Strip Search (Tap That)

One

Looking out into the crowd of screaming women, Axl Moore felt like the all-you-can-eat buffet at Sizzler and no one had taken a meal in days.

Not that he was complaining.

He wasn’t an attention whore on a regular day but for the second annual Tap That charity event he had to admit it didn’t suck to have women think he was hot. He and his best friends, Rick, Jesse, and Brandon hadn’t even taken the stage yet for their so-called dance routine. AKA hip thrusting and winking.

“I’m so getting laid tonight,” Jesse said, as they stood just off-stage. He was tossing a hockey puck up and down in his hands.

Given that Jesse was a pro hockey player, Axl was pretty sure he was getting laid most nights. But it was a requirement in their twenty-year friendship that Axl give Jesse shit. “Not with your dancing skills,” he ribbed him.

Jesse snorted. “Okay, I can admit that I can’t dance. But you won’t be getting laid with your charm either, asshole. You need to work on your game face.”

“This isn’t a game.” Axl held handcuffs in his hand, his Beaver Bend police department uniform feeling tighter than usual. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out.

A text from his mother.

Maybe you’ll meet a nice girl tonight. Remember to smile!

That actually made him laugh. He showed the text to his friends. “Jesse, are you in a conspiracy with my mom? Or do you just think like a girl?”

Brandon laughed. “Dude, I don’t know what’s funnier. That your mother thinks the only thing holding you back is a lack of a smile, or that she thinks a Magic Mike knock-off show with total amateurs in small-town Minnesota is the place to meet a forever girl.”

“You mean it’s not?” he asked, sarcastically. “Perfectly fine with me because I have no plans for a forever girl.” Marriage was not on his bucket list.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it,” Rick said. “You never know who is out there in the crowd tonight. Look at me and Sloane.”

Rick had hooked up with Sloane O’Toole after this event the year before, much to the chagrin of their other buddy Sullivan, who happened to be Sloane’s brother. “You fucked your best friend’s hot older sister. I don’t think I can top that.” Nor did he want to.

“Hey. We’re still going strong a year later. That could be you next year.” Rick gave him a grin.

“I wouldn’t bet your auto body shop on it. Because you’ll lose.” Axl was the very definition of content. He liked being alone, even if no one else, and sometimes even he, didn’t understand why. He enjoyed women. He appreciated their soft skin, and their curves, and light, sweet voices. He thought women were amazing creatures that occasionally he got to touch.

But he knew women had emotional expectations and needs and generally speaking, he would fail to live up to them because he wasn’t Rick, who laughed easily and had been in love with Sloane from the age of fifteen. Or Sullivan, who had loved his wife Kendra since high school, and was still devastated from her death.

Then there was Jesse fully enjoying being single. If anyone, Brandon might get where Axl was coming from, but at the same time, Brandon was a serious and accomplished flirt, and he was more the “you, me, my place,” kind of guy.

He scanned the crowd, casually. Amused that it seemed like every woman in Beaver Bend was at the bar, from twenty-one year old Rachel Ryder to Mrs. Dobish, who was ninety if she was a day. In her wheelchair, wearing a hot pink cardigan, she was waving a twenty. Damn.

Lilly, the choreographer, spoke into a microphone. “Hey, everyone! Give a warm welcome to our Tap That Dancers, back for our second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Event! Let’s hear it for the boys!”

The crowd roared. The music started. Axl felt nothing more than casual amusement, entertained by the break in his normal day-to-day routine. He stepped onto stage.

The room was a sea of familiar faces, the hallmark of small-town life. Most women were in jeans and T-shirts or clingy silky shirts and were women he recognized.

“Introduce yourselves, guys,” Lilly said, holding the mic to each of them in turn. “Tell us something we would never guess about you.”

“I’m Axl,” he said, twirling the handcuffs on his index finger. “But you can call me Officer Moore.”

“Oooh, more what?” Lilly asked, giving him a grin.

“More of everything.”

The women screamed even louder and he smirked at the idea that somewhere out there in the throng was a forever girl.

Jesse had the right idea. If ever there was a perfect opportunity to get laid, this was it.

The door opened and a blonde wearing a dress, her generous curves outlined gloriously in it, slipped into the bar.

The night just got a whole lot more interesting.

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