Chapter 11: Nikki

Halfway through the song, it dawned on me that he knew this was my last number. I watched him pay his tab and scoot toward the edge of the stool. With his eyes trained on mine, I plowed through the exaggerated movements that drove drunk men wild yet seemed to do nothing for him. He didn't so much as peek at my chest or cast a glance at my ass. The muscles in his arms twitched anytime another man came near me, and he clenched his fists with every hand that he watched tuck a dollar bill under the string of my barely there underwear. He just never appeared aroused himself-further confirmation that he was here working a job and I was his subject.

The thought of his watchful eye being a paid gig unnerved me and excited me all the same. So much so that I almost lost my footing and therefore my balance on my last pole trick. As my legs spread and I sank to the floor, I held my breath, waiting for the song to end. Darkness covered the stage, and I nearly ran to try to escape the odd power he