The Best Man Page 12

  “Yeah, yeah,” Samuel muttered while moving to get into the van. I tried to ignore him while I stepped up and into the back. Nick closed the door behind me and resumed his position as driver.

  “So...where to?” Nick aimed his question to the man in the passenger’s seat. Samuel directed him to head north. For the rest of the drive, I listened to the men around me psych themselves up for a night of drinking and scantily clad women.

  “Got your money ready, Sullivan?” Andy asked.

  “Oh yeah.” I nodded in jest. “Bring on the T and A.”

  Dan and Zack laughed loudly from the seat behind me, rubbing my shoulders like I was a boxer about to step into a ring. To be honest, I felt like I needed the prep. I had no idea what to expect or what I was about to get myself into. I just knew that if I let my own discomfort bring down the mood of the people around me, Samuel would win. Since the Great Paintball Incident, our score was tied. I couldn’t afford to lose a point tonight.

  When Nick opened the van door for us, I followed Andy outside and stood in the gravel, staring up at the blinking neon sign. “The Slapping Beaver” was displayed proudly above an innocuous-looking single-story building with darkened windows.

  “Looks like it’s packed tonight,” Dan said while glancing around the parking lot full of cars.

  “I called ahead for a reserved table,” Samuel explained.

  “Should be fun,” Zack agreed, and the two men flanked Andy as they began walking toward the entrance.

  “You ready?” Samuel asked.

  “Sure.” I shrugged and walked beside him. Nick fell into step at my other side, and I tried to calm my nerves as I listened to the crunching of our steps in the gravel leading us closer to the building.

  The hallway leading in from the door was narrow. I ended up pressed inside a close circle of the men I had accompanied. I could see pulsing red lights bouncing around the room in time to electronic music that filled the air. I tried to peek around the large bodies around me to take in my surroundings.

  From movies and music videos, I had expected a large, central stage with dancing girls doing choreographed numbers. While there was a rectangular stage near the back wall, most of the action seemed to be taking place on and around several small, round stages which were set up in various locations around the large room. Each stage had a private dancer on it and a pole that went from ceiling to floor. Chairs were placed on the floor, around the circumference of each stage, for paying customers to sit up close to enjoy the show. And from the looks of one man who sat while a dancer ground her hips in his face...it seemed the customers were treated to a whole lot of attention for the tips they provided.

  I was thankful to find our reserved space was set back and away from the small round stages. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pretend composure if I had to sit close to the dancers.

  “This is great.” Andy grinned. The other men moved to sit without argument. I smiled when Nick held out a chair for me. When I looked up, I saw that Samuel still stood, with his fingers wrapped around the top of a chair he had pulled out as well. I sat down awkwardly in the chair Nick offered since it was closest to me, frowning as I watched Samuel forcefully shove his chair back toward the table before turning to stride in the direction of the bar. Nick lowered himself into the seat beside me and moved himself up until the side of his thigh touched mine beneath the table, bringing my attention back to him. If Andy hadn’t already warned me that Nick might be interested, I certainly would have started to suspect on my own.

  I didn’t mind Nick sitting close. He wasn’t being gross or sleazy. And he was positively gorgeous. I was just going to have to remember my promise to Andy and not let things get out of hand while Samuel and I were still locked in our competition. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone. In the meantime, Nick’s nearness might help to dispel some of the attention I seemed to be garnering from various men sitting at nearby tables. I tried to ignore their curious stares. My guess was that not many women were typically seen fully dressed inside these walls.

  A pretty waitress wearing tiny lingerie strode up to us in her ridiculously tall heels. I smirked as the men at my table tried to pretend not to ogle the ample cleavage that poured from the top of her bustier or her long legs encased in a garter belt and stockings.

  “I’ll buy the first round,” I offered, to prove I wasn’t bothered in the slightest by her attire. The waitress smiled and nodded while I ordered two pitchers of beer and a Coke for our designated driver.

  “Let me guess,” the bottle-redhead purred. “Bachelor party?” Her heavily made-up eyes scanned the table of men in front of her.

  “More like ‘practice’ for a bachelor party,” Andy explained. “I’m not getting married until next summer.”

  The leggy waitress swung her hips while she walked over and sat across Andy’s lap. She pouted prettily and mussed the top of his hair with her cotton candy-pink lacquered fingertips. “Oh, pooh. It’s always the cute ones that are stolen from us in their prime.”

  Andy grinned like a kid in a candy store and adjusted his glasses when she stood up and sashayed off to get our drink order.

  “I’m gonna tell everyone that I’m the one getting married if it’s gonna get me attention like that,” Zack laughed. The other men joined in.

  “Come on,” Dan suggested, hitting Zack in the shoulder. “Let’s go throw down some cash.”

  The two men stood and walked to a couple of available seats near a small stage. I watched for a moment as they placed some money on the edge of the circle in front of them. The dancer there was quick to treat them to a view that surprised me. Needless to say, G-strings didn’t offer a lot of coverage when a woman was lying on her back with her legs held in a spread-eagle position in the air.

  “Well...she’s very limber,” I pointed out.

  “Yes, she is,” Andy chuckled. Nick reached out and poured me a beer from one of the pitchers that just arrived at our table. I took a drink quickly, trying to bolster my confidence to feel less out of place. Andy took a drink too, but I noticed that his expression had turned serious. When I turned my head to follow his gaze, I saw a very tall blond dancer was standing next to Samuel. Her hand was on his shoulder as they talked. Though I knew it wasn’t my place to feel so possessive, I had to fight down the way I felt about her touching him. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me that Andy looked upset, though.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “I just hope he’s not up to no-good.” Andy shook his head.

  “I see you had company,” I mentioned to Samuel when he returned to the table.

  “They just go from customer to customer, trying to see who wants to order private dances,” Samuel said. I nodded and grinned as Zack and Dan came back to our table. “Look. I bought shots,” Samuel informed them as a waitress materialized with his order.

  “What’s in that?” I wrinkled my nose. The shot glasses were filled with creamy looking pink-colored liquid.

  “I don’t know.” Samuel shrugged. “She said it was a house specialty. It’s called a Shaved Beaver.”

  “Oh Lord.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Everyone grab a Shaved Beaver!” Zack laughed. Even though I was pretty sure I’d have my honorary feminist license revoked, I played along.

  Samuel smiled and lifted his glass. “To my little brother!”

  We all toasted Andy before tossing back the drinks. I swallowed the tangy liquid and placed the glass back on the table. Samuel clapped his hand on Andy’s shoulder and leaned in to talk to him a minute before they both stood to walk toward stage seats. It bothered me, more than it should have, to see my guys sitting there getting attention from a stripper.

  “You’re a little far from the action.” I looked over at Nick to distract myself from whatever Andy and Samuel were doing. “Don’t you want to go over there with the other guys?”

  “I think I have the best seat in the house right here,” he said. I couldn’t help the blush that pulled up and into my
cheeks. Nick reached and traced his finger across the top of my hand that was resting on my leg. He seemed to think better of the action, though and brought his hands back up to his glass of Coke. I was at a loss as to what to do with my own hands then. I reached for the change the waitress had left on our table and started to spin a quarter on its side across the hard, black surface. If Dan and Zack noticed our brief, awkward exchange, they certainly did not let on.

  The waitress came by and flirted enough for our companions to buy the next round of beer and shots. I kept myself busy by lining up one of the empty glasses and trying to bounce my quarter into it. A college drinking game, it took a few tries before I had the angle just right. Holding the quarter on edge between my thumb and middle finger, I bounced the quarter off the table and into the glass in front of me.

  “Besides playing Quarters,” Nick surprised me by speaking near my ear. “What else do you study in Florida?”

  “Graphic design.” I pushed my hair behind my shoulder and smiled over at him. He didn’t move away. His bright blue eyes looked curious and kind.

  “I should show you some of the art we’ve been considering for our album cover,” Nick said. “You could give me your opinion.”

  “Oh! That’s right,” I said. “Andy told me that your band was really doing well. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” Nick blushed. “I think it’s just luck. We were heard by the right people at the right time.”

  “It’s thrilling, all the same,” I complimented him. “You’re going to be a very busy man.”

  Nick shrugged and put his palm out toward me. I dropped the quarter into it, and he turned his attention to trying to bounce it into the glass as well.

  “So, will you take a look at our designs sometime?”

  “I’d be happy to.” I grinned. When the quarter bounced off the rim of the glass and rolled over toward Zack, he stopped it by slapping his palm against the table.

  “I haven’t played Quarters in ages,” Zack said.

  “It was Emmy’s idea.” Nick pointed at me. Dan slid his chair closer to the table, and the men started to move the pitchers and cups out of our way, so we could play.

  “What’s going on?” Samuel asked as he and Andy made their way back over to us.

  “We’re playing Quarters,” Nick explained. Andy and Samuel moved in to join our game. For a while, it became very easy to forget our location. We bounced the coin off the table, laughing and forcing each other to drink when the quarter successfully landed in the glass. I lost count of the number of pitchers and shots that were brought to the table. We were all having too much fun playing our silly game. I was feeling tipsy from all the alcohol consumed. When I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned toward the source.

  “Hmmm?” I asked. I recognized the blond Amazonian dancer behind me. She had been talking to Samuel earlier.

  “Come with me, sugar,” she said with a smile. I turned and looked over my shoulder at the guys. The game had halted, and they all watched me curiously.

  “I’ll...be right back?” I posed it as a question, hoping one of them would say something to stop me. Andy looked as confused as I felt. I stood and let the dancer pull me by the hand until we were a short distance from the table. “I’m sorry.” I finally stopped her from dragging me any farther. “I don’t really know what’s going on.”

  “An admirer paid for you to get a private dance.” She grinned and fluttered her false eyelashes at me. I closed my eyes and groaned. Andy’s words from earlier made their way through my alcohol-hindered brain. This must have been the “no-good” that Samuel had been up to.

  “Listen, I’m really sorry.” I shook my head. I was glad my back was to our table so they could not see my face. “I’m...not really into this kind of thing.”

  “I was paid three hundred dollars to get you on the stage, honey.” The dancer started to pull me forward again. “Help me out, okay? Why don’t you just sit back and let me handle everything? Men eat this shit up.”

  “Fine,” I sighed. The more I thought about it, the more disgruntled I became. If Samuel had paid this woman three hundred dollars to try to make me uncomfortable, he was going to be sorely disappointed. I’d give him a show for his money. More than one of us was capable of fighting dirty.

  The dancer led me to a chair that was placed on the rectangular stage at the far end of the room. I threw my shoulders back and tossed my hair behind me, trying to pretend not to be bothered by the attention we received just for having walked through the crowd together. Then the music started, the dancer pushed me to sit, and the show began.

  I refused to look at my table. I knew if I saw Samuel’s smug face, I wouldn’t be able to hide my anger. So instead, I pretended to be totally interested in the gyrating motions of the woman in front of me. She bent, she twisted, she did the splits. I even managed to stay still and not fall over backward in my chair when the woman did a front walk-over that ended with her ankles on my shoulders. The flashing red lights surely hid my raging red face. I sat there and concentrated on not being mortified by the whooping and cheering I could hear from the darkened area in front of us.

  The dancer righted herself again and took my hands to put them on her hips while she straddled my lap and continued to shake and shimmy and grind above me. I bit my lip and allowed my fingers to smooth up and down her sides. She smiled encouragingly and nodded. “You’re doing great. Keep it up,” she whispered, pretending to grind even closer to me while she talked.

  “The guys I’m with will never let me live this down.” I shook my head.

  “Yeah...well, Mr. Messy Hair at your table looks like he’s about to explode.”

  I couldn’t help the laugh that burst from me. I could imagine Samuel’s face. He would be totally pissed that his plan was backfiring. That mental image alone spurred me on. I pushed the girl by the hips and turned her in front of me. Playfully, I slapped my hand across her bottom before I pulled her down onto my lap again with the naughtiest looking grin I could muster. Samuel wanted to embarrass me? Well, he had another thing coming. He paid for a show. I’d give him one. The girl spread her legs over mine and whipped her hair around while I trailed my fingers up and down the outside of her thighs. When the song ended, she stood and turned in front of me, leaned in, and placed her overly glossed cherry-red lips right against mine.

  “That was hot,” she said. I forced myself not to rub her lip gloss away while I listened to the crowd around us catcall and cheer loudly. “I’ll bet I’ll make tons of tips tonight, thanks to you,” she giggled.

  “Yeah, well...it was interesting,” I replied vaguely.

  “If you ever want to work here, I could totally hook you up,” the dancer continued, pulling me by the hand to help me rise.

  The combination of all the alcohol I had consumed, along with the dizzying lights on the stage, made me feel a little light-headed as I got to my feet. I threw my hand out, reaching for the pole to help me remain standing. Then, attempting to make my near-fall less obvious, I leaned my body back like it had all been intentional. To the audience, it looked as if I was considering taking a spin around that pole, and apparently, they liked that idea. The cheers were deafening.

  I hadn’t really considered it. Every part of my being on that stage had been for show. But even if I’d wanted to continue the act, I was stopped by a pair of strong hands gripping my waist roughly from behind. I lost my hold on the pole as I was twisted away. Too much alcohol and my own general lack of coordination caused me to pitch forward. But instead of falling to the floor, I was thrown unceremoniously over the shoulder of one seething Samuel Dalton. If the glimpse I had gotten of his face before I was upside down and dangling over his back was any indication, pissed off was an understatement.

  I heard general boos and grumbling from deep voices around us, while Samuel carried me toward the exit. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on not getting sick. His shoulder was pressed into my stomach, and the ugly pattern of the carpet on th
e floor blurred by at an alarming rate. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and prayed I wouldn’t vomit down his back, though he might just deserve it!

  I felt the night air and knew we were outside. I heard Samuel’s determined steps stop below us, and I felt him lower me to the ground when we got to the van. It was only then that I dared to open my eyes.

  “What in the hell do you think you are doing?” I asked angrily, rubbing at my tender stomach.

  “I should ask the same of you!” Samuel snarled. “Quite a show you put on there, Emelia,” he complimented sarcastically.

  “You had no right to grab me...and...haul me out of there!”

  “Your little stunt nearly caused a riot,” Samuel argued. “If I had let you start taking your clothes off, I don’t know how any of us would have been able to get you out of that mess!”

  “I was not going to take my clothes off!” I was shouting now. “And as for my little stunt,” I continued. “I wouldn’t have had to sit through that at all if you hadn’t paid that woman to give me a lap dance!”

  “Wait. What?” Samuel paused with his hands in his hair.

  “You heard me,” I huffed. “Was it really so important to you to try to embarrass me like that?”

  “What in the world are you talking about?”

  “She said she was paid three hundred dollars to give me a lap dance on the stage!”

  “And you think I paid her?” Samuel’s eyebrows arched up in his surprise.

  “Your brother and I saw you talking to her...” I felt tears in my eyes and cursed myself for my inability to stay calm around him.

  “Emelia...she came up to me while I was in line at the bar. All I did was order those shots.”

  “So...you didn’t...?”

  “If I were going to get someone a lap dance, it would have been Andy. But I didn’t, because Lily made him promise he wouldn’t get that close to any of the dancers.”

  “I thought that you...”

  “Emelia, I wouldn’t deliberately try to humiliate you. You have to believe that. I would never put you in a situation...inviting all of those men to...”