by A R Steele
“You’re sure you’ve thought this through?” he asked gently.
Trenton shrugged off the question. “We have to get more women in here somehow. More blood moving in this place. Things are getting down to the wire, and you guys showing your dicks isn’t helping yet.”
“About that,” Cooper interrupted. “Some of the guys are still opposed to it. Could we consider making it optional? If the customers don’t seem to like it, I don’t see why you’re so set on it.”
Trenton looked at him briefly, raising an eyebrow. “I have a plan. Don’t worry.”
“And that plan is?”
“We’ve been trying to become known for entertainment. By stripping naked, we’re going to change our reputation. The girls who come here want pure sex, not just a show. It’s going to take some time to get the word out about the shift in priorities. But it’ll happen. Once people know what we’re all about, they’ll start showing up in droves.”
Cooper wanted to be positive for his boss’s sake, but he had real doubts about this. It seemed like Trenton was trying to make the club look like a club he would want to go to, but he insisted on catering to female customers. Girls didn’t want what guys wanted in a strip club.
“We’ll still be providing entertainment,” Cooper told him. “We’re still dancing, whether we show our junk at the end or not. We can’t just have live porno shows here.”
“And I never suggested that,” Trenton said. “We just need guys who are tall and ripped and wearing absolutely nothing. The girls should follow.”
Sure. That was working great so far. The club was already packed with hot guys, and swarms of girls weren’t magically showing up.
“I don’t know.”
“Wait and see,” Trenton said. “I’m sure this is going to work.”
With nothing more to say to Trenton, Cooper walked away. Taking a seat at a table, he watched as the construction men finished cleaning up. He was far from certain that Trenton had any idea of what women wanted. Unfortunately, neither did he. Women were a mystery to nearly all the men at the club.
Maybe someone like Owen would know better. He caught himself and shivered. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Owen.
The construction workers looked good in their dirty jeans and steel-toed boots. As Cooper watched, trying to get his mind off his “straight” friend, he sighed. None of them were half as good-looking as Owen. What was it about that guy? Was it his good looks? His attention to his appearance? Or was it just that he was supposed to be off-limits?
Cooper licked his lips, remembering how Owen had shot his cum down his throat. He had vowed not to let that happen, and for good reason. He should have known better. He should have stopped things from getting that far.
Things were going to be awkward once Owen showed up. It wouldn’t get as far as it had with Xavier, but he would have to head this off before it got too bad. He was supposed to be the mature one here, and he had failed in his role. He was going to have to talk to Owen.
At least the guy was late. That was a small relief. Maybe he could put off talking to him until the end of the night. They would be tired, but Cooper just needed a minute to tell him what he was thinking. Owen should understand. Cooper wasn’t acting irrationally. Everything he had done was perfectly explainable. The request he planned to make to keep some distance from Owen also made complete sense.
Lucas passed by on his way into the club. Cooper watched him glance around with confusion, but he didn’t ask Trenton what was going on before going into the change room. He always seemed to come a little early so that he could avoid any time alone with the other guys.
Lev passed next, and then Jesse. Ace and Gabriel were after them, hands joined. Cooper glanced at his watch. It had to be getting fairly late if those two were here. It always took them a while to get out of bed together. Elijah wasn’t here yet, of course. He was always late. And still no Owen.
Only twenty minutes left before the shift started now. Although Cooper couldn’t locate Owen, it was late enough that he went into the change room himself. He put on a just-loose-enough pair of jeans and a wifebeater. The simple outfit accentuated his arm muscles, and it wouldn’t be staying on for long anyway. He intended to go onstage as soon as possible.
In the change room, the guys were oddly clumped around the back of the room. They all looked at Cooper. None of them had spoken to Trenton, so he quickly explained what he had learned about the stages.
“Side stages? That’s going to be pretty hot,” Lev said.
“Hot for the customers, not for you,” Cooper warned. He could foresee one major problem with having two stages facing each other. He’d have to pull Ace and Gabriel aside and tell them not to perform at the same time.
This change would mean more guys onstage and less in the crowd. Cooper shook his head, absorbed in mental calculations. He couldn’t see how this change would benefit the club. Surely the customers would rather interact with the strippers than just look at them. Cooper wished Trenton had listened to him, or at least discussed it further. Why had he even bothered to ask Cooper’s opinion if he wasn’t going to take into consideration?
“Oh, now this makes sense,” Jesse said, pulling back Cooper’s attention.
“What makes sense?”
“This schedule.”
Cooper went up to the rest of them, seeing how they were circled around a sheet of paper taped to the wall. It had all of their names on it in three columns, he saw as he glanced up and down the list.
“We’ve been trying to figure it out what it’s about, but what you said makes sense. I guess the first column is the main stage, and then…”
Cooper stopped listening to Jesse as his eyes scanned up and down the page. There was only one thing that he needed to know from the schedule.
He was going to be dancing on the side stage first that night. And he was going to be dancing opposite Owen.
Seventeen
When Owen walked into the club almost five minutes late, the side stages were the first thing he noticed. They had appeared overnight. The whole main room looked different. That was only fitting, since Owen felt like he’d been transformed.
He headed toward the change room, glancing around at every opportunity. Cooper was already on one side stage, looking just as amazing as he always had, and Owen’s stomach flipped over when he saw him. Cooper had walked out of his apartment so suddenly. They’d had an amazing time together, or so Owen had thought. The way Cooper had left confused him.
The other stripper avoided his eyes as he walked past him. He wished he could have asked Cooper what was going on with the side stages – where they had come from, and when they had been planned. As he walked through the place, he saw Lucas standing by the wall.
Maybe he knew. Owen headed over. “What’s going on with the new stages?”
The guy’s eyes widened, and he made a noise like a trapped animal before shying away. Owen had terrified him with a simple question. He frowned, shaking his head. He would have to figure it out from somebody else.
In the change room, a paper was posted on the wall. Instead of explaining anything about the recent upgrade, it only had a schedule of who was supposed to be dancing and when. Owen’s heart pounded when he saw that he was supposed to be on the other side stage. Normally he could have slipped in late without being noticed, but with this new schedule, Trenton must have been aware that he was missing.
Well, he would just have to get out there as fast as possible. And he would have to deal with dancing across from Cooper. He got ready as quickly as possible, although he was sweating at the thought of having Cooper in his line of vision. Those side stages were directly opposite each other, and the angle was such that it only made sense for them to face each other.
The room was practically empty so early in the evening, which meant no customers would even distract him from looking at Cooper. Although his heart was in his throat, he had no choice. This was his job. He headed out and climbed up to
the stage. He felt eyes on him. Looking around, he saw Trenton at the back of the room. He gave him a little nod as if to apologize for being late. Trenton glared, but nodded back.
Owen had no other excuses to keep looking back there. From this point onward, his only choice was to look at Cooper.
He snuck little glances over at first, trying to act like he was looking at the empty tables instead. Maybe he would glimpse some hints at why Cooper had taken off like that. He wanted to know what had gone so wrong that Cooper would leave him hanging there. He didn’t think he had given Cooper any reason to be mad at him, but he must have for him to have done that.
Cooper was looking back at him, his expression unreadable. Owen had no idea what his furrowed brow and tight lips meant. His charming smile, the one that seduced all the customers, was nowhere to be seen tonight. Owen tried not to look at him, feeling awkward at the times when their eyes briefly met. The depths of Cooper’s brown eyes lacked their usual friendliness tonight. His expression was blank, and Owen couldn’t find his friend in there no matter how hard he looked.
“I hope you enjoyed your experiment,” Cooper had said. What was that supposed to mean? Owen had enjoyed it, yes, and Cooper had known going in what he was doing. Cooper had been just as complicit in their encounter as he had. Owen hadn’t forced him into anything. As if a straight guy could have seduced a gay guy, anyway.
He danced halfheartedly, barely giving any attention to the moves he was doing. No one was paying much attention to him, anyway. Whatever girls were even there would be looking at Gabriel up there at the front of the room. He and Cooper were just decoration, only there in case a girl’s eyes felt like wandering.
It felt odd to be standing here without even a pole to hold on to. Owen shifted slightly on his feet, more fidgeting than dancing. After a few minutes, he glanced at the stage to find that Gabriel had taken off his shirt. Cooper followed along, doing the same. Owen’s heart jumped at the sight of Cooper’s naked torso. How he wanted to run his fingers along those sculpted muscles! This was the worst kind of tease. He ached for Cooper. Any doubt he’d had about his sexuality was gone. He was into men, one hundred percent.
Owen pulled his shirt up over his head, depositing it on the floor with a kind of aggression. He felt as if Cooper was challenging him. Well, he would rise to that challenge, even if he didn’t know what they were fighting about. He reached instinctively for the pole, finding air instead. So he put his hands on his hips, staring Cooper in the eye as he shifted his weight from side to side. He knew he looked good like this. He raised his pierced eyebrow at his almost-lover.
Of the three dancers, Owen was the first to remove his belt. He nearly threw it down to the stage, not caring where it went. He didn’t even check to see where it landed. His eyes were fixed instead to Cooper’s. He kept stripping aggressively, tearing off his pants in one movement instead of taking his time like he normally would. There were no girls to seduce right now. There was only Cooper, and from the looks of it, he was angry at Owen.
Owen was only returning the same emotions that were rolling off of Cooper. Why was he angry at him? Owen hadn’t done anything to Cooper and he was getting ignored, walked out on, and glared at. Two could play this game – even if only one knew why they were playing it.
Owen was down to his briefs now. Since he hadn’t had time to change, there was nothing underneath, not even his usual thong. He raised his hands slightly, shaking his ass in the most antagonistic way possible. He glared at Cooper, just daring him to do or say something. Their eyes locked together, and Owen doubted he could look anywhere else even if he wanted to.
It had been minutes since Owen had looked over at Gabriel. The song could have changed, someone new could even have been up there, and he wouldn’t have known. He was blind to everything but himself and Cooper. The rhythm came through the bass, vibrating the floors, and that was enough for him to continue his attempts at dancing.
With his eyes locked to Cooper’s, Owen pushed his briefs down over his thighs and past his knee pads. He stepped out of them, leaving them on the floor. He was naked now, as naked as he had always been afraid to be before. It still made him feel exposed. He could see Cooper looking at his cock, and he remembered sliding it into the guy’s throat. He imagined his fingers in Cooper’s hair again, and for a moment he thought he would grow hard.
Digging his fingernails into his skin, he stopped the erection before it started. But he wasn’t prepared for Cooper’s next move. Why had he not seen this coming? He should have anticipated it. His mouth watered and his balls ached as Cooper slid his underwear to the floor, leaving himself just as naked as Owen.
Owen’s eyes were fixed to Cooper’s dick. He danced as well as he could, but his feet slowed almost to a stop. He couldn’t think anymore, could barely even breathe. If he continued down this road, that dick might slide into his mouth, or even… elsewhere. The exact cock that he was looking at could get hard for him, could please him in ways that he couldn’t even imagine yet. His pulse quickened, and he asked himself if he would truly want that. The answer was an unequivocal yes.
Owen’s cock was swelling past the point where he could hide it. There was nothing that he could do to keep the entire room from seeing his arousal. Owen froze, panting.
A tap came on his shoulder. “Your time’s up,” Elijah said. “You might want to talk to Trenton, by the way. He’s pissed.”
Still trying to catch his breath, Owen looked at his coworker. “Huh?”
“Get off the stage, bro.”
Owen looked over at the other stage, where Cooper continued to dance. He was unhappy to see that Cooper looked calm and collected, just like always.
Grabbing his stuff quickly, Owen went to the back of the room. He was still naked when he arrived in front of Trenton. He held his clothes in front of his junk.
Trenton gave Owen a disdainful look. “I may have made a mistake in setting up those stages,” the owner said. “Maybe I should have foreseen what the problem would be.”
Owen’s stomach clenched. He felt paralyzed. Of course Trenton had seen his showdown with Cooper. It might have slipped by the customers, but half the club must have figured out something was up. His coworkers would have noticed for sure.
“I wouldn’t have anticipated any problems coming from either of you,” Trenton went on. “Cooper is usually my best stripper. And Owen, you’re supposed to be…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
Although Owen’s throat was dry, he rushed to apologize. “I’m really sorry, Trenton. It won’t happen again.”
“Okay,” Trenton said. “Because you should be stripping, not eye-fucking each other for three and a half minutes. Look at the customers, not each other. Like they’re doing.” He gestured to Cooper and Elijah. They were dancing opposite each other without even a glance at each other.
“I know.”
“I didn’t think I needed to give you any further instructions,” Trenton said. “I thought it would be simple enough for a bunch of experienced strippers to pick up.”
“It is.”
Cooper and Elijah were doing a more toned-down version of their dance that they did on the normal stage. Each of their movements was in time with Gabriel on the main stage. Looking at them, Owen would have guessed they had actually practiced this together. He knew they were just improvising, though. He should have been able to do the same.
“Then show me.” Trenton glared at Owen, then walked away.
Owen’s erection was definitely gone now. Still, he hurried into the change room to put on some underwear. He had already been naked enough for one night. The risk of angering Trenton was less than the risk of getting a hard-on.
He emerged a minute later, still somewhat breathless. He took a moment at the side of the room and pressed his back against the wall. He let his head fall back and rest there. Forcing deep breaths, he looked up at Cooper.
He looked natural up there, the lights highlighting the perfection of his body. He d
anced completely nude, his cock swinging with every move he made. Owen glanced over at Elijah, who did nothing for him. He watched the two of them dance opposite each other.
Cooper better not be looking at Elijah. And Elijah better not be looking at Cooper.
That amazing, confusing, absolutely enthralling stripper belonged to Owen.
Eighteen
Cooper’s heart pounded as Owen left the stage. What had made him go? He continued to dance, trying to appear as natural as possible. In reality, he felt like a wreck under the surface. He just hoped his confusion and distress wouldn’t show on his face.
He shuffled his feet, conscious of Elijah taking Owen’s place. He should be looking anywhere but at the other stripper, anyway. He was sure this wasn’t what Trenton had imagined when he had set up the stages.
The customers wanted to be seduced, not to see the strippers seducing each other. Was that what was going on? It definitely felt like it. He and Owen had neglected their duties. They had forgotten what was important here – the customers.
Not that there were many of them, Cooper thought as he looked around the room. There were still only a couple of groups, although it was more than earlier. He really questioned if Trenton’s plan was a good one. He’d try to talk to the owner again if he could.
He still felt guilty by the time he saw Owen in discussion with Trenton, and even when he saw Owen emerge from the change room. The song was coming to an end at that point, and he gratefully allowed Jesse to replace him.
“Nice moves, C.”
“Yeah, sure.” Cooper’s emotions were too confused for him to be polite. “Good luck up there.”
Once he was closer to Owen, he saw that the guy had put on underwear again. A G-string, tight enough to hold everything securely in place. Cooper might have laughed if he hadn’t been so turned on by it. The poor “straight” guy had come off the stage because he was fighting a boner!