CORINNE
”Are you sure you’re okay?” Benny paused halfway through my makeup, asking for what had to be the fifth time.
I rolled my eyes.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
And I was telling the truth.
Mostly.
Still, Thursday had rattled me.
Yesterday too.
The necklace sat heavy in my thoughts, its sender still a mystery, its timing still wrong.
Even after calling around to confirm Nathan’s movements, doubt clung stubbornly.
I couldn’t say with certainty that he wasn’t involved, and that uncertainty gnawed at me.
Staying cooped up in my apartment, pacing and overthinking, hadn’t helped.
I needed the noise.
The movement.
The burn.
I needed to sweat the anxiety out and nothing did that better than the pole.
When we stepped onto the stage, my gaze went to the spot he had been seated at last weekend but he obviously wasn’t there.
A burly man with a protruding belly occupied the spot instead, drink in hand, already too comfortable.
The disappointment hit before I could stop it, managing to take me off guard.
I pushed it down just as quickly, lifting my chin, forcing my focus back to the music as it rolled through the room.
Whatever stupid emotion I was feeling wasn’t coming with me onto the pole.
But the thrill I always felt was gone, burned out completely.
All that remained were the routines.
Familiar movements I’d done a hundred times before, muscle memory carrying me through spins and climbs as the bass thumped against the walls.
My body moved, but my mind wasn’t in it.
I wasn’t dancing for the crowd nor for myself.
I was just… moving.
An hour, maybe longer.
So when the music finally began to wind down, relief washed over me.
I wanted off the stage, out of the lights, my home, a long soak in the tub and nothing else.
I’d just stepped off the stage when a slimy, disgusting hand clamped down on my butt.
I reacted before my brain even caught up.
I grabbed his wrist, twisted hard and used his momentum against him.
In one smooth motion, I flipped the idiot over my shoulder.
Ooohs and ahhs rippled through the crowd as I dropped my knee into his back, pinning him there.
Benny was at my side almost immediately and I saw him waving the bouncers over.
“What the fuck!” the man yelled, struggling beneath me.
“Get off me, you slut!”
”Oh sorry,” I said, leaning closer, my voice sweet and fake.
“Did you somehow miss the ‘no touching’ notice hanging right next to this slut?
Or do you just think rules don’t apply to you?”
”You’re dead,” he spat.
“I’ll sue this place.
I’ll sue you!”
I laughed.
“Please do.
I’d love to explain to a judge why you thought grabbing a dancer without permission was a smart move.
That is sexual harassment, man.”
The bouncers finally pushed through the crowd.
Vans took one look at the situation and grabbed the man by the collar.
“You’re done here,” he said flatly.
“Get your hands off me!” the man shouted as they dragged him up.
“She attacked me!”
I stood and brushed off my hands.
“Sure did.”
“Are you okay?”
”I’m good,” I said, already walking toward the dressing room.
If anything, I felt clearer.
“I’ll let Jake know—” Benny started.
“No need for that, sweetheart,” I said, glancing back at him with a small smile.
“I’m sure Vans can handle that.”
Jake is Benny’s boyfriend and the owner of Eclipse, along with a handful of other bars scattered across the city.
He had enough money and influence to be a menace when he wanted to be, and somehow still enough devotion to Benny to be unapologetically romantic about it.
When Benny and I first started performing here, Jake took an old storage room and turned it into Benny’s private dressing space.
Pink velvet wallpaper.
Custom lighting and a solid door with a lock.
No one was allowed in except me.
And the rules were just as firm out on the floor.
There’s a strict ‘no touch’ rule whenever Benny or I were on stage.
Everyone knew it.
Jake didn’t tolerate accidents or wandering hands.
The man once banned an entire table for breathing too close, for crissake.
Tonight had been a bit dull, but at least the ending had some bite.
As if he knew we were talking about him, we rounded the corner and nearly collided with Jake.
He stood there with his arms crossed, all muscle and quiet authority, blocking half the hallway just by existing.
“Baby!” Benny squealed, immediately abandoning me.
He rushed forward and Jake caught him easily, bending down to kiss him like they hadn’t just seen each other an hour ago.
“Easy,” he said with a grin.
“You trying to knock me over?”
”I thought you were in your office,” Benny said, still clinging to him.
“I was,” Jake replied, his eyes lifting to me over Benny’s shoulder.
“But I needed to talk to Corinne.”