Epilogue Marietta
Four months later
The colored lights wash over the stage, and the five poles glint as members of my dance class all climb to the tops.
We’re not perfectly in sync as we execute Hello, Boys and slide down in a slow spin, but it’s good enough for this crowd.
Our instructor Terra whoops the loudest from a table in the front. I can pick her out. Plus, Chain. I’ve heard him catcall and holler so many times that I would know him anywhere.
I can’t see into the bar itself, not with all the lights Merrick installed for us to perform, but I know he’s out there. So are Diesel and Symphony, Bailey and Rhett, and Jenna. Most of the Wild Hair, too, including Adam and Jami, who have become tight, and Christina.
I hear a “You go, girls.” That might have been Betz!
The five of us fall into our Diamonds, then scoot across the floor.
The music is loud and sultry, and I feel in my element.
When I proposed we do a group dance to Merrick, we agreed there would be no stripteases, nothing to overly ignite the crowd one way or another.
We all wear matching black crop tops and boy shorts with black heels.
I couldn’t help myself, so I didn’t bother with a bra, knowing that on some of the inversions, I would flash the crowd “accidentally.”
And I did. It was fucking hot.
Everyone moves to the final formation. Since I’m the fastest climber, I’m in the center at the top of the pole. Then the two closest are a third of the way from the top. The final two on the ends are halfway up.
We all hit our final pose, arms out, as the song ends.
Everybody cheers.
It’s over the top exciting to perform for real people. I glance at the other girls, and they are all breathing hard and glowing with adrenaline. I think we’ll be able to do this regularly. Terra is already teaching us more routines to perform.
I feel on top of the world.
We slide down as the bar lights blink on again, bringing the room back to its usual hazy neon.
Jake and a new bouncer, Marco, head on stage to break down the poles so the band can come on.
I hurry down the steps. Terra greets us all with hugs.
“You were so good,” she says. “So good!”
The other girls talk excitedly about what they want to learn next, but I break away to head to the bar, accepting compliments along the way with a smile and a nod.
Merrick leans against the counter, smiling bigger than maybe I’ve ever seen him. “That was fantastic. You think it will become a regular thing?”
I hop onto a stool. “Maybe! They seem to be talking about it.”
“Excellent.” He passes me a Sex on the Beach, which is still my favorite.
I down it in two swallows. When I put it down, Merrick is grinning at me.
“What?” I ask.
He tilts his head toward Hookup Heaven.
I laugh. Our favorite. I move my hand across the bar, and he takes it, then leaps over the top. I love watching him do that. He’s a beast.
He scoops me up and flings me over his shoulder. My hair falls over my face. “Merrick!”
Symphony must stop him because we halt, and her face appears next to mine, smoothing my hair back. “You were fantastic!” she says.
Then Bailey. “You flashed everybody, twice.”
Jenna sticks her head in. “Once an exhibitionist, always an exhibitionist.”
“Speaking of which,” I tell them, the blood rushing to my head in this position. “You’re cockblocking my way to Hookup Heaven. I have a date with a dick and some mirrors!”
They all laugh at that. I smack Merrick on the back so he can put me down. “We’re delayed!” I call to him over the music.
When my feet hit the floor, I look up to spot Iron Jack sitting at the table near us. He acknowledges me with a quick lift of his chin. “Nice dance.”
Bailey cuts her eyes away from him. “Greta’s here, sitting with Rhett.”
Merrick’s sister. She’s back after her stint of spying on us back when we raided Lucifer’s Kin. I look across the bar to see her watching us. Rhett waves.
Iron Jack follows our gaze and sees her.
His entire body tenses. That’s right. He acted all out of character the last time she was here, too.
Bailey notices it, too. “I’d tread carefully with her,” she says, but Iron Jack doesn’t look away.
“He’s not listening,” Symphony says. “Is he always like this around single women?”
“She’s single?” Iron Jack asks.
“No,” Merrick says. “She’s my sister, and if you go anywhere near her, I’ll cut off your balls.”
This makes Iron Jack turn his way. “Would you now?”
Okay, that’s it. I pull on Merrick’s arm. “Nobody’s cutting off any balls. Speaking of which, I want yours in my mouth. Come on.”
“Euuww,” Jenna says. “Really, Marietta?”
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” Symphony says, flashing a grin at Diesel, who waggles his eyebrows.
“You people are so sexed up!” Jenna hides her eyes.
If they say anything after that, I have no idea. We’ve made it to the door of Hookup Heaven, and I’m focused.
Dancing makes me hot, and I want Merrick to manage me. He does it so well. He might be my one and only, but I think I hit the jackpot with that. I don’t need to compare him with anyone else.
When he flips on the light and closes the door, I turn to him. But something in the corner catches my eye.
“What’s that?”
“It’s for you.” Merrick pulls down a canvas tote. It, hilariously, has the Pickle branding on it from his family’s deli.
“How did you know I would come in here with you for you to give it to me?” I ask.
He laughs. “I know you, Marietta.”
It’s true. He does.
He pulls a roll of black leather from inside of the pickle tote and passes it over.
I unfurl it.
It’s a black cut with the Wild Hair logo on it. It’s way too small for him.
“Is this for me?”
“Better be.” He turns it around so I can see the front.
There’s a red patch. It reads:
Property of Merrick
My whole body glows. “Really?”
“If you’ll have me.”
“An ol’ lady!”
“Ride or die.”
I slip it on over my cropped T-shirt. The leather is cool where it hits my skin. My throat feels tight. I’m making a commitment. “You know, I graduate this summer.”
“Yeah. You gonna take that fancy degree and do something big with it?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe. I have to defend my thesis.”
“Is it done? You said you were close.”
“I want to go back and ask a few more questions before I make it final.”
“Did you ever tell Iron Jack you were writing about the club?”
“Of course. I interviewed him. And Stoney. And Carol. Most of the club.”
He pulls me close. “You didn’t interview me.”
I wrap my arms around his neck. “I already know everything about you, including the length of the dick that better be getting in me soon, or this ol’ lady is going to have a conniption fitting of Betz.”
He laughs. “You think you’ll want to leave here once you’re a fancy Master of Arts in Political Science?”
“Leave the Leaky Skull? My dancing? The Wild Hair? No way.” I press my body against his. “I’ll figure out how it all fits.”
Some of the tension in his arms relaxes, and I realize he didn’t know for certain that I’d say yes to his vest. I run my thumbs across his stubbly cheeks. How could he not know I’ll be wherever he is?
“I love you, Merrick, former prospect, member of the Wild Hair, biker bar owner, popper of cherries, or at least, this cherry. My life is wherever yours is.”
His eyes bore into mine. “I love you, too, Marietta. The dreamer and the wildling.”
“Good. Now, kiss me and drop your pants.”
He chuckles. “Always the romantic one.”
But he does exactly what I tell him.
Thank you for reading Tricky Pickle!