Tainted (Oh Captain, My Captain 7)

Valo

I searched high and low for this woman, finally gave up, and now, here she is in the last place I’d ever think to look. I can’t believe it. Jade slowly turns around to face me. She looks as if she can’t believe it either.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“A teammate is getting married and this is a stop during his bachelor party.” A few of the guys said it wouldn’t be a bachelor party without strippers, so here we are.

“So, a bunch of multimillionaire hockey boys came to the hood to see some tits and ass? I’m sure you could have had some higher end shit downtown.”

“Well, they wanted to come here,” I say. “I guess you were really hoping to never see me again, huh?” I can understand her wanting to lie about her job, but to send me on a chase when she knew I’d never find her is worse.

“Um…” She doesn’t have a comeback, but she quickly recovers. “I’m surprised, that’s all. I bet you were searching every school all over Liberty looking for a good, wholesome teacher. Sorry to burst your bubble; I’m a stripper.”

“I searched, more so to find the girl in the bar, not a teacher. But don’t worry.”

“Listen, Valo,” she leans in closer. “You seem like a really nice guy. I meant it when I said you’ll find a great girl someday, but it’s not me. If the news grabbed wind of you taking a stripper out on a date, you’re sweet Finland ass would be traded or on a plane back to the other side of the pond. So, let’s just forget it, okay?”

I shake my head at her. It’s unbelievable how disappointed I am. “I’ll go back to the party and stop wasting your time. Hope you find something worth smiling over.”

“Have fun tonight, Valo. I’ll send some girls to your table, okay?” As if that’ll make up for this.

“Yeah, sure.” I turn and walk back to our table. Unbelievable. Did I really waste all that time for nothing? My eyes keep making their way back to Jade. A stripper. I should have known something wasn’t right; I have never been good at guessing games.

This only opens the door to more questions. How in the world did she become a stripper? What does her family think? Does she have a daytime job, too? So. Many. Questions.

She walks around this place with an ease that speaks of familiarity. She almost seems comfortable here. I’m trying my best not to judge because I’d be pissed if someone judged me based on my job. I’ve watched this girl every time she happened to be in the bar when I was. And she’s right; she doesn’t smile often. Maybe she’s stuck in a rut with no foreseeable way out? I don’t know.

This is why she made the deal with me. Because she knew I’d never find her here, and if I did, I would walk away. And I did. I just proved whatever point she was trying to make. The hell with that. She made a deal. I found her.

There’s a freaking giant of a man walking around, looking as if he’s in charge. When he goes to pass our table, I stop him. “I want a private dance.”

He nods. “With who?”

“Jade.”

He smirks, and for some reason, it feels like a bad sign. “C’mon then.” He takes me away from the main area and over to the room.

The room isn’t that big. It is barely big enough for a black couch and a pole. I sit on the couch and wait. I wonder if she’ll b

e pissed about this. There’s only one way to find out. I calmly wait until the doorknob turns and Jade finally enters.

“Okay, cowboy, are you ready?” Jade stops, her lips parted with surprise for two seconds when she sees it’s me. “Oh, come on, Valo. What the hell do you want?”

“It should count for something that I did find you. Doesn’t matter how; I found you.”

She sits next to me on the couch. “You can’t be serious. I’m a stripper. You’re a hockey player. Why could you possibly want to keep this deal? Are you that horny?”

“This isn’t about sex. I want to keep the deal, that’s it.”

I can tell she’s skeptical, and she’s quiet for a few moments. “Fine, but just remember you’re paying and I’m going to stuff myself full of whatever food you put in front of me. Deal?”

“I make six million dollars a year. Eat all you want, plus take home leftovers, I don’t care.” Normally, I wouldn’t bring up my salary so casually, but she already knows.

Jade sighs deeply. “When do you want to do this?”

I try to hold back my smile. “I’ll be on the road soon, and I’ll be gone for three days. When I get back?”

“Fine. I’ll write my number down and you can text me. I’ll meet you at wherever you want to go. I’m sure you drive a nice car and in my hood, it’ll get jacked in a heartbeat. Now, do you want this dance or are you just a nice guy who wants to talk about his feelings?”