Rum & Coke Read online

  “Which one of you is the lucky guy?” I asked as I shook Paul’s hand.

  Each one protested, snapping that none of them was that much of a pansy to settle down. I chuckled, shaking my head and moved to take Vinny’s hand in greeting. Our hands lingered as his gaze peered down into mine. My belly fluttered again, and my pulse quickened. At that moment, I wished it wasn’t dusk so I could tell what color his eyes were, but it was eight at night, and all I could make out from the light coming from the one-story building was Vinny’s strong jaw and killer smile. A smile I wanted to stare at for hours.

  “We’re going to pick up the schmuck,” Nick stated as my eyes moved to him.

  “Tessa. Is that short for something?” My attention turned back to Vinny as he spoke, still holding my hand.

  I blushed. “Teresa, but everyone calls me Tess or Tessa.”

  “All right, dude. Let’s go.” Paul slapped Vinny on the back.

  “Yeah, man. Leave the poor girl alone. It’s bad enough she has to put up with Nick and his asshole ways,” Bradley joked. At least I thought he was joking. I hoped Nick wasn’t an asshole. I hoped none of them were since I was going to be stuck on a small bus with them.

  Vinny let go of our lingering hands and gestured for me to walk up into the black bus after the three other guys had entered. As I made my way down the center of the bus, I could feel Vinny’s eyes on me. I didn’t mind. He was gorgeous, but a thought struck me that he must get a lot of clients because he was so damn good looking—even in the dark. I tried to shake off my insecurities as I walked past the pole in the walkway and sat on the bench-style seat.

  “Want a drink, sugar?” Paul asked as he grabbed a bottle of tequila from the bar in the back. The other three guys were each making their own drinks too.

  I shook my head. “I better not. I’m assuming I need to dance on that pole while the bus is moving?” I waved my hand in the direction of said pole.

  Paul cracked a smile. A smile that wasn’t as spellbinding as Vinny’s. “Exactly.”

  “What is the plan exactly?”

  Paul finished pouring his drink and then took a seat across from me. “You’re going to hide in the bathroom while we pick up my man Gabe. Then, when we’ve been driving for a good ten minutes or so, come out and do your thing on the pole.”

  “You want me to hide in the bathroom?” I asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” he stated as though I’d asked a dumb question.

  My gaze roamed over the guys as they walked down the aisle with their drinks. Bradley and Nick sat next to Paul, and I held my breath as Vinny took a seat next to me. I felt stupid for feeling any sort of attraction toward Vinny. He was a male escort after all, and I was … me.

  “Do you all work for S&R?” I asked. They nodded. “Why did you hire a stripper then?” I questioned, looking directly at Paul, who seemed to be the one in charge of the party.

  “Because it’s a bachelor party,” Nick stated as though the answer should have been obvious and I’d asked another dumb question.

  “Don’t be an asshole,” Vinny snapped.

  I turned my head to look at Vinny, and we smiled at each other then I turned my head back toward the three other guys and asked, “Okay … but you see tits all day, right?”

  “Sugar,” Paul leaned forward and placed his hand on my knee. “We honestly hired you because that is what men do for bachelor parties. But that’s not all we’re doing. We just want Gabe to think you’re the only entertainment.”

  “You have more strippers coming?”

  He shook his head. “No. We’re driving up to go camping.”

  I balked at his answer. “Camping?”

  “Don’t worry, it’s not far,” Vinny affirmed. “Once we get there, the driver will bring you back to your car. Shouldn’t take longer than a few hours—tops.”

  Few hours? Honey had said they needed a stripper for thirty minutes, not two hours. But it was five hundred bucks, and now that I thought about it, that was a lot of money for thirty minutes. Honey must have not understood correctly, but it was too late now.

  I nodded silently as the guys started to talk again amongst themselves. I wasn’t paying any attention to the words. All I could think about was that seeing Vinny in the brightness of the bus’s lights was one million times better than in the darkness of night earlier. He had a buzzed head of what seemed like light brown hair and brown eyes that twinkled when he laughed.

  I hadn’t felt this way toward a man in a long time. I never dated because my time was spent taking care of Colton, but as we drove, I had that weird butterfly thing happening in my stomach. I didn’t want to think about what that meant. Plus, I also needed to call Sophia and tell her I’d be later than I’d thought.

  “Now,” Paul spoke with a grin, “this is what we need you to do.”

  Tessa.

  Fuck, she was beautiful.

  In my line of work, I’d met hundreds of women. None of them had ever caused that stupid lingering thing to happen like you see in chick flicks. But Tessa …

  I never wanted to let go of her hand.

  There was something different about her, and I couldn’t explain it. When I’d first stared down into her big, beautiful, blue eyes and she stared back as though she was reaching into my soul, I knew insta-love could be real. I wasn’t in love with her—far from it—but there was definitely insta-lust going on.

  I wanted to ask her anything and everything as we drove toward Gabe’s house, but I decided against it. The guys would harass me. Not a single one of them knew what it was like to be in a relationship. Hell, I didn’t either. Saddles & Racks allowed me to have the best life I could have. It allowed me to have the money I needed for travel and concerts, and all the things I wanted to do.

  But being a male escort wasn’t my only job. It was my nighttime job—my side hustle. My daytime job was being a special education teacher. Working in special education was very demanding and required me to juggle many responsibilities. I began each day with the standard requirement of responding to parent emails when I arrived at school and preparing each child’s specific schedule, but then it went deeper than just teaching. I was a case carrier for each student. Each child had their own individual education program, and my job was to delegate the different learning groups with my assistants, have intensive one-on-one academic and behavioral support for each student, as well as collect data to add to the individual education programs that the assistants prepared throughout the day when they’d interact with the students.

  The eight to nine hours I spent at the school were demanding, so being a male escort was a stress reliever. I could go to a bar and pick up a woman for the night, but this way I’d get paid to do it.

  Plus, it was fun.

  We only had sex if the vibe was right—and the vibe was usually right. That was why we were hired the majority of the time. The trick was to take the client’s money when the date started, so whatever happened after was between two consenting adults. It was illegal to take the money after sex or when sex was mentioned because that was considered prostitution. Of course, I could see where a parent of one of my kids would have an issue with it. That was why I had an alias for S&R: Duane Wood.

  The bus pulled up to Gabe’s house, and Paul left to go inside to grab him. Tessa went into the bathroom as planned, and while we waited, the driver dimmed the lights, painting us in multiple colors as the LED lights shined on the baseboards and ceiling. Nick moved to the bar and poured what I assumed was a whiskey and Coke for Gabe.

  “What did you do?” I heard Gabe ask from outside.

  “Did you expect me not to drink tonight so I could drive your ass around?” Paul replied.

  “I guess not,” Gabe answered.

  “Gabe, this is Alfred,” Paul said, and I was confused. Who’s Alfred?

  “What?” Gabe chuckled slightly.

  “I’m kidding,” Paul exclaimed. “His name’s Roberto, but Alfred is better for our little adventure.”

>   Oh, he was talking about the driver and was referencing Batman?

  “Adventure?” Gabe asked.

  “Get on the bus, Gabe,” Paul groaned.

  Brad stood and moved to the doors. “Party’s up here, man,” he cut in.

  He returned to his seat while Gabe finally stepped onto the bus. As soon as the guys and I saw him, we hooted and hollered and stood to greet him with bro hugs. Without any words, Paul guided Gabe to a seat across from me, and Nick handed him the drink he was making. The doors closed and music started to play as though we were a club on wheels.

  “Where are we going?” Gabe questioned as the bus started to move.

  “Around,” Paul answered, making everyone except Gabe laugh. We knew the plan. Tessa was going to come out in a few minutes and talk Gabe into getting down to his boxers all while he was handcuffed to the railing behind him. It was part of a master plan. Brad’s master plan, actually.

  “Are you going to be in a shit mood the entire night?” Nick asked.

  Gabe glared at him. “I just want to know where we’re going.”

  “It’s a surprise. Now drink your drink, loosen the fuck up and have a good time. This is your night.” Paul gestured with his head toward the drink in Gabe’s hand.

  He cracked his neck to relieve tension, nodded, and took a long gulp of his drink. Paul moved beside me, and I knew the show was about to start.

  I smiled. Not only because I was getting to see Tessa again, but because Gabe was in for a real treat. Hell, so was I. Sure, I’d seen more titties than I could count, but never had I been this excited before. I was dying to know what was under her bikini top. Dying to know what was under the bottoms too, but I knew that wouldn’t happen tonight. Tessa worked for a tittie bar, not a full nude club, so she’d only take her top off.

  Tessa sauntered down the hall, the dress she arrived in gone. She wore a sparkling red bikini with fishnet stockings and stilettos, her hands on her hips as her ass swayed past me, and her long brown hair in a ponytail. Good Lord, she was stunning, and my mouth started to water as I stared at her. I took a sip of my rum and Coke. It was my go-to. I was the rum guy, Gabe was a whiskey man, Paul loved tequila, Nick was a vodka guy, and Bradley liked his gin.

  “What did you do?” Gabe hissed.

  “Me?” Paul asked, bringing a hand to his chest as if he was innocent.

  I grinned. When we came up with this plan, Bradley had asked if we were good at lying. Paul was playing his part well.

  “Autumn knows about this?” Gabe waved a free hand up and down the length of Tessa’s body as she stood in front of him.

  My gaze moved to her ass, and I had to take another sip of my drink to wash down how much I was salivating. I wanted to drop to my knees and bite her plump ass.

  “Well …” Paul started to say, and we all laughed. Paul had mentioned that Autumn knew about the camping, but not about the stripper.

  “Just relax,” Tessa cooed and knelt before him. The sight of her on her knees made my dick twitch in my pants, and I wished she’d turn around and pretend I was Gabe. I wanted her to work my belt buckle free, pull down the zipper of my jeans, and then take my dick in her mouth.

  “Look, lady—”

  Tessa stood and straddled his hips. I watched her whisper something into his ear as my gaze locked with Gabe’s. I couldn’t hear what was said, but Gabe grinned. My eyes narrowed out of anger. I wanted her to straddle me, ride me, make me feel good. Whisper into my ear.

  She leaned back, and Gabe asked, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

  “Tessa.”

  “Well, Tessa …” He looked over her shoulder at Paul, narrowing his eyes as if to say he was finally going to take the stick out of his ass and said, “Do your thing.” He flipped Paul off and then moved his attention back to Tessa.

  So did I. Her back was still toward me as she stayed straddled on his lap. Then button by button, the plan started. She undid his button-up dark blue shirt, and once she had it off his body, Gabe reached up as though he was going to untie her bikini top. I silently wished she’d turn around so I could see her tits.

  Tessa slapped his hand, and I smiled. “No touching.”

  “Are you serious?” Gabe protested.

  She stood and threw Gabe’s shirt at Nick. “I am.”

  “Sweetheart,” Gabe chuckled, “you promised me your tits.”

  “I vote for tits,” I chimed in before I realized what I was saying.

  Gabe’s gaze met mine again, and he nodded approval. “See, we want to see your boobs.”

  “All in good time, boys.”

  “Let the woman work,” Brad stated.

  “Now …” Tessa knelt again, and my dick twitched as I watched her grab Gabe’s belt buckle. “You won’t be needing this.”

  “Whoa!” He started to crawl away, but before he could move, Tessa was back on his lap.

  “Someone needs to be handcuffed so he can’t move.”

  Gabe shook his head. “You’re not handcuffing me.”

  I grinned. This was part of the plan. We needed Gabe handcuffed so he couldn’t chase after us once he realized what was happening.

  “Yes, I am,” Tessa stated matter-of-factly. Good girl.

  “You’re stripping me of my clothes before we go to a club? That defeats the purpose,” Gabe groaned.

  “You don’t know how to dress yourself?” she teased, and I couldn’t fight my chuckle any longer. In fact, we were all laughing. He had no clue.

  “I … You don’t need to handcuff me.”

  No one said anything while Gabe looked at each and every one of us. Finally, he removed that stick that was up his ass and let Tessa handcuff him. She cuffed one wrist and then the other above his head. Bradley had worked it so that the cuffs were on a long chain and the chain was the part wrapped around the bar. The guys moved to get a refill on their drinks, but I couldn’t move. Didn’t want to move.

  Tessa removed his belt and then stood just as Pony by Ginuwine blared through the speaker. “That’s my cue,” she stated, and her hips started to sway and roll as her hands glided across her upper body. I took another sip of my drink, finishing it off, and then sucked an ice cube into my mouth, needing to do something to distract me from how much I wanted to be Gabe.

  She moved to the pole and walked around it, looking at each and every one of us. Seducing us. She was for sure getting to me, and when her gaze lingered on mine for longer than the few seconds she gave the other guys, she reached over, grabbed my head and brought it between her breasts. My tongue slipped out, and I tasted her skin. It was sweet, salty, and dangerous. I knew that if we were alone, she’d learn all my tricks I use on clients. I wanted to show her how I could make her moan, scream, and lose herself as I worked her body.

  Tessa released me after a few seconds and moved back to the pole, turning until she was facing Gabe again. With her back against the pole, her hands glided up her breasts to her neck and then behind her nape where she finally untied her top. I watched the strings come loose, and I had to adjust the way I was sitting because I was itching to switch to the other side. To have the front view of her removing her top.

  Her hands cupped her breasts, keeping the top from falling down, and I watched as she bent toward Gabe and let it fall with her chest in his face—the chest I wanted to lick again without the fabric around each globe. The chest I wanted to put my face into and never leave.

  What was wrong with me? I’d just met this girl, and I was bursting at the seams.

  Tessa’s hands moved behind her back, and she loosened the rest of her top and finally removed it completely. I jumped slightly as she flung it at me, and then I smiled. Was she feeling something for me, too? I was the only one she’d touched beside Gabe, and she had to touch him.

  Still not turning, she knelt in front of Gabe again and began to work on the button and zipper of his jeans.

  “You’re not going to do pole tricks?” he questioned.

  “In a moving bus?” Sh
e chuckled.

  He laughed. “Oh, right.”

  My gaze stayed on Tessa’s bare back as I played with the strings of her bikini top in my hands while she worked Gabe’s shoes and pants off.

  “Finally!” Paul boomed as soon as they were off.

  “What do you mean finally?” Gabe asked.

  “Well, we’re about to be at our destination in three minutes. Tessa, put his shoes back on.”

  “My shoes? You mean my clothes. Nick, give me my shirt, asshole.”

  “Sorry, man. No can do,” he replied.

  The bus pulled to a stop, and everyone stood except Gabe. Brad moved toward him and released the bar above his head where he was handcuffed, causing his handcuffed arms to fall into his lap. Paul sprinted out the door as soon as it opened, and Gabe started to chase after him, but Nick stood in his way, blocking him and allowing Paul time to get his paintball gun that was in the front seat.

  I smiled at Tessa and handed her back her top. I had no idea what to say, but I knew I had to say something. “Thank you for coming.”

  Thank you for coming? What the fuck? Did we just have a dinner party or something?

  She grabbed the fabric from my hand, our fingers touching for the briefest of seconds, and chuckled before replying, “Yeah. Uh, thanks for having me.”

  Before I could say anything further, Nick handed me my paintball gun, and the guys and I deboarded the bus.

  “Are you going to shoot me?” Gabe asked Paul.

  “This is how it’s going to go,” Paul replied. “You’re going to run, and we’re going to chase you—”

  “You want me to run in the woods naked?” He laughed sarcastically.

  Nick shot a paintball near Gabe’s foot as though we were some mob and he needed to intimidate Gabe. “Let him finish.”

  “Are you fuckers for real?” Gabe groaned.

  “Yep,” Bradley stated.

  “Like I was saying,” Paul said, “you run, we hunt. Think of it like hide and seek.”

  “Motherfucker, I’m gonna kick your ass.” Gabe moved as though he was going to strangle him with the long handcuffs, but stopped when all of us pointed our guns at him. They, of course, weren’t real, but being hit by a paintball hurt like a bitch.