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Axel’sgaze followed mine to find the drunk idiots gawking at me.Allprevious amusement suddenly vanished.Hewatched the men with the most frightening back-off faceIhad witnessed.
Hestopped a few feet from the two men, breaking their concentration. “Youhave thirty seconds to be anywhere but here,” he spoke to them in the most apathetic tone.
“Don’tworry about them,”Iwhispered, not wanting things to escalate.Itwas hardly worth fighting over when they hadn’t done anything past staring.
“Twenty-five seconds,”Axelsaid to the men, ignoring me. “Afterthat,I’mgoing to remove your eyeballs with my keys,” he spoke informatively as if telling them the meal choices for their in-flight menu.
Thecalm, collected wayAxelspoke, paired with his serial-killer eyes, erased the smiles off the men’s faces.Ialso gulped, wondering ifIwas more scared ofAxelor the drunk fools.Them,Icould outrun.Axel,Iwasn’t sure.
Havingrealized the same, the men clumsily scrambled to their feet, holding each other for support.WhenAxelpulled out his keys from his back pocket and stepped forward to make good on his threat, they found their balance and scurried away.
Dumbfounded,Iwatched them disappear around the building and heard them hurling from where they’d vanished.
“You’remental,”Imurmured.
Insteadof responding, he pulled me toward the line for the club.Thebouncer sat on a bar stool with a podium in front, playing the role of gatekeeper.Aswe approached him, something dawned on me.Fuck.Ididn’t have my newIDyet.Wouldthey still let me in?
Apparently, yes.Sleazystrip clubs were only interested in one thing, which wasn’t identification for proof of legal drinking age.
“Cover’sten dollars per person,” the large man grunted.
Itook my arms out of the loops of my backpack’s straps whenAxelslapped a twenty on the podium.BeforeIcould protest, his hand on my lower back pushed me forward.
“ButIwanted to pay for us.”IsuspectedChateauat theHempsteaddidn’t payAxela hefty salary.Despitegetting off the wrong foot,Ididn’t want him spending his hard-earned money on my mission.
Insteadof acknowledging my protest,Axelheld the door open with a hand above my head soIcould go inside first.Ashrewd feeling told meAxel’shaste to go inside had an ulterior motive.Hewas staring daggers at the ogling men standing in line, andIgot the distinct impression he was seconds away from starting a fight with… well, everyone.
FuckingChrist.Ididn’t even know the man.What’sup with this possessiveness?
Nervesrattled;Imarched forward as he fell into step next to me.Wemoved through the dark hallway without speaking.Therewas a comfortable silence and a natural rhythm to our pace thatIhadn’t expected.
Westopped upon reaching the main floor.Half-naked women of all shapes and sizes walked around with drink trays in hand while two fully nude ones danced on a stage with stained carpeting.Thepoles were on their last leg and seemed unsafe for the stunts they were performing.Leeringmen were spread sporadically on grotesque tables that would likely give you clap upon sitting.Unflatteringred lighting illuminated the otherwise dim room.Thefloors under our feet were sticky from either spilled drinks or a variety of fluids.Theentire place reeked from the smell of tobacco, alcohol, piss, and cum.
Itwas magnificent.
“Eek.”Isquealed, beyond excited.
“Letme guess,”Axelsaid dryly. “You’venever been to a strip club before.”
Irolled my eyes, glad the music wasn’t so loudIhad to speak over it. “Withyour lack of excitement,I’mguessing you’re a regular.”
Heregarded me for a moment before admitting, “Firsttime.”
“Noway!”
Heshrugged. “Idon’t see the appeal.”
“Oh, come on,”Igushed. “Admitthis is more fun than the stuffy wedding youDJ’dearlier.”Whenhe didn’t respond,Idragged him to the bar. “Atleast let me get us a round of drinks.Everything’sbetter with liquor.”
“So, not champagne?”
Icouldn’t help my smile.No, champagne wasn’t my drink of choice, but it was whatIdrank around my family. “Whatdo you think is my drink?”
Hetilted his head. “Nothing.You’retoo restless to like only one thing.”
Duringthe car ride,Ihad changed the station numerous times beforeAxelbanned me from touching the radio.He’deasily deduced it to my restlessness.Theway he’d been reading me throughout the night unnerved me.Hewas the first person to push me for answers and find out things about me.Iwas pretty sure that ifIstill had myID,Axelwould’ve reached inside my backpack by now to find out my real name.Noone else in my circle would’ve compelled me to share ifIwas unwilling to impart information.Axelgave no fucks about societal norms.
Hewas right in his assessment, too.Ididn’t have a particular drink of choice and blanked whenever bartenders asked me whatI’dlike.Iwas grateful whenAxelturned to the bartender and ordered for me, “Oneof these.”Hetapped on their cocktail of the night:ADirtyMartini. “Andwhatever beer’s on tap.”
