“Paris,” he says, his tone pleading. When he rubs down the front of his jeans, a moan escapes my lips. My anger toward him turns to need, and unable to stop myself, I walk toward him and straddle his hips. His hands instantly come to my hips, holding me down so I can’t move away. His chest rises and falls with his deep breaths, as I slowly start to grind down on his cock. He’s hard as a rock, and I bite my bottom lip as I fall against his chest, and then stick my face in the crook of his neck as I push up on my knees. I’ve never given a dance like this before, and I hope he doesn’t think it’s like this for all my customers. Because it isn’t. It’s just for him.
“Fuck, Paris,” he growls into my ear.
“I want you,” I pant back.
“Fuck. Not here,” he says, and I sit back and realize just where we are and what’s going on. I move to get off his lap but he keeps me in place with his grip.
“I’m glad this is your last night here,” he says. I stare into his dark eyes and sigh.
“What are we doing, Gray?” I ask, panting slightly.
His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “I’m taking you home.”
“Okay,” I murmur as I stand up. He picks my top up off the floor and helps me put it on. He asks me to give him a minute to calm down before we walk out. As we leave, Justin walks up toward the private booths, smiling at me. Fucking hell. Grayson tenses, then walks up to Justin and punches him right in the face. No hesitation, no thought, just hits him square in the jaw. Lucky today is my last shift or I would have gotten fired. Justin falls back against the bar, holding his jaw. Grayson walks up to him and says something to him, before he returns to me, takes me by the hand, and drags me out.
“Why did you do that?” I ask, feeling a little dazed.
“That’s Jake’s dad,” he says, putting me in the car and closing the door. Justin is Jake’s dad? Holy crap. So he’s the one who took pictures of me? I shudder at the thought and put on my seat belt. Grayson slides into the driver’s seat and looks over at me.
“Let’s get you home,” he says gently.
“How does it feel to be unemployed?” Anaya asks around a mouthful of cereal the next morning.
I groan. “Thanks for reminding me.”
“You could get a real job in a bar. You know, instead of the one you made up,” she says, giggling. A lock of her red hair falls on her face, and she blows it away, and then continues to eat.
“Don’t make me throw something at you,” I sulk. Last night, Grayson drove me home, walked me to the door and said bye. Then he left. The drive itself was quiet and uneventful, leaving me confused and wondering where exactly we stand right now. Paul walks out of Anaya’s room wearing nothing but boxer shorts so I avert my eyes. He plops down on the chair next to my roommate and pulls her bowl of cereal closer to him, stealing her spoon and taking a bite.
“What’s new?” he asks, giving me a friendly nod.
I sigh, leaning back in my chair and folding my arms. “You know, the usual. Quit a strip club, now need to find a new job to pay off a debt before the man my sister owes money to comes looking for one of the two of us.”
Paul blinks, and then looks at Anaya. “Your place has way more action than mine. Why don’t we stay here more often?”
Anaya rolls her eyes. “Because I don’t want to scare Paris with all of your sex noises.”
I blush and pretend to stare at something on the other side of the room that has suddenly become interesting.
“Leave her alone. You’re making her blush,” Paul adds dryly, and then lifts up the bowl to drink the milk. A knock on the door has me perking up.
“I’ll get it,” Paul says standing up. “Because I’m such a gentleman.”
“If you have to tell people you’re a gentleman, then you’re probably not,” Anaya says, grinning. These two. When Grayson walks back in with Paul a few seconds later, I can’t hide my surprise.
“Good morning,” he says, flashing us all a charming smile. “What have I missed?” he asks, sitting down at the table with us as if he does it every day.
“What have you missed? Paul thinks he’s a gentleman; that’s about it,” Anaya says, darting her gaze from Grayson to me and back again. Paul bends down and places a kiss on Anaya’s mouth. She mock pushes him away, and then the two start getting grabby.
“What about you, Grayson? Are you a gentleman?” she asks when Paul lets her go.
“Of course,” Grayson replies instantly. He turns to look at me. “Except in the bedroom.”
Anaya’s eyes widen. “I bet Paris can attest to that.” There my face goes, red again. Grayson smiles at me knowingly.
“Can we talk?” he asks.
“Sure,” I say, standing up and walking to my room as he trails behind. I sit on my bed as he closes the door, and then comes to sit down next to me.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry if I was an asshole last night. Seeing you up there… I was angry and jealous that other men got to see what’s mine. And pretty fucking angry,” he says, running his hand along his jaw.
“So you were angry?” I ask dryly, lightening the mood a little.
He scoffs. “Just a little. I’m still angry, but—”
I cut him off. “You realise that you ended it with me, so you have no right to go around saying that I’m yours,” I tell him. My phone rings, “Say Something” by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera plays, my new ringtone. The song fills the room between us. I ignore the call.
“I had just found out the love of my life was a stripper,” he says dryly, shrugging in a ‘what do you expect’ kind of way.
I grit my teeth. “You’re too young to have found the love of your life.”
He stills. “I’m twenty-one—old enough to know what I want. I’ve been with my fair share of girls and…”
“Don’t remind me,” I mutter, rubbing my hands down my face. I’m tired. So bloody tired.
“You look tired,” he says, brows furrowing. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I am tired,” I say. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Us,” he says.
“There is no us,” I remind him, crossing my arms over my chest. Do I want him back? Of course I do. But I know that things between us will be different. I can already sense it in what he says, and the way he says it. He’s going to use this against me.
“There will always be an ‘us’,” he says. “Even though you were leading a double life I had no idea about.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. Case in point. I stand up. “If that’s all you have to say, then please leave.”
He opens his mouth to argue but then closes it. “You need to rest. We can talk later,” he says. He kisses me once on my forehead, his lips searing my skin with the simple touch.
Then he leaves.
Chapter Seventeen
I hand in my resume to the manager of the restaurant, thanking him and then walking out. I’ve applied for work at ten different places today, and it feels good to be productive. My phone vibrates with a text message from London. She had replied telling me to call her, which I’d forgotten to do.
Can’t even call your sister back, huh?
I roll my eyes and text back.
Sorry, busy with uni. Is everything okay?
She doesn’t instantly reply so I put my phone away and continue walking down the street. I stop when I come across a bar, checking it out before walking in. The place is completely dead. There’s a guy standing at the bar, writing something down on a notebook. He’s good-looking enough, with dirty blond hair, tanned skin, and a nice build. He looks up as I get close.