Page 5 of Fakers with Benefits

They gaped at him.

Zane squeezed my shoulder. “Gray, Nick, Kai, and Eddie all got propositioned too,” he said. “It was wild the shit they thought they could get away with because they had money.”

“Eddie?” Knox asked.

“He used to work here,” Zane said. “He quit the next day.”

“We all almost quit.” Kai held me tighter. “Thank fuck Biggs showed up and shut that shit down before it got too crazy.”

Biggs, our head bouncer and club dad, hadn’t been scheduled to work that night, which was the first sign something shady was going on. He’d also thought so and came by to check on things about an hour into the event. And sure enough, yeah. He shut the whole thing down and threatened to report everyone to the police, including our asshat bosses.

Stripping was legal in the state. Sexual touching and solicitation were not.

“I don’t give a fuck who they are, I will lay out the first person who crosses any lines.” Zane’s eyes were bright with anger. “No one is putting hands on any of us. Never again. From now on, we go outside in pairs or more, and everyone carries a weapon or something that can be used as one. We’re not taking any chances. Not after what happened to Gray. Our asshole bosses won’t do shit to protect us, so we’ll do it ourselves.”

The lights in the room flickered, our cue that we had sixty seconds until the first set started.

“Who’s up first?” I asked. I’d forgotten to check the schedule when I came in.

“You are, Angel Face.” River grinned.

“What?!” I shrieked. “Why didn’t anyone tell me to get ready while I’ve been standing here in my skivvies?”

Patting my butt, Kai nudged me toward the prop closet. “Because it’s fun to watch you go into Tasmanian devil mode.”

“I hate you!” I ran into the closet for a costume.

“No you don’t!” Kai yelled back as the others laughed.

I found a pair of briefs with sticky strips on the waistband and around the legs to keep them in place while I did my thing on the pole, then snagged the first pair of tearaway pants and tank top I saw.

I’d just finished wiping my hands clean after patting some body glitter on my chest and stomach to help make my muscles pop when the light on the wall next to the door that led to the stage flickered.

The guys called out various encouragements but I blocked them out and pulled in a deep breath to center myself. Time to entertain some rich people and hopefully get paid for it.

2

EVAN

“Couldyou put that thing away for a few hours and actually be present with me?”

Sighing, I put my phone face down on the table next to my chair and turned to my sister.

Emily threw me a bland look. “You have to be the only young, single, gay man who’d willingly spend the night staring at their phone while at a strip club.”

“The stripping hasn’t started yet. How do you know I wasn’t going to put my phone away when it did?”

“Because I know you,” she said flatly.

“You’re wrong. I fully intended to.”

“Bullshit.” A cough came from my left. “See, Vlado agrees with me,” Emily said triumphantly. “Forget about work for a few hours and have fun. Please.” She gave me the puppy-dog eyes that had always worked when we were kids. “It’s my bachelorette party.” She grinned mischievously, flipping expressions on a dime. “As the man of honor, you’re obligated to participate.”.

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Being here isn’t the same as participating.”

“She’s got you there, Ev.”

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