10
For whatever reason, I found myself driving to Fantasm. It might have been because Jack was occupied with his new girlfriend, and none of my usual, upscale and pompous haunts sounded the least bit inviting, especially since most people I normally socialized with knew by now that I'd blown a major partnership deal. I wasn't in the mood to face any of them. Or maybe Fantasm was just a place more suited to my mood. And of course, there was the fact that I had a crazy urge to watch Shay on stage. I couldn't deny that I was disappointed that she'd turned me down. It sure would have been nice to have one thing go right, to find some small sliver of success after a long stretch of failure.
The parking lot was packed, and loud music thrummed through the thin walls of the bar. I headed inside and stopped by the counter for a beer. The dancer on stage had just finished her routine and was collecting cash from the appreciative audience. Rocky was racing back and forth behind the bar with a red face. He kept wiping his forehead with the dishtowel he had draped over his shoulder.
I sidled up to the bar.
Rocky pointed at me. "The usual?"
"Yep."
He returned seconds later with my beer. "What a night," he grunted. "Ruby and two of the girls are out with the flu. Guess it's going around." He hurried off to help the next customer.
I made my way to the front corner near the stage where a counter lined the wall to hold drinks. All the seats and tables were taken, but I wasn't planning to stay long. The dancer who had just finished, Roxie, I think, disappeared off stage but emerged quickly through the side door to mingle with the customers. She headed straight toward me with her glitter covered skin and see through blouse. Her red hair had been braided like a school girl, which went along with the short plaid skirt she'd pulled back on over her g-string.
She leaned right up against me, pressing her hip against my fly. "Hello, handsome, haven't seen you in here lately. Are you interested in a personal strip show in the back room? I'll give you my special rate of twenty dollars."
"I think I'll just drink my beer. Thank you though."
"Fine, but you're missing out," she said with a far less flirty tone. She sashayed away in her school girl costume. Rocky was so busy tending his bar, the music started up without his usual introduction.
The second Shay's long, silky leg slipped between the parted drape panels at the back of the stage, the audience roared. She tossed back the curtains and stepped onto the stage. Her brown eyes glittered in the wavering stage lights as she smiled out from under the brim of her shiny black top hat.
I drank my beer and watched with as much undivided attention as the other men in the audience. My cock was throbbing and pushing against the fly of my jeans. After Shay left my house, I briefly went through a list of other women who I thought could be tempted into my unorthodox plan, but I couldn't come up with one name. I needed someone who made me horny as hell and someone who I'd never touched before. I needed to drive myself nuts with thinking about how she'd feel naked beneath me, my cock pumping into her. Shay fit all the qualifications. Hell, I'd already spent a good deal of time visualizing her in my bed, her long legs spread wide and her nipples tight with anticipation.
Shay slipped out of her black tail coat. The final sleeve dripped off the end of her hand, and she twirled the coat once before flinging it to the back of the stage. Her long leg kicked up and around, a move that made a man with long greasy hair and a neck tattoo lunge out of his seat. He stood at the edge of the stage leering at Shay and swiping his tongue around his mouth. Normally Rocky would have made him sit down, but he was swamped with customers at the bar. Shay ignored him and continued with her routine.
Her long fingers wrapped around the stripper pole. She curled her body around it, hugging it between her thighs as she peeled her body gracefully away from the pole. She arched her back and landed her hands on the stage beneath her head and shoulders. Then, one at a time, her long legs arced through the air and over her head. She was incredibly talented and athletic, which only made her that much more sensuous. This place was a pit, and Rocky didn't deserve to have her on his warped, ugly stage.
Shay stood and leaned all the way down, sweeping her arms around in a circle. As she swung back the other way, the greasy haired creep reached out and grabbed her hand. He pulled her sharply to her knees at the edge of the stage.
I shot across the floor and grabbed his wrist. It was thick, like the rest of him. His bitter smelling breath shot my way as he growled in anger. I squeezed down on his wrist like an iron clamp. The other spectators cheered me on, mad as hell that the asshole had stopped the dance.