“Hey, beautiful.” He laughed, velvety and deep, from his large chest.
“Hey, Dustin.” Mel stretched up on her toes to kiss his beautiful dark skin. “This is my favorite girl in the whole world.” Mel motioned toward Sophie as she introduced her to the bouncer. “Sophie, this is Dustin.”
“I can see why she’s your favorite girl.” He said genuinely. His manners were refreshing as he shook Sophie’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Sophie.”
“You too, Dustin.” Sophie offered politely.
“This must be your first time. You seem really nervous.” Dustin chuckled. Sophie didn’t even notice she was shaking until she looked down at her hands.
“She’s gonna be one of the crowd minglers tonight.” Mel threaded her arm through Sophie’s.
“Don’t worry, Sophie. We’ll keep an eye on you,” he said reassuringly.
The music pulsed through the interior of the club. It was dark with low seductive lighting. Small platforms with lights running along the edges were sporadically placed throughout the bar, each displaying a girl twisting her naked body around the dance poles. Only thongs stood in the way of displaying all their secrets to the thin crowd that was dispersed through the establishment. “It will be packed later. It’s still early,” Mel yelled beside her over the raging music. The bartenders were stacking up endless rows of glasses behind the bar, readying for the evening guests. “Come with me. I want you to meet Kate. She’s going to be on the floor with you. You guys can hang out.” Mel’s words were music to her ears. Having someone to talk to would be wonderful, a distraction from focusing on where she was. The girls on stage greeted Mel as she passed, each of them seemingly as comfortable naked as someone who was completely clothed.
“Mel!” a stout man shouted as he walked toward them. His hair was wiry with unkempt curls. His large dark eyes were the only good feature upon his face. “Hello, who’s this?” He held his hand out toward Sophie.
“Joe, this is my friend Sophie. She’s helping us out tonight.” Mel introduced Sophie to her boss.
“Very nice to meet you, Sophie.” He smiled widely, showing his crooked teeth.
“You too.” Sophie shook his hand as he looked her over like an object.
Mel gave her an apologetic look. “You were looking for me?” She pulled Joe’s attention away from Sophie.
“Yeah, Cindy didn’t show up again. Can you cover her?”
“Yeah sure. I have to show Sophie around. I’ll come see you in a bit.” Mel grabbed Sophie’s arm and pulled her along.
Mel gave Sophie a brief tour, showing her the main stage where Mel would be performing later, and the area that Sophie was supposed to mingle around. The décor was just as eye catching as the entertainment; everything was sparkles and lights.
Mel introduced Sophie to Kate, another girl that would be working around the crowd, enticing the customers to open their wallets. Kate was short with voluptuous curves. She loved when men looked at her. Her hair was curled into tight bouncy ringlets and her lipstick was a bright pink like the dress that squeezed her to the point it looked likely it would pop off. Sophie couldn’t help but smile at Kate’s enthusiastic mood. She was ready to take on any man brave enough to approach her big personality.
It didn’t take long for customers to start filling the bar. Sophie sipped the sweet drink that the bartender had poured for them. Kate had greedily sipped through four glasses in the past hour as they chatted. Sophie was too wary of what was happening around her to let go and enjoy herself. She hadn’t seen Mel since she left to go backstage to get ready. The acts had begun on the main stage, and Sophie was amazed with how the girls danced so confidently with so many male eyes greedily watching their every move. The room filled to capacity as people poured in from the streets. Sophie soon found it hard to move around without pushing through the bodies.
Kate flirted with countless men, chatting easily like it was the most natural thing in the world to be surrounded by horny men. Sophie was grateful that Kate took the attention from her nervous disposition.
“Excuse me?” Sophie turned around and looked into the deep brown eyes of a tall, well-dressed man not that much older than herself. “It looks like you’re not enjoying that drink. Can I offer you something else?” He was handsome in an unconventional way. His features were sharp but worked together to create a memorable face.
“Um…sure. Thank you,” Sophie accepted gratefully.
“What would you like?” He smiled to reveal straight white teeth.
“Not sure, but something less sweet would be great.”
“Sure thing.” He leaned against the bar and ordered Sophie and himself a drink. He was tall and his athletic narrow form indicated that he knew how to move his body. With two drinks in his hand, he turned around and held hers out for her.
“Thank you.”
“I hope you don’t think that I’m being to forward, but I think you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.” He seemed so much more confident now. “Are you a model or something?”
“Me? No, definitely not. How many drinks have you had?” Sophie laughed off his comment. She never really knew how to respond when people gave her a compliment. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment.
“Just starting.” He held up his drink and took a generous sip.
“This is so much better,” Sophie said appreciatively after trying her drink. It didn’t take her breath away like the last one that tasted more like a dessert.
“Do you come here often?” he asked cautiously.
“No. It’s actually my first time. I’m here with my friend.” Sophie turned around to see Kate doing shots at the bar with a couple of rowdy men. They began chanting her name as she plowed through the row lined up on the bar for her.
“She seems to be having a good time. I’m Cale, by the way.” He held out his hand.
“Sophie.” Sophie slipped her small hand in his and he brought it to his lips.
“Excuse me, miss?” Sophie turned to see one of the waitresses standing beside her. “The guy at the end of the bar told me to give you this.”
Sophie looked over in the direction the waitress indicated and noticed Ashton. He was leaning casually against the bar. He stared back at her as he sipped his drink.
“It’s water.” The waitress shrugged with an awkward look upon her face.
“No, thank you,” Sophie declined. She turned her attention back toward Cale, who was looking back and forth between Sophie and Ashton.
“Please don’t tell me he’s your boyfriend,” Cale asked with a tilt of his head toward Ashton.
“No, he’s not.” She pulled the straw out of her glass and discarded it on the bar before she tipped her drink up to her lips and drained the entire glass. “This is really good.”
A smile curled the edges of Cale’s lips. “Let me get you another.”
“Sure. I feel like having fun tonight.” Sophie refused to look at Ashton at the bar, but every once and a while she would find herself subject to his dangerous, dark glare from the other side. He was impossibly attractive, like the devil promoting how pleasurable sin could be. Why the hell can’t you leave me alone?
After a few drinks Sophie’s guardedness slipped away and she let herself enjoy the evening, no thought to the future or what lay outside of here and now. The waitress made a few more attempts at offering her water from Ashton but she declined every time. “Suit yourself. He keeps paying me a shit load of money to keep offering it.” The waitress strutted away to serve other customers. She shot Ashton an evil glare as she downed her drink and then turned back to Cale. He was now flanked by a couple of his friends. She didn’t even know their names, nor did she care to ask. She was past the point of caring about formalities. A new drink would always appear in her hand after she finished one. She lost track of who was giving them to her.
When Mel finally came out on stage, Sophie screamed her name. Mel winked back at Sophie. Mel was as comfortable as the other girls upon the stage, moving her body in the language of sex. It was really quite beautiful if it wasn’t cheapened by the men hollering and whistling to her.
“A friend of yours?” one of the guys asked. Sophie couldn’t even keep track of who was speaking anymore. Her senses had suddenly become clouded together.