Page 699 of Hell Hath No Fury
She waves her hand, but dives into the pasta dish that Liv made. It’s shocking how much she eats, but I’m wise enough not to comment. Sometimes I wonder if I would have done the same if I had a normal pregnancy. I barely had enough food to live, and when I could eat, nothing sounded good.
Lucy touches my arm. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just lost in my head.” I inhale. “I’m thinking about getting a job. At the strip club.”
Her eyebrows lift. “What brought this on?”
“Nothing.”Tool, and how much I miss him…
Jas says, “Girl, you know my thoughts on it. I’d get back on the pole tonight if Hawk would let me.”
Hawk, the VP of the club, wouldn’t go along with this plan and not just because she’s pregnant. He’s very jealous and wouldn’t take well to others looking at his wife.
Allison asks, “Does this have anything to do with Tool?”
My face flames. “No.”
Yeah, it doesn’t sound convincing to my own ears, so I’m sure they’re not buying it. In fact, it sounds like I’m about to cry. Crap. I wipe at my eyes just in case a tear leaked.
“I’m not asking to embarrass you. We all noticed that the two of you have been…close. But something seems different.”
Close? Oh my good god. Does everyone know we’ve been screwing around? The looks on my friends’ faces say yes.
I groan, covering my own face. “We’re not seeing each other anymore.”
Liv asks, “Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
But the words spill from my mouth until they know everything that happened from the time we met until I ended things with him.
Lucy says, “Sounds like he’s living up to his club name. Freaking tool.”
I smile through my tears. “I agree. So, am I crazy for wanting to go to the strip club?”
Liv answers first. “You know how I feel about it. I say do it and make him eat his heart out when he sees you on stage.”
She would know. That’s what she did to get Saint’s attention when he was being a tool himself. And it worked.
Jas adds, “I think it’s a good idea, too.”
Lucy isn’t on board, but says, “I just want you to be happy.”
Allison doesn’t care either way, so I ask Liv to make a call, since she knows the strip club manager personally.
Liv smiles when she ends the call. “Arizona said to stop by tomorrow around six. And don’t worry about Wentworth. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Thank you.”
For the first time since breaking up with Tool, things are looking up.
CHAPTER THREE
I finish dancing, and Arizona smiles up at me. “Machelle, you’re a natural. Go change and meet me in my office so we can fill out your paperwork because you are so hired.”
I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face. My mom would spit nails if she knew all those hip-hop dance classes she paid for were being used like this, but since I haven’t spoken to her in almost a year, I guess I don’t have to worry about it. Exiting the stage, I go behind the curtain where several of the dancers cheer for me.
Tulip comes to my side. “Now you get to think of a stage name.”
