AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Does the pass come with a girl?” Allan asks dubiously. “I hear those Ashen Rose girls are just as pricey as the membership. Which is shitty, if you ask me,” he adds. “You gotta pay a yearly fee to just walk in the door, andthenpay for a girl too? Seems like a scam.”
“And tip,” Flynn adds, to which Allan rolls his eyes.
I keep my mouth shut. I’ve got my own opinions about it—all to do with the girls deserving to be paid well for what they do and deserving far more than a generous tip for their services—but I don’t think it’ll go over well with my current audience, and it doesn’t matter anyway. I can’t afford a night with one of Nikolai’s girls, I know that. Theo pays me well, but notthatwell—even if I could, I’m not sure I’d like the idea of paying for sex.
“So?” Allan presses. “Does the pass come with a girl?”
“No,” Flynn admits. “Just admission for the night. But I’ll get to see them in person—and get this—they run this high-stakes poker game every few months, with a girl as the prize. Buy in, and you get a shot at exactly that. The prize is a session with whatever girl they pick for that game.”
I snort at that. “You gonna buy into a poker game? At a place like that? Hell, do you even know how to play poker, Flynn?”
“Of course, I know how to play fucking poker.” He glares at me. “But even if I couldn’t get in, the girl that they have up there for the prize? She puts on a show on the main floor while the guys play as a distraction. So even if I couldn’t play, I’d get to fucking watch.”
“And get a boner you have to go home and take care of yourself?” Allan frowns. “Doesn’t sound like a great night to me.”
“A boner I’ll get to take care of while thinking about a girl worth five thousand an hour whose pussy I got to see.” Flynn flashes him a lascivious smile, taking a deep drink of his beer. “Does that mean you don’t want to be one of my two guests?”
“Fuck no.” Allan shakes his head. “Not my scene. I like a bar with women I can take home. Or I did,” he amends quickly, glancing at me. “Before Caroline.”
I know, of course, that he’s not entirely telling the truth—which is why he gave me the look. Flynn might not care about Allan’s philandering, but I do. I think it’s a shitty thing for a man to run around on the woman he’s promised to be faithful to, which, in my opinion, starts when a relationship gets serious.
Allan, on the other hand, has always been one of those guys who thinks it’s fine for him to have his fun until he puts a ring on his girl’s finger. Which he’s about to do with Caroline, and has spent the better part of the last month joking about how he won’t be able to take girls home any longer, now that they’re about to move in together and will soon be planning a wedding.
“I can’t go to some sex club anyway,” Allan says, finishing off his beer and waving to the one waitress circulating the bar. “I’d have to lie to Caroline about where I was. She’d never be alright with that if she found out, even if itwasjust to watch. She’d be worrying for weeks that I was picturing some girl at the Rose when I was in bed with her.”
“Maybe you would be.” Flynn snorts. “I’ve caught glimpses of some of those girls. You’ve never seen anything like them.”
I finish my own beer, pushing the glass aside. “It’s been a long day. Work was something else today—I think I’m just gonna head home. Make it an early night.” The truth is, while Allan and Flynn have been my friends for a long time, the conversation tonight is leaning heavily in a direction that I don’t enjoy. Most of the time, they’re alright, but they’ve both got a misogynistic streak that rubs me the wrong way, and tonight, of all nights, I don’t have a hell of a lot of patience for it.
“Aw man, I was hoping we’d make a late night of it.” Flynn looks disappointed. “Allan here is gonna have to get back to his girl sooner rather than later.”
“I might not have a girl, but I do have an early wake-up calling my name.” It’s a lie, but it’s the only way I think I’m going to get out of here without taking even more ribbing from the guys. “Maybe this weekend? Something Friday night—”
“That’s the night I got the pass for. Well, it’s for one night this coming weekend, but I wanna go on the night that the game is happening. That way, I at least get the show.” He grins. “Come on, Finn. You can be my plus one. Finn and Flynn, just like the old times. Except we won’t be able to convince any of these girls to go home with us.”
Thatdoesmake me laugh. There was a time, ages ago, when we were roommates, when we’d hit on girls together with that line, introducing ourselves together as Finn and Flynn. It worked more often than you’d think, and we went home more than once with a couple of girls, high-fiving each other as we went off to our respective bedrooms. That was the better part of ten years ago, of course, before we got ourownapartments, and I like to think I acquired better taste in women since then.
On the other hand, it’s been a while since I’ve actually taken anyone home—not that the Ashen Rose is going to be the place where I accomplish that. All the fun happens there—and it’s fun I can’t afford.
“Just come enjoy the scenery,” Flynn presses. “We’ll have some expensive beers, look at the girls, talk shit. See which lucky bastard wins the grand prize. It’ll be something different.”
“It would be that.” I let out a sigh, looking at Allan, who is busy ordering another beer from the waitress, while looking directly at her cleavage.I need new friends, I think to myself, feeling tired for the first time and even a little old, despite the fact that I’m a year younger than both Flynn and Allan.
“The pass comes with two free drink coupons for each of us,” Flynn presses, and I chuckle.
“Well, how can I say no to letting Nikolai Vasilev buy me a drink? Sure. Friday night.”Hell, since it’s Vasilev’s place, maybe I can pick up something interesting for Theo.They’re allies now, but that doesn’t mean Theo doesn’t like being kept abreast of what Nikolai has going on. He doesn’t entirely trust him, and I don’t blame Theo a bit, not after what Nikolai tried to pull. It’s because of Nikolai’s sister, and how much Theo adores her, that the alliance between the McNeil and Vasilev families has held at all.
“Hell yeah.” Flynn grins. “See you then, man.”
I pay for my beer, walking out to the curb where my motorcycle is parked. It’s a warm spring night, and I consider going for a drive, maybe even getting out of town for a day or two until I’m supposed to meet Flynn Friday night. I don’t actually have anything going on for a few days. With Theo in Dublin, outside of Kings’ meetings, and handling Theo’s affairs here and there, I don’t have as much to do as I’m accustomed to.
It’s tempting. A change of scenery might be good for me—but I find myself driving back to my apartment, parking my bike in the usual spot, and heading up. I know before I even get to my door how the rest of the night will go—one or two more beers from the fridge, a shower, and a quick jerk-off before I go to sleep, then I’ll pass out.
Maybe going to the club isn’t such a bad idea, I think wryly as I unlock my door. God knows life has felt stagnant lately, ever since I came back to Chicago.
A night out in a place like that might be just the shake-up I need.
Asha
