Page 8 of The Need to Know

I chewed on my lip, tired of being so down. I needed to hit the gym. That was the only thing that kept me going these days. I craved those endorphins and euphoric feeling I got during a good workout. Well, that, and Scorsese, Paisley, and Shéc were my oasis.

Bobby Womack was belting out his “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” from my phone, really twisting the knife in my chest.

One more look at those stunning flowers and I had my mind all made up. For my lunchbreak, I was hitting the gym.

Her skin was gorgeous. As dark as mine. In just a thin purple G-string, sweat glistened off her body as well as glitter. Her long hair was light purple. Sleek, not a single strand out of place. Her face was mean in that way that said she was about her shit. I loved this demeanor.

We caught eyes and I tipped my head toward her, going and slipping a fifty in her panties.

Lovely’s Lounge was the best gentleman’s club in all of Atlanta. I wasn’t here for pleasure, though. I did all my important thinking at Lovely’s. After a lousy breakfast with my pops, my mind was racing. My fists seemed permanently clenched. And I couldn’t shake my anger.

The fresh stab of betrayal wouldn’t leave me. It was sticky. Soot under my nails. Following me every step I took.

I couldn’t let it go, no matter how hard I tried.

One thing was certain. I was not going to my parents’ house for dinner Friday night.

BLVCKJVCK wasn’t open all week, just Thursday through Sunday, and I never missed a night. It wasn’t for the party, but to make sure things ran smoothly. See, Pops relied on me to show up and take care of things, leaving him able to sit back at home and enjoy time with my mother. Funny how he forgot how things went.

I rolled my neck. Needing to release this tension and quick.

The room was dim and Wale could be heard coming through the house speakers. The warm hues of black, purple, and blue lights created a calm ambiance. It was early, so no one was here yet. The girls were practicing, getting comfortable and into their zones. Hosts were taking chairs off tables, and the bartender was getting glasses ready. In a couple more hours, this place would be alive with the upper echelon coming to see the best.

“She’s ready for you,” a hostess came and told me. Her hair was black and it brought out the black in her eyes, holding my gaze as I turned from Purple.

“What up, Athena?” I greeted her, leaning over to kiss her cheek and be polite.

Athena took the lead and began heading toward the back. “Not much, haven’t seen you in a minute.”

I watched the sway of her hips as she walked, admiring them. “Been too long.”

She tossed a smirk over her shoulder, as if she could feel my stare. “Uh-huh.”

We went down a long red corridor, the red-light district, before she stopped in front of a thick security door and pulled it open.

“Don’t be a stranger,” she said as I slipped on by her inside.

Regina Knighton was at her desk, leafing through a binder. Behind her a series of screens were up, showcasing the main floor and the private rooms Lovely’s offered.

Instead of sitting in one of the two leather chairs before her, I took a seat against the wall opposite her desk on the plush chaise lounge and made myself comfortable, undoing my shirt sleeves.

“The purple one is new,” I spoke up.

Regina smiled a little, going and shutting her binder and standing from her desk. The dark, form-fitting lace dress she wore captured my attention at once. She’d never been a dancer, but I didn’t have to use my imagination to envision what her body looked like beneath her clothes.

I was twenty-two and she was thirty when we first hooked up. The oldest woman I messed with. The only one who taught me anything. It wasn’t love, but it did wound my ego when she cut me off, when she got her fill of me and dismissed me. When she gave me a dose of my own medicine.

It took a minute, but we remained friends, because Regina was smart, an ear I could always go to outside of Cesar: a confidant.

“Want me to bring Cleo in here?” Regina offered as she rounded her desk and came over to me. I could smell her the closer she came, the perfume pulling me under a spell.

I was a man, but I wasn’t that man. Being aroused wouldn’t fix my problems. One could say it was where my problems stemmed.

My eyes fell on the particular screen that showcased Cleo in action. She was winding her body along a pole, hypnotizing those in view. “Nah, I’m straight.”

“I don’t see Cease out there,” Regina said as she glanced back at the screens.

I made a face. “He somewhere helping Gusher move.”