Stripped

Life In Color

"Please, I beg you. I don't need to experience this. I'm good! I really don't want a private lap dance!"

Annie abruptly sat me down on the chair in the middle of the suite.

"Too late, Maine," she whispered in my ear and giggled as she held me down on my shoulders.

"Ready or not, here we come!!!"

Our friends yelled from the other side of our hotel suite door just two seconds before they came barreling in with arms held high and drinks in hand. A smiling tall man trailed behind them, wearing a black sleeveless button down shirt tucked in ripped dark jeans, and black Doc Martens. I gaped at how good looking the stripper was. He obviously knew what to wear to highlight his uhm... assets. He squinted his eyes when he got inside, maybe adjusting to the dimmed lights, and reached us in five big strides from the door. He looked around and then smiled naughtily upon seeing me and the glittery red Bride To Be sash I was forced to wear.

My eyes, however, zeroed in on his confident stance, very toned arms, and huge veiny hands. He must've worked out or done quick pumps before the gig. The undone top button of his shirt revealed a single mole on the side of his thick neck and his chest looked like it was carefully carved by God. This apparition made me wander to places I very rarely go to and I briefly wondered if his mole was a tickle spot.

I imagined having those strong arms throw me on the bed or just simply wrap around my body while I rest my head on his firm chest and--

Holy crap! Get your shit together, Nicomaine Dei!

"Like what you see?" His deep voice made me look up from his chest to his adam's apple, to his plump lips, and then his eyes, but I immediately looked away and almost slapped myself.

The bedimpled man smirked down at me when he realized that I couldn't look him in the eyes. I pretended I could and ended up staring at his straight nose. Then he looked around to my other friends and sucked them in his spell one by one. When they started to dance around him, it gave me a small window to pull Annie's arm and discreetly complain.

"This... is going to gyrate in front of me?" I asked through gritted teeth as I subtly pointed at the stripper with my thumb.

"Would you rather he gyrate on top of you? Relax, he seems.... fun. It's been two years, Maine. Live a little. You'll be fine." Annie said, while checking him out from head to toe.

"Fine? Ugggh... you'll owe me big time for this."

She just laughed and kissed my cheek. "I love you forever," she whispered, then joined our other friends and danced around the stripper while I sat there ogling his ass.

Damn girl, you need to get your mind out of the gutter. He's hot alright, but he's a stripper for crying out loud.

It was that awkward moment when you're supposedly the star of the night but you're just there awkwardly picking invisible lint off of your long black halter dress, watching them dance to Maroon 5's Sugar.

I sat there for a few more seconds when I noticed one of my friends whispering something in his ear. It made him slightly open his mouth and look in my direction.

Oh sweet baby Jesus, what now?

I don't understand why just the thought of him looking in my direction was already making me uncomfortable. His tongue gently moistened his lips in slow motion. I swear my heart probably stopped for a second there that I had to swallow my non-existent saliva. I wanted to look away but his eyes caught mine and I felt... trapped. Something changed in his face when our eyes met and stayed glued to each other. It's like we've already met before, in a life that's been long forgotten, that we were just now remembering. He subtly tilted his head like he was trying to read my mind and I had to mirror him because I was also desperate to know what he was thinking at that moment. For a second there, I felt that we were alone in the room.

A champagne bottle popped, I blinked, and the spell was broken.

He smiled and attempted what looked like a wink, but he failed miserably. It was the most ridiculous wink I have ever seen my entire life, that I snorted and almost keeled over laughing at him. I was holding my stomach, trying to stop laughing, when I felt the heat of his breath on my ear.

"What's so funny, baby?" His deep bedroom voice and lame attempt to be seductive just made me laugh even more. My friends who had just downed their nth full glasses of champagne were already halfway wasted to even care about what's going on, joined in and laughed with me.

"What's so funny?" He repeated. I didn't notice him take a step closer but his face was just an inch from mine, his veiny hands strongly supporting himself on the armrests of my chair. For the second time that night, I froze. His voice became deeper and the delicious smell of mint and chocolate from his breath bombarded my senses. I stopped laughing and closed my mouth shut.

I followed his eyes as they roamed around my face from my hairline to chin. I felt the hitch in his breath when his mouth slightly opened as his eyes carefully traced my top lip to the corner of my mouth. I swear I could almost feel his tongue trailing down to my jaw. It was so damn hot that I wanted to squirm in my seat but I felt paralyzed by the way his torso leaned over me. His eyes continued their trail to my neck, then abruptly, he stood straight and hooked his thumbs on his belt buckle as he took a couple of backward steps away from me.

When the space between us gave me a chance to breathe, it also gave me a closer full view of him and the bulge that could easily give the highest paid Chippendale a run for his money.

Damn, self, calm the fuck down.

It's been so long since anyone has stirred anything in me and I don't know if I should be happy that it's this guy.

When Annie came back from the suite's kitchen holding a half bottle of Patron in one hand and a couple of shot glasses in another, I knew she was on track to get all our friends totally wasted. She poured one and offered it to the stripper, who chugged it in one go without hesitation. All my friends cheered and waved dollar bills at him. When Annie poured the last shot, I thought she was going to give it to me, but ended up downing it herself. I watched my friends all jump and cheer for her while I tried to shake off the weird feeling of the stripper's eyes on me as he entertained my friends with his body rolling or whatever that sexy dance he was doing to R Kelly's Ignition.

"This is the best day of my life!!! Wooooh!!!" Annie yelled at the top of her lungs and raised her empty shot glass, while our other friends cheered in all their drunkenness.

When the intro to That's What I Like started playing, Annie frantically grabbed the remote of the sound system and paused the music. She was obviously getting tipsy but nowhere near our other friends who looked like they're going to pass out any second. "Shhhh... guuurrrrrls... how about... how about... uhhh we let our loverrrboy here do his job and take our... bachelorette in the room for her private dance!!!" She wiggled her eyebrows at me while air quoting the word "bachelorette."

"Yeeeees!!! Whoop whoop!!! Go get that assss!!!!" They all yelled collectively when the music came on again.

I don't know exactly what happened next, if he was pushed or he tripped and lost his balance, but I panicked and thought he was going to fall on me so I instinctively leaned back on my chair. All of a sudden, I saw my life or maybe just the dim lights of the room flash before me when the chair started to fall back and I couldn't do anything but flail my hands about, in the hopes of grabbing something to hold on to.

All I know is that I ended up enveloped in two strong arms and pressed against a wall of rock hard body.