Well, neither way is good but I think I’ve pissed him off in some way. He was rude to me back in the office when I’d punched his brother from grabbing me, dismissive when he caught me in his office helping Poe, but now he’s gotten freaking malevolent about my presence. The problem with this is that he’s constantly at the club now.
I think he’s having issues with the books or something because he has a booth of his own to sit in each night and he slams back the beers and whiskeys as he goes through all of the paperwork. The other girls all try to talk to him but he never really talks back to them and he never takes any of them up on their offers of… stress relief.
They all start glaring at me even more, like it’s my fault he’s pissed off.
I try to stay out of his way.
I hide in the shower and the locker room, I arrive on time but never early, and the second my showers are done I get the hell outta dodge.
He doesn’t try to follow me or speak to me, so I count it as a win. I keep my head down, put everything I can into my dances, and I keep my mouth shut.
It works.
It works so well at keeping me under the radar that I become an easy target without even fucking noticing, my head too fucking caught up in being invisible that I forget that there are other men to have to worry about.
I come out of the back door, fishing around in my bag for my keys, my feet moving on autopilot, and I don’t even notice him leaning against my car until he speaks.
“Angel, good to see you.”
My stomach drops, and I clutch my bag closer to myself.
It’s Finley, my college advisor, leaning against my Chevy with a smug smirk across his lips. I’m positive he can’t be here to rob me but, fuck, I have tens of thousands of dollars on me right now. All of my savings are in this goddamn bag.
“Hey… this is unexpected. What are you doing in Coldstone?”
He stands up straight and I step around to sling my bag into the passenger side of my truck. Fuck, I should probably just climb in and slide over before he has the chance to grab me or something.
“One of the other students recognized you from the first distance class, he came to have a chat with me about where you’re working.”
I look over the tray at him, my keys still clutched in my hand like a lifeline. “I don’t see how that’s any of his business… or yours.”
That smirk of his just gets wider. “I guess it’s not but I mean, you wouldn’t want me to go in and talk to the bikers in here would you? I looked up your details after I saw you here last week. Lots of shit on your application I’m sure they’d be pissed to know about. We should have dinner. Talk things over.”
Jesus.
Fucking.
Christ.
Finley saunters around the car with a smug look on his face while I’m stuck there, struck dumb by his fucking threat. Fear curls in my gut but my legs are rooted to the ground no matter how hard my heart races.
"Look, I don't really date but I can give you my number? I'm tired from a long shift tonight and I'm just going to head on home. I’d love to grab dinner with you later though?”
The smile doesn't falter on his face at all, he just stands there grinning like the damn joker. "You've got this all wrong, I'm not exactly asking. You want me to keep my mouth shut about what's in your file? I want you to come have dinner. It's my shout, what girl would wanna say no to that?"
Any girl with half a goddamn brain. "Sure. Okay, I can grab dinner with you. Where are we heading and I'll meet you over there?"
He reaches out and puts his hand on my arm and I know for fucking sure in that moment that he's a shitty excuse of a man.
He sees me flinch.
He does it anyway.
I've spent a lot of time in the strip club, during my dances and out in the locker rooms. I've sat at the bar, in the office, I've helped clean down the stage because of all of Mel's freaking glitter, and not once has anyone forced their touch on me after seeing my reaction.
Fuck, Diamond loathes me and she still makes sure she doesn't so much as brush against me in the hallways.
Since Mav tried to touch me there hasn't been a single biker that's tried to either. Speck keeps a close watch of who is around me and not once has he attempted to touch me. Fuck, he's always as shocked as hell when I talk to him about something that isn't strictly stripping related.
Finley is a creep.
I don't want to go with him but if someone hasn't come out already then they're not going to save me now. The music is too loud in there for them to hear me if I start screaming and now he's got a firm grip of me. I should've run the second I saw him standing there but I need this freaking job. So my option is go with Finley or die here now.
Fuck it.
I lock my truck up with my bag safely stashed under my seat and then I go with him.
And I’m not entirely sure that’s not the wrong thing to do.
The car ride over is excruciating but Finley doesn’t try to touch me again.
It becomes clear that he’s not a guy girls usually say no to but… this is clearly also not the first time he’s forced himself on a girl. He knows too much, like what to say to control the conversation, how to play everything off like he’s swooping in to save me from myself because dinner with him is such a fucking privilege.
I'm not expecting much from the restaurant he takes me to, because why would a guy forcing me on a date take me somewhere decent, and you know what? I’m exactly right in that assumption.
The walls are covered in tacky decorations which in itself isn't that bad but there's a layer of dust on everything and the menus are greasy as hell.
I order the bare minimum. A salad and some water. He looks at me approvingly, like I’ve done it to impress him with a fucking diet when really I just want to get the fuck out of here and if he’s paying, which he has to because my money is back in my truck, I don’t want him using an expensive meal as a justification to dragging me somewhere else.
Fuck.
I really should have found another way out of this.
Too late now, he’s sitting there smirking at me like this is all going according to his fucking plans. When I catch his eye by accident, he smirks at me and motions at the dusty walls.
"I thought you'd feel at home here, it’s always been a staple in Coldstone for the low income houses.”
Fuck, I wish he’d get hit by a goddamn bus.
I force a smile onto my face and shrug. "My family is from here but I'm not. Like I told you, it's extended family. Look, I'd appreciate it if you could keep my confidential information to yourself. This has been such a nice surprise and all, but it’s not really appropriate.”
That fucking smile stays put on his face. “It is confidential but if I see a student in danger, I’m contractually obligated to intervene.”
Fuck him.
That doesn’t sound right but I can’t exactly call him out on it either. My phone is a piece of shit and doesn’t connect to the internet at all, I only bought it so that I could take calls from The Boulevard about shifts or calls from Southern Miss about my classes.
“When I heard about you dancing I knew I had to come down here and check it out for myself, make sure you’re not in any danger.”