Most of All You: A Love Story(11)

“Tomorrow night.”

“Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow night. And if you change your mind—”

“I won’t change my mind. See you then, Gabe.”

“No more ‘sugar’?” There was a smile in his voice and I smiled, too.

“Whatever you want me to call you, sugar, that’s what I’ll call you.”

“Gabe’s fine. Gabe’s good.”

“See you tomorrow night, sugar.”

Another chuckle. “See you then.”

I hung up and let out a breath, feeling slightly more energized. Okay, I’d figured out my situation. A little extra money—we’d have to talk specifics tomorrow night—but I’d need to at least double my lap-dance rate to make this worth my time. Feeling slightly better, I dropped my towel and pulled on some clean clothes. When I looked in the mirror, I was surprised to see a small smile on my face I hadn’t even realized was there. I blinked, watching the smile slip. There was a large red mark on my cheek where Tommy had backhanded me, and a small welt on my cheekbone that must have been caused by his wedding ring. I picked up my hairbrush, using it roughly on my wet hair, pulling it through the knots until the harsh tugs on my scalp made me wince.





CHAPTER FOUR


You can find hope in the strangest of places, in the darkest of corners. Clutch it close, my darling. It’s yours and no one else’s.

Lemon Fair, the Queen of Meringue

GABRIEL

The Platinum Pearl was bustling. I took a seat at the same table I’d sat at two nights before and ordered a beer from the cocktail waitress. “Do you know when Crystal’s performing?” I asked. The dark-haired server who brought my Miller Lite leaned over farther than necessary to set my beer on the table. She appeared confused when I held eye contact instead of looking down at her breasts thrust in my face, staying in the bent position a beat longer before standing up straight.

“I think she’s up next.”

My heart thumped faster as I turned to the stage, waiting for the next song to start. I had been shocked when she called saying she’d changed her mind. Shocked and slightly bewildered. I wondered what had changed her mind. Wondered what had compelled her to look me up and call me. I’d almost told her to forget it entirely since I’d decided the whole idea was terrible. But once I heard her voice over the phone, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to turn her down. The truth was, I was both scared and excited, and it was an exhilarating feeling—one I hadn’t experienced before. I wanted … more. And I thought that was probably a positive thing for me, to want at all. But what about her? I kept coming back to that.

The lights flashed and then dimmed and the music started, a steady bass rhythm that had my blood pumping in time to the music. I frowned as I looked around. There was a bachelor party sitting near the stage, and they were practically falling out of their chairs they were so drunk.

When the lights came back on, Crystal was sitting in a chair wearing a tiny silver bikini with fringe hanging from the edges of the top and the bottom and a pair of tall silver boots. I was so intent on her that the cheers that went up around the room startled me. I took a sip of my beer and watched as she began to dance.

Her long hair moved around her beautiful, slender body as she performed, catching the light, a color I didn’t recall ever seeing before—sort of a combination of blonde, red, and brown. It made me think of light shining through a bottle of honey. And there was so much of it. I wondered what it’d feel like to run my fingers through it. Her body moved to the beat, her eyes closed, that cold, distant expression in place, seemingly as immovable as armor.

Crystal. No, not crystal. Crystal was perfectly clear, transparent. A person could see right through crystal as if it were glass. Not the girl up there. Not crystal—nothing even close.

What’s your name? Your real name? God, I want to know.

“I’d fuck that pussy like a jackhammer!” one drunk bachelor-party goer yelled out to the delight of his friends, who guffawed and held up their drinks in cheers to him. His lewd statement jolted me from my thoughts. He stood and started drilling his groin against the chair in imitation of the sex act he’d just described.

This whole scene opened up some void inside that made me feel angry and sad at the same time. I stood up, throwing a tip down on the table, and headed to the back to wait. I rounded the corner to the hallway where I’d waited for Crystal the first time, and saw that the bouncer, Anthony, was sitting on a stool. “What can I do for you?” he asked in his deep baritone.

“I’m here to see Crystal after she’s finished dancing.”

“You Gabe?”

“Yeah,” I said, surprised. I hadn’t expected that she would have given my name to Anthony.

“I’ll show you back.”

I followed Anthony to a different room than the one where I’d talked to Crystal the first time. It was dim and had purple velvet fabric hanging from all four walls. There was a black leather couch against one wall, a few scattered velvet ottomans, a sound system in the corner, and a large-screen TV hanging on the opposite wall from the couch.

“Go ’head and take a seat,” Anthony said. “Crystal will be in after her performance.”

“Right,” I said, moving deeper into the room.