Hadley
“Shit cakes.”
“Cakes? Really?”
“Shit biscuits is probably more accurate.” I rolled my eyes and pulled out the pan of burned biscuits. “Don’t question me, though.” I set the pan on top of the stove and tossed the hot pad on top of them. “I forgot to set the timer.”
Ryker snickered and sat down at the kitchen table. “Obviously.”
I bowed my head and counted to ten. I had been having a shit day, and it had only really started three hours ago. After I dropped Ryker off at school, I sat down on the couch to watch TV for a little bit and ended up passing out and sleeping all day. I woke up ten minutes before Ryker had traipsed through the door and had been in a fog ever since.
Ever taken a nap and woken up hours later wondering where you were and what year it was? That’s the kind of nap I had. It was hell.
“I’ll order pizza. Don’t worry about dinner.”
I turned around and leaned against the counter. “You’ve already had pizza three times this week, Ry. I think you having it a fourth time makes me a horrible parental person.”
Ryker huffed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Parental person is what I’m supposed to call you now?”
I had been struggling with what Ryker should call me. It was actually more of what I should call myself when talking about him. The word mom was always on the tip of my tongue, but that wasn’t right. “Um, I think that’s what I called myself in the school pickup line the other day.”
Ryker laughed and shook his head. “And did they look at you like you were crazy?”
I cocked my head to the right and squinted. “It was more of a look of confusion.”
“You’re my aunt, Haddie. That hasn’t changed.”
I grabbed his phone out of his hand and dropped it on the counter. “I know that Ry, but I’m also more than that now.”
“You’re Aunt Haddie, and that isn’t going to change.” He picked up his phone and slipped off his chair. “I’m going to order Chinese. Is that better than having pizza four nights?”
“Only if you order something with a shit ton of veggies in it.”
“Chicken and broccoli?”
“That’ll do.” I glanced at the clock on the stove and grabbed the pan of burned biscuits. “I promise tomorrow night, I’ll make something that’s edible.” I flipped open the lid of the garbage can and dumped the rock-hard pucks in. “Probably not biscuits, though.”
Ryker swiped some buttons on his phone and pressed it to his ear. “I think that would be for the best,” he said, smirking.
I rolled my eyes and dumped the empty pan into the sink. “Order me some potstickers and sesame chicken, too.” I wouldn’t be able to eat it before work, but you can damn sure believe I would be thinking about it sitting in the fridge during my shift.
Ryker called in the order while I wandered down the hallway into my room to get ready for work. It was time to change into a whole different Hadley.
A gallon of makeup, a short skirt, and a skintight shirt with the words Sultry Knights splashed across the chest in neon yellow was my attire for the next eight hours. I groaned thinking about the three-inch heels I was going to have to slip on when I got to the bar. I tried to wait as long as possible to put on those torture devices.
Working at Sultry Knights, the local strip club one town over, demanded that I wear heels, even though they killed my feet after an hour. I didn’t work on the stage, but they said I needed to look like I could.
I rolled my eyes, grabbed the shoes out of the closet, and tossed them on the bed. I prayed to God there wouldn’t come a day that I would have to work the stage. I could make a shit ton more money, but I wasn’t sure that was a line I wanted to cross.
My paychecks were decent and enough to cover bills, but I saw the wads of money the girls took home when they sauntered onto stage. Like I said, bills were getting paid, but that was about it. Any extra fun was out of the question. Even Ryker’s karate.
He had managed to find a way to work for the local karate school, but I felt they were giving us a handout, and that was one thing that I hated.
I shimmied the short as hell skirt up to my legs, turned my butt to the mirror, and bent over.
“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled. The bottom part of my cheeks flashed, and I knew the damn skirt had shrunk. Ryker had said he did a load of laundry to help, but he must have dried the damn clothes for ten hours.
Hopefully, no jackasses would decide to ‘accidently’ drop their money on the floor, forcing me to reach down in front of them. I swear some of the customers were worse than a pack of dogs in heat.
“Fucking shit waffles.” My shirt was even worse. I turned to the side in the mirror and grimaced. I normally showed a sliver of my stomach, but after Ryker’s ‘helpfulness,’ I was now showing a good three inches. I raised my arms over my head, and the bottom of my bra showed.
I wondered if I could call into work sick because my nephew was too helpful. Except, that was out of the question, because I needed every hour I could get. So tonight, I was going to be a way different Hadley. I really needed to do a load of laundry. My adulting skills had been seriously lacking the past week.
After a pulling on an oversized zip-up sweatshirt, it looked like I was naked underneath, and I shook my head. “At least my tips should be good tonight,” I mumbled. I slid my feet into a pair of flip flops, grabbed my heels off the bed, and headed back into the kitchen.
Ryker was still sitting at the kitchen table, his nose buried in his phone. “Food should be here in forty minutes. Apparently, Friday night is a busy night at Ching-Jang.”
“I gotta leave in two minutes. Just throw my food in the fridge. I’ll binge when I get home.” I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. “You have any homework you should be doing?”
He looked up from his phone and scoffed “Come on, Haddie, it’s Friday night. I have all weekend to do my homework.”
I drained my glass and set it in the sink. “Then you won’t have time to practice driving tomorrow.”
His eyes widened, and he tossed his phone on the counter. “You’re kidding me. If I do my homework, you’ll take me driving tomorrow?”
I probably should have thought this through more before I opened my mouth. Getting Ryker to do his homework was always like pulling teeth, but if I started bribing him with driving lessons, I might never get out of the car. “The offer only stands for tonight. All other days of homework with be negotiated later.”
Ryker tapped his fingers on his chin. “I guess I’ll accept that. There’s plenty of other stuff I want that I can bargain with.”
“Don’t get used to it, Ry. All you can get from me is driving lessons, and maybe every now and then Chinese takeout.”
“What else could a sixteen-year-old ask for?”
I grabbed my purse and hitched it over my shoulder. There was a whole lot more a sixteen-year-old could ask for, and the fact that Ryker didn’t ask for any of it, blew me away. A boy losing his mother right before his sixteenth birthday could really fuck with someone’s head. “You deserve a lot more than what I can give you, kid, but you’re damn amazing for accepting what I’ve got.”
He shrugged and picked up his phone. “I know you do the best you can, Aunt Haddie.”
I ruffled his hair as I passed by and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Be good, do your homework, and I’ll call before bedtime, okay?”
Ryker waved me off, and the door slammed shut behind me.
The sun was setting, and I wished I didn’t have to go to work. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a Friday off. Fridays and Saturdays were always the busiest days at the club, and we were only allowed to have one off a month. To get more than that you needed to be dead or the freakin’ queen of England.
I wished like hell I could find another job that had normal hours and paid as well as Sultry Knights, but as far as I knew, there wasn’t a job like that out there. At least, not one I was qualified to have. A GED didn’t get you very far around here. That was fine when it was just myself I had to worry about. Now with Ryker, I was panicking, trying to find a way to make more. That led me to Sultry Knights and my scantily clad body.
The cold air hit my legs as I sprinted to my car, and I prayed my heater decided to work and not blow cold air. Although, I knew that was asking a lot.
I glanced at the clock on the dash as I pulled out of the driveway and grimaced. I was damn close to being late. It seemed like each night I dragged my feet a little bit more to leave for work. When I first started working at SK, I was there fifteen minutes before my shift started to get everything ready, but now, six months in, I breezed in two minutes before eight, tied on my tiny apron, and hit the floor.
Tonight, it was looking like I was going to be rolling in with seconds to spare.
I threw the car into park, swiped my heels off of the seat next to me, and sprinted into the back entrance of the club.
“Really, Hadley? Your shift starts in one minute.”
Hell, I was earlier than I thought. I really didn’t need to run. I put a hand on Rick’s shoulder, flipped off my flip flops, and slid on my heels. “I’m here, Rick. Don’t complain.”
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest when I stood back. “You think you could at least be here five minutes before your shift starts? You’re giving me a heart attack every night waiting for you to roll into the lot in that tin can of yours. Half of the time, I think you’re broken down on the side of the road.”
And there was the side of Rick that helped convince me to stay here. He may be an ass, but he also cared about us. The Devil’s Knights, the motorcycle club two towns over, owned Sultry Knights, but Rick, who wasn’t a member, was the general manager. Every now and then, you would see a guy with a Knights cut in the club, but it wasn’t often. Most of them had ol’ ladies, and word was, they didn’t need to hang out at a strip club because their women were pretty fucking amazing. I had yet to see any of them in the club, but I heard the last time all of the women turned up at the club, they ended up shutting the place down and giving the girls on the stage a run for their money.
“You’ll be the first to know when I’m dead on the side of the road, Rick.” I couldn’t get that lucky to miss work because of my car. I knew if I called Rick, he would come and get me to make sure I was at work on time.
He pointed a finger at me. “Sugar, you know these guys love you. Get your apron on and get out there. Vanessa has your apron.”
I looked Rick up and down. There was no denying he was attractive. His pitch black hair, handsome face, and towering height made him desirable to all the girls who worked here.
The only problem was, Rick was very much with Vanessa, and she made sure to stop anyone in their tracks who thought they had a chance with him.
Out of all the girls, I was the only one who got along with her. I was also the only one who wasn’t after Rick. He was my boss, and that was it. “When are you going to put a ring on her finger?” I asked. I pushed past Rick as he tossed his hands up in the air. I asked him every night, and every night he did the same thing.
I slipped through the swinging doors which led to main room and saw Vanessa standing next to the bar. She was wearing the same outfit as I was, except hers didn’t look like Barbie clothes on her.
“Cutting it close again, Haddie? I think I saw the vein in Rick’s forehead throb tonight waiting for you.” Vanessa laughed and handed me my apron. She may be dating Rick, but that didn’t mean she was up his ass. She knew he was a prick when it came to work.
I tied the apron around my waist and grabbed a tray from behind the bar. “You know he would be sitting around with his thumb up his ass if he didn’t have me to worry about.”
“I don’t know about that, but I’m sure his blood pressure would be lower if you showed up early.”
I shrugged. “I’m just not sure that’s a theory I’m willing to test.”
Vanessa cackled and threw her arm around my shoulders. “Now why the hell can’t all of the girls be like you? I had to again tell April to get her skanky ass out of Rick’s lap when she asked for a day off.”
“Wait? Rick gave her a day off?” I asked, completely ignoring the fact April threw herself at Rick. It really wasn’t surprising.
Vanessa waved her hand at me and chuckled. “Girl, you know he said no. She thought throwing herself in his lap would even up her odds. She was wrong. Way wrong.”
“Well, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who can’t get a day off.”
“Pfft, I can’t even get a day off, and I’m sleeping with the man.” She slid her arm away and sat down on a bar stool. “It’s a damn miracle if I get one day with him where one of us isn’t coming in here to work.” While Rick managed the whole strip club, Vanessa acted as head bartender and took care of all of the bartenders and did scheduling for them. She was here just as much as Rick.
I surveyed the club. “Please tell me I’m not the only waitress tonight.”
“Nope, you’ve got May and me since Kay called in sick again, and you know that means she won’t be working here anymore because Rick is an ass and doesn’t believe in sick days.”
I rolled my eyes and sat down next to Vanessa. “So, the hunt for another waitress continues. Damn, Kay only worked here for a month, and before her, it took a month to find her. Who would have thought it would be so hard to find a girl willing to serve horny, inebriated assholes?”
Vanessa winked and patted me on the leg. “Not all women are made the same, babe. I will tell you that you surprised the hell out of me that first night when one of those jerks put their hands on you. I can still hear his yelp of pain when you bent his wrist back and grabbed his balls.”
“Ha, I had to let the asshole know touching me was a no-no.”
She giggled and tossed her hair back. “I think he got the message loud and clear.”
Thankfully, I never saw that asshole again. Any man who thought they could touch me without my permission deserved to have his wrist and ego broken. I wasn’t about the doormat life.
Rick stormed across the club floor glaring at Vanessa and me and opened the front doors. Men streamed in and several groups congregated at the seven tables in front of the stage. “Looks like you might be sleeping on the couch tonight, Van.” I elbowed her in the side and smirked.
“Pfft, please. Rick gets turned the hell on when I get all possessive of him. Just you watch. He’s going to come find me later, and you might be a waitress short for an hour or so.” She winked and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Oh Lord. Just don’t sneak off when all of your tables have empties on them. Don’t think I won’t come find you and drag your ass out here naked.”
She wagged her finger at me with a huge smile on her face. “Rick is a determined man, babe, and I’m not a woman who can say no to that man.”
“Well, if you could at least try tonight, or give me a warning when you surrender, it would be much appreciated.”
Vanessa gave me a mock salute. “Will do.”
Men started wandering up to the bar, and I knew it was time to get to work. Rick made his way to Vanessa and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Step back, Rick,” I warned. “You can keep delaying the launch of your rocket pocket for a couple of hours until Van and I get this crowd sorted out.”
Rick scowled. “Pretty sure that ain’t got nothing to do with you, Sugar.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my drink tray off the bar. “It does when it means you’re going to leave me shorthanded for an hour. At least wait until Candi takes the stage.” Candi was the top earning girl of the club, and she held everyone's attention when she stepped foot on the stage.
“Then she’s going on first,” Rick growled.
Vanessa batted him on the chest. “Oh please, you and I both know that Candi will not be the first one out. If you do that, then you can guarantee half of these guys will be gone as soon as she’s done.”
Rick laid a hot and heavy kiss on Vanessa, making me look away. Half the time, I wanted to tell these two to get a room, and I didn’t care if it was in the middle of a rush. Thank god I had never told Rick that. “You’re mine later,” Rick growled before storming to the backroom.
Vanessa fanned herself with her hand and held onto the bar. “You get one hour, Hadley, and then I am going to seek that man out myself.”
I rolled my eyes and knew it would be a miracle if she lasted that long. Chinese and a cold beer were waiting for me at home, and it was going to be one hell of a long night. It couldn’t get over fast enough.
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