Ashley
It’s been a week since Kaden found out I am a stripper and walked out of the gym pissed when Caleb refused to fire me. To say I was shocked Kaden actually punched Caleb in the face is putting it mildly. I felt so bad I offered to quit, but Caleb wasn’t having it. He said him and Kaden would work it out. I just wish I wouldn’t have placed him in the middle of my cluster-fuck.
The day after the fight, Kaden apparently texted me several times asking if he could bring dinner over. When I didn’t respond, he showed up with a pizza in his hand asking why I was ignoring him. I realized then my cell phone had gotten shut off because I couldn’t pay the bill, but there was no way I was telling him that. Instead, I told him it was broken.
As a result, the next day he showed up after work with a new iPhone. He added it to his plan and told me he got a good deal on it. It’s probably the most expensive phone I have ever touched so I seriously doubt he got a deal on it. I tried to refuse it but he totally played the mom card on me insisting Tristan might need to get ahold of me while at camp.
He, again, showed up with food, this time Chinese. The three of us watched a movie and after Tristan went to bed, we caught up on more episodes of House. Every morning this week, he has insisted we all go to breakfast before him and Tristan head to the gym. And when he walked into the kitchen as I was packing Tristan a peanut butter and jelly for lunch, he told me the program was buying them all lunch. I didn’t remember reading anything about them buying lunch, but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The fact is, Kaden has been a godsend this past week. I don’t even know how I would have fed Tristan and me. And just like he promised he would, every night he has watched Tristan on the nights I have had to work. I am kind of surprised he hasn’t once asked me to quit my job but I am hoping he has realized my money issues are my problem and it’s not his place to tell me where to work.
While Tristan has been at camp all week, I have spent every day in search of another job. I have filled out hundreds of applications, but I haven’t gotten a single bite. When I run out of places to apply to each day, I head over to Assets to learn more about the club and restaurant business. Caleb has been walking me through all the specifics of running a club, getting me acquainted with the ins and outs of the business, such as scheduling, hiring, and ordering. Liz covers all the payroll, Daniel, the chef, covers the menu items, and Jevon, the bar manager covers the bar ordering, but he wants me to learn it all so I when I take over, I will be able to know what it is I am supervising.
Now it’s July twenty-first and I have less than twenty-four hours to move all mine and Tristan’s stuff out but instead I am at work. I am well aware my being in denial is completely irresponsible and stupid, but I don’t really know what else to do at this point. This is the first time in my life I feel completely out of control and helpless. Even when Tyler walked out the door, I handled my shit.
Since I am not sure what is going to happen with the house and when they will be showing up to lock me out, I told Kaden I needed to bomb the house for bugs and asked if he could please watch Tristan at his place. He agreed without giving me an issue.
Before going into work, I moved our clothes and photo albums into my car the best I could until I figure it all out but I am at a complete loss as to what choice I should make. If I move to my parents’ house, I am too far to commute to work. If I don’t move there we will be homeless. I have already told my mom Tristan will be going back to her house for the rest of the summer. She clearly knows something is going on but has learned I need to handle it myself. Thankfully she always agrees to take Tristan without asking questions.
I have considered asking Caleb if I can sleep on his office couch on the nights I work but decided against it. I have put the poor guy through enough.
What I do know is if all my shit isn’t out of the house soon, the doors will be locked and I won’t be able to get any of it. Unfortunately, I can’t deal with it right now because I am at work and need to focus on making money.
“Hey boss.” I knock once and enter Caleb’s office. He is rolling his neck from side to side in a circular motion.
“Everything ok?”
“Oh yeah, it’s just great. My very hormonal pregnant wife has decided she is going to hold a grudge for not forcing you to become my manager and has stuck my ass out on the couch for the last week. I think my neck has a permanent kink in it.”
“I am so sorry, Caleb. I can talk to Hayley. She didn’t mention it when we were hanging out the other day.”
Caleb waves me off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s all good.”
“Ok, well I was just checking in before I go on the floor. I checked on Daniel’s order and realized he forgot to place it. I added it to the calendar so it will alert him every week. He always seems to forget so hopefully that will help him to remember. I also moved some of the girls around because Kora is running late, and Annalise’s daughter has the stomach bug, so she might be out for a couple days.”
“Thank you, Ashley. Any more thoughts on hanging up your dancing heels and taking over fulltime?”
“Not yet, but I appreciate your confidence in me.”
“This might be a personal question but I have to ask. Are you going back to teaching in August?”
“No, my teaching career is over.”
“Ok, well I am sorry about that, but let’s keep working on you managing this place. Hayley is due in November so that only gives me four months to train you fully.”
“Ok, sounds good.”
“Hey Ashley!” Bianca pokes her head into the office.
I turn around to give her my attention “Yeah?”
“Your shift technically doesn’t start for five more minutes but you have a private dance request.”
“Ok, thanks. I’ll be out in a minute.”
I turn back to Caleb. “Duty calls.”
After quickly changing into my dancing costume since I will be dancing tonight and not waitressing, I head to find Bianca. She is the hostess and sets up all the private rooms as well as handles all the restaurant’s reservations.
“What room number?”
She glances at the sheet. “Room A.”
“Thanks, chica. Any requests?”
“Actually, yes. He requested a pole dance and a lap dance.”
“Ay, ay, Captain!”
I give her a mock salute as I head upstairs to room A, hoping whoever is in this room will be a good tipper. I am still a little short to pay Giovanni and only have a couple more days until the end of the month. Knowing I already lost my house, I gave up trying to pay my bills and have just been focusing on paying him. The last thing I want is to be owned by a man like Giovanni. I have enough trouble taking my bra and shorts off when I am stripping, I don’t even know how I would handle being required to have sex with strangers.
After picking out the music, I turn the lights up on the stage and down on the floor and then begin my performance. Thanks to the lighting, it’s almost impossible to see whoever is sitting there watching me, and to be honest, I prefer it that way. Once I have made it halfway through my performance, I remove my bustier. Then a few moves later, my shorts are removed leaving me in only my G-string and high heels. The song and performance ends but I don’t bother collecting my clothes yet. Bianca said the guy requested a lap dance, so I might as well leave my clothes off and get it over with.
I walk down the steps of the stage as a new songs transitions, when I notice the guy sitting at the table in one of the chairs is Kaden and he looks freaking delicious. He is wearing dark wash blue jeans and a powder blue button down collared shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hair is still wet like he recently showered and is all messy like always. He is lounging in the chair with his legs spread wide like he doesn’t have a worry in the world. His beautiful green eyes are piercing into mine and it causes my breath to catch. I suddenly remember I am standing in front of him in nothing but a scrap of fabric and heels; instinctively, my hands go up to cover my breasts suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable.
“Why are you covering yourself? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” Ouch!
“I didn’t expect to you to be here… Where’s Tristan?”
“He’s at my house with Kayla.”
“Hmm… Ok.” I am not sure what Kaden’s intentions are but I am not going to question it. It’s not a secret that while this man is my best friend, I would give almost anything to have one night with him. However, Kaden has made it clear he has no desire for us to be anything more than friends so why he’s here is a mystery to me. One I am sure he will reveal soon.
“Where’s my dance?” Kaden places his hands on my hips, pulling me closer to him. Ok… so he really wants a dance from me. The same guy who wanted me to quit stripping… I need to figure out what his end game is here.
“Nuh uh,” I say backing away and removing his hands from my body so we are no longer touching. He tilts his head to the side in confusion, giving me a pout, making himself look adorably sexy.
I move my pointer finger back and forth to push my point. “No touching the dancer. It’s the rule.”
Kaden gives me a smirk but doesn’t argue. The song transitions into Na Na by Trey Songz and I begin teasing him. Since he is sitting in a chair, I circle around the back of it, running the tips of my nails across his chest, shoulders, and back, then up his neck. I feel him shiver under my touch making me smile inside. Once I get to the back of the chair, I lean forward so my breasts rub up against his neck as I trail my fingertips up his body starting from his hard abs that I can feel even through his shirt.
Moving to the side of the chair but without taking my hands off him, I begin dancing next to him lightly rubbing my body up against his side as I move back around to the front. Once I am in front of him, I drop to my ass and kick my legs over from one side to the other. He looks down at me on the floor, his eyes widening at the sight of my pussy only being covered by a thin piece of almost completely see-through fabric. I swear I hear a growl come from deep within his chest and I have to hold back my grin.
Next, I stand up, parting my legs just enough so his leg is nestled between mine as I continue to dance to the rhythm of the music. My eyes close and I get lost in the feel of the music, of my sex rubbing up against his jean clad thigh. A soft moan escapes from my lips as I feel an orgasm slowly building. Before I can even open my eyes, I feel Kaden’s hands on my hips once again lifting me up onto his lap so I am straddling him.
I begin to grind down onto him as his hands go to my breasts, my back arching forward encouraging his touch. “Fuck, Ash.”
He takes both my breasts into his mouth one at a time, sucking on each one as I continue my grinding. My hands are in his hair and I am pulling his face closer causing him to suck harder. Between the sensation his mouth is causing and the grinding of my sex on him, an orgasm builds and before I can stop it, my entire body shakes with pleasure.
Kaden, still sucking on my breasts, picks me up- my legs wrapping around his waist- and carries me over to the couch. My back hits the cold leather and I remember where we are.
At a strip club.
In a private room.
Where I work.
Where I am getting paid to dance.
I push him off of me and sit up covering my chest before I quickly walk to the stage to throw on my clothes.
“What’s wrong?” Kaden says as I grab my bustier top, then walk to the other side of the stage to grab my shorts. I put them all back on but I still feel completely underdressed. I walk back over to him sitting on the couch where I left him sitting there completely confused.
“I can’t do this… We can’t do this. We got caught up in the moment. This is where I work. I don’t do this with guests. You and me… We are friends. You are literally my best friend. I can’t become your next one-night stand.”
Kaden flinches at my words. “You could never be a one-night stand, Ash. You know that. But you’re right, this isn’t the time or place to be doing this. I only came here to see you. I was hoping if you saw me here, you wouldn’t want to strip and you would agree to quit. The last time I was here at the bachelor party you said it embarrassed you for me to see you. I’m probably grasping at straws here but I just didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t plan on it going this far. I’m sorry.”
I am stuck on the words you could never be a one-night stand. Does that mean he wants more? Does he want to be with me for real? The thought gets me excited until I remember I am a stripper and I would never date a guy while working here. It wouldn’t be fair to him. I know it’s technically not cheating but I just couldn’t do it. It would feel like cheating to me and I care about Kaden too much to disrespect him in that way. Plus, I need him in my life too much to take the chance that after one time he won’t dump me like he has done to all the rest of the women he’s been with.
“I’m not quitting my job here, so you can leave now, if that’s all you came for.”