Chapter Twenty-Seven
Serenity
My phone flashes up another message from Brody.
Can’t wait to bury myself in that sweet wet pussy of yours tomorrow night.
At the wheel of my C-Max, my skin crawls.
On any other night, I’d be driving, on my way to Surly’s.
Thursday nights are always busy at the club.
So, it feels surreal that instead, I don’t have to dance for tips and I’m driving around the wide streets of Boulder Creek after dark, trying to locate an address that Jake has instructed me to go to.
I think about parking in some shady spot and walking the rest of the way.
Except that I know I need to start being honest with people: I used to be a stripper, and I drive a shitty car.
A shitty car that’s making weird noises as I crawl along the curb.
Brody’s message aside, my stomach is tied up in knots. I know who we’re seeing tonight, and what we’re gonna say. I know Jake is right, that it’s time we fessed up. It doesn’t make me any less nervous.
Jake requested the meeting. Asked specific individuals to show, because he had something confidential to tell them. But, to ensure they would all agree, he hasn’t mentioned my name. And they don’t know it’s me who is gonna show up at the door.
When I reach the house, it’s stunning, just as I knew it would be.
A gated property, with a white front, lit up from the outside, and a substantial, paved driveway with several cars parked up, including Jake’s pickup.
This is what years of being an NFL quarterback gets you.
I park my car and push down the nerves threatening to spill over.
I brought flowers. Seemed like the sort of thing you do if you live in this neighborhood.
Before I ring the doorbell, I gulp a breath. There’s no going back now.
A pretty, petite blonde woman opens the door. ‘Hi!’ she beams at me. ‘Come on in!’
I step inside, taking in the impressive hallway, like something you see on all those home shows for the rich and famous.
‘I’m Ally,’ she says, holding out her hand. ‘Ally Briar.’
‘I’m Serenity.’
‘You’re CMC, right?’ she asks, and there’s a glint in her eye when she says it. I can’t work out if she’s surprised or excited.
I smile back at her. ‘Right. It’s my rookie year.’
‘Well, come on in.’
‘These are for you,’ I say, and hand her the flowers.
She blushes. ‘You’re too sweet. They’re beautiful, thank you. Come on through.’
I swallow. I follow her into a living room with sliding glass doors and a high, vaulted ceiling. It’s like something you’d see in a magazine.
Dalton Briar and Hudson Briar get to their feet.
Dalton’s looking at me with a raised brow.
I’ve never spoken to him before, but he knows I’m CMC, and everybody knows who he is.
Hudson Briar stands there with his legs wide apart, his thumbs pressed together, stoic.
Up close, he’s even bigger than he looks on the field.
I glance to my right and find myself looking at Harmony, who is already standing. She looks both surprised and distinctly uncomfortable, and has purposefully distanced herself from the men in the room, her back pressed into one corner.
And then there’s Jake. My Jake. He’s standing with his back to the fireplace, but he’s looking at me.
‘Hey,’ he says softly.
An awkward silence descends over the room.
‘So… can I get anybody another drink?’ Ally asks. ‘Serenity?’
Harmony looks to me, then to Jake and back again. Just as we planned, she was not expecting to see me walk through the door. ‘W-What is this?’ she murmurs.
Jake reaches for my hand. I don’t stop him. His fingers feel warm as they interlace with mine.
‘So,’ Jake says as he addresses the others, ‘we came here to tell you that… Serenity and I… we’re in love. We’re a couple.’
I swallow. Jake squeezes my hand in reassurance, yet suddenly it feels like it’s too hot in here.
The moment the news has sunk in, Hudson Briar inhales sharply.
A muscle flexes in his jaw. His chin juts out as his gaze turns on Harmony.
Her eyes meet his and, in the corner, she blanches.
I see the quiet devastation on her face as she watches him stalk from the room.
A moment later we hear the front door violently slam, and Harmony flinches at the sound.
Dalton shakes his head.
‘I’ll go,’ says Ally awkwardly, and goes after Hudson.
‘I don’t understand,’ Harmony says moments later. ‘How did this happen? Y’all never should have even exchanged more than a couple of words. Y’all shouldn’t have even been in the same space. We shouldn’t even be in this room together.’
She indicates to the pair of us. I look at Jake. ‘We met in a grocery store,’ I say, trying to keep the guilt out of my voice but it creeps in. ‘By accident. Before the first game of the pre-season. I didn’t know who Jake was and he didn’t know I was CMC.’
‘We didn’t mean to break any rules,’ Jake adds. ‘If anything, it was my fault. Serenity tried to get rid of me. But I didn’t let her tell me no for an answer.’
Harmony buries her face in her palms. Dalton rolls his eyes. ‘Is it really that big of a deal?’ he says, pointedly in her direction, because she’s still backed into a corner.
‘It’s clause five of the contract!’ she snarks back at him.
‘So you’ve been telling my brother the last five years! Yet it seems like these two managed it.’
He’s indicating toward Jake and me. Harmony is visibly conflicted.
‘This is bad,’ she mumbles.
‘Bad for who?’ Dalton asks in disgust.
‘It’s against the rules!’ Harmony exclaims.
‘Oh, the rules, the rules, always the goddamned rules,’ Dalton sighs.
‘It’s alright for you, there’s nothing in your contract about not bagging yourself a member of the CMC!’
‘And if there was, I would have had it removed! Not that it makes a difference to me, I’m married.’
‘But that is exactly why you guys get to do whatever you want, and as cheerleaders, we are held to a completely different standard!’ She waggles her finger between us. ‘Nobody can find out about this. This cannot come out.’
‘There’s more,’ Jake says, and my stomach rolls over. ‘You might wanna be sitting down for this.’
‘What do you mean, more?’ Harmony questions. ‘Oh god, you’re pregnant.’
‘I’m not pregnant,’ I reassure her.
I can see her chest rising and falling, the distress etched into her features.
Behind me, I hear the front door open. Moments later, Hudson reappears in the threshold. Sheepishly, he clears his throat as he re-enters the room, pushing his fingers through his beard and ignoring Harmony completely. I see the hurt in her eyes as she tracks him coming back across the room.
‘What’d I miss?’ he mumbles.
‘Nothing,’ Dalton states. ‘Same old shit about not breaking any precious rules.’
‘Wouldn’t wanna upset Kathleen Lafferty now, would we?’ Hudson says.
‘Oh, come on, you both know as well as I do that it’s not Kathleen who sets out the terms of the CMC contract,’ Harmony states, and it seems even she’s realized that it’s a little silly now, her keeping her distance.
‘Can you all please sit down?’ Jake raises his voice, exasperated. ‘We’re not done yet.’
Two of them do as they’re told. Then Harmony takes a step forward, pulls herself up a chair. Jakes squeezes my hand again. ‘You okay to do this?’ he whispers to me.
I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. This is the moment I get to lay everything out.
The room goes quiet. All eyes are on me.
I snatch another quick breath, then look at Harmony first. ‘When I first applied to join the CMC, I wasn’t entirely honest about what I did for a living.
I wrote down that I was a waitress at The Bounty diner…
which is true, that’s my day job. But I didn’t write down that…
until very recently I was a private dancer at Surly’s Tavern on the west side. ’
The room is silent. Harmony is stunned. ‘A… I’m sorry, a p-private dancer?’
‘A stripper,’ I clarify in a whisper, and it makes my chest ache to say the words out loud to my squad captain. ‘I worked at Surly’s for five years. Until last night, in fact.’
I can tell by the looks on their faces that the captain and quarterback and the Mutineers’ wide receiver were not anticipating those words to come out my mouth, but it’s also clear that they know exactly what and where Surly’s is. Harmony too, because her eyes drift shut.
‘Wait,’ Jake says, pleading with them. ‘Hear her out.’
I swallow the lump that’s lodged in my throat. I realize that Ally has come back into the room and is lingering in the doorway. She’s heard everything I’ve said.
I tell them everything: the gambling, the debt, and how I’ve been juggling three jobs these last few months. How Jake and his grandfather helped set me free.
I look at Jake when I finish talking, and I’m on the verge of tears again. That’s when I notice the other three are staring at me.
‘You’re like a superwoman,’ Ally says behind me.
‘And she takes care of her father, who’s sick,’ Jake says, and there’s a note of pride in his voice.
‘How have you even had time for each other?’ Harmony asks.
I laugh and look at Jake. ‘We haven’t had all that much. Jake only found out that I was dancing in Surly’s last Friday night.’
Hudson Briar is glaring at me. ‘Hold on just one sec,’ he says, and gets to his feet.
‘You mean to tell me that for the past two months, you’ve been dancing as a Canyon Mutineers Cheerleader, in front of a crowd eighty-thousand strong, and not one of those people recognized you as a stripper from Surly’s Tavern? ’
‘Private dancer,’ Harmony corrects him, but his expression sours at her addressing him directly. He averts his eyes, and the reaction is not lost on Harmony, who suddenly looks miserable.
‘It’s pretty much a miracle, I know,’ I say to Hudson. ‘I wear wigs at the club, but we get football fans in all the time.’
‘That’s wild,’ he mutters.
‘But it’s another rule broken,’ I say. ‘Technically, I’ve brought the Mutineers into disrepute.’