STRIPTEASED: A Standalone Reverse Harem Romance (Roommates Book 1)

Man, this place was a dump once the customers left. Well, to be fair, it was a dump all the time, but it was harder to notice when the lights were low and all I could see on the other side of the bar were excited, horny young women. That view I didn’t mind so much.

But now there were empty glasses and spilled drinks everywhere. Even some overturned chairs. The stage was empty and rather pathetic-looking without all the spotlights. Most of the staff was gone, and the cleaners wouldn’t get here until early morning.

Austin sauntered out from backstage. “You coming?”

Now that he was done making women swoon, he was wearing black jeans and a gray sleeveless shirt. It was still warm out, even this early in the morning in September.

“Nah, I’ll meet you back home. Might be a while.” We shared a house, so usually we left together if I managed to get the bar stocked for the next shift.

“All right, see you.” Austin turned, seeming to know that his brother was approaching in some kind of psychic twin way. “Ready?”

Denver started to nod but then looked past me and frowned. “Got a straggler?”

“Yep.” I nodded toward the unconscious blonde propped up in a chair and slumped over a table in the middle of the room.

Denver moved closer, squinting at the young woman. “Anybody we know?”

The twins had a ton of female fans. Many of them were regulars, appearing night after night, living for the moment Austin or Denver would glance their way.

“Dunno.” It was hard to tell with her cheek squished against the table, partially covered by the mane of hair covering her face.

“Well, we know she can’t handle her liquor,” Austin observed.

“Why didn’t you cut her off?” Denver asked.

“I didn’t know anyone’d had too much. You know I cut off people when I can.”

Knox, our other roommate, was suddenly next to Austin. For such a huge man, the bouncer could move silently when he wanted to. He jerked his head in the direction of the unconscious young woman. “She wasted? Why didn’t you give me a code yellow?”

Code yellow was a system we’d made up for women who looked too intoxicated to make their own decisions. Of course, I tried not to let it get to that point, but the fucking management encouraged heavy drinking on the premises. The overpriced drinks consumed by swooning bridal parties were their biggest moneymakers, especially on Fridays, like tonight.

The profits also increased the nights that Austin and Denver stripped. Those nights attracted not just gaggles of screaming young women, but men, too. Some were there to watch the show, but others were there to watch the girls. A fraction of them were creeps who were all too happy to swoop in when a young woman was drunk off her ass. Of course, they usually didn’t factor Knox into the equation until it was too late.

“I didn’t know, okay?” My tone was more abrupt than I’d intended. I didn’t like seeing women in that state. Even if they avoided predators of the human variety, they’d be sick as hell in the morning. I hoped the passed-out young woman didn’t have any big plans for the day.

“Hard to lose track of a blonde like that,” Austin said.

He wasn’t wrong. The young woman had a full head of silky blonde hair with a hint of red in it. Of course, it looked less impressive lying limply against a sticky table. I shook my head, irritated more with myself than with Austin. Still, it had been a long shift and his words rankled. “Most of the time I can’t see over the heads of the women crowding the bar. You’ve got a much better view when you’re up on stage swinging your dick around.”

Austin strode over and touched the young woman’s shoulder. “Miss? You okay?” When there was no response, he peered at what was visible of her sleeping face. “Oh, her.”

“You know her?”

“Only that she’s cute and shy. She didn’t seem into our act at first, but eventually she loosened up and started screaming her head off.”

“Alcohol will do that.” I saw that every evening.

“Not that she went crazy or anything like that. She threw a bill at me from about five feet away. Too scared to get close.”

“Maybe she just has good taste and was waiting until I got to her side of the stage,” Denver said.

Austin didn’t even pretend to be incensed the way he would’ve if I’d said something like that to him. The twins knew each other too well—sometimes they seemed to share a mind even though their personalities were quite different. I guess if you’ve been with someone since the womb, you know them inside and out.

Not wanting to bother with taking the long way around, I hopped over the bar and moved to Austin’s side. Up close, I recognized her as the young woman with the sad eyes from earlier. “Oh, her. One of the brides.”

“Really?” Austin asked. “This was her bachelorette party?” I nodded. “Man, I didn’t get that vibe at all. Don’t we have any extra sashes around here? You should’ve given her one. We would’ve treated her extra special.”

I shrugged. “She didn’t seem to be that kind of bachelorette.”

Austin was still staring at the girl. “I can’t believe she’s getting married. She didn’t even look happy most of the night—at least until her bloodstream reached 80% alcohol.”

Knox glared at me. “Which shouldn’t have happened.”

I held up my hands. “I only served her one damn drink. The other women she was with must’ve bought her some. They all left, and I thought she went with them. When Thing One and Thing Two are on stage, they attract half the women in town. It gets pretty damn busy.”

After that, there was a moment of silence, though not an uncomfortable one. Then Denver said, “Well, let’s find out where she lives so we can get her home.”

He put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Since I’d been all but shouting a few seconds ago, it seemed unlikely to work. “Miss? Time to wake up.”

No response, naturally.

Knox stooped down, reached under the table, and then tossed a small black purse onto it. Good. That would help.

Denver was already opening the small bag. He pulled out a driver’s license, but even from here, I could see that it was the wrong color. “She’s from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.”

“Great. Do you guys want to drive or shall I? We should get there by late evening.” I was all for treating a woman like a lady—unless she requested otherwise—but that was carrying chivalry a bit far.

“Huntingdon? That sounds made up. Is it a fake ID?” Austin asked.

Denver tossed the license to me since I encountered questionable licenses on a regular basis. “Doesn’t look like it.”

Knox was still staring at her. “What’s her name?”

“Emma McColm. She’s twenty-four.”

Austin swore under his breath. “What the fuck is she doing so far from home?”

“Maybe she and her fiancé are visiting someone here in the great state of Tennessee,” Denver said with an exaggerated twang in his voice.

“That’s it, her fiancé.” Austin snapped his fingers. “The dude’s got to be in her phone. If we can get in it, I mean.”

Denver fished her phone out of her purse. “It’s not password protected.” He scrolled through her contacts with a slight frown on his face. “She’s not big on calls. There are only a few male names here. I’m not sure which one the fiancé is.”

“Emma.” I put my hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly. Her silky hair, somewhere between blonde and red, fell over my fingers. “Emma, wake up.”

Her body stirred under my hand and she mumbled something.

I tried again. “Emma, we need to call your fiancé to come get you. What’s his name?”

She mumbled again, and I leaned over her, putting my ear close to her mouth. It felt wrong to notice the warmth radiating from her dewy skin, but I couldn’t help it. She murmured something again—this time I caught it. “Jack? That’s his name?”

She shook her head slightly, her eyes still closed. “Cass.”

“Like Cassie?” Denver still had her phone. “Neither of those names is in here.”

“If her fiancée is a woman, why would she come here for her bachelorette party?” Austin wondered out loud.

I tried again. “Come on, Emma, try to focus. Is your fiancé named Jack or Cass?”

“Jackass,” she said, clearly enough for us all to hear.

Austin laughed, and a moment later we all were. Well, all except Emma. She appeared to be out again and wouldn’t rouse when I shook her. This was getting us nowhere fast. “Look for the last person she texted.” My patience was a bit thin. I wanted to be outside, breathing in the fresh night air, not the alcohol fumes from this shithole.

“Good idea,” Denver said. “She—oh, crap.”

“What?” Austin and I said together as I straightened up. Emma’s hair fell over her face again.

“I found him.” Denver looked glum. “It looks like he’s the ex-fiancé.”

Austin grabbed the phone from his brother and I peered at the screen over his shoulder. Holy shit. “He dumped her?”

“At her bachelorette party?” Austin added.

“By text?” Knox was incredulous. “That’s a shit move.”

“It’s cold,” I agreed.

“And really fucked up,” Austin added.

At least we were all in agreement about that. I ran a hand through my hair. “So what do we do with her?”

“What else can we do?” Denver said. “We take her home with us.”

“Guess so,” Austin said.

We all looked at Knox. Any of us could have picked her up, but that was just how it worked with us. If you needed someone who understood women, you turned to Denver. If you needed someone to tell jokes and goof off with, you went to Austin. If you needed to spend time with an all-around charming, good-looking guy, you came to me. But if you needed someone carried, you went with Knox. He had a body made for lifting people. Hell, he had a body made for lifting boulders.

“Welcome to town, Emma McColm,” Austin said as we followed Knox out of the club. “So far, it seems like you’ve had one hell of a trip.”