GRIND

In the early morning light I learned that Jacob was actually a doctor—or at least training to become one. He was interning at the local hospital not too far from the strip club. When I asked him why he stripped, he levelled me with his gaze.

“I would think that’s pretty obvious to someone as smart as you. I’m trying to leave med school without any debt hanging over me.”

I was always of the mind that if you had it, flaunt it, so I understood. “That’s a good point. I always thought that was a cliché, but I guess it works, doesn’t it? So you technically work like two jobs, then?”

Jacob shrugged, turning to face me. “At least one pays decently. What about you? I have this crazy theory that you’re actually some foreign princess sowing her wild oats in America. Am I right?”

Snorting not so gracefully, I blushed, unable to help myself. It was actually a pretty sweet thing to say, considering. “Not even close, I’m afraid. Born and raised here in California. And I, uh, help out at my father’s… business.”

The last thing I wanted to do was go into the whole ‘my dad is actually the mayor’ spiel. I usually got weirded out looks whenever I brought it up. Mainly because a lot of people are pretty terrified of my dad, since he was also the top-rated criminal defense attorney in the country leading up to his first election.

“That wasn’t oddly mysterious at all,” he laughed, his voice throaty.

“What can I say? I like to keep an air of mystery about me.” I wiggled my fingers in his direction, smiling.

I was still in awe of the guy’s obvious dedication, and honestly… a little jealous of it, too. I never really had to worry about what I wanted to do with my life, since my dad always insisted that I would work with him in some capacity. And once he became mayor of Los Angeles, everyone looked at me as some sort of pretty trophy that sat delicately in its display case.

I used to do everything I could to smash that idea, hating the very thought of it.

Minutes went by before I realized the soft breathing coming from Jacob was actually him falling asleep, his thick lashes flush against his carved-out cheekbones. The last thing that ran through my mind before I passed out was what I would give for never having to use mascara again…

I leaned against the serving bar, watching Sasha as she stirred her creamer into her coffee. “Out with it.”

Shooting me an all too innocent look, Sasha raised a shoulder at me. “What?”

“I’m just waiting for the question. You know the one. So… Where did you go off to last night?”

Sasha was nowhere near as nosy as Britney, but I could already see the curiosity in her eyes. After texting her from the other end of the strip club last night, telling her I was leaving early, I got three or four texts back that I had only seen this morning as I woke up.

We found an open table outside, the dark umbrellas already pulled open under the hot desert sun.

“Well, I mean you might as well just tell me at any rate.”

I pointed my finger at her. “I knew it! You think you’re stealthy, but you’re not. Luckily for you I’m about to die if I don’t tell someone something…”

Sasha leaned in, blowing over the top of her coffee before taking a sip. “Color me intrigued.”

“While you and Britney were off drooling over the first act last night, I had an unusual close encounter of the sexy kind. Remember the doctor?”

This caught her attention. “You mean Dr. Jake the Snake? That hottie with the tousled hair and abs I could wash my clothes on?”

I nodded. “The very one. Well, he started talking to me, before I even knew he was part of the… entertainment. And then, well, I think we both had an itch that needed to be scratched.”

Sasha gasped. “Oh my God, are you serious? Did you guys actually…?”

“Oh. Yes. Many times, in fact. We went back to my place, and I only just fell asleep around what, four-thirty… or maybe five?”

“What was it like?”

There was no denying the grin on my face as I chewed on my straw. “What was it like? He was… perfect. A real professional, if you will. I kind of met my match in the bedroom. Didn’t think that was gonna happen, especially after everything that happened with…”

It hit me just then. I’d gone a whole night without thinking about Liam. It was a small victory, but progress nonetheless.

Sasha caught on, nodding along with me. “No kidding? Never thought I’d hear you say that.”

It was true. In our small circle of friends, I was known to be the insatiable one, which may have been one of the reasons that drove a spike between me and Liam. He thought our marriage would be for show, and I wanted him in every possible way to be mine. When I committed, I really committed.

Seeing the complete freedom from Liam so close in my head lifted my spirits immensely. That, and the thorough fucking Jacob gave me the night before, of course. I finally understood what people meant by floating on cloud nine. It was like something had been taken from me, a weight off my chest, even. And Jacob was the one who got me to that point. Damn, was there anything the man couldn’t do?

“I don’t know… it was just a nice way to get out of my own head. I feel like I’ve been stuck in there too long, trying so hard not to think about Liam and all that shit, that I made it impossible not to. The whole time last night all I could think about was the here and now. I wasn’t worried about what happened before. That probably sounds weird.” I looked down, stirring the green straw around in the cup.

“Why would that be weird? I think it’s great you’re finally starting to get over Liam. I knew you’d need some time. And now you can go bang all the hot beefcakes your little heart desires,” she added, winking at me.

I giggled. “You’re terrible. And also very right.”

With everything that had gone down in my life recently, I was glad that at least someone understood where I was coming from. And maybe I was just thinking pretty, but I saw Jacob as someone who might even understand where I was going.

4

Jacob

Responsibility kicked my ass once I got back home. By the time I dragged myself to bed, it was pretty much time to get up and go to the weekly meeting on campus for interns. I couldn’t even count the number of times I had to hide the yawns sneaking up on me while our instructor droned on about the latest tachycardia case we studied and sat in on a surgery for. It was a damn good thing I’d already taken notes after, or I’d have been out of luck trying to put it all down on paper at that moment.

Once class had finished, I had a few hours to kill before I had to be back at the club, so I decided to catch some sleep while I had the chance.

“Hey Ma,” I said as I walked into the kitchen, the smell of fried chicken and her usual candles thick in the air. “Are you cooking that just for me?”

She looked back at me from over the stove. “Well, I’m not just making it for myself.” There was a quiet smile before she turned the flames down. “How was work and your class?”

“Work was all right. Same ol’, same ol’. And our instructor didn’t really go over anything I didn’t already manage to write down this week. How was work yesterday?” Of course I wasn’t about to mention any of what happened between me and Gabi.

My mom, strangely enough, was one of my biggest supporters. She didn’t mind the stripping so much, especially since she knew it was only temporary. To help out, she let me stay in the duplex apartment next-door to hers.

“Probably not as interesting as whatever you did last night,” she said with a laugh, plopping some of the fried chicken onto a plate.

After sitting down and having some lunch with my mom, I walked the extra five feet to crash in my own bed, practically asleep before I even hit the sheets.

It was a pretty usual night working at the club. My mind was literally everywhere else rather than focusing on dancing for the crowd below, and while I felt bad about it, I just couldn’t get my mind off of her. Gabi.