Page 4 of My Shining Stepbrother

Once the music starts to play, my hips begin to move. His eyes look like he is a feral animal hunting for prey. The way he is watching me reminds me of how much I love to tease these men. They can look, but they cannot touch. I would love to feel his hand on my body with him, though.

Midway through my song and dance, I lean forward, grab his chair's arms, and innocently ask the question that brought him here. “So, what did you want to know?”

His hot breath blows against my neck as he answers my question. “Everything, starting with why a beautiful girl like you is working here.”

I feel my cheeks heat up and start to turn red. “I just need the money.” The truth will be the best way through this, I think.

His eyes are full of questions he wants to ask me, but as I look at him, he is filling and sorting them out to find the right one to ask.

“You are a tattoo artist, so why work here when you make good money there? It has to be more than money.”

The question I have been asking myself time and time again. Why work here when I have a job I love and am passionate about?

“It's only about the money. I just got out of my apprenticeship and don't have a solid client base. I have bills to pay and would like to get out of my mom's house at some point in my life.” The words fell out of my mouth like he needed to know the answer.

His eyes turn a deep blue as he prepares to ask his next question. “So you need clients?” Something in his tone makes my stomach flutter. I stop dancing as the music changes.

“Yeah, I'm good too, but not that it means anything to you. The work on your body is flawless.” My eyes now examine every inch of his visible tattooed skin that I can see. The drool is now pooling in my mouth as I stare at him.

“What shop do you work at? I will swing by to see your work.”

My jaw dropped as soon as he said that. There is no way I could touch his skin that already has such beautiful art on it. I look down at my legs, reminding myself I am still learning but getting much better.

“I work at Raging Ink, but I can show you easily now. I free-handed my legs myself. They mean a lot to me as well.” My right-hand goes down, and I rub my fingers over my Hades and Persephone tattoos. He is handing her the pomegranate seeds to keep her in the underworld.

His eyes shoot wide open in amazement as he looks at them. He squats down, getting eye level with them and taking in each detail. “You work for Ricky, and wait, you said you free-handed these?” He takes them in with so much amazement and pure adoration.

“Ricky is the one who trained me, and yeah, I did them free-handed by myself.” The pride in my work shows through my hand caressing them and in how I speak about my artwork. “They are significant to me, and I wanted to prove to myself I could do this.”

Reese is silent for a little while, just taking in the tattoos. My heart keeps beating faster and faster, the loud thuds echoing in my ears. He looks into my eyes before he stands back up with new respect in his eyes. “I knew he had an apprentice at one point, but he never told me how amazing you were. What do those tattoos mean to you?”

Thinking about the best way to answer that question is tricky, so I just come straight out with it. “They are the Gods, Demigods, children, and warriors within Greek Mythology. I have always loved Greek mythology and hold it close to my heart. Hades and Persephone's story is the one I hold closest to my heart. Medusa is another fantastic story that I love wholeheartedly.”

He smiles at me as if he can tell how much I admire it. “I think it's amazing, Rose, especially since you did it free-handed. You had to do them upside down, and they don't have any flaws to them. Even Ricky would have fucked that up.” His words are playful, which tells me he and Ricky must be close.

I thank him for the compliment, and the timer ending the dance goes off. “Times up, Big man; next time, just try getting my phone number from your dad or my mom.” I wink at him, and he starts to laugh.

“I might have to do that, but it doesn't mean I won't be asking for another dance.” He says it as I walk out of the room. My body and mind are both buzzing with excitement and nerves. I have never felt so connected to another human, but there is still something mysterious about him.

I finish out the night and drive home. My feet throbbed tonight after doing five more private and two on-stage dances after Reese's private dance. So, needless to say, when I get home, all I want to do is go to bed but knowing how my house works, I won't be able to do that.

I get home, and when I walk in, I'm met with Rachel standing there looking guilty about something. She sees me and tries to straighten out her face before she starts talking to me.

“Hey, how was your night?” Her voice is slightly higher pitched than usual.

“It was busy.” I will leave out the Reese detail. “Why are you still up?”

She fidgets with her fingers, her eyes never meeting mine. “I was waiting for you.”

She thinks I'm stupid now. “Try again.”

She thinks for a second, only confirming her guilt. “Mom kept me up?” She looks like she is about to cry because of how I'm looking at her. I shake my head, knowing this girl will be my mom's death.

“Two strikes. One more, and you're out, so you better make it count.”

She starts scratching the back of her neck after hearing my little rhyme before she breaks. “Fine! I snuck out and just got home. Please don't tell Mom!” She gets down on her knees, literally begging me.

“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!” I start to laugh as she keeps shushing me to stay quiet. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell mom, trust me. She won’t wake up. She has already taken her sleeping medication and put on her mask.”

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