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“He’s been locked up for a couple of years. His sentence is for twelve, but with good behavior, his lawyers say he could get out earlier.”

“And you said you haven’t seen him in a while?”

“I’ve actually only seen him twice since I was eighteen … so, I guess twice in the last thirteen years. Both of those times, he ran away from problems back home. The first time he came to visit me was shortly after I’d left home. His longtime girlfriend broke up with him, and he wasn’t in a good headspace. Then years later, he showed up on my doorstep, and I knew it had to be bad.” Tipping my head back slightly, I watched as the skyscrapers disappeared and the only view out my window was the desert landscape.

“He’d been so fucked up for the few days he was here that I didn’t know if what he was telling me was even true or not. He didn’t go into great detail—it was all slurred for the most part. But he told me his ex-girlfriend’s dad was killed in a hit-and-run, and he had something to do with it. I didn’t know the full story until his sentencing.”

“I’m sorry, that must have been really hard to watch your brother go through all of that.” He paused, before asking, “Is he younger than you?”

“Logan is actually my twin brother.”

I could already tell what was going through Hunter’s head. Twins were more often than not inseparable.

“Do you mind me asking why you haven’t visited him?”

“That’s a story for another time.”

Hunter pulled his hand from my leg, almost as if my time was up, and he didn’t seem to think I needed to be comforted anymore. I wasn’t going to tell him that I was disappointed, especially because I couldn’t even figure out for myself why the loss of his touch upset me.

“Understood.” He cleared his throat before looking over his shoulder to switch lanes. “Well, I really appreciate you opening up to me and giving me a little bit of insight. It feels nice to get to know the other side of you.”

I wish there was an easier way to get all the serious conversation out of the way, because quite frankly, it was killing the vibe.

“Oh, you mean other than the part of me that works at a sex club?” I joked.

Hunter’s jaw hardened, mulling over his answer before letting it out. “To be fair, that’s the only side of you I’ve been able to get to know.”

“Do you like that side of me?” I asked, not knowing exactly why I cared.

“I don’t love the image of you and another man together in any capacity, but I wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t accept what you did for a living.”

Typically, it was easy for me to turn and burn men, because nine times out of ten, they only saw me as a stripper, entertainer, or dancer. No one wanted to bring that kind of woman home to meet their family. So, I made peace with the fact that I wasn’t relationship material and fully embraced my playgirl ways.

When I moved to the city and picked up my first gig as a stripper, I put my foot down when it came to men. I finally had stability for the first time in my life—because of my job—and I wasn’t going to simply give it all up to be in a relationship that would ultimately fall apart.

So, I set rules and boundaries. Fucking a guy more than once was a huge no-go for me. There was no point in getting attached when I could find something equivalent elsewhere.

Until Hunter came around and jumbled all of my thoughts, flat out making it known that he didn’t judge me for what I spent my time doing every night.

“Well then, I’m sure you’d be happy to know that not all members are men then.” I shrugged, digging around in my bag to see if I remembered to bring some road snacks. Coming up short, I asked, “You don’t happen to have any snacks, do you?”

“You can’t just allude to the fact that you entertain the company of women and expect me—as a grown ass man—to ignore that bit of information to fetch you some snacks.”

I wanted to laugh out loud, but instead, I chose to fuck with his head just a little more.

“Hunter...” I reached my hand around the back of his neck, toying with the blond hair that poked out from his backward hat. “Please tell me you have some road snacks.”

Even though he was driving, he leaned into my touch as much as he could without fully shutting his eyes and crashing the vehicle.

“If I give you snacks, will you tell me more about the members at The Royale that aren’t men?” He caved.

“We might have to table this conversation for later. I would hate for you to get so turned on that you have a hard time driving. We have places to be, Hunter.” I stroked the sensitive skin behind his ear, waiting for him to give up the goods.

“You know it’s impossible to say no to you, right?”

“I’ve heard that a time or two.”

“Behind my seat is a grocery bag. I brought a little bit of everything. Didn’t know what you liked, so there something sweet, spicy, salty, sour⁠—”