Chapter 10
COLT SEAVERSON
“I can’t believe we agreed to this,” I grumbled as I took off my shirt and folded it up to lay on top of my bag. “There’s something about those girls that makes it very hard to say no when they ask for a favor.”
“It’s called ball-shivering fear,” Noble said before he ran his hands over his head and then dropped them down to his sides.
“They didn’t threaten me, but Teague, Evi, and Vivi teamed up on me. They gave me that look, and I just couldn’t say no.”
“I was coerced and agreed in a moment of weakness,” Corey Forrester said remorsefully. “I feel so used.”
“I was pressed, too, but I’m not even ashamed,” Garvey, Corey’s twin, admitted. “I managed to get the council of crazy to agree to let us wear pants.”
“I owe you for that,” Noble said earnestly. “I don’t know if I could have handled having to wear a Speedo.”
“A Speedo? That was never part of the agreement!” I half-yelled. “Jeans! We’re wearing jeans, right?”
“Yes, we’re wearing boots and jeans. Teague is providing the belts.”
“How did you get suckered into this?” I asked Jonas Dean.
“Lawson and I lost a bet years ago, and Janis called in our marker,” Jonas explained. “I hate her with the fire of a thousand suns.”
We all knew that was bullshit because Lawson and Jonas were two of Janis’ best friends, at least of the male species. They’d been close since we were kids and would do anything for her, apparently, including embarrassing themselves and the rest of us.
“Why are we doing this again? What’s the point?” I asked.
“From what I gather, Holly was talking about how many servers she’d need to hire for the party, and Zoey volunteered me and Corey, but all of this was while they were drinking wine at the clubhouse, so it just snowballed.”
“I’ve never been fond of Bella,” Lawson said as he sat down on the chair a few feet away. “As a matter of fact, I don’t like her at all. We’re not even friends. There’s no reason for me to even be here.”
“Stop bullshittin’,” Corey ordered. “Y’all have been close since you dated in middle school.”
“Your moms aren’t going to be here, are they?” Noble asked. When I just stared at him, he said, “I can’t dance around naked in front of moms.”
“First, you aren’t going to be naked. Second, this party is mostly for the Queens and some of the younger women who are guests.
There won’t even be any regular customers tonight since they reserved the whole bar, and none of the dancers will be working.
Besides, Teague promised me that no adult women would be harmed in the making of this shitshow,” I assured him.
“I made sure because my mom has become pretty tight with Bella through this wedding bullshit, and I wouldn’t be able to take it if she was gonna be here.
” I thought about it for a second and then exclaimed, “Well, fuck! They knew my mom and her pals wouldn’t be here because they’re all on parole and can’t come to a fucking bar! ”
“Suckered you right in, didn’t they?” Corey said with a grin. “Damn evil women. Every one of them.”
“Your woman is one of them,” Garvey reminded him.
“Yeah, but everyone knows Janis is prickly on a good day and evil when it’s not.”
“Why aren’t any of the damn Forresters doing this? Everyone knows those fuckers can’t keep their shirts on for shit!” Chief Mason griped as he walked in with Gauge Evans, who didn’t look any happier about the situation than I did.
“They’re probably excluded because most of the women coming are related to them,” I guessed.
“And you think my sisters aren’t going to be out there? They’ve been besties with Bella for years!” Chief exclaimed. He looked around before he said, “All our sisters are going to be here, so why are the fucking Forresters excluded?”
“We’re excluded?” Corey asked. “Hell yes!”
“Sit your ass down. Your branch of the family tree is not excluded,” Noble growled. “If I’ve gotta do this, then so do you. Colt and I aren’t going to be the only ones out there who get Code Blue jokes all night.”
“Where did they come up with this stupid fucking idea anyway?” I asked.
“They’re crazy. Shit like this comes naturally,” Jonas said in exasperation.
“It’s something all the women did years ago, and they still talk about how much fun it was, so someone suggested it to Rain, who told Lark, and so on and so on until here we are.”
“We’re looking at this from the wrong angle, guys. People tip their servers, especially women who have had a bit to drink. We could bank off this.”
“Alright, fuck it. Colt’s got a point. Whatever money I make will be going towards the co-pay for my first therapy session,” Noble announced as he stood up and walked toward the door.
“You know what will help?” Jonas asked.
“I’d like to put a bag over my head, but I have a feeling that might be misinterpreted,” I said as I stood up. “What will help?”
“Shots. Lots and lots of shots.”
Since Garvey was in recovery, he sighed and said, “Well, I guess I’m out then.”
“Just gonna have to rawdog it, my man,” Corey said as he slapped his brother on the back. “Use that to your advantage and get some sympathy from your old lady later. That’s my plan.”
“Let’s take our half-naked asses to the office and raid the liquor stash Crow keeps up there for visitors!” Jonas said way too cheerfully. “We’ve got some time before they start to trickle in, so let’s get prepared.”
“I think when they said to come in and get prepared, they meant they were going to train us on how to serve drinks,” Garvey told him.
“Well, let’s consider this training. I’ll even be a pal and take your shots for you,” Lawson offered.
“This is really gonna suck.”
◆◆◆
GARVEY FORRESTER
My cousin Crow watched from beside me as the women started arriving at the bar. One of his bouncers was working the door with Zoey beside him to make sure that no outsiders came in to join the private party. I smiled when I realized she was sipping one of her favorite drinks.
Since we’d gotten together, she rarely drank alcohol unless she was out with her girlfriends.
As I scanned the floor of the strip club that was closed for the private party tonight, I realized that there were significantly more women here than we’d originally thought were going to come.
I recognized a lot of them as extended friends and family from Colorado, but there was a group of older women sitting at a table near the main stage that I didn’t know.
“Who are they?” I asked Crow as I pointed down at the table.
“Those are some of the women from Tenillo. They’re guests on Matteo’s side.
I believe the one with the dark red shirt is his stepmother.
The rest of them are the wives and even one of the daughters of his ‘business associates.’” Crow finished with air quotes.
“We’ve got a helluva mixed bunch tonight.
I’m wondering if there might be a market here for a strip joint that doesn’t have female dancers at all. ”
I laughed as I looked at our friends over my shoulder and said, “We’ve got your first crew of dancers here, but I think the liquor costs to get them ready for the stage every night would probably break you.”
“Technically, they’re here to wait tables, but I heard one of them say something about surprising Bella with a striptease, so there’s no telling what shit is in store for tonight.”
“Honestly, I think that’s why Rain and Lark chose these guys.”
“Because only a few of them have sisters out there, and they’re known for being a little impulsive when they drink?”
“That’s quite an understatement, don’t you think?”
As if to prove my point, Noble Hamilton challenged, “I bet I can make more tips than any of you.”
“Shit,” Colt scoffed. I could tell that he was feeling the effects of the shots they’d been pounding when he said, “For the right amount of money, I’ll take it all off!”
“Man, this is gonna suck so bad,” I muttered.
“You’re sober, so you’re gonna keep your head on straight and serve drinks.
” Crow motioned over his shoulder with his thumb and said, “Those dumbasses are going to do some stupid shit that I’m sure will be caught on video, wake up in the morning so hungover they think they’re on the brink of death, and then open their social media apps and realize they should have either become stand-up comedians or strippers. ”
“We could always console their bruised egos by saying they did it all to make Bella’s bachelorette party memorable or some shit.”
Crow scoffed. “You’re no fun! I plan to embarrass the hell out of them and bring this fiasco up every chance I get.”
“Okay. You’re right. That sounds a lot better.”
◆◆◆
ZOEY DUKE
I walked out of the dressing room in shock, surprised at how well the guys were handling our request for them to be shirtless servers and flabbergasted when I realized that they were going to take it a step further.
That was something I never imagined would happen, but I knew it would make tonight very memorable.
Janis was standing in the DJ booth choosing music for the night and looked up with a smug grin before she asked, “And how did that go?”
Since she’d won our rock-paper-scissors war and didn’t have to go check in with what she assumed were irritated men, she didn’t understand why I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Well, she’d soon find out and be laughing right along with me.
“We’re gonna change some things up,” I told the DJ. “I’ll be introducing our servers individually before we bring out the women who will be teaching the lessons.”
“How did you get them to go for that?” Janis asked.
“I didn’t. Jose Cuervo did.”
Janis burst out laughing before she said, “This is gonna be great!”
“It may be traumatizing for some audience members, but we tried to get a good variety so there will be a few everyone can enjoy.”
“How drunk are they?”
“They’ve almost wiped out Crow’s entire office stash!”
“Oh, my!”
I giggled as I took the mic from the DJ and said, “Let’s do this!”
As I walked out on stage, I smiled at my friends before I greeted them with, “Welcome to the party!”