“I got some nice pictures of my own yesterday.” Chambers held up his phone. The picture of Parker and me kissing in front of the trailer was gritty and had been taken from a distance. The nerves in my gut were twisting into a hard knot, and I felt sick to my stomach.
“Didn’t want to disturb your romantic afternoon. Do hope you’re not stupid enough to get someone else involved in this. You need to keep those pretty lips shut.”
“He doesn’t know a thing.” I swallowed back the bitter taste in my throat.
Chambers stuck out his hand. “Give me what you have so far.”
I went over to my bed and grabbed the envelope out of my mattress.
“The mattress? That’s original.” Chambers sneered.
I walked over and placed the roll of money on his palm. “That’s fifteen hundred. I’ll have the same for you in three weeks.”
“Make it two. And every two after that until you’re paid up.” He straightened the knot on his tie. “First missed payment and you either start whoring or find yourself in a watery grave at the bottom of the ocean.”
“I make good tips at the club. I’ll get some extra shifts. But once I make the last payment, you have to promise to leave me the hell alone.” I knew it was close to comical asking a man like Chambers for a promise but, surprisingly, he hadn’t lied to me yet.
“Ten grand paid in full, and we’ll part ways for good.” The toes of his loafers stepped lightly over the toes of my shoes, and he was so close I could smell the weed on his breath. “But miss a payment or worse, try and run again, and it’s going to be a very unhappy ending for you.”
They walked out. I watched through my dusty kitchen window as they left the driveway and climbed into the car parked out front. I’d been in such a good mood, I hadn’t noticed a strange car or Chambers standing somewhere in the shadows of my trailer. As soon as I saw their car pull away from the curb, I broke down in tears.
Chapter 16
Rodeo
Denver leaned down over the pool table and shot the last striped ball into a pocket. The eight ball dropped next. “Beat you again, which means you’ve got to wash the bikes and gear tomorrow after work.”
“You just got lucky.”
He tapped the side of his head with the end of the pool cue. “Nope. This is a game of extreme logic and a little mathematical reasoning, which you lack completely. If you just shoot like you fart, in any direction without really planning it, then you will lose.”
I placed the end of my cue on the ground and leaned against it. “So, what you’re saying is you make fart plans. Doesn’t surprise me at all. Hey, did you get the pit passes for the show? I’m hoping I can get Sayler to take a day off, so she can hang out with us.”
“Yeah, I got them.” He walked over to the rack and hung up his pool cue. “You sure are serious about this girl. Never thought I’d see the day.”
“What? You didn’t think I could get serious about a girl?”
“Oh, I didn’t doubt it could happen. Just didn’t think you wanted it. You know, being committed to one girl. Not really your thing.”
“All depends on the girl, I guess.” I hung up my cue. We cleared off the table for the two guys who had been waiting for a game to open up. I looked at my phone. It was nearly eleven. “I’m going to head out. Sayler’s off soon.”
“I’m leaving soon too. Going to be a long week at work. Don’t wear yourself out there, buddy.”
I laughed. “Shit, too late. She’s already got me spinning in every direction. Catch you later.”
I climbed into the truck and pulled out of the parking lot. I still had to grit my teeth at the thought of Sayler working at the strip club. She hadn’t brought up the man she owed money to again. I was hoping he’d decided to leave her alone, so she could be done with the stripping gig. As badly as I wanted to help her out, I didn’t have much in my savings and she’d made it clear she wanted to do this on her own. I’d only just gotten back into her life. I really didn’t have any say in what she did, and the last thing I wanted to do was blow it by trying to control her.
I glanced at the clock on the truck radio as I turned into the parking lot of the Sunset Strip Club. It was exactly eleven o’clock. There were still plenty of cars and motorcycles in the lot, but Sayler had said her shift ended at eleven. She wasn’t out front yet. I decided to walk inside and wait for her.
The place was still packed for a Sunday night. The tables in front were filled with a bunch of loud, beer chugging fools. They were waiting anxiously for the next dancer to take the stage.
I decided to stay at the bar. I hopped up on a stool. The bartender, a puny dude with a shaved head and ear plugs dropped a napkin in front of me. “What can I get you?”
The music thundered down from the speakers, and I had to talk over them. “Actually, I’m just waiting for Sayler to get off work. Have you seen her?”
“One of the dancers twisted an ankle.” The bartender pointed toward the stage. “Sayler’s filling in for her.”
“Shit.” I spun around on the top of the barstool. My jaw tightened as she strolled out on stage with her mini skirt and sexy tied up blouse. I was already clenching my fists and she hadn’t even taken anything off yet. The crowd of horny assholes staring up at her from the tables got louder as she wrapped a long leg around the pole and twirled. She plucked off her white sailor’s hat and dangled it from her long finger before tossing it across the stage. A cheer rumbled through the entire barroom. She’d only removed her hat, and I was ready to pound someone.
I dropped off the stool. There was no fucking way I was going to be able to watch this without slamming my fist through the shiny polished wood of the bar counter, or worse, someone’s face. Like a yellow bellied coward, I headed toward the exit. Before I reached the door, someone up front near the stage whistled and yelled ‘take it all off, baby’!
I froze and had a quick mind debate. The irrational pissed off side of me won as it usually did. I turned around and slapped the counter to get the bartender’s attention. “A double shot of whiskey, please.”
I was too tense to sit on the stool. I leaned against the counter. But my focus wasn’t on the dancer. It was on the huge bunch of dicks howling and making obscene gestures at the stage. At Sayler. She was doing her thing, dancing and not paying too much attention to the idiots below. She’d told me that was the easiest way to get through a dance, ‘just pretend they are a cardboard audience’. A really fucking horny cardboard audience, I thought wryly as I slugged back both shots.
Sayler stripped down to her lacy white bra. I ordered another shot of whiskey. At this rate I’d be fucking plastered before she even dropped the skirt. I threw back the burning liquid and smacked the shot glass down hard on the counter. The bartender must have sensed my tension.
“Some guys get off on it,” he said motioning up to the stage, “watching their girlfriend up there stripping for an audience. I’m getting the idea that you’re not one of them.”
“Good call.” I stared hard at the stage, completely regretting my decision to stay and yet unable to pull myself away. My fists tightened and my jaw snapped down like a steel trap as Sayler leaned forward and a grubby old bastard stuck money down her bra.
“Another shot?” the bartender asked over my shoulder.
I shook my head. My attention was now riveted to an oversized guy with a red beard and a leather jacket. He was no longer sitting at his table. Instead, he was casting a big, ugly shadow over the stage as he hovered right in front of it. He held up a bill, but when Sayler sashayed toward him, he yanked it away and laughed.
I surveyed the room and noticed that the moose of a bouncer, Max, or whatever the hell his name was, had found a cute little brunette customer more interesting than the job he was hired to do. He was across the room from the stage, leaning his big tree tr
unk sized arm against the wall as he talked to the woman.
Again, red beard held up a bill, and as Sayler leaned down for him to tuck it in her bra he yanked it away. “Take it all off first,” he bellowed through cupped hands.
The bartender’s shrill whistle made me jump. “Hey, Max,” he called across the room. Max glanced the direction of the bar and then toward the stage. At that moment, red beard was just standing quietly, so the bouncer obviously decided he wasn’t needed and went back to his conversation.
Sayler grabbed the pole and swung her feet up above her head. She wrapped her long legs around the pole and hung upside down. Her tiny skirt flipped up revealing her sequined g-string.
Red beard jumped on stage and raced over to her with his money. I was across the floor long before Max had decided to look up again at the bartender’s second whistle.
Sayler saw the man stomping toward her and somersaulted off the pole landing on her knees on stage. Red beard grabbed hold of her skirt just as I heaved myself onto the stage. Chairs scraped the floor as people moved closer to get a better view. From the corner of my eye, I could see the bouncer making his way over. But as far as I was concerned, he was already too damn late.
I grabbed red beard’s collar and yanked him back sharply. The man probably outweighed me by fifty pounds, but I managed to send him hard on his ass. He had to grab the pole to keep from flying off the edge of the stage. Sayler stared up at me with round brown eyes as she scooted on her knees toward the back curtain.
Her eyes rounded more. “Parker, look out!”
As I swung around, red beard threw his fist at me. It clipped the side of my chin and sent my teeth clacking together on my tongue. My crash on the track this morning had left me pretty scraped up. My elbow was stiff and a deep cut made it hard to bend and straighten the joint. But I had just enough whiskey in me and I was just pissed off enough to ignore the stinging pain in my arm. I threw my fist at the guy’s round stomach, and he doubled over. I raised my arm to bring my fist down on the back of his head, but a meaty hand grabbed my arm and wrenched it painfully behind my back.
Max’s giant shadow loomed over me. “You again? You’re like a fucking tick that I just can’t get rid of.”
“You should try one of those flea and tick collars for dogs,” I snapped back at him.
Red beard pushed to his feet and stumbled forward several steps.
“You’re done in here,” Max barked at him. “Pay your bar tab and get the hell out.”
“Yeah, fuck face, get the hell out of here,” I growled. A mistake since Max hadn’t released my arm yet. Red beard took advantage of my vulnerable position and slammed his fist into my stomach.
Max released me as I dropped to my knees in pain. Max’s big feet pounded the stage floor as he stomped toward red beard. Red beard shuffled backward quickly, fell off the stage and landed on a table. Beer glasses rolled off the table top, bouncing and cracking on the cement floor.
It took me a second to catch my breath. Sayler knelt down next to me and took hold of my face. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I think so. But you might want to move out of the way cuz there’s some whiskey about to make a reappearance and it’s not going to be pretty.” My throat thickened and I felt the bile rising.
Sayler scooted to the side, and I puked all over the shiny, polished stage.
Through the clamor of the crowd and the music still raining down from the speakers, I heard someone yelling. “Sayler, my office. Now. Max, get these two assholes out of here.”
“Shit,” Sayler muttered as she pushed to her feet. “Parker, what have you done?”
Chapter 17
Sayler
Parker was leaning against his truck. He’d pulled on a sweatshirt, and he had the hood up over his head. His hands were deep in his pockets and his shoulders were slung forward as I carried my bag of belongings outside. I knew I’d been fired before I’d even stepped into the owner’s office. It was almost a relief to be done with stripping. Now, if I could only find another job where I could make three or four hundred dollars a night.
Parker looked at the bag. “Fuck.” He lifted his face to me. A bruise was forming on his chin. “I’m sorry, Sayler. But that guy charged at you on stage, and the bouncer wasn’t looking . . .”
I blinked back tears and nodded. The ache in my chest made it too hard to speak. I dropped my bag and stumbled the two steps into his arms. I’d just made the deal with Chambers, a deal that looked as if it could get me out of the terrible bind I was in. I’d planned to take extra shifts and strip my way out of this huge problem. But now I had no way to earn the money fast enough to pay Chambers every two weeks. And after his grim warning today, the last thing I wanted to do was tell Parker about the deal. I needed to keep him out of it or risk putting him in danger too.
“Look, if you need money, I can help you out. I’ve got some saved.”
I sniffled and he offered me the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
“I think I’m just going to head home, Parker. I need to think this through and figure out what I’m going to do.”
He looked thoroughly hurt. “Come on, Sayler. I’ll follow you back. I can help you figure shit out. Don’t leave like this. I told you I can help.”
“I just need to be alone.” I turned to walk away.
He took hold of my hand. “I’d do it again. Even knowing it would turn out like this. Like I said, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I don’t know what that asshole had in mind, but when I saw his big ass stomping across the stage toward you, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.”
I pressed my hand against his face and kissed his cheek. “I know and thank you for that. Don’t worry about it. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
***
My crummy little trailer seemed extra miserable and depressing as I stepped inside. My perfume and makeup compacts clacked together as I tossed my bag onto the counter. I flicked on the light. It blinked and sparked, then the light bulb hanging overhead fizzled out. After the scary visit from Chambers, I was feeling especially uneasy in the dark.
I felt my way to the back corner where the only other light was a dust-covered yellow light bulb hanging over my bed. I turned it on and a weird, eerie glow filled the back corner. I rarely used the light and immediately, the pungent smell of burning dust permeated the dank, cool air of the trailer. My dismal existence would have been laughable if it hadn’t been so damn bleak.
I sat on the bed and leaned back against the cold metal wall behind it. The sheets and blankets were still twisted from Parker and me sleeping together on the narrow mattress. His feet had hung off the end and his head kept smacking the wall, but it had been a perfectly cozy way to sleep. Suddenly, I wished that I hadn’t brushed him off. He’d looked completely anguished about the whole damn thing. In truth, none of it had been his fault. It hadn’t been my fault either. The only person who should have suffered any consequences was the big oaf who ran at me on stage.
Parker had rushed in to protect me. Everything was so different with him. During the long, torturous months with Kurt, I’d constantly felt in danger and afraid and despised. It felt nice to be with someone who made me feel safe and content and loved. And now I’d sent him home alone.
A knock startled me from my thoughts and made the yellow bulb vibrate and flicker off for a second before popping back on. I smiled and leapt from the bed. I was practicing my apology in my head. “I’m glad you—” I said as I swung open the door. The frigid night air and the hard, angry expression on Chambers’ face made me stumble back a few steps.
“Glad? What reason do you have to be glad? Hawk told me about the little scene at the club. Said you walked out with your bag.”
“I’ll figure out a way to get the money. You said two weeks. It hasn’t even been a day.”
Hi
s eyes drifted over me. I was thankful for the sweatshirt and jeans I’d pulled on before leaving the club. “You could make a fortune spreading your legs.”
“Get out,” I cried. “Two weeks and I’ll have the first payment.”
He shook his head. “The deal has changed now that your tattoo boy lost you that nice paying gig on the striptease stage. I will give you two weeks, but I want it all, the rest of what you owe me. And as a little extra incentive for you to pay up, I’ll be going after him first, your hero. He’s on my radar now.”
“No. He has nothing to do with this.” My voice cracked.
“He has something to do with you, so he’s involved. Two weeks. Of course, we can end all the problems right now, and your friend will be safe. Just agree to whore for me.”
“I’ll fucking slit my throat first.” Tears burned my eyes as my words squirted through clenched teeth.
He shrugged. “That’ll save me from having to do it.”
I slammed the door shut as he turned away.
I curled my arms around myself. The cold night air had coasted in and filled my tiny living space. It would be hard to get warm tonight. But the cold in the room was nothing compared to the icy knot in the pit of my stomach. I looked around the freezing, grim space and wondered why the hell I was standing there alone.
Chapter 18
Rodeo
Like Cole and Denver, I should have been in bed, fast asleep and waiting for the damn alarm to shock me out of my dreams at daybreak. Instead, I was sitting on the back patio nursing the last beer from the fridge and wondering how one girl could cause so much havoc in my life, a life that I thought I’d finally pulled together. Of course, tonight’s disaster had been of my own making, but I was still convinced I’d done the right thing. I only hoped I hadn’t lost Sayler because of it.
I sucked back the last drops of beer. It had helped erase how crappy I was feeling from the whiskey shots, getting socked in the gut and most of all having Sayler walk away from me.