Chapter 20 #2
“Daddy, look.” Joey held his number over his head, waving it. “I’m a dancer!”
Vince nodded and waved, then the staff moved around to help them pin the papers to their shirts so everyone could see the numbers.
It only took a minute to set everything up, and it seemed everyone was on board with the competition.
The club members around the room whistled and catcalled when the music started, and the DJ spoke over the noise.
“Alright…let’s get this started. Shake your things, boys! ”
And they did. For the whole song, only those ten were on the floor, and everyone clapped, only moving away from the show when handed a ballot and a pencil.
As the song finished up, the DJ spoke again. “Only vote once now. Get them in the box…go now.”
Music played softly in the background as everyone dropped their ballots in the box and Stryker spoke with each of the dancers, writing something on a legal pad as he did.
“One more minute until ballots close.” The DJ knew what he was doing with this.
I would have probably messed things up by now.
“We’ll play another song and everyone can dance while the votes are tallied…
and are we ready? Mix Master Mike!” Everyone looked over to the bar, where the bartender, Mike, gave a thumbs-up.
“Okay, let’s tip it off now with this…” Music started up.
“Alright…DJ Trippin’ Troy Train in the house.
” Then the volume of the music increased, and a bunch of people flooded the floor, including me, because all I could see was the possibility of Cody or one of the others getting bowled over.
I grabbed my boy’s hand, pulling him to me. “I did it, Daddy. I danced my ass off.”
He looked so happy, I didn’t even have the heart to correct his bad language.
Instead, I hugged him tightly to my chest. The other daddies claimed their boys, and we danced together in the middle of the floor with many others.
It quickly became a hot, sweaty, gyrating mass of bodies all pressed together.
Every now and then, the DJ said something over the mic, but I wasn’t listening at all.
When the song ended, everyone spread out a little. “Alright. Let’s have our ten dance boys back on the floor, and everyone else move off. Give ‘em room.”
This time, when the area cleared, Stryker came out with a piece of paper in one hand and a mic in the other.
“Time to announce the winners. But first, can we get Braxton out here? Come on.” He waved Braxton over, giving the club owner a spotlight.
We all loved him. Braxton not only owned and operated Afterglow but was also a Dom and a cool guy with a solid reputation.
Everyone applauded when he joined Stryker on the floor, then settled down when he motioned them to be quiet.
“Okay, I’m going to give you the third and second place winners, and then Braxton will announce the number one. Ready?”
More cheering.
“Great. In third place, dancer number three, Joey Bennick.” Joey jumped up and down and everyone yelled his name, clapping wildly.
One of Joey’s other friends got in close, filming with his camera.
I wasn’t surprised by any of that. Joey often did promotional videos and social media for the club.
They were one of his clients. But he was also a very good dancer.
If he were third, I didn’t think Cody had a chance.
I was wrong.
“Second place is dancer number four, Cody Schroeder.”
Cody jumped up and down, then his eyes scanned the crowd looking for me. I smiled, clapped, whistled loudly, and the smile on my boy’s face grew. He lit up the club as far as I was concerned. Good for him to get second place.
Then Stryker held the mic to Braxton’s mouth and showed him the paper. “And our first-place dancer is…. Do we have a drum roll?” The canned sound of a drum beating fast came from the speakers, ending in a crash and a salute from the DJ and then Braxton called out, “Andy Drake.”
The sassy twink wiggled around, did a dance, threw his hand in the air, but then he started hugging all the other dancers, which led to a big hug fest.
The DJ picked up the commentary. “Alright…congrats to our winners, please see Stryker for your prizes. Each will receive a gift card. For third, fifty dollars. For second, Seventy-five dollars, and our first place contestant will receive one hundred big buckaroos…and to all the other dancers, thank you for participating in our very own Pop-up Dance Contest.”
Music came on, signifying the end of the event, but most people joined the dancers on the floor. The three who won followed Stryker, and I followed them, along with Vince, to the bar.
What a night.
After the contest, our guys played in the little room of No Limits for a while, but it wasn’t long before Cody was tired, and we headed home.
He climbed into the car, and I buckled his seat belt. “Did you have fun, Mr. Runner-Up?”
“Yes. I was so surprised I won.”
“Do you know the first-place winner?” He was someone I’d seen around the club, but he never seemed to be with anyone in particular.
“Yeah, Levi said he’s the manager of the Koffee Kraze he used to work at. Comes around some.”
“Ah…he was a good dancer, right?”
I caught Cody shrugging out of the corner of my eye. “Guess so. He won. I thought Joey was better. I wisheded Danny and Levi coulda won too. And poor Skyler didn’t even getta play.” I looked over to see his eyes drooping as he slid further into little space.
“Well. They still had fun. But it’s time to get you home to bed.”
“Yes, Daddy…” He leaned his head against the window.