back!”
A false promise comes off my lips. “Definitely.”
Another wave of the dancing lights rolls through the club highlighting the lounge couches against the wall, the glass tables perched in front, the brown brick that's similar to what J Money is encased in, covering all the walls, while the rest of the place is filled with chrome décor. The railings, the dance poles, and even the bird cages for the girls hired to dance and girls who drunkenly crawl inside, are made of chrome.
Ben stops on the side of the bar where Kameron is swaying her low cut jean hips around, showing off her dance moves as much her drink making abilities, giving an extra show when she lets drops of lemon juice trail down between her tits that are sticking out in her red spaghetti strap shirt. The bar that acts as a perfect accent to the outfit is built into the brick wall. It has red back lights, which tie into the red lights that are now rolling through this place as well as the red stripes on the couches. Kameron's eyes catch a glimpse of me and I see a slight twinkle in them before she winks.
Yes. Yes I did. Twice. Hey! We're just friends now! Besides, she's dating Kaleb, one of the lower deck bartenders. Apparently she was looking for a little more than a fuck buddy on Wednesdays and I couldn't see myself ever offering her more than that. What do you mean why Wednesdays? It's typically a slow day...
She pushes a button behind one of the bottles and the wall slides to the side. I follow Ben inside making sure to close it behind us.
“Why do we need to see Vinnie? Races were last night.”
“I wanna see who's on the board for next week. Plus there's a couple other races in Lake View I wanna check into. Those rich brats always shell out cash first and check under your hood later.”
True. Most of the time, the dick's who lose the most, think just because we're not flashing our shit all over town for an ego boost that we ain't packin'. The look on their faces every time they lose is worth it.
“Wait.” I stop him at the top of the stairs that lead to the underground level underneath the active club. “Last time you were in Lake View, you got arrested.”
“But the money―”
“Jumps out of pockets just fine here.”
“The prices we're talking cuz...”
“Really Ben? You can’t get enough of jail? Because that's what I'm hearing. You've been busted four times―”
“Three and half. That lady cop let me go when I showed her new ways to use her handcuffs.”
I would judge except I would've done the same thing once or twice. Come on...you know you like handcuffs too.
“One more and your ass ain't comin' out.”
“You know that last time wasn't my fault. I couldn’t help it,” he whines. “That turtle neck wearing prick revved their engine and―”
“And you gave in knowing damn well you couldn’t afford to race any more! That's the shit I'm talking about Ben! We race when it's set up. When the crowd is ready. When the cops are paid off. You know this and don't fucking follow the code anyway. You're gonna get locked up or in some shit even Madden can't pull your ass out of.”
Ben screws his jaw and looks away. Clearly annoyed he grunts, “Can we just go see Vinnie? I won't fucking sign up for shit. Deal?”
I nod and he starts down the stairs.
Look, Ben's fam. His mom, my aunt, filled in mom moments when Knoxie couldn't. His dad ended up in prison right alongside ours. They both made us vow to take care of all the McCoys. To take care of each other. Or at least that's what Madden says. I don't fucking know. I barely remember them. Regardless, Ben stirs up shit sometimes just to remember how it smells. It's not good. And it fucking worries the hell out of me because I know one of these days it's gonna get him killed.
Underneath the bottom of Olympus is another bar that's not to be discussed. Most people have no idea it