Page 14 of A Brother At My Back

“At home, and no need to come get me, I have a ride into the club.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you everything when I get there, but right now I sort of have company.”

“Jesus Christ, Tiff. What are you doing?”

I looked over at Zeb who was looking me over curiously, I held the phone tight to my ear and turned away from him slightly, “I’ll tell you later, Lia. I’ll see you at work. Thanks for being my best friend.”

“Tiff – of course, I’m your best friend and as your best friend, I’m worried about you. Who’s there? Why do you feel like you can’t talk to me?”

“I love you, I’ll see you in a few,” I told her. I didn’t want to be rude and talk about Zeb like he wasn’t here. I also didn’t quite know how to explain everything. So, socially-awkward me, I was going to make my best friend worry for like a half-an-hour more. Still, I didn’t quite have his full measure and I didn’t want him upset at me, not like Silas would be if he were in his place.

“Everything good, then?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t want her showing up here to give me a ride when I already had one.” I tried a smile and felt like it came out watered-down at best.

“Ain’t gotta worry about me none, I would have followed you and made sure you got where you were going safe.”

“Thank you,” I murmured and he gave a nod.

“I’ll be out here, you take your time getting ready, yeah?”

“Yeah, thanks…”

Not the reaction I had been expecting. Of course, I was quickly learning that I didn’t know what to expect when it came to people; the packaging was often a lie and that old adage about judging books by their cover was most definitely true. We did it all the time, it was just how people were, but I needed to curb-stomp the habit and I needed to do it quickly.

I gathered the scraps of lace and satin and tossed them into the bottom of a gym bag, throwing in a few pairs of shoes on top. I’d learned quickly that there were some nasty bitches in stripping and that they wouldn’t hesitate to borrow things like somebody else’s G-string without permission. It was so beyond gross that I kept everything ? costumes, makeup, and any of my masks ? on me, or under lock and key at the club, unless I didn't plan on ever using it again.

I ducked into the bathroom with some clothes and got dressed as warmly as my wardrobe would allow for the coming ride. When I stepped out, he was on his phone texting something and I itched to ask what to who, but it wasn’t any of my business.

“All set, then?”

“Yeah,” I slung my gym bag over my chest and took up my phone, purse, and keys. I motioned for him to go out ahead of me and took on the arduous task of locking up behind me.

“Only one or two when you’re gone, remember?” he said gently and I startled.

“Oh, god. I guess it’s just a force of habit.”

“No worries.”

“I’m such an idiot,” I said with a nervous laugh and shook my head, undoing all but the two strongest locks.

He didn’t say anything, just waited patiently, his squat, beat-up bike seemingly glowering impatiently under the lone light in my apartment’s little parking area. I followed him to it and still wondered how the beat-up old thing ran.

The ride to Sugars was a cold one. It was heading into December and the temperatures got downright frigid after dark. I shivered and couldn’t wait to get into the club’s back door where at least it was warm. Zeb got off the bike with me and turned to eye Zeke up and down. He stood back here at the start and end of his shift to make sure all of the girls got in and out without a hassle. Not every one of our security guys bothered, and I appreciated Zeke more for doing it than he could know.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to Zeke,” I said, and Zeb nodded, following me across the cracked and crumbling asphalt of the back lot.

“Zeke,” I greeted and he looked up from his phone, frowning.

“Hey, Tiff. This guy bothering you?” he asked and I could see the concern in his blue eyes.

“No, actually, the opposite. My douchebag-ex gets out tomorrow and Zeb is helping me out, watching my ass to make sure everything is gonna be cool. He’s going to be dropping me off and picking me up for the foreseeable future, so I thought you guys should meet.”

“Eh, nice to meet ya, Bro,” Zeb held out his hand and Zeke grasped it. They pulled each other in and tapped shoulders the way guys did as a universal bro-greeting or whatever.

“Nice to meet you, too. Any friend of Tiff’s is a friend of mine.”

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