by Amanda Rose
“Half-naked, actually,” Ezra supplied with a side smile. “The only thing you’ll be exposing is a lot of cleavage and a lot of leg. Other than that, you’ll be clothed. We’re the ones that’ll be almost naked.”
Yet again, I had to fight the urge to picture them that way. It proved to be futile. After seeing them without shirts on, it was infinitely harder not wanting to imagine them without less on. You couldn’t go from seeing a buffet to seeing just a cheese snack tray. It just didn’t work that way.
“As far as dancing, you will really only need to do a little hip shaking,” Jasper added as he retrieved a packet of gum from his pocket and popped a piece in his mouth.
I stood and moved to lean against the wall away from them to soak up what it was they were asking me to do. I took another shot, hoping it would ease the knot bubbling in my stomach from thinking about it.
“The only thing we’ll have to teach you is how to interact with us when we use you for our routine and where you’re supposed to be,” added Tobi.
“Why do I feel like I just became a stage prop instead of a backup dancer?” I asked them with my brow quirked up in suspicion.
“Because, essentially Lowen,” Jasper said, placing his hand against the wall beside my head and leaning in close; his face mere inches from mine. His cinnamon breath blew across my face. Was it weird the smell of the Big Red gum he was chewing turned me on?
“In a way you are,” he whispered in a husky voice. “You are our pretty little prop that we will move the way we want. Touch the way we want. Excite the way we want. The hotter you get, the more entertainment it’ll give the ladies and gents in the audience.”
My heart rate kicked up rapidly at his proximity. The hand I was using to hold the bottle fell uselessly to my side as I leaned further back into the wall. My chest heaved a little as he got closer to me. His body had pushed slightly against me, and his eyes glanced back and forth between mine. I was so unbelievably turned on and he’d not even touched me yet. It made me a little worried what would happen when he or the others actually did touch me if I even agreed to do this.
This wasn’t just some ballroom dancing where the only physical contact we’d get from each other was a hip, lower back or hand. This was erotic dancing. Grinding. Swaying. Caressing. All of these things would be happening and it’d be in front of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people.
“You understand now, Lowen? What you’re feeling will be what the women watching want to be feeling,” his hand went to my hip and slid just beneath the edge of my shirt, making me shiver at the contact. His calloused hand felt so damn good there. He stepped closer, making both of his hips touch mine.
“Those women will want to be you,” his voice lowered; his hand slid down my hip, then to my thigh. I felt my cheeks flush as he bent down to do this, placing his face almost level with my chest while he continued to gaze up at me. “They’ll be watching where we touch you and imaging that it's them being touched like that.” His hand glided further down until he finally placed it behind my knee. He grasped it hard and yanked my leg up until my knee was touching his thigh, forcing my pelvis hard into his.
I let out a gasp and dropped the bottle on the floor; my hands slapped against the wall behind me as if it would help. My entire body shook with desire as I kept my eyes locked on his. It had been so long since I’d been touched. I was on fire and could practically feel the blood pulsing through my veins. How had this simple move set me ablaze so quickly? I’d been man handled much worse than this and wasn’t nearly as turned on as I was now.
“Um …” I whispered with a shaky breath. “I think I need to uh, to …” I could not even form a single clear thought in this position. It took everything in me to not concentrate on his hardness pressed against me.
Jasper gave me a smirk of satisfaction at my incoherent state, then released me quickly and backed up to sit on the arm rest of the chair.
“I think she gets it now,” Tobi said in amusement.
I let out a deep breath and relaxed a little. It wasn’t much, but I could actually breathe without him on me like that. I was finally able to look at the guys after a few deep breaths. Each had a smug grin in place, obviously happy to see me in such disarray.
“Yep,” I said breathy. “I-I think I get it. Yep.” I averted my eyes to stare straight ahead, trying to wrap my head around what just happened.
“Perfect. So, what is your final answer about doing this with us? Because, we promise you, you’ll learn fast and you’ll enjoy what we have in store for your part if you agree,” Jasper stated.
I stood there for a second, getting my thoughts together. Slowly, I bent over and grabbed the bottle off the floor, happy to see not a drop was spilled, because I’d be needing all of it. I tilted it back and took a long drag from it. It burned so good going down and was just what I needed to speak again.
“I’m going to need to phone a friend,” I stated, then opened the door and walked out.
“Sara! You are not going to believe what I’m about to tell you!” I whisper shouted into my phone at my best friend ten minutes later.
I’d called her right after I got back into my side of the cabin and splashed some cold water on my face. I knew it’d be useless trying to get anything out of me if I wasn’t fully functional.
“What? What’d you do? Did you catch your house on fire again? Because, I’d totally believe that,” she replied.
I shook my head and collapsed onto my couch. “No! I did that one time!” I replied in defense. “The only thing I’ve caught fire lately was my dinner the other night. Wait. No. I guess in a way something did catch fire, but it wasn’t a literal fire. Okay, I’m not making any sense,” I stopped then started over. “No, nothing is literally on fire, but this is a bit unbelievable. I had to call you and explain it or I’m not sure I’d believe it either.”
“Well, knock, knock, Bitch. Open up!”
I was confused for all of two seconds before I heard an actual knock at my door. I jumped up and swung it open to find Sara standing there with her phone to her ear.
“I’ve got one hour before I have to get back, so spill,” Sara demanded as she ended the call and pushed her way into the cabin.
“What are you doing here?” I asked in confusion.
She slipped off her coat and grabbed my bottle of Jack from the coffee table.
Seriously. People needed to get their own damn alcohol and stop stealing mine.
“You act like I live across the country not thirty minutes away. A bit of snow isn’t going to keep me from dropping by to see my bestie. I managed to escape my cute little puke machine for a short bit. Caleb saw how fidgety I was getting and suggested I take a break and come see you before that storm hits this weekend,” she replied taking a quick drink then handing it back to me.
Sara Hoffman was probably the only person in the world that was as unapologetic as me for the way she acted. It was scary how alike we both were. She was exactly one year older than me, having the exact same birthday. We took advantage of that factor. We always made sure we had big birthday parties to celebrate the day together, both when we were kids and teenagers. Those parties were always at her big, beautiful house since they had the room for all our friends there. Her home was actually the main reason I became an interior designer. I wanted a home as lovely as hers when we were growing up, and I wanted others to have that same thing at half the cost.
The only other thing different about me and Sara besides the homes we grew up in, was our appearance.
While I was about five-foot-six with tan skin, green eyes and caramel, curly hair; Sara was five-foot-seven with straight black hair that went past her shoulders and blue eyes. She was also relatively pale. She hated being tan and I hated her for having her perfect porcelain skin with not a blemish in sight. I could thank my absent mother for the infernal freckles across my nose. Dad never had any freckles, so she seemed the logical choice to blame.
“This is becoming so unsani
tary,” I said solemnly as I looked at the bottle then wiped the opening off with my shirt.
“I’m going to pretend I didn't just hear you insult my spit and ask you again; what’s going on? I need drama that doesn't involve exploding diapers.”
I sighed and sat down next to her. “I didn't mean you. I meant the guys next door. Everyone keeps stealing my Jack and I’m tired of sharing.”
She made a disgusted face and wiped her tongue on her scarf. “Ew. Stranger juice,” she said.
“That just sounds dirty,” I chuckled.
“Whatever. So? Gossip?” She demanded, situating herself so she was leaned against the arm of the couch then crossed her arms.
“Okay, so,” I began. “The really hot, new neighbors I have that are renovating? Apparently, they don’t just renovate places. They host this massive all-male strip show during the Christmas holiday that I had no idea about. I’m actually kind of mad about that.”
“Dude! How the hell do we live here and not know about a strip show going down?” Sara asked, lifting her hands up in a ‘what the fuck?’ gesture.
“Well, we don’t exactly look up local events that take place here. We kind of have always just relied on town gossip to find out what goes on here and in the more populated areas. Moving on, though,” I shook my head, trying to stay on topic. “They want me to be a part of their team. Like dance with them.”
Her jaw dropped. “Shut up! How? All-male kind of disqualifies you. Unless you actually have a peen instead of a vag. Then I’m going to be mad that I could've just married my true other half instead of Caleb. He’s great and all, but you get me.”
I scrunched my nose at her. “Okay, gross. I love you, but not enough to do that. I have a vagina, doofus, and you know this since I’ve never had any qualms about changing in front of you all these years. And, I guess they get to make exceptions since they run the event.” I explained.
“Well … shit. You going to do it? I mean, how hot are these guys really? Hot enough to shake your ass in front of tons of people naked?”
I took a sip of Jack. “Half-naked. Only cleavage and tons of legs exposed. And yes. Yes, they are. Sara, Jasper barely touched me and I was putty in his damn hands. I’m pretty sure if I hadn't run out of there, I’d have tried to undress him with zero fucks given that the other two were sitting right there.”
Now that I was thinking about what Jasper did, it kind of turned me on at the idea of them watching had I decided to climb him like a pole. Nope! Don’t go there, Lowen!
“I need to see them or there’s no way I can believe you,” Sara replied.
A knock came at the door again, Ezra’s voice filtered through.
“Lowen, you all good? We think Jas may have taken that a little too far,” he said.
“I was just trying to let her get a feel of what she was in for. You guys didn't stop me,” I heard Jasper argue back.
“It was kind of hard to do that when her chest was heaving like that. Don’t blame us because you got her all hot and bothered and we liked the sight.”
I smirked at Sara, who openly gaped at me. “Wish granted,” I said, hopping up to throw the door open.
They all stopped talking when I did.
“You guys wanna talk about my heaving chest a little louder? Don’t think the neighbors heard you,” I said with a hand on my hip.
“Oh. Whoops. Sorry, Lowen,” Tobi replied, not really looking that sorry.
“Just get in here.” I pulled the door open wider and they all stepped in, stopping when they saw Sara.
Her jaw fell even further. I was pretty sure she had a little drool coming out the corner of her mouth, too.
“If you don’t dance with them, I’m going to,” she said to me seriously. “Then Caleb will be mad at me and I’ll end up just blaming you for saying no in the first place. So, spare all our suffering and say yes.”
The guys smiled at Sara’s ever so eloquent way of telling me what to do, then zeroed in on me.
I sighed and tilted my head to look at the ceiling in defeat. This was just a losing battle. Then again, I’d been fantasizing so hard about them touching me since I saw them; now, to have finally felt what it was like, I wasn’t sure I was ready to say no.
“Fucking fine! I’ll do it!”
“Yes! About damn time!” Jasper said, rubbing his hands together in excitement. He walked over and collapsed into my spot on the couch. Ezra followed behind him and went to reach for my bottle.
I bolted over and slapped his hand away, grabbing it before he could go in for another grab. “But only if you don’t touch my Jack again. This is mine, get your own!”
I took a victory swig and plopped down on the edge of the couch, happy to have won at least one battle today.
CHAPTER FIVE
“A Quick Taste”
The next day, the guys decided since I agreed to do the show, it was best to go ahead and get my costume together. They figured if I got used to dancing in it now while practicing with them, then maybe I wouldn’t feel as exposed come showtime. I was a bit worried about what exactly they had in mind to put me in, so I continually repeated over and over to myself that I’d only have to show cleavage and legs.
I felt a little better when they informed me that only Ezra would accompany me, while Tobi and Jasper went to speak with the owner of the venue, where the show would be take place. This meant we were going into the city.
I hadn’t gone to the more populated area of Telluride in a while, so I was kind of excited. I used to go almost every weekend with Sara during our party years, but those times were long over. Between my reclusiveness and her new baby, we just didn’t feel the need anymore. She had stepped up in her adulting, while I leapt like thirty years forward into life. I was basically an old person with how little I did anymore, and I’d only be twenty-eight come February. Maybe doing this with the guys would bring me back to myself a little and make me realize it was okay to still go a little wild.
The drive from the cabin to the city was about thirty minutes tops, but with the snow gathering higher, it took a bit longer. I had been a bit intimidated by Tobi’s monster of a truck and worried I wasn’t going to be able to hop in. Thankfully, we all decided to take separate vehicles. Ezra and I took mine, while Tobi and Jasper took their truck. Ezra took my keys from me and offered to drive, since I had no idea where we were going. I wasn’t thrilled about someone else driving, but he looked like he’d be the safest driver out of the three.
“So, why stay at the cabin if you guys are actually from here?” I asked Ezra as we reached the city. The question had been on my mind and I’d been waiting to get the details on why they bothered to stay there when they obviously had money to live somewhere much nicer.
“The commute back and forth just seemed like a waste,” Ezra explained as he drove. “We have to get the changes done on the cabin before the end of December and get ready for this show all at once, so adding in all that drive time just seemed ridiculous.” He paused and gave me a devilish smile. “Besides, we wouldn’t have gotten to spend so much time with you had we not. So, I for one am thankful these roads are harder to drive through.”
I didn’t know which melted faster after that; my panties or my heart. I wasn’t used to feeling so hot and bothered or being flirted with, so my body was a little confused on what the hell to do. Maybe both at this point.
“So, Jasper. He really has no shame in his flirtations, does he?”
Ezra smiled and shook his head. “No, he does not. But, Jasper means well. I’ve never seen him this bad before. Usually its cheesy one liners that are completely obvious and that’s about it. With you, he pulls out all the stops.”
That actually surprised me. I figured him to be the always flirting type to pretty much any woman he thought was attractive.
“Really? Why does he take it so much further with me?” It was kind of strange talking about Jasper’s attraction to me with Ezra. Especially because I was attracted to all of them and was p
retty sure Ezra and Tobi felt about the same as Jasper did.
“You are unlike any woman we’ve met. You’re strong and resourceful. You don’t take any shit and you have no idea who the hell we are. Add in that you’re the best-looking woman we’ve seen in a long time, and you’re pretty much stuck with us. Jasper won’t stop flirting now, and I don’t think me or Tobi are backing down anytime soon either.”
Yet again, I was taken back. I surmised they all were attracted to me, since they begged so hard for me to be in the show, but they also seemed so casual about being mutually attracted to me. Was it possible these guys have shared women before? They seemed the types from how close they were to each other. There were never jealous looks or any trying to one up the other. They just went with it and didn’t care that the others did too.
I mulled it all over as Ezra gave me directions to wherever he planned to get my outfit, occasionally peeking out of the corner of my eye at him.
Ezra had this sweetness to him that you didn’t find very often. He gave off the vibe that he was always honest about everything. I never actually felt like I was a stranger with him. I relaxed around him a little more than I did the other two. He even looked sweet; well, when he was clothed. Then he was sexy.
But looking at him now as he drove, he radiated warmth and friendliness. His long sleeve, light blue sweater complimented his smiling eyes. He wore jeans with holes at the knees and light blue converse that matched his shirt. His white hoodie didn’t have a single stain on it. His appearance was always well kept and light. His lips always set in a happy expression.
I admired Ezra. I wished I could be as light and happy as he was all the time.
“You’re doing an awful lot of thinking and staring over there, Low.”
I snapped my eyes up to his eyes, realizing I probably looked like I was staring at somewhere other than the holes in his jeans. Whoops.
“Just wondering if your knees were cold. That’s all,” I replied casually.