Ten Night Stand

by Mickey Miller

  I roll my eyes. “No, that was not my boyfriend, it was my boss.”

  “Oh wow. I didn’t know you had a boss with benefits.”

  “Actually, he was letting me know that I don’t have to work tonight.”

  “What!? You’re off?”

  “Yes,” I say as I pass the turnstyle and head down the stairs of the train station. “Free night, I guess.”

  “Oh my God. You have to come with me. I have a great night planned for us.”

  “You just planned a night for us, right now?”

  “I had the night planned in my head already but I wasn’t going to do it without my P-I-C.”

  “Your partner in crime, I get it. And exactly what crimes are we going to be committing tonight?”

  My phone buzzes again, and I pull away from my phone for a moment.

  It’s another text from Damien.

  Damien: Let me know. Might go out with a friend but I’d love to see you

  “What’s that noise? Is someone calling you?”

  “No, just a text. Damien wants to hang out. I should text him back.”

  “No!”

  “Excuse me!”

  “Do NOT text him back.”

  “Why wouldn’t I text him back? I want to hang out with him.”

  “Krista, Damien’s like...a lady killer.”

  “You don’t know that. And wouldn’t I have seen him bring back a shit ton of girls if he’s a true man whore? He lives above me.”

  “Just don’t text him back. Please? You need to let him sweat it out.”

  I stop at the bottom of the staircase that feeds out onto the city sidewalk. “Sweat it out? But why? I like him. I want to hang out with him.”

  “Just trust me on this one,” she says. “You need to make guys like him sweat it out a little bit.”

  I shake my head. “I’m not sure I like this strategy.”

  “Just come to my place and we’ll sort everything out.”

  I breathe in the fresh night air as I walk back to my apartment.

  “Alright,” I finally say.

  “Perfect! Oh, and one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “Wear something extra sexy tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, I have a place in mind for us to go. And you should definitely bring the twins out to play tonight.”

  “What’s the place called?”

  “Midnight Ride.”

  Two hours later, I’ve got full makeup on and we’re standing on a block in River North of Chicago.

  "This is the place?” I chirp as I readjust my dress. The outside of Midnight Ride is nondescript. It looks like it could be any old storefront or even an apartment building. “This is the big nightclub you were talking about? The way you talked about it, I thought it was a big deal. It’s small, though. Easy to miss."

  She giggles. “That what she said.”

  I crack up.

  "Yes, this is Midnight Ride," she says, pausing in the fresh night air.

  "It doesn't look like much of a bar. Or a club."

  She tongues her cheek. "Well it's not exactly a bar."

  "You said it was, though."

  Her grin turns cheeky. "I never said that exactly."

  "Oh God. What kind of place are you taking me?" I round my mouth into an “o” as she opens the door for me. “Is this going to be like that place in New Orleans?”

  Without answering, she waves me inside. We're greeted by a tall, skinny man with a leather jacket. He's wearing a lot of guyliner, and he has a spiked collar around his neck.

  He looks us up and down and smiles. I have on a black strappy dress, and Amelia wears a blue romper.

  "Good evening, ladies. Are you members?"

  "Prospective members," Amelia says without missing a beat.

  "Oh? who invited you?"

  "Axel," she answers.

  "Oh. Of course. Ax is already here with his friend. Right this way."

  I shake my head in disbelief as we follow Mister Makeup and Spiked Neck Collar farther inside, heading down the hallway. "You brought me to a sex club," I whisper.

  "It's not exactly a sex club."

  The bouncer opens the door at the end of the hall, and we're hit with a burst of music when he does.

  "Welcome to Midnight Ride," he yells over the chaos of the club, and Amelia and I step inside.

  It’s dark, with low tables and a navy blue and purple light motif. A host greets us and leads us to a table right in front of a stage. We sit down, and the music lowers to a rumble for a moment. A waitress comes by and we order a couple of cocktails.

  "Who are we meeting here? Some guy named Ax?"

  Amelia nods, pulling out her phone. "Yeah he was supposed to be here. Let me see.”

  I squint at the stage as the music starts to get louder. “Seriously, what kind of place is this? A sex club? A strip club? A speakeasy?”

  She shrugs. “I think it’s kind of like...all three. Ax had a hard time explaining it to me. I’m still trying to figure it out myself.”

  I squint. “I’m not sure I trust a guy named Ax.”

  “Me neither. He’s hot though.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

  The waitress arrives with our drinks, and my curiosity is piqued as the music continues to pick up. A few odd tables of couples sit in our vicinity and the room buzzes with a certain type of energy.

  Sexual energy?

  We clink our glasses together. “Here’s to leaving old ex boyfriends in the past,” Amelia says, deliberately looking right at me. Her amber eyes don’t leave mine as we sip our vodka tonics.

  “I’m leaving him. We’re done.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “Good. For real, right?””

  “Yes, for real. Next time he comes to my house I’m telling him to fuck off,” I yell, raising my voice at the last two words.

  It feels exhilarating to let go.

  “Thatagirl! Wow, he was just the one night stand that stuck around, wasn’t he?”

  “Was he?” I think back, trying to remember the first night with Nick.

  She sips patiently on her drink, waiting for my moment of realization.

  “Oh my Gosh,” I exclaim. “He was! He started out as a one night stand, the night of—”

  “Maria’s bachelorette party,” she finishes my sentence together with me. “You know why that is, don’t you?” she adds.

  “Why’s that?”

  “It’s the curse of a one night stand,” she sighs. “A one night stand can never turn into something serious.” She frowns. “It’s just one of the unfortunate facts of the universe.”

  “Um,” I swallow. “What about Damien?”

  “Oh,” she waves her hand back and forth. “I mean he’s just a hot hookup, right?”

  “I mean...yeah, for now. But who knows, there could be more.”

  “Do you want more?”

  “I’m not trying to force anything, but if it happens, it happens.”

  She giggles. “I’m glad you’re laid back about the whole thing. Because it’s not going to get past the friends-with-benefits stage.”

  I take a long suck on my straw and shoot Amelia a dirty look. She’s my bestie, but she can be a little over-opinionated at times.

  “Liar.”

  “Do you want me to cycle through all of our friends and how long they waited to have sex?”

  She pulls out her hand and starts counting on her fingers. “Let’s see. Maria knew her husband for three years before they hooked up. Samantha and John were coworkers for a year before they got married. Elaine and Bryan served on student council together in college before they ended up together—”

  “Okay, okay, I get it. I mean, it’s not like he was some rando though, he’s my landlord.”

  “Have you texted him tonight?”

  I sigh. “I told him I was busy.”

  “Well good. Because you are busy.”

  “Busy being the best wing girl ever,” I wink.

  “
I’m just saying—you can have a friend with benefits. But you’ll never get past that stage with him, might as well accept it.”

  I take a deep breath and stare into my drink. It’s not like I know Damien and I are destined for true love, but it hurts to rule out the possibility of a relationship with him before it even starts.

  As I file through the rolodex of our friends, though, I know she’s right. Neither of us has a one night stand that’s turned into a long term relationship. Maybe I should just enjoy the ride.

  Just then, a tall, gangly, very tattooed man walks our way, towering over us.

  “Hey babe, glad you could make it,” he says in a deep, gravelly voice. “Hi. I’m Axel.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I say, shaking his hand.

  He smiles, then takes a seat at our table next to Amelia. The music picks up. “The show is starting,” he says with a smile.

  “Hey, didn’t you say you brought a friend?” Amelia asks.

  “Yeah, I did,” Axel says. “Just watch.”

  The music gets louder, and the show starts.

  6

  Damien

  20 minutes earlier

  “All in,” I say, shoving my blue and red chips into into the middle of the table.

  We’re playing poker in the back lounge of Midnight Ride, and everyone is out of the game already, other than Axel and I. The other guys sit and stand around sipping beers and watching the two of us finish our game of Texas Hold ‘em.

  Axel is up on me, and probably has about fifty percent more chips than I do.

  “So now the question you gotta ask yourself,” Axel lowers his voice. “Is are you feeling lucky?”

  I shake my head. “Dude, I’m twenty-nine, not twenty-one. My days of betting you the keys to my jag for two weeks are over.”

  “Awww, come on. I want to get out on the lounge floor soon. My date tonight keeps texting me.” Holding his cards tight to his chest, he glances at them first, then drifts to the river cards in the middle of the table.

  “Let’s make a deal.”

  “I don’t think so. I know how your mind works.”

  Axel and I have a history of finding creative ways for us to go all in on pots like this. There was the time he lost to me and had to sprint around the house naked in the dead of winter. Or the time I had to chug a bottle of cholula. So this is just part and parcel of how we play poker.

  "Come on," Ax smirks. "I got a hell of an idea to start tonight off with a bang. I don't want to keep playing poker all night, I want to flirt with my date who's just about arrived. Do you agree?"

  I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. I'm not the kind of guy who goes down without a fight. On the other hand, Ax is right. If we don't end the game now, we could go all night. Hell, we've spent many a night up until six a.m., slow playing and each refusing to back down. Get a couple of competitive guys with big egos together, and this is what you get.

  Ax won't let me cover the chips with money out of my own pocket, because this was a thousand dollar buy-in, and it wouldn't be fair to flood the game with more chips. But he won’t let me get off without something big. And from the looks of his devious grin, he’s got a sneaky idea in mind right now.

  Looking at my two cards—the King of Clubs and the Ace of Spades, I feel pretty good. Especially with a King and an Ace already on the flop.

  “Fine,” I say. “What are you thinking?”

  He leans forward and cocks his head. “How are your moves these days?”

  “Moves?” I arch an eyebrow. The other guys standing around us tune in, curious.

  “Yes. You know what I’m talking about. Dazzling Damien.”

  The guys chuckle, and I throw my head back in realization. When I got back from the Marine Corps at twenty-three years old, I needed a way to make some extra cash. Turns out when you are ripped as hell with a ton of tattoos, you make a lot of tips as a male stripper.

  Okay, yeah, I admit it. I did for a year—and the money was good. Really fucking good.

  But it’s not a past that I necessarily want to revisit. Especially on a night when all I planned on doing was wing-manning for my best buddy.

  “Dude, the days of Dazzling Damien are long gone,” I protest.

  “Of course they are,” Ax winks. “But we’re playing let’s make a deal, remember?”

  I sigh. “Let’s hear it.”

  “You win the hand, it’s game over, obviously. I have about five grand of chips here,” he stacks his chips as he sets them in the middle. “You’ve got maybe two grand. If you win, you take all of mine. However, if I win, I get your chips, and you have to go out on the stage and do one dance to a song of my choosing.”

  The other guys, who have been watching us, whistle and hoot.

  I think about my cards again, and wonder what cards Axel has that have him feeling so confident. So far we’ve got a King, Ace, and a four on the flop. No way he’s beating my hand unless he has pocket aces, which is unlikely.

  “Fuck it,” I say. “Count me in.”

  “Hell, yeah,” Axel says, pushing all of his chips to the middle. It’s not about the money for either of us.

  It’s about the adrenaline surge and the bragging rights.

  “Cards face up,” the dealer says.

  Since we’re all in, it doesn’t matter who sees our cards.

  Axel crosses his arms at my Ace and King.

  He’s got a queen and a Jack.

  I rub my hands together. “Come on baby show me the money!”

  The dealer looks at me like I’m a little insane as he deals the turn. It’s a two of hearts, and I smile. It’s no help to either of us, which means I am still in the position to win.

  “Hey no worries Ax,” I grin. “When I take your money, I’ll be nice enough to buy the first round of drinks.”

  “Fuck that,” he mutters. “I’m gonna make you pay for that tattoo today.”

  The river card comes, and my jaw drops.

  A ten.

  “That’s an Ace-Ten Straight for Axel,” the dealer says. “Congratulations, Sir.”

  I bite my lip, and Axel shoots me the same shit-eating grin that I had one minute ago. “Better get those hips ready,” he says, doing a little back-and-forth in his chair.

  “I hate you,” I grin, shaking my head.

  “Hey Frankie,” Axel calls to the lounge bouncer, standing up. “Can you tell T-Bone we’ll have a special guest dancer on the stage tonight?” Axel points at me.

  “Damien? Damien’s gonna get on stage?”

  Axel nods. “He lost a bet. Queue up this song for me, will yah?”

  He slips Frankie a piece of paper.

  I stand up, and I want to protest—but I’m a man of my word. If I take a bet, I go through with it, no matter how frivolous and immature it may seem. I sigh though, and I think how I’m getting a little too old for this shit. For some reason, my mind wanders to the previous night. I think about how satisfied I felt, my warm, naked body pressed up against Krista while we slept all tangled up on her couch.

  That’s what I want. I want to be getting to know her tonight. I lower my eyes, and slide my hand into my pocket to look at my phone. Why hasn’t she texted me back? She said her work was canceled tonight. I hope she’s not talking to that Nick fucker anymore.

  “Damien. DAMIEN,” Axel calls.

  “What?” I snap out of my daydream. “You okay? They’ve got an opening on the stage right now. Knock ‘em dead, Dazzling Damien.”

  I take a pull of my beer to finish off the drink. “Let’s rock,” I say in a gravelly voice. A pang of adrenaline hits me, and I have flashbacks to when I was twenty-three.

  As I head out on the stage, I hear them hooting and hollering as the music begins.

  “Here,” Axel says. “Put this on.”

  He hands me a giant dragon mask. “You know, so your mom doesn’t recognize you on stage.”

  “I always knew you were into some weird shit,” I jab as I put the thing over my face.


  Not like many people in the audience would recognize me. Hell, I barely even get out anymore. But when I hear the song, I’m already plotting ways to get revenge on Axel.

  I put the dragon mask on.

  On the plus side, I can’t see shit with this thing on, so I don’t have to worry about looking out at the crowd, my least favorite part of the show.

  7

  Krista

  I stare in disbelief as the most chiseled man I’ve seen in my life comes onto the stage to the song “Get Low” as fake smoke rolls across the stage.

  He’s all muscles, upper and lower body. Below, he’s got a pair of tight black briefs attempting to cover his clearly gifted manhood, and up top a huge, ridiculous, black dragon mask covers his face.

  The lights are dim, and the fake smoke lessens the visibility so all I can see is huge, broad, shoulders that turn into a perfect “V” as my gaze shifts down the man’s abdomen. His tanned body has a load of tattoos, though I can’t tell what they are in the darkened stage light.

  I shoot Amelia a disbelieving look. “You brought me to a male strip club?”

  “It’s not really a male strip club,” Axel answers, butting in. “It’s a club where anything goes. It’s accepting of everyone no matter what your thing. And yeah, they have some private rooms in the back. For private dances, private whatever.”

  “Private whatever?” I echo, curious what the ‘whatever’ could be that happens in the back room.

  But I fail to listen to Axel’s answer to my question because I’m completely and utterly mesmerized by this man on stage.

  The way he moves his body sends bolt of heat through me. Some of the heat lands directly in a spot right between my legs. My skin tingles.

  “Holy shit,” I whisper.

  “Yeah,” Amelia nods. “Who is this guy?”

  Axel shrugs. “Just my buddy. He lost a bet, so this was his punishment.”

  My jaw hangs open as he covers ground on the stage.

  “You should get up there with him,” Ax prods.

  “Oh, I couldn’t do that. Isn’t that like...extra?”

  He laughs. “I’ll cover it, if it is. Just jump up there. Hey Dazzler!” he calls to the guy on stage. “We got a girl here who wants to get on stage with you! And she’s got mad cash!”