Praise (Salacious Players Club, #1)(20)

After climbing in, she looks at my outfit and laughs. “You look like a hooker.”

“Thanks. You look like a Smurf.”

“Thanks. How was your first day at your new job?” she asks, as I pull away from the curb and head toward the shopping plaza on the opposite side of town.

“It was…interesting.” I’m not really planning on sharing all the gritty details of my new job with my fourteen-year-old sister. She may be wise for her years, but she’s not ready for all of that. I have also decided not to disclose the fact that I’m working for Beau’s dad. She was never much a fan of Junior and wouldn’t be too keen on me working with Senior.

“Wait, where are we going?” she asks when I miss the turn for our house.

“Didn’t that new anime comic come out today?”

Her eyes light up. “It’s called manga, and yes, it did…but they probably sold out already.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot.”

As we pull up to the strip mall with Sophie’s favorite comic book store, I suddenly wish I had gone home first to change. There’s a gaggle of teen boys, all clearly in the throes of puberty, huddled outside. You can tell by the acne, ill-fitting clothes, greasy hair, and metal-filled smiles.

Oh well. It’s for Sophie, I think as we climb out of the car. She side-eyes me as we walk up to the shop, my heels clicking against the oily, cracked concrete of the parking lot.

“Geez,” she mutters under her breath.

I can literally feel their eyes as we pass. Inside the shop, there’s a lot of chatter, the excitement from the new release today clearly filling the empty spaces. A group of giggly girls with K-pop T-shirts and Hello Kitty backpacks browse the back wall as Sophie heads toward the empty endcap where the new book should be.

“See.” Her shoulders slump and my heart breaks. “They probably sold out hours ago.”

“Not today, Satan,” I reply, turning toward the heavy-set, bearded man behind the counter. “Excuse me.”

When he looks up from the video game console he’s currently dismantling, he freezes. His eyes lock, and I mean lock, on my breasts. Granted, my shirt is see-through, and my bra is black. It’s a display…I know that, but he is looking at my tits like they’ve put a trance on him and he’s incapable of seeing anything else in the room.

“Hi,” I bark, trying to tear his attention away from my chest. And just as I’m about to cover it with my folded arms, I realize this might work to my advantage. So instead, I lean forward, letting my cleavage pop as my elbows rest against the glass counter.

“Oh my God,” Sophie mumbles quietly behind me.

“Can— Can I help you?” the man asks.

“Yes, my sister and I are looking for the new book in the Wonder Boy Cosmo series. I think it came out today.” I flash him a toothy grin.

“Oh, that sold out at ten a.m. this morning.” He manages to look me in the eye this time, but his gaze dances between my lips and tits like little ping-pongs in his head.

“Really?” I ask with a pout. Then I heave a long sigh, glancing toward the back of the shop behind him, noticing unopened boxes stacked along the wall. Pinching my bottom lip between my teeth, I stare up at him through my lashes as I ask, “Any chance you have just one more back there for us? I really, really wanted it.” Then I spy his name tag and add a flirty, “Travis,” in for good measure.

He swallows then forces a tight smile for me. As he seems to deliberate his options for a moment, I consider that this guy is actually pretty handsome. If he trimmed up that unruly beard and combed his hair, it would go a long way. Plus, he has a nice smile.

He must notice me quasi-checking him out because he grins. “Let me go check in the back.”

He’s gone for a while, and I turn toward Sophie, who only shakes her head at me with a blank expression on her face as she scans the Funko Pop wall.

A few minutes later, Mr. Beard returns with his hands behind his back. Leaning toward me on the counter, he passes me a thick book with a bright illustrated cover and what looks like a corgi dressed up like an astronaut. “You didn’t get this from me,” he whispers.

“Oh my God, you’re the best, Travis!”

Leaning forward, I plant a quick kiss on his cheek, leaving the red-lipped stamp there as he blushes. Hiding the book from the girls at the back of the store, I pull out my credit card and hand it to him discreetly. He’s still smiling as he gives me my receipt and wishes us a good day.

In the car, Sophie beams at her new book and my heart swells. “Oh my God, you are a hooker, but I’m not complaining!”

“I am not!”

“Well, just keep dressing like one.”

My laugh dies down as I think about what Garrett said in the throne room today. What is there to be ashamed of? Everyone does it. Everyone enjoys it. What a waste of a good life to pretend you don’t.

I’ve never considered myself a sexual person, but I can’t deny that it felt good to sit on that throne, to think about someone—a certain someone—finding ways to pleasure me while I was up there. It excited me to be so admired in the shop, to use my body in a way that worked for me. To be comfortable in my own skin and flaunt that. To know that I may not be a twig or have perfect skin, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be sexy.