“Rose.” The tattoo of the tiny flower reminded me of her name, and she rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I had a little bit too much to drink last night.”
“Really? I would’ve never guessed. I just figured since you were so into those lap dances you kept forking money over for that you would’ve at least been able to get it up.”
I groaned as she slid on her skirt, bending over in front of me with her ass in the air, and I didn’t feel shit. I was a guy, something like that was supposed to get me excited, especially when she was so good at it. “Well, I can try to make it up to you.” I reached out, trying to grab at her hip, but she sidestepped my hand.
“Oh no, I don’t need some guy with girl issues. I just needed a good lay, and it certainly seemed like you were going to give me one until we got back here.”
I dropped my hand, running it through my hair as she gathered the rest of her stuff. How she managed to have that much shit with her was beyond me, because I barely remembered even bringing her back last night. I kind of liked it though; it reminded me of Della and the mess that she always brought with her whenever she was here. Rose grabbed her purse, and I sat up straighter. “Do you need a ride?”
“Well, I really could’ve used a ride last night”—she pointed down to the front of my boxers—“but apparently it’s broken or something.”
I snorted loudly and stood up, grabbing her hand to twist her back around. “I can guarantee you it’s not broken.” I pulled her body flush against mine, and she laughed loudly when her hand slipped in between our bodies and she gave a light squeeze.
“Really? Listen, I’ll give you some advice.”
I pursed my lips; not really believing any advice from a stripper would be that helpful. Sure, they could say they were doing it for the money, to pay for a college education, but a lot of them just liked doing it. They liked having guys pant all over them like dogs in heat.
“Go find this Della that you couldn’t stop talking about last night. I bet you anything this little guy will come back to life if you find her.”
“Gee, thanks.” The advice wasn’t half bad but it wasn’t like I needed to go out and find Della. I could probably guess where she was right now—with that douchebag, Nash.
Yeah, I went to Shorty’s that night just to piss Della off, and probably to torture myself with seeing her again. I was mad as hell that she had shown up at the funeral as if nothing had ever happened between us, like she wasn’t with another guy. She wanted to be there for me, to make sure I was okay. Right.
So, I found some random girl that was more than willing to hook up, climbing right on top of my lap before I even knew her name, and we put on a show. She was definitely more into it than I was, and it made me feel like an ass, since I couldn’t keep my eyes off Della once she showed up for her shift.
The look on her face almost made me shove the girl on my lap right onto the floor. Almost. But a couple more shots courtesy of RJ quickly chased that idea out of my head. Once her roommates arrived, I could feel the death glares all three of them were shooting my way, not that I could blame them. Della seemed to avoid me for the most part, which was good because she would’ve just seen me staring at her like some stalker while that girl on my lap shoved her tongue down my throat.
Then Nash showed up.
I saw that douchebag’s hands resting on the bare skin at the small of her back, and it took everything in me not to go over there and rip his damn hands off so I could shove them up his ass.
Brian really needed to change the work uniforms around there, at least for Della. I caught at least ten guys staring at her in those black shorts that were so tiny half of her ass was sticking out, the Shorty’s shirt revealing her tanned, flat stomach and that dangly belly button ring she always had in place. All I wanted to do was go over, put my hands on her hips, and drag her into the kitchen to have my way with her, like I always used to do after hours.
Her shift ended and somehow she managed to leave without me seeing her. The girl whose name I didn’t remember begged me to come back to her place, but I brushed her off. Eventually she left, along with everyone else, until it was just Brian and me. He practically had to carry me out of there, and the ride home was silent for the most part—from what I could remember—and I somehow made it into my living room where I woke up on the floor the next morning.
I really needed to move on with my life, but I just couldn’t seem to. I had thought there was still a chance with Della, but now that I knew there wasn’t, I needed to focus on something else.
Because if I didn’t, my mind would just drift to my dad, and I didn’t need that to happen.
“ARE YOU SURE you’re really ready to come back to work, Parker?” Ty squinted his eyes, leaning against the wall, as I finished changing into my uniform and before slamming my locker door shut.