Page 36 of Ravage
Glitter tosses her used rag into the corner pile and then pulls out two shot glasses.
“Yeah. He didn’t say where he was going or for how long,” she muses softly.
I instantly feel bad and open my mouth to tell her what I know and then snap it shut when I realize what I was almost about to do. Damn, did she do that on purpose?
She looks at me with another smile. “I guess it’s a secret, huh?”
I blink at her, thrown off by what’s happening right now. Is something happening right now? No, I’m just overthinking it. “Um…I think it’s just private business.”
Some emotion flashes across her face, but it’s gone before I can recognize whatever it was. “Oh, okay.” Portia finishes filling the two shots with whiskey and then hands me one. “Here’s to a good night, Rae.”
We clink the shot glasses together, and I toss mine back at the same time as her. I’m confused as hell, but when she takes the glass back from me, she smiles brightly and then moves down the bar to take a customer’s order, and I suppose she’s letting me off the hook of responding to anything else.
Right.
Time to dance. That always clears my head.
There are glass boxes suspended in the air by steel cables with string lights inside along the seams that change colors and flash along with the music. Tubes, like the ones at banks, are lined along one wall with numbers that correspond with the numbers on the corners of each box. Customers can fill them with cash, and it’ll shoot into the box so the dancer is dancing amongst their tips.
That’s my favorite way of making money.
Anyone can go in them, even regular customers. Then they dance like crazy to see what tips they’ll get. The dancer is untouchable in that box. Suspended over the dance floor, the beat vibrating through the glass, and lights pulsating with the music—it’s perfect.
I’ve had too much experience with dancing on a stage and being grabbed or touched at my first boyfriend’s bar.
Once one of the staff helps me into the box, I close the glass door, latch it, and then let the music take over my body.
I don’t even pay attention to the bills that fly through the air around me. I close my eyes and bump and grind and twist until I’m one with the music. Every once in a while, I open my eyes to smile down at the view of the crowd moving below under the flash of lights.
I’m sweating by the time I’m ready for a break. I collect the bills, finding tight places in my dress to store them until I get home, and then press the button that lets staff know I’m ready to get out.
Portia waves her arms wildly at me, jumping up and down to get my attention from behind the bar. I laugh at her excited energy and lean against the bar.
“Girrrrl! That was so hot! You have to teach me how to move like that! Please, pretty please!” She’s still bouncing up and down, and I notice the eyes around the bar all zeroing in on her jiggling tits. I still know absolutely nothing about this girl, but her innocence and excitement are damn refreshing, and I’ll do apparently anything to protect it. For Elias and for myself.
I reach for her arm to stop her. “Okay, okay! Just…stop bouncing, or I might have to stab some eyes out, and then Elias’s security will probably have me arrested.”
Her eyes widen at the stabbing threat or me being arrested, I have no idea, and then she nods vigorously. “Got it. No bouncing.” She slides a tray of shots over to me with an eager grin. “Not tonight since I’m working, but do more shots with me. It’ll help calm me down.”
I quirk an eyebrow at her, but she just giggles and picks up a shot without further explanation. I’m in such a good mood myself that I shrug it off and clink my glass with hers. Soon, she gets flagged to make another drink. She waves me off and says she’ll see me later, and I check my own mental box that my task is done for the night of looking in on her. I’ve also made some good money and feel fucking wonderful, thank you very much.
I rarely let myself get this hammered when I’m on my own, but this is Elias’s club. With security. Of all the places I’ve ever been, this feels the safest. Besides, I’m just another face in this huge crowd. The chances of GE knowing I’m in this city, in this nightclub, among all the people here, are slim.
I turn and lean back on the bar as the alcohol washes through my veins, and a warm buzz tingles across my skin. I stay there for a bit, letting the alcohol do its thing and having a few more drinks.
I debate going back out to dance, maybe getting lost in the crowd or finding some dance partners this time, when I get the feeling of being watched.
By luck or sixth sense, I glance over to one of the booths across the dance floor to find Jackson watching me.
Nope.
Nuh-uh.
I flip him the finger, hoping to keep him away and stumble-walk to the bathrooms. There’s a hallway to the back left of the bar for employees only that I take full advantage of. I make it two steps into the women’s restroom when a lock clicks behind me.
I reach for a knife at the same time as I whirl around, but the world spins faster than I expected it would, and I stumble off-balance. A hand catches mine and pulls me back up before I fall, but then I’m falling the other direction until I thump into them.
I know I should shove myself off of them, but everything is turning around me, and I need a second to close my eyes until my brain catches up with reality. That the world isn’t moving like the tilt-a-whirl carnival ride.
