Indigo Sky

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I didn’t see her again that first night.

Honestly, I was caught somewhere between wanting to stare at her for all of eternity and never wanting to see her again, and I couldn’t really tell you why. Maybe I was worried that the fantasy would die, you know? Like, we’d had a few moments of killer chemistry a long time ago … so why ruin it by finding out that chemistry was no longer alive?

So, yeah, I didn’t go out of my way to see her. I can’t say I avoided her. I just … you know … didn’t force it.

And that’s how it was my first week on the job. I worked those first couple nights—I was flying solo for two of them—and went home to my parents’ house. I met two of the other dancers—a girl who called herself Crystal Rayne and another who went by Ivy Keres—and had a couple of brief conversations with Sam, Saul’s brother and the guy who owned the place. I liked everyone. They were all good people, nice and welcoming, and I felt like I fit in.

For the first time in years, it seemed like I belonged somewhere, and I was even starting to feel grateful that I’d lost my job at Roy’s shop. I mean, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was thrilled about it, and I wouldn’t thank Nate for letting me take the hit, but …

I was happy. Content really.

And after Indigo and I finally talked again …

Well, let’s just say …

The chemistry wasn’t dead.

***

“Rev!” Wendy called to me when I walked into Midnight Lotus.

It was about a half hour before we opened to the public. The girls were in the dressing rooms backstage, getting ready for their shifts as waitresses and performers. Wendy was standing at the mouth to the hallway, wearing a pink robe and waving her arms to grab my attention.

“What’s up?” I asked, walking over and taking care not to see something I didn’t intend to see.

“Crystal has a date,” she announced, practically bouncing on her toes with excitement.

“Oh,” I replied, unsure of what the appropriate response should be. “Congratulations.”

“She’s been in a bit of a dry spell,” Wendy explained. “Her ex broke up with her over a year ago, and she hasn’t found anyone else who’s met her standards.”

Crystal emerged from her dressing room, wearing only a bra and sweatpants. Her hair was held back by a puffy-looking headband, and her makeup was only half-done.

Being around women in their underwear didn’t faze me nearly as much as I would’ve expected it to , e ven after just a week of working there. Actually, it was starting to feel close to normal.

“Okay, if you’re gonna air out my dirty laundry, you might as well tell him what actually happened,” Crystal said, rolling her eyes at Wendy before turning to me, arms crossed over her chest. “My ex and I were engaged. He slept with some little whore at his fuckin’ bachelor party, decided he liked her pussy more or some crap, and broke it off with me a week before our wedding. So, yeah, it’s taken me a little while to get back out there, but I can’t help that all men are cheating piles of dog shit.”

“Um …” I cleared my throat and shuffled my weight from one foot to the other. “Wow, that … yeah, that sucks. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“I bet Rev doesn’t cheat on the girls he’s with,” Wendy said, stepping in closer and laying her hand on my arm. “You ever cheat before?”

“Well, my history with women is, uh, brief, but, no, I can’t say I’ve ever—"

“Oh my God,” came an old, familiar voice.

I looked up to see Indigo Sky, standing in the hallway in a velvet purple robe, decorated with sequined stars.

I had worried she wouldn’t remember me, but those worries were squashed now by a look of obvious astonishment blanketing every one of her features. Her eyes stared wide, looking directly at me and then a big, bright smile spread across her face. She walked down the hall, coming to stand closer to Crystal, who was glancing over her shoulder with confusion.

“What?” Crystal asked.

Indigo ignored her coworker and continued to stare at me. “When Saul said he hired a guy named Rev, I wasn’t sure it was you, but—"

“How many guys named Rev have you met?” I asked, nervously tucking my hands into my pockets, just to give them something to do.

“Just the sweetest one,” she replied, her eyes meeting mine as her smile went from excited to shy. “But I might be biased.”

“Oh, get outta here,” I said, laughing and shaking my head. Playing it cool while my heart became a shaking idiot in my chest.

Wendy looked from Indie to me, her finger pointing back and forth between us. “Wait, are you telling me you know each other?”

“Not—"

“Well—"

Indigo and I both began to speak at once, then laughed awkwardly.

“Rev came into the club years ago,” she said, fiddling with the robe’s long sash, tied at her waist. “We talked a little bit.”

She didn’t say as much, but her eyes glittered with the reassurance that she did, in fact, remember me. The dance. The kiss. I was glad she hadn’t divulged the details of that night to her friends, and I was even gladder that I’d made an impression.

Wendy and Crystal shared a glance, then burst with laughter.

“They ‘talked,’” Wendy mocked, using her fingers for air quotes.

“Right. Talked. Sure .” Crystal snickered, rolling her eyes over her shoulder to pin Indigo with a knowing look.

My gaze dropped to the floor, and my cheeks burned with every ounce of my embarrassment, but my smile couldn’t be contained. Indigo scoffed at her friends, demanded they knock it off, and retreated to the dressing room to finish getting ready for work without missing a beat.

And me?

Well, I was relieved.

I had talked to her. I had seen her again. And it was good. She remembered me, and she knew I remembered her. If something else came from that, cool, but if not, it was just nice to know I was as worth remembering to her as she was to me.

***

Saturdays at Midnight Lotus were about as crazy as I’d expected them to be.

At all hours, there was a line lingering along the sidewalk outside the club. Every time a group left, I permitted another to enter, and for the most part, it was going smoothly.

Twice, I had to turn someone away for being intoxicated.

Once, I had to use force to make them leave.

Saul was working security detail inside, manning the hall to the dressing rooms and keeping the crowd from getting too rowdy with the dancers. I thought I might be better suited for that job. I was younger, bigger. But I didn’t push it, assuming they were still feeling me out. I’d only been an employee for about a week after all, and how the hell did they know they could trust me to protect the ladies?

Little did I know, I was about to prove myself that night.

Scott had just brought out a bottle of water for me, so I was surprised to see him come back out again so soon.

“Rev,” he said, urgency in his voice, “there’s a situation. Saul needs you inside. I’ll stand out here.”

I didn’t ask questions. I just nodded. “Okay.”

The club was dark, and though the music was thumping, there was nobody onstage. Customers muttered among themselves, asking what was going on and if they should leave. I moved around the perimeter, looking for a clue on where to go.

Then, I saw them.

The girls, huddled in the hallway outside the private rooms.

I walked with purpose toward them and asked, “What’s going on?”

Wendy grabbed my arm and pulled me forward, leading me toward one curtained-off room. “Some guy got a little too rough. Saul came in and got his ass handed to him. Sam is holding the guy back, but we need you until the cops get here.”

I glanced behind me, taking note of which girls were in the hallway. “Rough with who?”

She didn’t answer before opening the curtain, and the first person I saw was Indigo.

Her makeup was streaked from crying. Her bottom lip was split and bloodied. My gaze dropped to her exposed, naked breasts and the tattered remains of her thong. She tried to cover herself up with crossed arms and precariously placed hands, but with little success.

I turned to find Saul in a corner with a bloody gash on his forehead, one hand clutching his arm. Then, in the other corner was a crazed-looking beast of a man, seething and barely being held back by Sam.

I peered through the curtain and said to Wendy, “Get a cloth and some ice from the bar. You said the cops were coming?”

She nodded. “And an ambulance.”

“Okay.”

I turned back into the room as Wendy ran off to get what I’d asked for. I could’ve gone to Saul, could’ve helped Sam, and I would. But first, I went to Indigo.

Unbuttoning my jacket and sliding my arms from the sleeves, I asked, “Are you all right?”

She laughed through the tears trickling down her face. “Occupational hazard.”

Using my body to block hers from the guy’s wild-looking stare, I laid my suit jacket over her shoulders. She gave me a weak smile as she held it around her body.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Yeah, no problem.”

Then, I turned and headed toward Saul, crouching in front of him. “You good?”

The gash on his forehead was still bleeding; the shoulder of his gray jacket was wet with fresh blood. I couldn't see what exactly was wrong with his arm, but he wasn't groaning, and he hadn't lost the color in his cheeks, so I assumed he wasn't too badly hurt.

“I’ll live,” he grumbled, glaring at the guy in the corner. “Don't worry about me though. Take care of that piece of shit. Cops should be here any second, and we don’t want him running.”

With a nod, I slowly stood and turned to the man still being held by Sam.

He was a big, bald son of a bitch, solid and hulking at a rough six foot four. Too big to be subdued for long by my boss, who was roughly six foot even and strong for his age, but probably not strong enough to hold out for the cops to show up.

I took a step forward in their direction, tipping my head and studying the man who was already sizing me up. Dragging his wicked eyes over my frame until he met my glare, a sinister smile stretching across his lips.

"Where's your hook, Captain?"

I smiled, remembering all those times Nate had told me I could be a pirate and take revenge on all the people who'd ever hurt me, ever said shit about me, ever done anything to make me feel bad for something I couldn’t help. I never had. Never found a good enough reason to. And, you know, maybe that was because I'd been smaller back then. Weaker. I never would've stood a chance against those kids then. That was why I had to hide behind Nate. That was why I used him as much as he used me. He was cruel and mean, and I’d had the nice things he'd lacked, like food and a safe place to land.

But I wasn't hiding behind Nate anymore, I wasn't weak, and while I didn't give a single fuck what anybody said about me, I did give a fuck that he had hurt her.

"You got jokes, huh?" I asked, rolling up my shirtsleeves to my elbows. I glanced at Sam and said, "Let him go. Take care of Saul."

Sam didn't ask if I was sure. Didn't question if I could handle this motherfucker, who was high on something he’d probably popped in the restroom because I sure as hell wouldn't have let him in with his eyes looking as dilated as they did right now. Sam just nodded and quickly stepped away to help Saul up and out of the room.

The dude rotated his wrists, working out the kinks from Sam’s grip on him. He eyed me with what I was sure he thought was a menacing glare, but there was nothing threatening about him. Men— people —like him … they were small, pathetic. They preyed on the weak, the ones unlikely to fight back, to fill themselves with the power they lacked in their pitiful lives.

This asshole thought he'd gotten lucky tonight. He thought he'd get away with denying an unsuspecting woman of all control and steal it for himself.

But he’d walked into the wrong club.

"You know, you might be onto something though," I said, flexing my hands before balling them into fists.

The guy didn't respond. He wasn't even looking at me. His beady gaze was trained behind me; his tongue flicked out to lick his dry, scaly lips, and when I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Indigo, still standing where I'd left her. Watching.

I threw a swift punch to his nose, the cartilage crunching beneath my knuckles.

"Motherfucker!" he cried, cupping his hands over his face. "You broke my fucking nose!"

"Well, you're being rude," I reasoned before continuing, "An old friend of mine used to think I should be a pirate, and I told him pirates are bad. But you know—"

"What the fuck are you even talking about?" the guy asked, shaking his head and staring at me from behind his cupped hands.

I snagged one of his wrists, twisting his arm behind his back and wrapping my other arm around his beefy neck. His free hand grappled with my arm as he gasped, behaving as though I were choking him when I wasn't.

I was only holding him still, making him an easy target.

"I think maybe some pirates are just Lost Boys who got tired of being kicked around," I said, my mouth pressed against his ear and my gaze …

My gaze was on Indigo.

She stood there in the corner, wearing nothing but my suit jacket and her stilettos. Under better circumstances, I might say I'd never seen something hotter than the sight of her right now. But this wasn’t that kind of circumstance. Right now, her lip was swollen and bleeding. The tattered remains of her underwear had slipped down her thighs to hang, shredded, around one ankle. Her makeup was messed up, and her hair was disheveled. I could only imagine what hell this asshole had put her through before anybody had the chance to intervene.

She deserved her revenge.

"I got him," I told her, tightening my hold on both his wrist and neck. "He's not gonna hurt you again if you wanna take a swing at him."

Her eyes rounded with surprise, and her lips parted. "But … the cops—"

"Guy strung out on some heavy shit assaults an innocent woman. You think they're gonna split hairs over you getting a shot in?"

She hesitated for a moment longer before making up her mind. Then, she walked confidently over to where we stood. Not knowing what she had in mind, I made sure my grip was tight and that he wasn't going to reach out and grab her with the hand still wrapped around my arm.

Her face scrunched up as she mustered every ounce of hatred she held for this man and probably countless others. Then, she planted her hand against his shoulder, wound her leg back, and kneed him square in the nuts, knocking the wind right out of him.

"Asshole," she spat at him as I held onto his wheezing body, even as his knees gave out. "Disgusting, degrading piece of shit."

For good measure, she pulled back her fist and punched him in the jaw. Then, she turned around and stormed out of the room.

I had never been more attracted to someone in my life.