Page 55 of Power Play

“Move,” I tell the guy when I finally make it over to him.

“Excuse me? No,” he says, before smirking at me. “Go find your own dancer. Maybe you’ll get lucky, and she’ll chose you next time.”

“I already found my girl, so fucking move before I make you. I’m not going to ask you again,” I tell him, grabbing the wad of cash from my wallet and shoving it into his chest. “Take this and get the fuck away from her.”

The guy hesitates only for a moment before he realizes I just threw a couple hundred dollars at him. As soon as he notices, he quickly stands up and walks off stage.

“Rex, what the fuck,” Sawyer starts, her eyes widening as I walk towards the chair and sit down, shocking us both.

“Go on, continue your performance,” I tell her, hoping to see her confidence return but not exactly sure how to help her.

Isn’t she just a bartender? Why is she even doing this? Glancing at our table, I see the server, Serena, talking to Trevor and Harris, all of them smirking, obviously proud of themselves.

These fuckers set us up.

“I, uh. I honestly wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing,” Sawyer says honestly, pretending no one else is here while we’re on stage. “Serena asked me to do this. Said it was for a good cause or some bullshit. She put me up to this about ten minutes ago and said it was a performance for a group that wanted to watch.” Her eyes narrow at me before turning to glare at Serena, who just winks as she turns to walk back to the bar.

“Bitch set us up,” Sawyer says, as we watch Trevor and Miles pass money over to Harris. They knew I’d stop the show. At least Harris did. Well, if they want a show, I’ll give them a show.

Pulling her towards me, she stumbles a bit as she straddles me, catching herself on my shoulders, her face just inches away from mine. I lean in, letting my lips brush the shell of her ear as I whisper quietly.

“No one gets to see you like this. No one except me,” I growl, and stand up with her in my arms, my hands gripping her ass as I walk her off stage towards the back hallway, ignoring our friends annoying cheers as they watch our story unfold.

“Rex, stop, I’m supposed to be up there,” Sawyer grumbles into my ear as she hides her face in my neck.

“No. You’re not going up there, at least not unless you’re the one choosing it. But I won’t sit here and watch this whole club watch you on stage, and I sure as fuck am not going to watch them touch you,” I tell her, gazing at her as she looks back to where Serena is already heading up on stage to finish the dance.

“Rex, put me down,” Sawyer snaps, her attempt at sounding serious and tough nearly makes me laugh. “You’ve already made it clear I’m not good enough for you, so let me go.”

“No,” I say, going door to door trying to find a private room.

“What the hell are you doing, Rex?”

“Pulling my head out of my ass,” I say, finally getting a room opened.

Carrying her into the room, I push her back against the door and slam my lips to hers, my hands gripping her ass as I hold her flush with my body.

She hesitates for a moment, but her fight quickly stops, and she kisses me back shyly. I gently begin nipping at her lip, teasing her until she’s moaning into my mouth, urging me on for more as her hands start gripping my hair.

“I’ve fucking missed this mouth,” I say, pulling back just long enough to let her catch her breath.

“Rex, really. What is this? You made it clear as fuck that I’m not good enough when you kicked me out of your place. I’m aware I have enough strikes against me that this isn’t going to amount to anything, so why are you doing this?”

“I know what I said,” I whisper against her lips, refusing to allow too much distance between us. “It’s all still true.”

“Yet here you are,” Sawyer mumbles, her words somewhere between a statement and a question.

“Yet here I am,” I echo. “Unable to stay away. I could blame your perfect tits or these kissable lips, but it’s not even about that. It’s about you. I can’t stay away from you. You’ve fucking dug yourself under my skin, making me feel things I wasn’t even sure I could anymore. I was just being too fucking stubborn to realize it.”

“I don’t understand. What are you trying to say?” she asks.

“I can’t get enough of you, and I don’t want to. I don’t care about Max being on my team. Yeah, I hate you fucking working here, but that’s just because I’m a stubborn man who doesn’t like to share what’s his. The only thing I will say is that I of course want to protect Ro, but it doesn’t have to be one or the other, at least I hope not.”

She doesn’t say anything. She just stares at me, the disbelief in her eyes slowly dissipating. When she leans forward, pressing her lips against mine, it’s soft and sweet but full of truth. She wants this too.

Pulling back, she smiles. “I, uh, have to finish my shift, but are you going to stick around here for a bit?” she asks tentatively.

“I’ll stay as long as you’d like me to,” I respond with a soft kiss.

---