’t necessarily want Allison to perform for him.
If anything, after today, Nikos felt he would need to keep his distance.
Though Allison said she understood he didn’t want anything serious, her actions proved otherwise.
He was starting to get worried that he had come across a clingy one, which sucked. The sex with Allison was good.
“Hmm,” Allison hummed in thought as she tapped her finger against her lip.
“How about you go pick?” she suggested as she pulled him up from the tiny block in the room that Nikos had turned into a bench. She pushed him out of the door.
“Pick a couple,” she told him, and Nikos sighed as he looked around the exotic dancewear store that was tucked away in the far back of the mall.
Nikos did as told and lazily shifted through the racks mindlessly.
So far, nothing truly caught his eye, and he wasn’t much of a fashion person to begin with.
He continued to amble down the aisle while simultaneously looking until he accidentally collided with someone.
“Sorry,” Nikos said as he looked at the person, and to his surprise, it was Honey. A smile formed on his face while she looked at him blankly before she maneuvered her way around him and continued to search through the rack. Never necessarily liking to be ignored, Nikos followed her.
“You haven’t found anything yet?” Nikos asked as he looked around the shop, not spotting any of the girls who were all in the dressing rooms like Allison. Honey continued shifting through the rack, ignoring him.
“Has anyone ever told you that it’s rude to ignore someone?”
Honey bristled as she turned a mildly annoyed look on him. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I asked you if you’ve found anything yet. I’m just looking for a reply,” Nikos said, shrugging as he tried to tone down his smile, but there was something about the annoyance on Honey’s face that he found to be amusing.
“Obviously, I haven’t,” Honey said, showing her empty hands and her purse on her right arm.
“So, you’re the picky type,” Nikos said, making idle conversation. “You probably spend hours inside a store. Everyone else found something. Why can’t you?”
Honey rolled her brown eyes. “Is there a reason why you’re talking to me instead of Allison, Sweetie, or Rachel?”
Nikos’s eyebrows rose, noticing that she made no mention of Rita and Amber, the two other women in the group besides Honey that he hadn’t hooked up with. “I’m just making conversation. Allie asked me to pick something out for her. Do you want help too?”
“I don’t need your help, so no, thank you,” Honey said as she went over to the opposite side of the rack. “But you shouldn’t keep Allison waiting long. It would be rude.”
“Or it would be more rude to leave a beautiful woman out here by herself,” Nikos argued.
“And if a woman wasn’t beautiful?”
“That’s impossible,” Nikos said, his blue eyes smiling with mischievousness. “All women are beautiful.”