6 Serenity
“Don’t you think that’s enough of these games,” Dad asks tiredly, rubbing his fingers across his eyes.
I frown, pinching my brows together. Breakfast the next morning is a miserable affair, and I don’t even know if my mom’s still in town. Dad said nothing about her, and I know better than to ask. They definitely don’t make an effort to talk anymore. “It’s not a game. I’m helping Jo-”
“For three months,” he interrupts, folding his hands beneath his chin. Dad’s salt and pepper hair is sticking up at odd angles this morning, and I hope he applies some gel before going into the office. “Is she on her way back yet?”
“No,” I reply, dropping my fork to the plate. It clangs off the ceramic, and his brow twitches as he glares at me. “She’s still in Florida with Vinny-”
“Oh, that husband,” Dad goes on, rolling his eyes. “What a troublemaker.”
“I really like Vinny-”
“That man has tattoos all over him,” Dad snaps, shaking his head. “He’s got words on the knuckles and everything. I barely wanted to shake his hand.”
I roll my eyes. Dad met Jo’s husband Vinny at the beginning of the year when I finally made my way out here. He decided he wanted to see my cousin for the first time in years and invited them both over for dinner one night. It was painfully awkward, and he slighted Vinny enough times I thought he might kill Dad on the spot.
My head twitches at the thought. Jo always did say he was the most violent one, but given everything that’s happened it’s a little hard to believe. Still, I think if Vinny felt like anyone was threatening someone he cared about, he’d kill them.
“I wouldn’t slight Vinny more than you need to, Dad,” I tell him honestly, crossing my arms.
“What do you mean by that, Serenity?”
I almost snort as he takes a bite of his bacon. Dad might do big, risky surgeries, but he lives his life through tunnel vision. The tragedy that happened to my cousin fifteen years ago? He pretends to not remember.
Issues with my sister Vienna? He won’t even hear of it.
“Dad, not everything is black and white. Jo and Vinny need to be down in Florida handling things. That’s the only reason I agreed to come to Colorado. There’s not really a projected timeline right now.”
He frowns, looking away from his plate again. I swear I’m in a popularity contest with his breakfast, and I think I’m losing. “You came out here to be with family, didn’t you?”
You mean to babysit Vienna and document all your surgeries so you don’t look out of date?
I press my lips together instead of replying, and he goes back to reading the paper and enjoying his bacon. The housekeeper preps breakfast every morning since my cooking skills always result in burned food, and Dad can’t be bothered to cook a meal. Mom’s too flighty, and Vienna is only here a third of the time as is.
The stuff I do for Dad is busywork. As Russell pointed out months ago, little goes into the process once the camera is set up. I do a timeskip sometimes if it’s tedious, but there’s medical students out there who like watching live to see Dad’s thought processes and each individual step of the surgery.
If there’s nothing to really edit, there’s nothing to really do. I post to his channel and move on.
“I saw Daniel’s son the other day,” Dad goes on, glancing up at me when the silence carries for too long. I’m messing with my eggs without eating. “He’s still single.”
“For all that is good, Dad, don’t even start telling me you think I should try to date him.”
Dad huffs. “Well, you don’t date, Serenity. I’m looking out for your best interests.”
My irritation spikes. “You think my best interests include some stuffy pretty boy with no goals, coasting on Daddy’s money?”
He shakes his head. “Evan is in college to-”
“Dad, Evan’s been in college finishing a bachelors since I was in high school.” That age gap bothers me, but then again, Emeric is ten years older than me and -
I shake my head, the random thoughts of Emeric throwing me off. I don’t need to be comparing him to anyone.
And it doesn’t matter how old he is. That’s just a bad idea.
“Serenity,” Dad asks, his brows drawing together.
“Sorry,” I grumble, grabbing the napkin to wipe my hands. “I’m not hungry.”
“We really should talk about Evan-”
“Dad, if you try to hook me up with one of your friend”s snotty kids I will lose my goddamn mind. I’m not going to marry some pea-brained nobody just because his parents have a fat wallet.”
Scoffing, Dad leans back in his chair. “Need I remind you what happened with Joelle? She got herself tangled up with two men! Turned into a little slut just days out of high school.”
I stand, bumping the table in my haste. “Enough, Dad. I came out here for Jo, not for you. She needs help. And out here she’s Josephine.”
“She needs to get over those two boys.” He pointedly ignores my correction, and I decide to let it slide. Jo’s name is the least of my concerns right now.
“She’s married to one man, Dad.” I pinch my nose, ready to throw the dish in front of me across the room. “You know what? I don’t really care if you agree or not. You’re not going to control me, my dating life, or anything else.”
“You live here.”
“And I could live anywhere else if I need to,” I snap, just as Dad stands.
“I won’t be talked to this way, Serenity.”
“And I’m tired of listening to you talk down about Jo just because she made certain choices when she was young.” I square my shoulders, watching as Dad grips the edge of the table. “She’s an adult now, Dad, and it’s been fifteen years. She can make whatever choice she wants, and she wanted to go back to Florida to deal with this.”
“That’s a stupid choice on her-”
We stop talking at the sound of footsteps, and a few moments later Vienna rounds the corner. Her blonde hair is still in the braid from yesterday, her shirt askew and missing two buttons. She smells like booze even from my spot at the end of the table, and she’s still rubbing sleep from her eyes.
“Hey Dad,” she says, her voice scratchy. I’m sure she spent most of the night partying and forgetting who she is. “Can I have my coffee with a shot of whiskey this morning?”
I laugh humorlessly, looking between the two. Vienna can’t be bothered to look at me as she slumps into her seat at the table, flipping me off before she drops her head onto the empty plate. Dad’s cheeks turn red, witnessing the mess his youngest daughter is turning into.
Chuckling, I turn away. “Good luck with that, Dad. You might want to make that shot a double of something if you want her to get any rest today.”
~~~
I’m watching Emeric again, but from further back in the room. Under the flimsy guise that I need to talk to him about the auction idea again, I came in earlier than normal. He’s onstage, a friend of his standing beside him and a blonde woman between them.
The couple is turned, but when they spin to face the small audience I sink into the nearest seat. It’s Callie and Nate, friends of Emeric’s. I see them talking here and there if I come down to walk the floor.
Callie is sweet and kind of flirty with everyone. Nate is a little more intimidating, but watching him laugh with Emeric onstage is otherworldly. They are both gorgeous men, though Emeric has more fluid movements than Nate. The music picks up again and the two other people onstage, presumably people taking his class, break into a round of applause.
I blink when Callie pretends to bow down to Emeric before grabbing one of the poles. “Come on! Live a little.”
“I’m not performing,” Emeric says, his voice booming across the room compared to hers. He must have a headset on again. “No way.”
“I’ll dance with you,” Callie offers, shaking her hips. She has better rhythm than Nate does, who leans back into the nearest pole to watch her circle her hips.
Surprised, I lean forward at the table and rest my chin on my fist. Callie spins around the stage with the grace of a dancer, and the two students watch eagerly. “Come on Emeric, one dance!”
He groans, surveying the audience. I think the only other people sitting in here right now are partnered to the two girls onstage, and that would explain how Callie and Nate both snuck up there midday. His eyes lock on me, and I realize without the stage lights on he can clearly make me out at the back of the room.
He smirks, and if our last encounter wasn’t embarrassing enough this certainly is. “Okay, Cal, one dance. You’ve gotta move too.”
Callie laughs and claps, but I’m barely paying her any mind. Emeric hasn’t looked away from my gaze yet, and the upbeat music blaring around the room grows louder as he uses the remote. There’s some sort of invisible rope tying us together and I’m helpless to look away.
It seems I can’t really do anything but wait. It makes me hate myself a little bit, but I want to see this. I’ve seen how his body twists around a pole, and I’ve felt how confident those hips can be, but I’ve never seen Emeric perform away from a pole.
Distantly, I remember that he’s not just a stripper, he’s a dancer. He does things aside from spinning around a pole, popular enough to make a comfortable living as an adult entertainer.
The music takes over, and Callie starts doing her own thing by pushing Nate out of the way. That’s all I see before Emeric snags every bit of my focus, his body arching high in the air when the beat drops before he catches himself on his hands, his body rolling gracefully to the upbeat music as he glides into the ground.
He’s rhythmic, twisting his body around in seductive shapes and fast moves that make me dizzy. He executes standing jumps that turn into aerials and flips.
It’s more than a strip tease. He’s a fantastic dancer.
Callie stops part way and starts applauding, and when Emeric jumps to his feet a moment later, he flips her off while smiling. He’s breathing hard, and the routine ends as suddenly as it began.
I’m staring, hard. I know I am. I want him to keep going and to run from this room all at the same time.
His movements are seductive, there’s no question about that. But the wink he gives me across the room is sinful, and I can’t imagine what rumors will sprout from that. He’s too far away for me to know if his eyes have that normal hard gleam, but I’d like to think that for a moment he let his guard down. He’s in his element, so he shouldn’t feel the need to keep shielding himself either.
The same cannot be said for me. I gasp and stand, the heat between my thighs making my head spin. I can’t meet his gaze anymore as I turn, forcing myself to walk like normal instead of running like I want to.
This is a problem I don’t think my fingers can fix.
Once I reach the private hall to the office I practically run up the steps. Even if I don’t think I’ll fix this problem here, I need a few moments to myself. The way my stomach keeps flipping in response to his wink makes me want to reevaluate my entire life.
Emeric makes me want to do risky things, like let a man take my pleasure to new heights. And if he dances for me like a goddamn wet dream one more time, I might just let him.