30 #2
The feeling of wrongness continued to linger.
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end like someone were watching me.
Fuck, now I was the one being paranoid. I dropped my eye pencil on the vanity after doing a half-decent job scanning the room.
Even Whiskey was concentrating on getting his own look just right.
I did my best to shake off the feeling of opening the drawer that had all my costumes in it. If you could really call them that.
Tonight called for the little black shorts that had slits on the side.
The damn things barely covered me, but that was the point.
I liked to tantalize with a lot of skin.
I also liked to pair these shorts with a super thin mesh tank I had buried in the drawer.
It took a little digging to find it, holding it up triumphantly once I had.
“Damn, that looks sexy. Wish I had more stuff like that.”
I laughed as I looked up at Whiskey. “You build up a collection after a while. Besides, I’ve seen the stuff you wear.
It works for your style.” I tossed him a wink as I stood to get undressed.
His eyes stayed on me the whole time. For the first time, that kind of attention bothered me.
I changed out in the open for so long that I never thought twice about it.
There was something about the way Whiskey had latched onto me for the night.
In the past, I would have played up his interest. I clearly wasn’t above doing the friends with benefits thing. Now that I was pursuing something with Orion, that felt wrong. Like the only other people I should be with were clients.
I quickly pulled the shorts on, adjusting them to make sure my junk was covered.
It was okay to get naked on stage, but I didn’t like to start off that way.
It was rare for me to take off everything, anyway.
The illusion of nudity and suggestion of more, while keeping my dick mostly covered, made me feel sexy.
Like I was teasing the crowd. Of course, clients got to see it all for the right price.
Once I was dressed, I gave Whiskey a small wave before I made my way to the stage. My turn was fast approaching. I needed to get into the right headspace. I liked to clear my head by thinking about the moves I would choreograph to the song lyrics.
When the opening notes for Babydoll by Ari Abdul filled the speaker system, it was my turn.
I swayed onto the stage, dragging my hands up my chest. There were a few wolf whistles, sometimes that took me out of the moment, but tonight all I could picture in the moment was Orion.
Wondering if he was in the crowd watching me. Fuck, I hoped he was.
I turned my ass toward the bar, bending forward, touching the ground, shaking, before trailing my hands up my body again.
I turned to face the bar, disappointed to see Orion’s usual seat empty.
Victor had his eyes locked on me, though.
For the first time, I felt a little shame in what I was doing.
It was asinine because I shouldn’t have.
I was proud of my body and happy to show it off.
Maybe this was just another one of those nights where Orion would come in a little later than usual.
The song wrapped up. I climbed off the stage going to the backroom for a minute to touch up my eye makeup and grab some water.
My heart was beating a million miles a minute.
My routine was to now go out, get my usual drink from Victor, even if I probably shouldn’t have any more to drink after earlier.
When I emerged from the back, there was someone sitting in Orion’s usual spot, but it wasn’t the man I wanted to see.
It was his friend Jayden who liked to show up from time to time.
There was something about the guy that never sat well with me.
Maybe it had something to do with Raven actively seeking him out the last few times he’d been in.
Anyone who had an attachment to that woman had to be up to no good.
I tried to shove that thought to the back of my head. There was something serious going on with her tonight.
Jayden was leaning across the bar, talking to Victor. Whatever he was saying made Victor frown. It wasn’t often that Victor showed his dislike for people, so if this man was making him uncomfortable, something was really off. I wasn’t about to just stand there letting it happen.
I strode across the space. Victor looked up to see me approaching. His eyebrows rose as he went into autopilot, making my drink. It wasn’t like I had time to stop him. Just because he made it didn’t mean I had to drink it.
“There’s Orion’s pretty young thing.” Jayden laughed as he turned to face me.
I scowled at him. “I don’t know what you mean. Last I checked, I didn’t belong to anyone.”
It only made him laugh harder. “Say what you want, buttercup. That man is wrapped around your little finger. I was just asking Victor here if he’d seen either of you tonight.”
He was looking for me? What the actual fuck? When Victor slid the martini glass across the bar to me, I wanted to throw it in Jayden’s face. Causing a scene wouldn’t help anyone, though.
Instead, against my better judgement, I took a small sip of my drink, setting the glass back on the counter. “Why me? Don’t you have a better way of tracking down your own friend? You’re normally here to see Raven.”
He nodded. “True. I’m normally here to see her, but she wasn’t herself tonight.”
So he’d noticed it as well... but that also meant he’d seen her before she’d come in for work.
It wasn’t like I had time to question further. The front doors of the club slammed open—several men in police uniforms filed in.
“Shit,” was all Jayden said as he jumped off his barstool, slinging himself over the bar top.
Victor’s eyes widened as he pushed the other man. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“You didn’t see me,” he said as he tried to make his way to the storage room that was off to the side.
Victor wasn’t having any of it. He grabbed Jayden by the collar, holding him in place. “The hell? I think you need to start talking.”
There wasn’t time for any of that. More cops filed into the club. This wasn’t something small like Jayden had done something stupid. Or maybe he had. Somehow he had and involved the club. My heart sank because he’d been there looking for Orion.
Did he know?
“Everyone, put your hands up where we can see them. This will go as smoothly as possible. No one needs to get hurt.”
What the fuck was happening?