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With school out, Alrik had intended to spend his summer vacation doing what he loved best: video games.

The first few weeks had been spent in blissful almost-solitude. After being stuck with too many chores back at home, he'd taken up residence in his sister’s apartment, glued to both the television and laptop. Penny had a decent enough assortment of snacks, plus she worked for a good chunk of the day, which meant he was free to roam and graze as he pleased.

When he'd gotten the text from one of his former school chums, it had taken him a while to pause the game and see what it said. He'd been disinterested in the idea of “hanging out”, up until his buddy mentioned checking out one of the gentlemen's clubs in the city, now that their posse of pals had all hit the ripe old age of eighteen.

Alrik decided that maybe, just maybe he could get some fresh air after all.

They'd gone on a Tuesday night, something about a discount on the buffet. All but one of the boys hadn't really expressed interest in the buffet so much as the scantily clad women in the club.

Piling in one by one, each young man got their hand stamped, the scarlet letter that denounced their ability to take full advantage of the bar. Alrik didn't mind - he didn't need to be twenty-one to enjoy the view.

The gentleman’s club was overwhelming, to say the least.

It didn't come across anywhere close as to how he'd imagined it, Alrik having pictured a scene from one of his gritty video games or grimey like the ones in TV shows or movies. Overall, it was relatively clean. The lights were dimmed, but the business was inviting. Girls were in an abundance, as well as groups of men dotting the tables surrounding the large stage.

He remained slack jawed as his brain worked on digesting the scene around them, the group of boys making their way towards one of the empty tables. Alrik allowed himself to be carted along with them, but as he was reaching for the back of his chair, one of the girls was approaching him. Him.

She was cute. Short, cute with the brightest, greenest hair he'd ever seen.

Her mouth opened and a sassy, cute little voice came out, addressing him. Him!!!

While the other boys jeered and winked, Alrik stood, looking dumbfounded and scared.

As his hand gripped the back of the chair tightly, he struggled to find his voice.

“H-Hi. Um. Visiting??"

She was laughing and it was hot. She was touching him and playing with him and it was hot.

This stranger was confident as hell and, without a shadow of a doubt, hot.

"First time," He admitted weakly, feeling slightly more assertive with his buddies still making side comments towards the pretty woman in front of him. The pretty woman whose lips looked like trouble with a capital T.

That assertiveness disappeared, however, when she asked him about spending time with him. While Alrik wasn't used to coming to places like this, he knew that these girls didn't enjoy company for free.

"I... I don't..." His hands scrambled to pull out his wallet, fingering the opening to pull out the wad of crinkled dollar bills from within. He'd managed to get a twenty from his parents (citing the need for money for dinner out with friends), a ten from Penny (citing the same reasoning, as he didn't feel she'd particularly approve of his actions) and then a stack of one's that he'd had stashed away in his desk.

So, overall, not nearly as much as this beautiful woman probably charged for spending time with her.

Standing there, a dumbstruck expression across his face, he gave her the most pitiful look as he offered the entire amount out to her.

Struggling not to sound too pathetic, he openly confessed, "I don't know what I'm doing."

The money was shoved back into his pocket without a second thought, ears and cheeks lighting up pink as he suddenly found himself being whisked away by the short beauty.

Echoes of cheers from the other boys followed after them, but his ears were deaf to anything but her words and the way her tongue subtly snaked out across her lips.

"You just need to follow my lead and everything will turn up just fine."

The room she led him into was small, making the tall boy instantly feel crowded, up until the moment the green haired temptress had him sitting down into the chair. He'd made a motion to scoot forward, but as her legs slid on either side of his and her bottom pressed against his pants, he swallowed hard and froze where he sat.

He couldn't help but grin when she called him cute, though a perplexed look crossed his face at the mention of a dance.

Shifting to adjust in his seat, he was tempted to place either hand on her hips in a dance-like fashion, as her hands were already up to his shoulders. Girls weren't supposed to be touched, right? So he kept them at his sides, fidgeting with the sides of the chair as he whispered up meekly:

"I don't think I can dance very well like this, ma'am."

In truth, he hadn't known what to expect. Up until an hour or two ago, he hadn't ever planned to show his tanned hide in such a place, not until his buddies had tempted him with the option.

Gentlemen's Clubs were supposed to be like strip clubs, right? Just a giant stage where girls came out and put on a show, where the boys could slide dollars here and there or gently hand them to the female in question (as he wasn't terribly certain he could manage to slide one in a strap, as nervous as he was).

He scooted back in the chair, as if he was following her instructions to sit back and enjoy.

"Alrik. My name is Alrik."

He swallowed hard and did his best to look up at her, keeping his eyes trained on hers. His fingernails were digging deeply into the fabric of the chair, his own desires betraying him already as he did his best to calm down his heart's racing at the young woman still sitting in his lap. "I-I'd like to watch you dance then, i-if that's okay?"

No one ever called him Ali except for Penny, so hearing the pet name being sweetly sung in his direction was mildly alarming, mildly exciting. His hands released the moment she took notice of their grip, dainty fingers reminding him that this was a show, not a torture.

He was starting to think it could be the latter, with the way he was trying his damndest to keep things from showing just how excited he was to be in the room with her.

Sadly, all attempts failed as she'd begun to dance, her motions and expression both holding more eroticism in them than any scantily clad video game character that could come to mind for him. She was breathtakingly beautiful - and she was real.

The concept was hard for him to wrap his young mind around, her hips swerving and swaying to the music as arms held themselves above her head. As she stepped forward at the end of the song, both hands shot down to cover up the growing evidence of his appreciation for her dancing abilities.


Of all the times....


"That was amazing, Miss.... Miss....?"

He fumbled over his own words. Christ, he was having fantasies of this woman and he didn't even know her name!

She was laughing again and it was beautiful.

As her hand moved, shifting to where her fingers and palm were resting behind the back of his head, Alrik could feel himself nervously straightening up in his chair. He tried to stay focused on her gaze, meeting her green eyes with his own, but at the sensation of her stroking the back of his neck and the hairs that clung to it, he was forced to close his eyes and let out a shudder.

"Hi Cass."

It didn't sound like a stripper's name. It wasn't Candy or Sparkles or something ridiculous like that - it was normal, it was short and it was cute.

His own palms shifted, doing their best to squash down his approval of both her name and the toying she was doing with his hair. He struggled to find a voice that didn't squeak out the words as he muttered, "I have a feeling you're undercharging me, Miss Cass."

Wait, she was breaking the rules?

For him?

Since when was Alrik Rey worth breaking rules over?

The concept made his mind spin; he didn't know the first thing about going to clubs and dance spots like these and now all of a sudden, a pretty girl was giving him exclusive attention? And dances? Had he died and gone to heaven without realizing it? Here she was, confessing that she was breaking club rules just because she liked him?

Wait.... and she was asking if she should leave???


"N-No, please don't!"

His hands flew from his lap and moved to take hold of the outside of her thighs, spurned by the terrifying notion that this gorgeous woman would simply hop off and walk right out of his life. It took exactly four seconds to realize his error, palms whipping themselves off of her as if her flawless fleshed had burned him. Crap.

"I'm sorry, I just..." Oh god, he was going to get his a** thrown out of this place, wasn't he? "Please don't go."

Turquoise eyes pleaded with her, the young man taking a moment to chew on his bottom lip before admitting, "I like you, Miss Cass."