The drive back to the cabin was a bit awkward. While I drove, I continued replaying what the guys were asking me to do over and over in my head.

I’d never done anything like this before and wasn’t sure if I could hack it. Sara would get a massive kick out of this and would probably think I was making it all up. But this wasn’t the kind of shit you could just make up on a whim. Even I wasn’t this creative.

When we got back to the cabin, I tried going back to my side of it, but Jasper grabbed my shoulders and steered me in the opposite directions towards theirs.

“Nope! You’re not getting away that easy. Nice try, though,” he said with a laugh, pushing me inside.

“I wasn’t trying to get away. I was just going to go start drinking and hope this was all some weird dream,” I replied as he pushed me down to sit on the couch.

I hadn’t really gotten a good look at their side of the place the last time I was here; half-naked men tended to win against interior design when both were placed in front of my face.

It had dark, wood flooring like mine, and the setup of the place was like the mirror image of mine. The walls were primed with a fresh coat of primer and the furniture was a bit nicer than the tattered ones my dad left. The kitchen cabinets were all unscrewed and set to the side and the counter was being torn up. An array of tools were scattered along a table with one of those large lights that construction workers usually used sitting next to it. Tarp was laid out along the floor in the kitchen and some in the hallway leading to the bathroom and laundry area at the back. The stairway leading up to the second floor seemed to be the only part that was untouched.

These guys were moving fast for only having been here a few days. I was kind of jealous this place would have all new, shiny shit and I still couldn’t bring myself to replace a few simple loose floorboards on my side. My side was almost a mirror image as far as placement of everything, but my furniture was pretty jacked up and I’m pretty sure the doors on my kitchen cabinets were mere days away from falling off should I blow on them too hard. It was a wreck to say the least.

Tobi and Ezra sat on either side of me while Jasper stood in front of us, looking like he was about to make a speech of some sort. Ezra grabbed the bottle of jack from my hands that I’d bought at the liquor store on our way back, and unscrewed it, taking a sip then passing it back to me. I gave him an affronted look and yanked it from his grasp, hiding it on the other side of me while glaring at him.

“Now, you are going to do this with us. There’s no way we’re letting you out of it after what we just saw,” Jasper explained.

I rolled my eyes. “You saw nothing. There’s no way I can repeat that on stage, nor strip all my clothes off. I’m not modest or anything, but I’m definitely not stripper material, either. Besides, this is supposed to be an all-male show, isn’t it?”

“Exceptions are made for us, since we sponsor the event. We can do what we want.” Tobi explained next to me, snatching my bottle and taking a swig before handing it back.

I gave him a nasty glare, too. What the hell was up with them stealing my booze? I was starting to get a little annoyed that they weren’t just asking for my alcohol. I’d share if they did. Maybe.

I thrust the bottle towards Jasper, inviting him to some of the whiskey since apparently it had turned into the community beverage and I wasn’t wanting to deal with another snatch and chug from them. “You wanna steal some from me too?” I snapped out at him.

He just smiled and shook his head. “No thanks. You keep it,” he replied.

I pulled it back to me and shrugged. At least one person didn’t want to steal it.

“Besides,” Tobi continued, ignoring the quick exchange between me and Jasper. “I think adding a woman could be beneficial. It gives the men that get dragged there by their wives or girlfriends something to look at, and could possibly help get donations from their pockets.”

“Okay, I see where you’re going, but this event is what, a bit over a week from now? How on earth do you expect me to go from a little hip shaking, to full on sexy dancing without falling flat on my face? And don’t think I didn’t catch that none of you answered my question about getting naked.” I pointed an accusatory finger at all of them.

“Half-naked, actually,” Ezra supplied with a side smile. “The only thing you’ll be exposing is a lot of cleavage and a lot of leg. Other than that, you’ll be clothed. We’re the ones that’ll be almost naked.”

Yet again, I had to fight the urge to picture them that way. It proved to be futile. After seeing them without shirts on, it was infinitely harder not wanting to imagine them without less on. You couldn’t go from seeing a buffet to seeing just a cheese snack tray. It just didn’t work that way.

“As far as dancing, you will really only need to do a little hip shaking,” Jasper added as he retrieved a packet of gum from his pocket and popped a piece in his mouth.

I stood and moved to lean against the wall away from them to soak up what it was they were asking me to do. I took another shot, hoping it would ease the knot bubbling in my stomach from thinking about it.

“The only thing we’ll have to teach you is how to interact with us when we use you for our routine and where you’re supposed to be,” added Tobi.

“Why do I feel like I just became a stage prop instead of a backup dancer?” I asked them with my brow quirked up in suspicion.

“Because, essentially Lowen,” Jasper said, placing his hand against the wall beside my head and leaning in close; his face mere inches from mine. His cinnamon breath blew across my face. Was it weird the smell of the Big Red gum he was chewing turned me on?

“In a way you are,” he whispered in a husky voice. “You are our pretty little prop that we will move the way we want. Touch the way we want. Excite the way we want. The hotter you get, the more entertainment it’ll give the ladies and gents in the audience.”

My heart rate kicked up rapidly at his proximity. The hand I was using to hold the bottle fell uselessly to my side as I leaned further back into the wall. My chest heaved a little as he got closer to me. His body had pushed slightly against me, and his eyes glanced back and forth between mine. I was so unbelievably turned on and he’d not even touched me yet. It made me a little worried what would happen when he or the others actually did touch me if I even agreed to do this.

This wasn’t just some ballroom dancing where the only physical contact we’d get from each other was a hip, lower back or hand. This was erotic dancing. Grinding. Swaying. Caressing. All of these things would be happening and it’d be in front of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people.

“You understand now, Lowen? What you’re feeling will be what the women watching want to be feeling,” his hand went to my hip and slid just beneath the edge of my shirt, making me shiver at the contact. His calloused hand felt so damn good there. He stepped closer, making both of his hips touch mine.

“Those women will want to be you,” his voice lowered; his hand slid down my hip, then to my thigh. I felt my cheeks flush as he bent down to do this, placing his face almost level with my chest while he continued to gaze up at me. “They’ll be watching where we touch you and imaging that it’s them being touched like that.” His hand glided further down until he finally placed it behind my knee. He grasped it hard and yanked my leg up until my knee was touching his thigh, forcing my pelvis hard into his.

I let out a gasp and dropped the bottle on the floor; my hands slapped against the wall behind me as if it would help. My entire body shook with desire as I kept my eyes locked on his. It had been so long since I’d been touched. I was on fire and could practically feel the blood pulsing through my veins. How had this simple move set me ablaze so quickly? I’d been man handled much worse than this and wasn’t nearly as turned on as I was now.

“Um …” I whispered with a shaky breath. “I think I need to uh, to …” I could not even form a single clear thought in this position. It took everything in me to not concentrate on his hardness pressed against me.

Jasper gave me a smirk of satisfaction at my incoherent state, then released me quickly and backed up to sit on the arm rest of the chair.

“I think she gets it now,” Tobi said in amusement.

I let out a deep breath and relaxed a little. It wasn’t much, but I could actually breathe without him on me like that. I was finally able to look at the guys after a few deep breaths. Each had a smug grin in place, obviously happy to see me in such disarray.

“Yep,” I said breathy. “I-I think I get it. Yep.” I averted my eyes to stare straight ahead, trying to wrap my head around what just happened.

“Perfect. So, what is your final answer about doing this with us? Because, we promise you, you’ll learn fast and you’ll enjoy what we have in store for your part if you agree,” Jasper stated.

I stood there for a second, getting my thoughts together. Slowly, I bent over and grabbed the bottle off the floor, happy to see not a drop was spilled, because I’d be needing all of it. I tilted it back and took a long drag from it. It burned so good going down and was just what I needed to speak again.

“I’m going to need to phone a friend,” I stated, then opened the door and walked out.

* * *

“Sara! You are not going to believe what I’m about to tell you!” I whisper shouted into my phone at my best friend ten minutes later.

I’d called her right after I got back into my side of the cabin and splashed some cold water on my face. I knew it’d be useless trying to get anything out of me if I wasn’t fully functional.

“What? What’d you do? Did you catch your house on fire again? Because, I’d totally believe that,” she replied.

I shook my head and collapsed onto my couch. “No! I did that one time!” I replied in defense. “The only thing I’ve caught fire lately was my dinner the other night. Wait. No. I guess in a way something did catch fire, but it wasn’t a literal fire. Okay, I’m not making any sense,” I stopped then started over. “No, nothing is literally on fire, but this is a bit unbelievable. I had to call you and explain it or I’m not sure I’d believe it either.”

“Well, knock, knock, Bitch. Open up!”

I was confused for all of two seconds before I heard an actual knock at my door. I jumped up and swung it open to find Sara standing there with her phone to her ear.

“I’ve got one hour before I have to get back, so spill,” Sara demanded as she ended the call and pushed her way into the cabin.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in confusion.

She slipped off her coat and grabbed my bottle of Jack from the coffee table.

Seriously. People needed to get their own damn alcohol and stop stealing mine.

“You act like I live across the country not thirty minutes away. A bit of snow isn’t going to keep me from dropping by to see my bestie. I managed to escape my cute little puke machine for a short bit. Caleb saw how fidgety I was getting and suggested I take a break and come see you before that storm hits this weekend,” she replied taking a quick drink then handing it back to me.

Sara Hoffman was probably the only person in the world that was as unapologetic as me for the way she acted. It was scary how alike we both were. She was exactly one year older than me, having the exact same birthday. We took advantage of that factor. We always made sure we had big birthday parties to celebrate the day together, both when we were kids and teenagers. Those parties were always at her big, beautiful house since they had the room for all our friends there. Her home was actually the main reason I became an interior designer. I wanted a home as lovely as hers when we were growing up, and I wanted others to have that same thing at half the cost.

The only other thing different about me and Sara besides the homes we grew up in, was our appearance.

While I was about five-foot-six with tan skin, green eyes and caramel, curly hair; Sara was five-foot-seven with straight black hair that went past her shoulders and blue eyes. She was also relatively pale. She hated being tan and I hated her for having her perfect porcelain skin with not a blemish in sight. I could thank my absent mother for the infernal freckles across my nose. Dad never had any freckles, so she seemed the logical choice to blame.

“This is becoming so unsanitary,” I said solemnly as I looked at the bottle then wiped the opening off with my shirt.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear you insult my spit and ask you again; what’s going on? I need drama that doesn’t involve exploding diapers.”

I sighed and sat down next to her. “I didn’t mean you. I meant the guys next door. Everyone keeps stealing my Jack and I’m tired of sharing.”

She made a disgusted face and wiped her tongue on her scarf. “Ew. Stranger juice,” she said.

“That just sounds dirty,” I chuckled.

“Whatever. So? Gossip?” She demanded, situating herself so she was leaned against the arm of the couch then crossed her arms.

“Okay, so,” I began. “The really hot, new neighbors I have that are renovating? Apparently, they don’t just renovate places. They host this massive all-male strip show during the Christmas holiday that I had no idea about. I’m actually kind of mad about that.”

“Dude! How the hell do we live here and not know about a strip show going down?” Sara asked, lifting her hands up in a ‘what the fuck?’ gesture.

“Well, we don’t exactly look up local events that take place here. We kind of have always just relied on town gossip to find out what goes on here and in the more populated areas. Moving on, though,” I shook my head, trying to stay on topic. “They want me to be a part of their team. Like dance with them.”

Her jaw dropped. “Shut up! How? All-male kind of disqualifies you. Unless you actually have a peen instead of a vag. Then I’m going to be mad that I could’ve just married my true other half instead of Caleb. He’s great and all, but you get me.”

I scrunched my nose at her. “Okay, gross. I love you, but not enough to do that. I have a vagina, doofus, and you know this since I’ve never had any qualms about changing in front of you all these years. And, I guess they get to make exceptions since they run the event.” I explained.

“Well … shit. You going to do it? I mean, how hot are these guys really? Hot enough to shake your ass in front of tons of people naked?”

I took a sip of Jack. “Half-naked. Only cleavage and tons of legs exposed. And yes. Yes, they are. Sara, Jasper barely touched me and I was putty in his damn hands. I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t run out of there, I’d have tried to undress him with zero fucks given that the other two were sitting right there.”

Now that I was thinking about what Jasper did, it kind of turned me on at the idea of them watching had I decided to climb him like a pole. Nope! Don’t go there, Lowen!

“I need to see them or there’s no way I can believe you,” Sara replied.

A knock came at the door again, Ezra’s voice filtered through.

“Lowen, you all good? We think Jas may have taken that a little too far,” he said.

“I was just trying to let her get a feel of what she was in for. You guys didn’t stop me,” I heard Jasper argue back.

“It was kind of hard to do that when her chest was heaving like that. Don’t blame us because you got her all hot and bothered and we liked the sight.”

I smirked at Sara, who openly gaped at me. “Wish granted,” I said, hopping up to throw the door open.

They all stopped talking when I did.

“You guys wanna talk about my heaving chest a little louder? Don’t think the neighbors heard you,” I said with a hand on my hip.

“Oh. Whoops. Sorry, Lowen,” Tobi replied, not really looking that sorry.

“Just get in here.” I pulled the door open wider and they all stepped in, stopping when they saw Sara.

Her jaw fell even further. I was pretty sure she had a little drool coming out the corner of her mouth, too.

“If you don’t dance with them, I’m going to,” she said to me seriously. “Then Caleb will be mad at me and I’ll end up just blaming you for saying no in the first place. So, spare all our suffering and say yes.”

The guys smiled at Sara’s ever so eloquent way of telling me what to do, then zeroed in on me.

I sighed and tilted my head to look at the ceiling in defeat. This was just a losing battle. Then again, I’d been fantasizing so hard about them touching me since I saw them; now, to have finally felt what it was like, I wasn’t sure I was ready to say no.

“Fucking fine! I’ll do it!”

“Yes! About damn time!” Jasper said, rubbing his hands together in excitement. He walked over and collapsed into my spot on the couch. Ezra followed behind him and went to reach for my bottle.

I bolted over and slapped his hand away, grabbing it before he could go in for another grab. “But only if you don’t touch my Jack again. This is mine, get your own!”

I took a victory swig and plopped down on the edge of the couch, happy to have won at least one battle today.