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Chapter 1
Claire
Two months ago…
“You can’t be serious. You got a job at astripclub? Katherine, please tell me this is some kind of joke.”
Katherine Sampson, my best friend from high school, smiled in that confident, unflappable way she always did. Even though I wasn’t happy in the slightest about what she’d just said, I did have to admit that she had what it took to work at Pussycats, one of the swankiest gentlemen’s clubs in the city.
Katherine was tall and gorgeous, with long, black hair, big boobs, a heart-shaped ass, and the body of an Instagram fitness influencer. On top of it all she knew what she was working with. While I’d never had the best luck with guys, Katherine practically needed a flamethrower to keep them away.
“I’m very serious.” She stood in front of her closet dressed in a pair of short jean shorts, her bra and nothing else. She languidly flipped through her clothes. “I swear, a closet full of stuff and not a thing that’s going to work on stage. I’m going to have to buy a whole new wardrobe.”
She turned, flashing me another smile.
“And when I’m pulling in fifteen hundred a week, I’m going to have the money for it.”
“Katherine,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “Seriously.”
She grinned in a way that let me know without a doubt that my words weren’t having any effect.
“You always say my name like that when you’re in full schoolmarm mode. Did I ever tell you that?”
“I’m not being a schoolmarm; I’m being someone who’s concerned about you! Katherine, seriously…"
She raised her finger, arching her sculpted, dark eyebrows. “If you’re going to waste your breath lecturing me, can you at least start using my stage name? I need to get used to people calling me by it.”
“You have a stage name?” This was getting more insane by the second.
“Of course, I do. What, do you think I’m going to get up there to dance and the DJ’s going to say, ‘let’s give it up for Katherine’!” She laughed her easy, melodious laugh at the mere suggestion of it. “Please.”
I let out a sigh, shaking my head in disbelief at just how crazy the whole situation was. “OK, I’ll bite. What’s your stage name?”
Instead of answering me, she jumped into the middle of the room, struck a pose, then started dancing.
“Kiki, do you love me? Are you riding? Say you’ll never, ever leave from beside me.” When she was done with her dance, Katherine burst out laughing.
“Wait, is that the Drake song?”
Still smiling, she sat down on the edge of her bed, reaching for a pair of high-heeled black shoes—the kind that no other woman in the history of the world had worn other than strippers.
“Only you would need to ask a question like that.”
“So… Kiki?”
She smiled and nodded, sitting down on the bed to put on her shoes. “I think it’s got a nice ring to it. And it’s not too dissimilar from Katherine, so I won’t have too much trouble getting used to it.”
I said nothing, watching as my friend, the girl I’d known since we were both kids, dressed in minimal clothing and prepared to strip on stage.
“This isn’t a good idea,” I said. “You’re—”
Katherine shot a hard look toward me, her eyes flashing.
“I’m what? I’m wasting my time making money when I should be, I don’t know, bartending or waitressing, barely making ends meet?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that this line of work can be a dangerous field. You have no idea what you might be getting into.”
Another hard look. “Yeah, I have no idea, but you do, right? Brilliant Claire, always knows what’s best for everyone, huh?” Her tone took on a sharp edge as she said the words. As soon as they were out of her mouth, however, her composure fell, and she let out a sigh. “Sorry, that was out of line.”
