“Enough.” Devlin said as he joined them, staring the Australian down. Devlin’s world was nothing like her tranquil life on the farm, with all this testosterone floating around.
Teagan watched Devlin glare at the Australian, wondering why he was even more on edge than before he’d spanked and fucked her silly.
“Let’s go,” Devlin said as he grabbed Teagan’s hand and pulled her away.
“You could do with learning some manners, Devlin. If the strip club is owned by your MC, don’t you think I’ll need to get to know my bosses?” she said, while trying to keep up with his long strides.
He held still near the stage, his nostrils flaring. “I’m your boss. You don’t answer to them. You don’t even need to talk to them. If anyone gives you shit, you come straight to me. Okay?”
Talk about being bossy. She wondered why she let Gwenn talk her into this job. Was it too late to grab her bag from next to Gwenn’s seat and split?
“Hi, you’re the dance teacher?” A friendly female voice from up stage said, interrupting Teagan’s thoughts about calling it quits all together.
“Teagan, this is Julie. She started working here five days ago,” Devlin said.
Teagan climbed up onto the stage and offered Julie her hand. “Hi! I’m Teagan. You danced at our VIP stage two nights ago.”
The brunette brought a nervous hand to her white T-shirt clad chest. “Oh, I’m sorry you had to see that. I was so nervous. It was my first time at the VIP stage.”
“Mine too,” Teagan said, making Julie smile. Teagan liked Julie instantly, as her vibe was a complete opposite of Coco. Close to Teagan in age and also new to this world, Julie could be her first friend in this place.
“You’re kidding, right? I saw you that night. It’s why I wanted to be the first to work with you,” Julie said, her hazel eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
“Awesome! Do you have some time to spare today? I want to do some basic things first and then maybe we can spice things up later on in the week?” Teagan said as she noticed Julie had come prepared for a workout, dressed in her shorts and T-shirt.
“I came to find you as soon as I heard from Coco that you arrived. I think I can spare you half an hour,” Julie said with a smile in her voice.
Teagan wondered what Coco had to say about her, but she instantly made a mental note to forget about the busty, dark-haired dancer. It would surprise her if Coco had anything good to say about her.
She walked over to the pole with Julie in tow, without a second glance at Devlin as she left him behind near the stage. Teagan lowered herself gingerly on her still sore bum nearby the edge of the stage, with her back to the bar.
“Eh, aren’t we goin’ to dance?”
“Come,” Teagan tapped the stage with her hand, “First, I want to get to know you.”
Julie mirrored Teagan and sat down Indian style on stage in front of her. She snorted. “You’re not some kind of guru trying to get into my head, are you?”
“Nah. It’s just that dancing with someone is so much easier if you have a feel for each other.”
Julie’s brows shot up. “We’re going to dance together?”
Teagan gave her a reassuring smile. “It would make things easier to show you some stuff. Would you be okay with that?”
Julie picked on a thread of her shiny sports shorts and shrugged. “No. I mean… I’m obviously not as good as you and—”
“You’re absolutely gorgeous, so you’re already more than halfway there. And you also have the skills, Julie. I saw that the night of the bachelorette. We just need to find out what your strengths are and what kind of music, clothes and routine would fit you best. I see things from a dancer’s point of view, but I obviously understand how the most important thing up on one of these stages is confidence. If you’re not sure about what you’re doing on stage, the audience will pick up on that and it will take away from your performance.”
Teagan blushed as realization hit her that she had looked like a headless chicken on stage herself not that long ago, when she’d danced with Tristan during that showcase. Abstract dancing wasn’t Teagan’s strength, and she needed to stay away from that entire genre.
She already dreaded the upcoming conversation with her parents where she would tell them she wanted to drop out from her second course this year.
Boisterous laughs from the bar had Teagan glance over her shoulder. The group of bikers had doubled in size since she started talking to Julie. She wondered if the giant man with the half-long raven hair standing next to Gwenn was Zeus.
She turned her head again, listening to Julie as she said, “I get that. It’s just… I tried working for three other strip clubs in the area, but they all showed me the door after a first audition. The Pink Flower is the only strip club desperate enough to hire me.”
“Hey, your journey led you here. I know we’re going to rock this, Julie. I can feel it in my gut,” Teagan said.
Julie nodded with a faint smile. “If you say so. You’re basically my last hope. If this doesn’t work, I’m sure Devlin will fire me.”