For Love or Money (15 page)

Bangerz
and bimbos

James

My
phone vibrates in my pocket. I hope it’s her, but when I see Andy I know I have
to face the music. No one embarrasses Andrew Saint Clare and lives to tell the
tale.

I
answer his typical name-calling conversation starter with a similar statement.
He responds with one word.

‘Bangerz’

I
wince and hurry to the street to hail a cab. I might as well get the whole
thing over with. We’ve been friends a long time, and I’m not the kind of person
who holds grudges.

When
I get to the strip club that's well known for its celebrity customers and guest
lists that are impossible to get your name on, I know I’ll have to send him a
text to let me in.

Chances
are he won’t come out and I’ll stand out here like a pervert on the street. I
prepare to face the music as I approach the bouncer who gives me an expectant
look.

“James
Holland.”

He
looks at the list and pulls back the red tie, letting me through.

Weird.

I
can’t even imagine the type of sabotage I’m waiting for. God knows what Andy’s
lined up inside of the strip club.

The
hall is lit with small red lights, making my eyes work at adjusting to the dim
lighting. It sets the mood for the club that's barely lit at all. Each table
has a slight golden light to it, being the only light except for the stage.

It’s
the classiest strip club I’ve been to.

A
hand lifts into one of the golden lights from one of the tables. I turn and
saunter to where Shane, Andy, Jackson, Nick, and Lee are sitting. Paganini and
the other guys are at the table next to us.

There
is a seat for me, next to Andy. I don't even hesitate at slumping into the
chair. He turns and grins. “How’s Lana?” There’s a subtle hint of color next to
his lip where I fattened it.

“Better
than your face.”

He
cocks an eyebrow and points at my equally swollen face. “I know thinking before
you speak is hard when you get your first education taught to you in a shitty
bar in Nashville, but dude, that was weak. You look like I won the fight.”

“If
you need me to tell everyone you did, that's cool.”

He
nudges me. “Bros before hos, my friend. Me and you go back far enough that you
should know I don't take females serious enough to fight over one.”

“Well,
I’m taking this one serious, okay?”

He
lifts his hands again. “I would go for one who’s been ridden a little less
hard, but that's just me.”

My
hands are in fists.

Jackson
leans in to me. “He’s baiting you, Holland. He clearly wants you to hit him so
the bouncers will give you the beating of a lifetime.”

I
nod, releasing the hold on my hands and pull my phone out. The backlight is low
so no one thinks I’m taking pictures of the strippers. I send Lana an emoticon of
a rose and a kissy face. I can tell she sees it but she doesn't write back.

Andy
puts his phone on the table and passes me a glass of whiskey from the server. I
cock an eyebrow and give the server a look. “Water please, sealed bottle.”

Andy
pulls the drink back his way, shrugging. He takes a huge swig of the alcohol so
I reach over and take the glass from his hand.

He
smiles. “Your favorite is coming on in a minute.”

I
sip the smooth whiskey and sigh. “Great.”

By
favorite he means the girl I casually had sex with for six months last year.

“She
still the best lay you’ve ever had?”

I
shake my head casually. “No. Your mom is.”

Andy
laughs but he has no idea how truthful I’m being. Shane snorts, spilling some
of his drink. Andy’s phone lights up and I see the name of the person texting
him before he grabs it quick. My whole body goes numb.

Fuck!

She’ll
text him back, not me?

Why
the hell is Lana texting him anyway?

The
stage comes alive with silvery lights that sparkle as a shadow slips from
backstage. The dancer spins and lifts a leg, but we still can only see the dark
of her shadow.

She
is stunning as she flits through the light, spinning and swinging her legs. She
leaps onto the metal pole, coming alive with color and light. She launches her
legs into the air, wrapping them around the pole and dropping her torso to the
bottom of the pole, lowering her legs and spreading them for us. Her skirt
flips, flashing pussy at us.

My
cock twinges and I know I shouldn't be here. Anna, the dancer, is too beautiful
and too seductive, and my cock still aches when it thinks about the private
shows I got all the time. Her lap dances rival Andy’s mom’s blow jobs.

Anna
lowers her legs like a gymnast, dropping to the splits on the floor, letting
her skirt drop just as we see her luscious ass.

Every
face in there is stunned by the beauty and grace of the girl who moves like a
gymnast and ballerina.

But
not my face. I’m worried. I want to see the message on his phone from the girl
I want to be mine.

Shane
gives me a confused look. “You tapped that?”

I
contemplate lying but the look on Shane’s face is going to be precious. So I
nod and watch as he purses his lips. “Ohhhh man. Why are you with Lana again?”

I
tilt my head, making him put his hands up defensively.

Andy
laughs. “I know, right?”

Jackson
hasn't stopped staring at Anna long enough to realize he’s still in a bar.

Is
he drooling?”

Nick
shakes his head. “Shit. I’m gonna have to think about my grandma running in a
bathing suit, to kill my starter boner off.”

We
all chuckle.

As
Anna leaves the stage every guy in there is doing the hesitant standing
ovation. Everyone wants to stand, but no one wants to show how much they liked
it.

Shane
nods. “Yeah, this is eighth grade all over again. I just need a binder to cover
my lap.”

Andy
slaps me on the back. “Wow. I think I found my next conquest.” He stands,
completely comfortable with his erection poking at the front of jeans, and
walks to the side bar, slipping the bartender a wad of cash and disappearing
behind the employees’ only door.

I
have to tear my eyes and my annoyance from the fact he’s going for one of my
exes because of Lana, meanwhile inviting me here so I can see he’s still
texting Lana. He’s fucking with me on purpose. He likes her a lot. A lot more than
I’m comfortable with.

“He’s
such a douche,” Jackson mutters enviously, watching the door Andy went through.

I
finish my drink and nod. “I have early rehearsal, so I’ll see you all later.”

Nick
jumps up. “I’ll share a cab with you.”

I
nod and wave at everyone else. Nick swats me on the back as I head into the
hallway. “What’s up with you and Andy?”

The
name leaves my lips like it’s poison, regardless of my feelings. “Lana.”

“He
and Lana are done. He told me himself. He said she ran out on him a while back,
left him hanging. He was dressed as a dirty professor, sitting in his dad’s
office—“

“Dude!”
I groan, realizing that was the night I abducted her from Andy’s parents’
house.

Nick
continues talking over me. “I was just gonna say that I have never seen Lana
the way she is now. She’s acting like a human being, a decent one. No more
hateful bitch Lana. It’s refreshing. And her dad is stoked. He was at my place
the day Weaver woke up and fessed up and—”

“Lars
Webber was at your house?”

Nick
shrugs. “Yeah. Our dads are friends. Anyway, he was there and I heard him
telling my dad that he was overjoyed by the changes in Lana.”

The
way he says it, makes me stop and turn around. “Who—oh man. You’ve been
reporting to her dad. You joined the band to spy on her?”

Nick’s
cheeks flush. “I’m just supposed to help her out, if I can, and make sure I let
him know how things are going. He’s supposed to be washing his hands of her,
but he’s worried sick.”

“Why?”

His
brow lowers and he looks down. “Dude, her dad has bailed her out of shit you
can’t even spell, in the last four years. I mean heinous.”

I
cock an eyebrow. “Can you spell heinous?”

He
lifts his middle finger, “I can spell payoff. As in her dad tried to pay Andy
to stop seeing her.”

My
stomach drops as we get into the cab I’ve hailed. Her dad knows about Andy too?
The poor man. I mutter, “I know about her past.”

Nick
shakes his head. “No, bro. You don't. I mean—bad. She got caught with
cocaine in Germany in a house with her and Nance Hensley and a bunch of guys.
Her dad had to have her extradited back to the US as a favor from a friend he
has there. For her, this last month is like being a whole new girl.”

The
smile on my mouth is epic. My kind of bad makes hers look like some kind of
Catholic schoolgirl games. Granted cocaine has never been my thing but a house
full of Germans has—mine were strippers.

When
we get back to the school I jog over to her dorm, excited to see the light on.

I
send her a text and she looks out the window a second later. She opens it,
smiling down on me. She looks like she’s been crying. “What are you doing
here?”

I
shrug. “Oh, you know, hit the proverbial whore house with Andy and thought of
coming back here rather than getting in trouble there.”

She
smiles. “Bangerz?”

“You
know it.”

“Yeah,
he sent me a message, asking if I wanted to hang out. I told him to shove it
and stop texting me.” Her finger drums on the windowsill. She does it whenever
she is thinking about saying something but second guessing herself. “Wanna come
up?”

I
take my first full breath since I saw her name on his phone. “Yeah, I was
thinking maybe I could show you that snugglefuck thing. See if you like it.”

She
wrinkles her nose. “Maybe just the snuggle?”

“Deal.”
I run to the door, taking the stairs three at a time and am winded by the time
I get to her door. When she opens it I can see she has fully been crying.
“What’s wrong?”

She
shakes her head, letting me in. “I just like you, and I don't want to wreck this
by making it something before it’s time to make it something. For the first
time ever I see something I want, but I want to deserve it.”

My
heart feels like it’s breaking off in little chunks in my chest. I wrap myself
around her, smelling her hair and kissing her head. She is beautiful, inside
and out. Even if no one else ever sees it, I do. I think I like that the best
about her. Her heart and soul are a secret only we share.

She
sniffs my jacket and looks up at me. “You actually smell like brothel.”

“Andy
wanted me to come to the club so I could see your name pop up on his phone.”

She
winces. “I swear I told him to suck it.”

“It
doesn’t matter.” I pull her to her shower, peeling off my jacket and shirt,
tossing them on the back of a chair with my pants.

“No
underwear?”

I
shrug. “Laundry day.”

She
rolls her puffy eyes and lets me take her pajamas off. She’s a sight for sore
eyes, so smooth and creamy. She hates how pale she is, but I like her coloring.
She doesn't look as Jersey Shore as she did when I first met her.

I
run my hands down her arms, making goose bumps. I lower my face and have the
oddest sensation. I want to kiss her slowly, taking in everything. When my lips
meet hers it’s like coming home. I whisper into the kiss. “I want to deserve
you too.”

She
comes alive, leaning into the kiss, pressing into me. I reach for the shower
tap, slowly moving us into the spray but not losing contact between the dancing
our mouths are doing.

It
feels like kissing for the first time, noticing the way her lips meet mine or
the way her tongue slides into my mouth lazily caressing. We stand under the
water, kissing and rubbing, without it ever going beyond that. My cock is at
full attention, pressed between her ribs and my abdomen. I want nothing like I
want to lift her up and fuck her with the same detail as the kiss, slow and
thorough. But I don't. I just let the kiss be the show.

Her
hands start to weave into my hair, tugging a bit. She’s losing control of the
passionate kissing and caressing. Her losing it makes me want to lose it, but I
have a temporary hold over myself. At least until she bites my lip and sucks it
into her mouth, sliding a wet hand down my shaft and gripping.

Then
neither of us has a single ounce of restraint.

She
drops to her knees, wrapping her mouth around me, pulling me in and stroking
the base of my shaft and my balls. She slides a hand through my legs, gripping
my ass cheeks. My hands slide into her hair, pulling her head in closer. She
takes the thrust but stops it short of a proper deep throat and strokes with
one hand as she caresses my balls with the other.