In My Dreams It's Me And You

Brian's POV

This was so boring.

Sure, for the first five minutes it was quite amusing to watch Johnny try to balance a shot glass on his nose, but after that the novelty soon wore off. The others seemed happy enough to rally round him though, but I put that down to alcohol.

“What's up Bri-Bri?” Chloe slurred at my side, having crawled across everyone in the booth.

During this she had managed to fall onto Johnny, breaking the fourth shot glass for the night. I passed him another before replying to Chloe with a shrug. “Bored.”

“Well... that's not fun.” Chloe reached over and grabbed the shot glass just as it was balanced perfectly on Johnny's nose, dipping it in a random glass of beer and downing it despite the scowl on his face. As she tried to place it back on the table she accidentally overbalanced and ended up leaning on me, a sheepish grin turning to me as she leaned in to whisper, planting a drunken kiss on my cheek. “Just watch the show. You'll enjoy it.”

As she crawled back over to Zacky after he protested against her actions I couldn't help but wonder what is meant to be so great about this show. Luke had said the same thing, but neither of them went any further to explain why. It didn't take long for me to think about it though because then the lights dimmed,the dance music that had been playing earlier now replaced with distinctly heavier sounds.

The shot glass act lay forgotten as five silhouettes appeared on the stage in the middle of the room, a variety of shouts and whistles accompanying the music just as it shifted into Marilyn Manson's version of Tainted Love.

Unfortunately for Zacky and Matt their respective partners had positioned their hands over their eyes, stopping them from watching.

“Aw, come on!” Zacky protested, all the while trying to peel off Chloe's fingers. “This isn't fair!”

Chloe opened her fingers slightly so that he could see her, frowning as she replied, “Would you prefer to be single? Since you are heading the right way about it.”

“No.” He paused in his efforts for now, instead choosing to point out how unfair it was through words. “It's still not fair though. You aren't doing this to anyone else.”

She chuckled in response, twisting herself on his lap so that Val came into view, mimicking her position on Matt. The difference however laid in the fact that Matt accepted his fate unlike Zack, resulting in a sharp slap in the back of the head that made everyone sorry for the guy.

“Ow! Come on Clo!” Zacky cried, his arms waving wildly until he pointed directly at me in an accusatory fashion. “What about Syn? He has a girlfriend too.”

I kicked him under the table for that, uncaring for how hard I actually did it.

Chloe sighed, momentarily dropping her hands from his eyes and onto her lap. “Would you prefer to look at those girls then? And here I thought I was enough for you.”

Her downcast expression was enough to make even me feel guilty, making the wanted impact on Zacky as he picked up her hands and placed them back over his eyes. What he didn't see however was the large grin she shot Val in triumph, obviously having faked the whole act. Then again who was I to care- I could watch it.

One of the girls in particular I couldn't take my eyes off- she had a gorgeous body with curves in just the right places and a killer smile. The ringleader style jacket she was wearing just made her even sexier, except instead of covering the whole of her chest it only barely reached over her breasts, teamed with the black lace underwear she was wearing. Her hair tumbled down her back in loose curls while a black fedora was positioned on top, tilted just enough so that I couldn't make out any more of her face than her smile.

Hell, she could be the fucking ringleader of my circus any time.

“You got a girlfriend?”

I hadn't realised that she had come over until she spoke, having stepped across the various tables lining the floor to ours, uncaring for the glasses she knocked over as she continued to sway to the music. The bright blue eyes under the brim centred on me held a hint of mischief, complimenting the sly grin on her lips.

“Taken, unfortunately,” I replied. Even though I said this I couldn't help but keep watching her, helpless as she just drew me in closer with each movement.

“That is unfortunate. But I wonder for who? Me, or you?”

Before I knew what I was saying I replied, “How about both?”

There was no reply as the music ended, stepping off the table and onto the floor next to the booth. She was even more beautiful up close- leaning across to me and kissing me fully on the lips, teasing me with her tongue for a few moments before breaking away with a cheeky wink.

“Maybe we'll have to see if another time is more fortunate then,” she murmured, her finger trailing down my lips. She said no more as she walked back to join the others on the stage, expertly sliding around one of the poles to the music.

When I eventually looked away the others- with an exception of Matt and Zacky- were looking at me oddly, with Jimmy and Johnny merely staring at me open-mouthed while Val and Chloe just raised eyebrows.

“What? You said to enjoy the show.”

“What did he do?” Zacky asked Chloe, obviously having to use her since her hands were still clamped over his eyes.

“Made out with one of the strippers,” she replied. She didn't sound as bothered as I thought she would be, especially considering her and Nathalie were friends.

Not that Zacky shared her feelings. “Man Syn, what about Nat?”

I frowned. “Nothing happened.”

“Dude...” Johnny began, still holding the same, shocked expression.

“Doesn't make things right,” Zacky replied haughtily, earning a smile from his blind-inducing girlfriend.

“Dude...”

I ignored Johnny. “It's not like she has to know anyway. This is a strip club, what does she expect?”

“Dude...” Johnny repeated once again, forcing me to turn to him.

“For fuck's sake, what?!”

He gestured over to where the stripper had returned to on the stage, just as she separated herself from the others and came to the front. “That was Nat.”

I was taken back. “....What?”

“That. Was. Nat,” he repeated slowly, accenting each word so that there was no mistake.

“No way,” I replied, shaking my head.

There was no way that was Nat, surely I'd recognize my own girlfriend if I saw her? And I would have know about this if she worked as a stripper here; it's not like it is an easy secret to keep. There was one thing however that suddenly make me realise that Johnny was right about her- she was wearing my hat.

Without really knowing why I left the booth and marched over to the stage, for some reason fuming- not over the fact she had hidden this lifestyle from me, but because she had stolen my hat without asking- with my arms folded right across my chest as Nathalie made her way over. She was still performing as we talked, but just reduced her movements to swinging around the pole instead of the more extreme moves her fellow strippers were doing.

“Couldn't wait?” She asked seductively, gripping onto the pole with one hand and leaning over the stage to me. “I didn't think you were one for public display.”

“I know it's you,” I stated, then gesturing up to the fedora upon her curls. “And that is my hat.”

I only just about managed to catch the pout before it was replaced with a sly grin, puling the hat off and shaking her curls out in an exaggerated fashion, much to the guys' pleasure standing around me. She then placed it on my head with a wink, lightly brushing her hand across my cheek before returning her attention back to her pole antics.

For the rest of her set Nathalie decided to purposely ignore me, but all it did was make me want her to notice me even more. At times, the thought of joining her up there entertained me, but luckily the last song finished and she stepped off stage before I could consider doing it.

She curled her hand around mine as she led me away from the stage and out back, her lips brushing against my skin as she whispered to me. “And now, the real show begins.”