theperfectawful
last night in the bittersweet
98 posts
Daphne, 29. Minors DNI. I love Dieter Bravo. I follow/like from @burt-reynolds
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theperfectawful · 12 hours ago
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My Dieter playlist
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theperfectawful · 7 days ago
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Having toxic situationship w your ex Lucien De Leon feelings
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theperfectawful · 3 months ago
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Man in Restaurant Booth, Weirton, WV, Photo by Jerome Liebling, 1982
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theperfectawful · 3 months ago
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BOYFRIEND!DIETER BRAVO Aries • ENFP • Eucalyptus and mandarin scents • Obsessed with the vastness of space and stargazing, to the extent he named a comet after himself. Insists 'Dieter's comet' sounds way better than Halley's • Regular grump in the mornings • Yoga and meditation enthusiast • Artistic and has his own art studio in his home, which he does not permit anyone to enter. You went in there once and he sulked for two weeks • Neurotic tendencies • Has absolutely no qualms in going out in his pyjamas to do his grocery shopping or just for a stroll • Deadly allergic to peanuts, to the point you carry several Epipens with you now as he invariably eats them by mistake, and far too often • Has a yurt and firepit in the garden • Terrified of mimes. Punched one once when it got too close • Regularly donates his time and money to an alpaca, goat and ostrich farm • Indulges in deep, philosophical conversations well into the night. If weed or shrooms are involved then all the better • Can memorise all his script lines with perfect recall after just one or two reads, but forgets people's names instantly • Can't cook for shit, but will argue that he can. "Cooking frozen pizza is cooking, babe" • Keeps a detailed journal of his dreams and his interpretations of them • Can speak fluent Klingon but tells you it's just a throat warming excerise to practice his lines • Accidently threw up on his own Hollywood Star when he got too excited over it. He keeps the pap photo of that projectile moment framed in his office • Keeps a meticulous herb garden and brews his own herbal teas. Yes, he also grows "herbs" of a different kind in it, too • Has an extensive collection of vintage scientific instruments, including old microscopes • Owns a vending machine he’s converted into a quirky foreign snack dispenser for guests • Has a habit of speaking in haikus when feeling particularly whimsical • Convinced his house is haunted by a ghost he's named Rudiger. Says no one knows him, not really, except Rudiger because Rudiger once possessed him and now knows him inside out • Often sleepwalks, and you find him in the morning, butt naked lying prone in the grass • Definitely farts in bed • Loves snuggling, and equally loves it when you call him your "little snugglebug" • Regularly asks you to be big spoon • Submissive as hell and absolutely loves it when you peg him. 🖤
BOYFRIEND VIBES MASTERLIST | DIETER BRAVO MASTERLIST | MAIN MASTERLIST
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theperfectawful · 3 months ago
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you can not TELL me that's not Javier Peña dude
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theperfectawful · 3 months ago
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Waking Up in Vegas
Dieter Bravo x Stripper!Reader
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Summary: A bad night at work turns around when you meet Dieter Bravo. Word Count: ~10k Content & Warnings: Vegas nightlife, stripping, sex work, reader goes by “Bunny” at the club but is otherwise unnamed, alcohol use, douchey dudes, unwanted physical touch (not from Dieter), lap dance, unprotected PinV sex, oral sex (m!recieving), hair pulling, light choking, no sleep! bus, club, 'nother club, 'nother club, plane, next place... Author Note: Fun fact - my favorite movie ever made is Pretty Woman. I've been toying for a while with the idea of writing a fic inspired by it, and while Dieter Bravo shares approximately 0 traits with Edward Lewis, I couldn't help but imagine that kind of scenario with him. What I came up with isn't a carbon copy of the first act of Pretty Woman, but it is heavily inspired by it. If you're reading this fic and think to yourself - "did she rip that bit off from Pretty Woman?" the answer is yes! Absolutely I did. This is also my first attempt at writing a smut-heavy one-shot. Enjoy!
“Shit,” you mutter under your breath, licking the tip of your finger to smudge away the botched eyeliner wing. You lean in closer to the mirror, trying to salvage what’s left of your makeup, but your heart just isn’t in it tonight.
You’d been tempted to call out of work. Sunday nights at the club were the worst - quiet, boring, with the weekend tourists already on their way back home. The locals steered clear of the strip on Sundays, and you knew tonight would be slow, the kind of slow that made every minute drag on. The stragglers who did wander in would likely be a pain, more trouble than they were worth. But with the 1st of the month looming and you still $400 short on rent, skipping a shift wasn’t an option.
It was time to find a new club anyway. When you first started, they promised you’d be dancing, maybe bartending occasionally. But since the end of the summer, things had changed. It had been weeks since your name was on the schedule for a floor show. Instead, you found yourself waitressing almost every shift. You didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t what you came to Vegas for. This job was supposed to be a stepping stone - a way to keep dancing while making extra cash. But now, your shifts were barely covering the bills, and the weight of barely scraping by was starting to crush you.
You tried not to dwell on it too much, but the nagging thoughts kept at it. Was it something you did? Maybe you had a bad night, and someone complained. Or perhaps you weren’t making the same kind of money at the bar that you used to - maybe you weren’t pulling in enough customers. That suspicion gnawed at your confidence, making you second-guess everything you did. But beyond the sting of that potential rejection was the harsh reality of your dwindling paycheck. Dancing had been your main income, and with fewer opportunities to perform, you were struggling to stay afloat. Whatever the reason, it felt like a subtle push towards the edges of the room, away from the center stage where you’d once thrived.
You’d thought about finding another club, starting fresh somewhere new. But the thought of walking into a new place, rebuilding your reputation from scratch, learning a whole new set of unspoken rules - it felt like too much. This club was familiar, the regulars knew you, and you had a rhythm here, even if it was starting to falter.
You draw another wing on your eyelid, take a step back, and decide it looks good enough. With a sigh, you grab your things and head out into the night, hoping to make the best of whatever the evening throws your way.
“We need you in the back,” Gary says as you pass in front of his booth, not bothering to glance up from the stack of bills in his hands.
“The back?” You stop in your tracks, wobbling slightly as you balance the tray in your hands. The request catches you off guard—it's been weeks since you were called into the VIP lounges, and tonight the floor is busier than usual.
He finally looks up, splitting the stack of bills between his hands with a look that makes you feel like you’ve just asked the dumbest question in the world.
“Yeah, the back,” he repeats, his tone clipped and impatient. “Big party tonight. High rollers. I need everyone back there making sure they’re taken care of.”
You nod slowly, your feet rooted to the spot. Were you performing?
“What are you standing around for?” he snaps, irritation flaring in his voice. “They’re waiting for drinks. Go take care of our guests!”
You nod again, quicker, and start back towards the VIP lounges. You can hear them halfway down the hallway, loud, boisterous voices carrying over the heavy bass of the music.
The room is dimly lit, the air thick with cigar smoke, and you can detect at least four different Tom Ford colognes competing to choke you. Men in tailored suits lounge on plush leather couches, their conversations loud and punctuated by obnoxious bursts of laughter.
“Bunnyyyyy!” Your coworker, Angel, exclaims from where she sits perched in Suit #1’s lap like a decoration. The attention in the room shifts to you, a dozen predatory gazes following your every move. You raise your arms, tray aloft, smiling big and feigning enthusiasm as you move deeper into the den of wolves.
“Gentlemen,” you purr, embracing the act. You start around the room, introducing yourself and taking orders.
“Here comes the entertainment,” Suit #1 sneers, shamelessly staring at your chest. He requests a bottle of Clase Azul, something you could have guessed before he even opened his mouth. He leans in close as he says it, his breath hot and reeking of alcohol, and follows up his order by murmuring something you pretend not to hear. Instead, you smile and wink, moving on down the line before he can say anything else.
“Bunny, huh?” Suit #2 leers, the cigar hanging lazily from the corner of his mouth. “How about a little bunny hop, baby? You gonna give it to me?”
Sure, loser. You force a giggle, twisting your hips just enough to appease him, your skin crawling under the weight of his stare. Angel plays along, her laugh a shade too bright as she strokes Suit #1’s chest.
“Alright, baby, alright.” Suit #2 takes a long draw from his cigar, blowing the smoke directly in your face. “Dom. Bring the bottle.”
You nod. As you begin to turn away, you’re stilled by the loud clap of Suit #2’s hand smacking your ass. You yelp, stumbling forward, your tray wobbling precariously as you regain your balance. Your jaw drops as you whirl around to face him, and the room erupts in laughter, every man on the sofa doubled over in delight.
“Did you see that? She jumped like a little bunny rabbit!” one of the suits howls, slapping his knee in delight.
“Better be careful, she might bite,” another one jeers.
For a split second, you catch a glimpse of discomfort on the other girls’ faces, their masks slipping just long enough to reveal the disdain beneath. But just as quickly, they snap back into their roles, the forced smiles and hollow laughter resuming as if nothing had happened.
You swallow your anger, resisting the urge to slap the smug grin off Suit #2’s face. Instead, you keep your composure and swiftly take the orders of Assholes 3, 4, and 5, your movements automatic, your mind focused on getting through the task without any additional humiliation. When you reach the last man in the room, something about him makes you pause.
You hadn’t noticed him before, but now he stands out. His outfit is almost pajama-like - soft silk pants and a floral shirt with sheer panels that reveal glimpses of his chest. Despite the fact that you’re indoors, he’s wearing dark sunglasses, the shades resting lazily on his nose. He looks completely out of place among the tailored suits, disheveled, chestnut gray curls and half-lidded eyes suggesting he’s either too tired to keep up the pretense or too rich to care.
But his gaze isn’t any softer. Beneath his glasses, his deep brown eyes appraise you, traveling slowly down the length of your body with an interest that feels different - more curious than lecherous, but still enough to make you uneasy. Behind him, Michelle, another dancer, rubs his shoulders while chatting with one of the other Suits. You brace yourself, remembering that each of these guys seems intent on one-upping each other in sheer douchebaggery.
“What can I get you, honey?” you ask, leaning in just enough to draw his attention back to your eyes. He doesn’t answer right away, his eyes half-lidded but intense as they look straight into yours.
“Macallan,” he finally says, his voice quiet, almost bored.
Of course, you think, suppressing an eye roll. The way these guys always tried to outdo each other with pricey whiskeys was almost laughable.
“Coming right up,” you reply, adding a playful wink for good measure. He responds with the barest hint of a smirk, his eyes remaining locked on you.
Crafting drink trays for customers required a surprising amount of effort and creativity. LED lights, sparklers - some drinks even had entire plastic centerpieces that made them look more like carnival floats than cocktails. You always joked that your customers were like toddlers, so easily dazzled by shiny objects and flashy displays that they’d gladly drop thousands of dollars if the bottle was dressed up enough.
By the time you finish assembling the trays, Angel is bouncing down the hallway toward the bar. She flashes you a smile, raising her eyebrows as she exhales a puff of exasperated air.
“They’re so ridiculous,” she says, moving in to help you carry the trays. “They’re like a pastiche of lame Vegas dudes.”
You give her a curious look, eyebrows arching at the word choice.
“My word of the day,” she explains with a grin, referring to the calendar she kept in her locker. You laugh, shaking your head.
“One of them just snapped Mercedes’ bra strap, like he’s some middle school brat.”
“Oh my god!” you reply, eyes widening. “Is she pissed?”
“Beyond pissed. But Gary doesn’t care - he’ll let them get away with murder because they’re some big movie executives.” She rolls her eyes. “Super rich.”
“Assholes,” you mutter, and she nods in agreement. You light the sparkler on your tray, carefully picking it up as you prepare to follow Angel down the hall.
“You caught the movie star’s eye, though!” She teases as you walk. You look at her, trying to figure out what she means. “He was glued to you when you left. He’s barely said a word to anyone. Real moody.”
You feel a flicker of interest at the thought, but keep your expression neutral. “He’s a movie star?”
Angel nods, telling you his name - Dieter Bravo. She lists off some of his movies, shocked when you tell her you haven’t seen any of them. Now it made sense. He was one of those millionaire celebrities who dressed like they were homeless.
“You should offer him a dance!” Angel suggests, her enthusiasm undimmed by the less-than-ideal crowd tonight. You can’t help but admire her ability to stay upbeat and eager, even with a party full of entitled jerks.
“I don’t know…”
“Don’t be shy!” She bumps your shoulder playfully, her energy infectious. “He’s, like, the least gross guy in there. Someone’s going to snag him if you don’t.”
As you approach the VIP room, the sounds of raucous laughter and clinking glasses grow louder, pulling you back to reality. You glance at Angel, who’s already flashing a bright smile, ready to dive back into the chaos. She’s right - if you don’t make a move, someone else will.
With a deep breath, you make up your mind. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot,” you say, more to yourself than to her.
“Atta girl!” Angel cheers, her eyes twinkling. “Just be yourself, and he’ll be putty in your hands.”
You both step back into the room, the smoky air wrapping around you like a thick blanket. She brings the sparkling tray of Clase Azul to the left side of the room, delivering it to Suit #1 as she returns to her spot next to him. Dieter is still there at the far end of the sofa, slouched in his seat, knocking around the ice in his empty glass. His eyes meet yours as you approach, and you catch that same curious look from earlier, like he’s trying to figure you out.
You set your tray down, steadying your nerves, and pour the amber liquid into the glass of ice on the tiny table in front of him. Before you can even straighten up, you feel the light touch of his fingers on your hip. He slips a hundred-dollar bill into your waistband, his eyes never leaving your face.
“Thanks,” he murmurs, his fingers lingering for just a moment before he lets them fall away. “Do you dance?”
“I see you, Bravo!” one of the Suits hollers from across the room before you can answer, laughing boorishly. “You fuckin’ dog!”
The look on Dieter’s face suggests he finds this guy just as charming as you do.
“Atta boy! Thought you didn’t want to come tonight, bro,” another Suit teases, his tone dripping with mock affection. There’s a round of snickering from the men, their eyes flitting between you and Dieter like this is some kind of game.
“Bunny, sweetheart, why don’t you come sit over here?” one of the Suits beckons, patting his lap like he’s calling a dog. “I’ve got a tip for you, too, if you’re nice.”
You force a smile, your skin prickling with irritation, but before you respond, your gaze drifts to Dieter. He’s watching the exchange with detached amusement, his eyes holding a silent apology as he takes a long sip of his drink, setting it down on the table pointedly.
Just then, Angel’s voice cuts through the air, sugary sweet and smooth. “Are you sure, honey?”
You turn slightly, noticing that all attention has shifted to Mercedes, dancing on the pole in the center of the room. Everyone is captivated, except for Suit #1, who’s inspecting the tall bottle of Clase Azul in his hands with a look of disdain.
“I thought you wanted the Azul,” she coaxes, her hand running coaxingly along his thigh.
“I wanted the gold bottle,” he snaps, waving her off dismissively. “That’s what I asked for. I could get this shit anywhere.”
Angel’s eyes meet yours for a brief moment, the silent message clear - you brought him exactly what he asked for. She quickly shifts back to him, lifting her hand to trace it up and down the bottle.
“I love the Azul,” she purrs, attempting to soothe his growing agitation.
“Yeah? You wanna pay for it? 'Cause I wanna pay for the fuckin’ bottle I asked for,” he retorts, his tone hostile.
You stifle a retort and start across the room. The last thing you need is for Gary to come storming back here, demanding to know what the problem is.
“I’ll get you the gold bottle,” you interject, your voice calm and composed. You start to turn away, but before you can take a step, he grabs your wrist, his grip firm and possessive.
“Make it quick, sweetheart,” he growls, his grip on your wrist lingering a second too long. You force a tight smile, carefully removing yourself from his grasp.
“Of course, right away,” you reply, your heart pounding in your chest. As you head out to the bar, you notice Dieter from across the room.
His eyes are dark, shooting daggers into the man across the room. He leans back in his seat, his fingers drumming on the table and his eyes flick towards you for just a moment, his jaw clenched tight.
You grab a bottle of Clase Azul Gold from the top shelf of the bar. You don’t bother with the theatrics this time around, simply placing the bottle on the tray before starting back towards the lounge. You return to much more activity than when you left, several of the girls performing lap dances as the men lounge back, their eyes half-lidded with alcohol and lust.
Dieter hasn’t moved, but there’s a noticeable shift in his demeanor. His glass is already empty. One of the girls is perched beside him, but his gaze is fixed on you, following your every move with an intensity that’s hard to ignore.
“There it is, I knew you could do it,” Suit #1 sneers as you present the bottle, his voice dripping with sarcasm and condescension. You bite your tongue, instead forcing a smile as you pour him a glass, the golden liquid catching the dim light as it flows.
“Such a good girl,” he mocks, the words making your skin crawl.
You busy yourself with clearing ashtrays and empty glasses, stacking them on your tray with practiced precision. The constant stream of tasks provides a welcome distraction, keeping you in motion and away from the men’s leering gazes and crude comments. It’s easier to manage the discomfort when you’re moving, not lingering too long in one place.
You filled the tray, carefully moving through the crowded room. Just as you turn to pick up another glass, one of the suits reaches out, their hand brushing against your waist in a way that’s far too familiar. You flinch reflexively at the unwanted touch, and in that split second, your balance shifts.
The tray tips precariously in your hands, and before you can steady it, everything - half-full ashtrays, glasses, the first Azul bottle - tumbles forward. You watch in horror as the inevitable unfolds in slow motion.
The tray crashes onto Suit #1’s lap, drenching him in a cascade of liquor, ash and ice. The glass shatters against the table, the sound ringing out like a gunshot in the busy room. For a moment, no one moves, the shock of the accident hanging heavy in the air.
Suit #1 erupts, his face twisting with rage as he jumps to his feet, liquid dripping from his tailored trousers. “What the fuck!” he bellows, his voice booming across the room, eyes blazing with fury as he turns on you.
Angel rushes to help, dabbing and brushing at his pants with a napkin. The other suits are no longer laughing; their expressions range from shock to thinly veiled amusement, but none of them move to help. You stand frozen, your heart hammering in your chest.
“I’m so sorry,” you stammer, grabbing another napkin and mimicking Angel’s actions, your hands trembling. “I’m so sorry, I’ll get-”
“Yeah, you’re fuckin’ sorry, I’m sure,” he spits, dismissing you with a wave of his hand. He shakes off the liquid from his suit sleeve, his angry eyes darting around the room before locking onto you. “You just ruined a suit worth more than what you make in a fuckin’ year. I bet you’re sorry.”
One of the suits chuckles. Your coworkers try to distract from the chaos, each picking up where they left off, while you and Angel continue to clean up the mess. Suit #1 pushes you away harshly, storming towards the door.
“Relax, Tom,” one of the other men calls across the room.
“You fuckin’ relax!” He snaps, not bothering to turn around, his back to the hall as he brushes off Angel’s attempts to help.
Just then, Gary’s head pops into the doorway. His eyes narrow as he takes in the scene - the mess on the floor, the shattered glass, the upturned ashtray, and finally, you.
“Is there a problem here?” he asks, his gaze fixed on you, his tone demanding an explanation. You swallow hard, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks as you look down, stacking shards of glass on your tray.
“Yeah, there’s a problem,” the Suit growls, gesturing to his soaked trousers and the shattered remnants of the evening scattered around his feet. “Your little waitress here just fucked up a perfectly good night.”
“We’ll take care of everything, don’t worry” Gary’s eyes flicker to the Suit, then back to you. “We’ll comp your bottle. Don’t worry about her. I apologize.”
You’re too embarrassed to look around the room as you stand. The bass of the music throbs in the otherwise silent room, mimicking the rush of your heartbeat in your ears. You glance up at Gary, who jerks his head toward the door, signaling you to follow him out. Your cheeks burn with humiliation as you gather what’s left of the mess and shuffle out of the room behind him.
Gary sends you home for the evening, making a pointed example out of you to avoid any further risks to the tab the Suit party was racking up. The humiliation stung, leaving you frustrated and embarrassed as you stepped out into the cool night air.
It was barely 1am - you had no idea what you were going to do with the rest of this evening. Aimlessly wandering the strip, you debated your next move. Maybe it was time to start scoping out other clubs, testing the waters before word got out about tonight’s fiasco. Better to have a backup plan in place than to wait for the fallout. But the thought of lingering around another loud, smokey club felt repulsive right now.
Eventually, you found yourself at the Wynn, the sleek and glittering resort where your best friend Kat worked as a bartender. The idea of sitting at her bar and bitching to her about your disastrous night over a drink was infinitely more appealing than anything else you could think of.
The Wynn made you feel like a bum. Kat’s bar was swanky and elegant, the kind of place where everything gleamed with understated luxury. Well, understated for Vegas, anyway. The decor was all white - plush chairs and couches arranged percectly, mirrors covering nearly every surface, reflecting the soft, ambient light. Despite its elegance, the bar was quiet tonight, so you didn’t feel too out of place in your hoodie and shorts.
Kat spots you as soon as you walk in, her face lighting up with a warm smile that instantly makes you feel a little better. You slip onto a stool at the bar, sighing as the weight of the night begins to lift slightly.
“What’s up, girl?” she greets you, pouring you your usual. “You look like you’ve had one hell of a night.”
You take a sip, letting the warmth of the liquor soothe your frayed nerves, and slide a $10 bill across the bar. “You have no idea.”
She leans against the bar, her attention fully on you, and you begin to recount the night - the Suits, the accident with the tray, the way Gary had humiliated you in front of everyone. An hour passes in a blur, Kat slipping away occasionally to serve guests but always returning to listen. As you vent, the frustration and anger pour out of you, mixing with the alcohol until you start to feel a little lighter.
“What a bunch of assholes,” she says when you finish, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’ve gotta get out of there.”
You huff in acknowledgement. “I know.”
“You should audition for one of the shows here,” she suggests, wiping down a glass. “It’s the same shit every night, but it beats dealing with all of that.”
“Yeah, maybe…” you reply, though the idea feels out of reach. Your resume wasn’t exactly packed with the kind of experience that would land you a spot in a resort show.
Kat’s attention is momentarily drawn to an older couple at a nearby table, waving her over. She glances at them, then back to you. “Stick around. I’ll be done here in an hour, and we can go grab something to eat, talk it out more.”
The idea sounded perfect. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
Kat always made you feel better. You were lucky to have found her here. As she moves off to help the couple, you pull your hood up and linger at the bar, twirling the swizzle stick in your empty glass, trying to avoid drawing any more attention to yourself. Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Maybe tomorrow, with some sleep and a clearer head, you’d be able to figure out your next step.
A few minutes later, she returns, mixing up something fancy. You’re surprised when she places it in front of you, the glass hitting the marble countertop with a clink.
“Since when do you give me free drinks?” you ask, confused, as you pluck the cherry from the glass and pop it into your mouth.
“It’s not from me,” she replies, her tone mischievous. You furrow your brows in confusion, and she tips her head toward the back of the room. You turn, following her gesture, and spot Dieter sitting alone at a corner table, still wearing his sunglasses. He nods at you.
You shoot him a puzzled glance, not bothering to return the greeting, before turning back to Kat. “What the fuck?” You whisper, biting the cherry from the stem and dropping it on your napkin.
“Were you going to tell me you knew Dieter Bravo?” Kat asks, her eyes twinkling as she removes your other empty glass and places it beneath the bar.
“I don’t know him. He was at the club tonight.”
“The suits?”
“Yeah,” you answer. “He was the only one of them behaving himself.”
“Well, it looks like you made an impression.”
You take a sip of the drink, tapping your nails on the bar as your mind races.
“Is he alone?” You whisper again, even though he’s far enough away that your voice wouldn’t carry anyway. She nods in confirmation.
What was this guy’s deal? He was famous enough. Didn’t he have better things to do than follow you around and hang around a hotel bar alone at two in the morning? He could probably make a call and have a dozen eager girls in his hotel room within a half hour. What did he want with you?
You exhale sharply through your teeth, downing another big sip of your drink. “Fuck it,” you say, sliding off your stool. “Be right back.”
Kat nods. “Let me know if he needs to go,” she reassures you.
Drink in hand, you stride across the room to Dieter’s booth. You slide into the seat opposite his, setting your glass on the table. He tilts his head slightly, peering at you over his sunglasses.
“Do you make a habit of following strippers around after they leave work?” you ask, your tone sharp but not entirely uninviting.
“No, not usually.”
“Not usually,” you repeat, a hint of sarcasm in your voice. “So, I guess that means I’m special?”
He shrugs casually. “I happen to be staying here.”
“Ohh, I see… That’s lucky, huh?”
“Guess so,” he answers, taking a sip from his drink. He seems amused, clearly in better spirits since the last time you saw him, his brown eyes glimmering from behind his dark shades.
“It’s a nice place.” Your eyes wander around the room, eventually landing back on him, still eying him suspiciously.
“And what about you?” He swallows a sip of his drink, big fingers and shiny rings gesturing towards you.
“What about me?” It comes out a little harsher than you intended.
“Do you usually hang out at hotel bars alone at two in the morning?”
“I happen to have a friend who works here,” you tease his tone from before.
“Ah,” he acknowledges.
“Mmhm.”
A brief silence falls between you, punctuated only by the distant clinking of glasses and murmurs from the bar. Dieter reclines back into his seat, once again obscured by the shadows and his sunglasses.
“What’s your name?” He asks.
“It’s Bunny, honey, you knew that already.” You answer, putting on an exaggerated version of the sultry voice you use at the club.
He huffs a laugh, clearly not interested in the act. You tell him the truth.
From across the room, Kat waves an “OK?” sign with her hand, and you nod.
“So, what are you doing here all alone?” you ask, your curiosity getting the better of you. “Don’t people like you usually have an entourage?”
“You met the people I was with. Would you want to spend any more time with them than you had to?”
You grimace. “I wouldn’t want to spend any time with them at all.”
He chuckles, the sound low and warm. “Exactly.”
“Really, though. What are you doing here?” you ask, lifting your drink slightly, gesturing with it. “Why this?”
He took a moment to think, studying you. Finally, he shrugs.
“I don’t know,” he sighs, finally. “To tell you the truth, nothing in my life is exactly going as planned at the moment.”
You purse your lips and nod, then quip, “Private jet in the shop?”
“Something like that.” He laughs, the sound of it genuine. His demeanor now was night and day compared to the sullen grump you met in the VIP room.
“No, you… I know tonight couldn’t have been a highlight for you, but you’re very… real. I don’t get a lot of that these days. Plus, the guy you spilled that drink on has been pissing me off for weeks, so I had to thank you personally.”
You laugh hard, heat burning at your cheeks as you’re reminded of the incident earlier.
“Oh, well, I’m glad you liked it. If it gets me fired, I’ll at least have that.” You flash a big, genuine smile at him.
“They can’t fire you for that,” he says, shaking his head. “An asshole like that needs a drink spilled on him every once in a while.”
“I’ll let them know you said so.” You laugh into your drink. You can’t believe he actually has you giggling. Lots of big names come into the club; you haven’t been remotely starstruck in a long time, and you can’t even remember anything this guy was in. Something about him was disarming.
You take him in as you continue to chat. It’s obvious he’s a movie star now - he’s stubbly and disheveled, but he’s movie-star handsome. Brown and gray scruff covers his jaw. He’s wearing a soft, chunky cardigan over a dress shirt, the mismatched layers somehow perfectly complementing his broad shoulders and chest. It’s a look that shouldn’t work, but on him, it does. He smells good, too, not oppressive like the Suits, but nice and warm and heady.
A comfortable silence settles between you, and you find yourself relaxing, crossing your legs underneath you in the booth. He glances toward the bar, then back at you, before pushing his sunglasses up onto his head and leaning forward with his elbows on the table.
“Do you want to come upstairs with me?”
The question surprises you.
“For?” you ask, meeting his gaze directly, trying to get a gauge on his intentions.
“More of this. Some company that won’t drive me fucking crazy,” he says, his tone surprisingly sincere. His voice drops lower. “Plus, I never got my dance from you. You girls make house calls?”
Ah, there it is. Your breath catches for a moment, but you quickly regain your composure.
Briefly chastising yourself for believing this guy was any different from any other dude at the club, you worry your bottom lip between your teeth.
“That’s a bold question.”

“I’m a risk taker,” he smiles, his forehead soft and creasing slightly, somehow still endearing despite it all.

You consider it. You weren’t paid out tonight so you really need the money, and the opportunity is right in front of you. But this is new territory, even for you.

You glance over at Kat, who’s still keeping an eye on you. Turning back to Dieter, you fidget with a cocktail napkin on the table, folding it and unfolding it. “Not for free.”
“Of course not.”

“What exactly are you looking for?”
“The dance, some conversation. You can stay for the rest of the night - there’s plenty of room.”
Yeah, right. You raise an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe you just want to talk?”
“I’m not expecting anything,” he replies smoothly. “Just hoping. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“There’s lots of girls on the strip who do that sort of thing, you know.”

“I know.”
You glance at Kat once more, then back at Dieter. If you’re going to do this, you might as well take a bold swing.
“Five hundred dollars.”
“I can do that.”
Holy shit. Between that and the hundred he gave you earlier, you’d have rent and then some. You think for another moment. All you had to do was dance. You’d be done in an hour and then you could go home.
“I don’t do any weird shit,” you say. You don’t even know what you even mean by that.
He nods, accepting your terms without hesitation.
“And I’m not entertaining a party. I don’t want to meet any of your buddies up there.”
“It’s just me.” He confirms.
You think it over for another moment.
“Okay.” You say, ​​doing your best to mask the relief surging through you at the thought of that kind of money.

You finish your drink and stand up, gesturing for him to follow. Kat catches your eye and tilts her head, curious, and you shrug slightly as you walk out of the room.
As you leave the bar, you’re immediately aware of the kind of attention Dieter gets everywhere he goes. Heads turn as you walk through the lobby, you notice at least three people attempt to subtly snap photos with their phones. He seems unfazed by it - his sunglasses are back in place, but he’s calm and confident.
The hotel is huge. You haven’t even explored most of it, usually just bee-lining to Kat’s bar whenever you visit. He leads you past the main lobby, down a short corridor to a part of this hotel you’ve never seen before. Intricate gold leafing sprawls and swirls on the marble floor before you, yellow gold fixtures evoking a version of old-Vegas that has you suddenly feeling very underdressed.
It’s the middle of the night, yet the lobby is still bustling with people dressed to the nines in suits and cocktail dresses, their chatter and laughter filling the space. As Dieter walks by, he’s noticed in a more subtle way - eyes flicker toward him, a quiet recognition that follows in his wake. An employee at the front desk greets him with a smile that falters when she notices you by his side. She glances over you, her eyes taking you in with a slight but unmistakable judgment. You shrug your hoodie forward, zipping it up a bit higher as your heels click-clack against the marble, each step feeling more out of place.
Dieter’s hand spreads across the small of your back, guiding you to turn towards a trio of tall, golden elevators. He presses a key card to the wall the middle doors open, revealing the mirrored, plushly-carpeted interior.
“So,” you begin, forcing a lightness into your tone as you follow him inside, “your penthouse or mine?”
“Mmm, mine,” he replies with a soft, tired chuckle.
The elevator ride is quiet, the tension palpable but not uncomfortable. You watch the floor numbers tick upward, trying to focus on anything but the nerves building in your chest. It’s a long ride. You count the dings as the elevator rises and lose track somewhere around twenty.
You’re fucking nervous. Really nervous. You were half expecting to wake up from this fever dream of an evening at any moment. The thought that this guy has money to burn flits through your mind, and you can’t help but worry about what he might expect for five hundred bucks.
The elevator doors open directly into his suite. It is exactly what you’d expect: luxurious, sprawling. Floor-to-ceiling windows with a stunning view of the city skyline. You walk over to the wall of glass, taking a moment to steady yourself.
“This is a beautiful view,” you say, more to fill the silence than anything else.
“It’s better now,” he replies, and you turn to see him watching you intently. His glasses are finally off and his eyes are warm and inviting, sparkling with the reflection of the skyline behind you. You find yourself relaxing just a little around him.
“Want a drink?” he asks. He shrugs his sweater off and tosses it over a chair as he moves over to the bar.
“Sure,” you reply, slowly walking around the room, surveying the luxurious decor.
As he pours the drinks, you take a seat on the plush sofa. You fiddle with the tassels on a throw pillow next to you, crossing and uncrossing your legs, trying to control your fidgeting. This was all so bizarre. The opulence feels almost surreal, like you’ve stepped into someone else’s life. You were still waiting for some perverted catch to reveal itself, but at least for now, Dieter seemed like a nice enough guy.
“So, what brings you to Vegas?” You ask, trying to make conversation. “Big Cher fan?”
Her face watched you from outside the window, fifty feet tall, advertising her residency across the strip. He laughs, looking to her, then to you.
“Of course, but that’s just a coincidence,” he says, bringing you a glass of champagne. “I’m here for an award show.”
“Oh, that’s fun…” you answer, taking a long draw from your glass. “What’d you win?”
“The opportunity to present a lifetime achievement award to someone who hates me.” He answers.
You nod, frowning in acknowledgement, unsure of how to respond to that.
“Lucky you.”
“Yeah,” he says, a slight groan in his voice as he sits on the couch with you and settles in. He picks up a remote from the side table and with a press of a button, the lighting in the room shifts to a warm, amber glow, casting everything in a soft, intimate light. “Lucky me.”
You sit in silence for a moment, sipping champagne.
You’re not sure how this is done. You know how to play this part at the club, but this was different. You slip in and out of eye contact with him, surveying the room as you try not to polish off your glass too quickly. Should you ask if he wants a lap dance? Just jump on top of him? Were you supposed to ask for the money before or after?
You take a gulp and put your glass down, deciding to just shift into character like you would for any other dance. Scooting in towards him, you place your hand on his leg and run it up and down the length of his thigh. The buzz from the drinks you’ve had tonight is starting to hit, and the contact sends a jolt of something electric through your nerves. You flip your hair to one side, batting your lashes and gazing up at him.
“So,” you purr, your voice low and inviting. “What do you want?”
His eyes flick down to your hand, then back up to meet yours, a small smile playing on his lips. “What do you do?” he asks, curious.
You lean in closer, tucking yourself into the crook of his neck, your lips hovering near his ear. “I can show you,” you whisper, letting your breath caress his skin.
His eyes darken slightly, drinking you in as you let your fingers trail and explore his chest. “I’d like that,” he murmurs.
You stand up slowly, zipping your hoodie off and letting it fall to the ground.
“Music?” You ask. He points at a shelf on the wall with a set of speakers. You walk over and turn it on, Insatiable by Prince picking up midway through the track.
“Oooh, Prince,” you say, genuinely excited as you turned around. Music you actually liked was a welcome reprise from having to writhe around to Cherry Pie for the hundredth time. He smirks, leaning back in his seat, his eyes following your every move.
​​You start your routine, taking your time as you peel off your shorts and your top, giving him ample time to appreciate the view. You’re grateful you decided to keep on what you wore to work tonight - this set accentuates your curves perfectly, a far cry from the tired-looking boyshorts and nude, full-coverage bra you usually wore off-duty.
Swaying your hips back and forth to the rhythm, you begin by tracing your fingers slowly up and down your torso. For what he was paying, you figured you’d give him a show. Your fingers linger over your breasts, tracing the edges of your bra as you lower your lashes, then lift them slowly to meet his gaze to make sultry, sexy, in-character eye contact with him. He’s staring right back into you with an intensity that makes you pause for a moment, but you slip right back into it.
You walk towards him, stretching your legs out long as you cross the room. He spreads his legs slightly when you arrive in front of him, his deep brown eyes darkened several shades as he takes you in. You rest a hand on his shoulder, hitching your leg up and placing your high-heeled foot delicately on his bent knee. You watch eachother as you stand there, rubbing your leg up and down, deliberately grazing the seam of your panties a couple of times with your pinky and ring fingers.
Planting your foot back on the floor, you turn around, giving him a full view as you bend down. The fabric of your bra and panties hugs your curves just right. He runs his hands along the outside of your thighs, a long, low groan escaping him as you slowly stand back up and lower yourself backwards into his lap. You roll your hips a couple of times as you squat down, but you swallow your gasp when you finally settle in his lap.
He’s half-hard already and you can feel it, an immediate ick under normal circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances. The feeling of this hardening length against the back of your thighs sent a jolt down your spine, a buzz moving through you straight to your center. You maintain your composure, continuing to move in rhythm with the music, your fingers weaving into his hair as you grind against him. His hands find your waist, supporting your movements as they slide down towards your thighs and back up again.
You lean backwards, pressing your back into his chest and grinding into him, His breath hitches, and you can feel his grip tightening slightly, his fingers pressing into your skin.
“You’re incredible,” he growls into your neck, his teeth just nipping the tender skin there. You try not to moan, the goosebumps spreading down your arms and legs threatening to give you away.
“Mmm, yeah?” You hum, twisting around to face him and lifting your knees up to straddle his waist. Your eyes lock onto his, and a thrill buzzes in your stomach - you’re enjoying this more than you expected. He’s hot, especially up close, especially like this. His chestnut-gray curls have started to break free from their gelled-back position, framing his face in a way that makes him look irresistible.
You reach behind your back, unhooking your bra and letting it fall down. His eyes are glued to your chest as you angle it towards his face. One hand plants behind his head on the sofa and the other traces along his jawline, feeling the roughness of his stubble before settling around the back of his neck. You use it as leverage to hold yourself steady as you settle on his lap.
“You can touch me, Dieter,” you whisper, guiding his hand up your stomach until it cups your breast. He squeezes, his grip firm and possessive, fingers trailing across your delicate skin, making your nipples harden under his touch.
The fingers of his other hand dig into the flesh of your thighs, his eyes locked onto your body. His hands guide your lower half as you rock to the beat of the music, encouraging your barely-covered pussy to drag again and again along the shape of his throbbing cock.
You try to remember that you’re working - that he’s a client, that this is a job, that you’re not here to enjoy it. You try to focus on the music and moving your body to the beat, but it’s difficult. He’s got you lined up perfectly, every sweep along his lap punctuated with a slight push of his hips into yours. You can feel how wet you are and pray he doesn’t notice, the middle of your panties damp with the arousal he’s built up in you.
Then, his fingers pinch your nipple, and a moan escapes your lips before you can stop it. The sound is loud, shameless, and your hand flies to your mouth, eyes wide with shock. He chuckles, the sound deep and resonant, and you feel a flush of heat rise to your cheeks. You lean forward, pressing your breasts into his chest to hide your embarrassment.
“It’s okay, baby,” he murmurs. You can hear the grin in his voice, unable to look directly at him. “That’s good. Take what you need.”
You exhale a breathy laugh, leaning back to meet his gaze. The smile on your face fades into a soft O of surprise as he encourages you to resume your movements. He’s getting harder, the thick length of him straining against the fabric of his pants.
Finding your pace again, you reach back to grab his knees, arching your back and rocking your hips. You’re working, you fight to remind yourself. You’re working. It becomes more and more difficult to stay detached as you roll your body for him, angling your breasts towards him. The pressure builds between your thighs, every movement pulling you tighter and tighter at your core. He’s watching you intensely, his pupils blown out in the dim, low lighting and his fingers digging deep into your waist.
Your lower lip draws between your teeth, your brows furrowed and focused as you bounce and grind in his lap. Suddenly, you’re moaning again, the noise coming out of your mouth like a rhythmic hum. You let it out freely, encouraged by his touch, the strong pull of his hands at your waist.
The sensation overwhelms you, the friction of his body against yours pushing you over the edge. Your orgasm hits you suddenly, your hips jerking in his lap as you cry out, waves of pleasure crashing through you. You collapse forward, panting into his neck as his broad hands steady you, stroking up and down your back as you ride out the aftershocks. It leaves you trembling, your body pressed tightly against his.
After a moment, you shift back up and press your forehead into his, feeling the heat of his body through your thin clothing. His hand cups your breast, and he dips his head to drag his teeth along the nape of your neck, sending a shiver down your spine. You gasp, angling your head to the side, your fingers tucking a stray curl behind his ear.
“Tell me what you want, Dieter,” you say, your voice just above a whisper, lips grazing his ear. You’re putty in his hands now, ready to give him anything.
“I want to fuck you,” he growls, his voice rough with need. “Can I fuck you?”
Your nod is quick and urgent, your body responding before your brain catches up. You stand, pulling him up with you as your fingers intertwine. Your bodies are pressed close, and you blink up at him through your lashes, lifting a hand to his jaw to trace your thumb along the patchy stubble there.
“Show me where.”
The bedroom is gorgeous, all luxurious, soft fabrics and warm lighting. Rich, dark wood furniture contrasts with crisp white linens, and a large window offers a breathtaking view of the city lights below. Although, for all you cared right now, it could’ve been a threadbare mattress in a seedy motel - you felt so incredible, it didn’t matter.
He leads you to the bed, releasing your hand only to turn around and face you. He kisses you without hesitation, hard and intense, as if he’d been doing it all night, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You draw in a sharp inhale through your nose, allowing yourself to indulge in it. You wrap your arms around his neck and lift up onto your toes, deepening the kiss.
Only momentarily breaking contact with him to see where you were going, you gently push Dieter backwards to sit on the edge of the bed.
You grab his knees and drop down between his thighs, paying special attention to the growing bulge between his legs. You run your hands from his ankles to his thighs all the way up to the waist of his pants. Stilling your hands at his belt, you look up at him to make sure you have his permission.
He cups his big hand around your jaw, angling your face up towards him.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing along your cheek and dipping into the hollow as your jaw drops in anticipation.
You undo his belt, the ornate metal buckle clinking to one side as you unbutton and unzip his pants. Your breath catches as you wrap your fingers around his cock, impressed by the girth of it even before you pull it free. The sight confirms your suspicion - he’s big.
Your fingers glide along his length, eliciting a low groan from him. Leaning in, you press a kiss to the tip before taking him into your mouth. You start slow, your tongue going flat and dragging along his shaft. Wrapping your fingers around the base of his cock, you work him steadily deeper into your mouth as you adjust your position on your knees to take more of him.
His hand tangles in your hair, guiding you as you set a steady rhythm. He’s groaning instantly, the sound turning you on as you bob over his still growing length, your tongue swirling up and down the length of it with each thrust. Saliva pools at the corners of your mouth, dripping out as he lifts his hips to position himself deeper and deeper.
He tightens his grip on your hair and you hum and swallow and whine around him, wiry curls at the base of his cock tickling the tip of your nose. You run your hands along his tightening middle, dragging your nails down his stomach to his thighs and pulling a soft, sweet moan from him. You respond by taking him deeper, breathing steadily through your nose as your throat relaxes to accommodate his size.
“Fuck, you’re amazing,” he breathes, his voice a rough whisper. You glance up at him, eyes wide and dark. Gently, he wipes away a smudge of mascara from beneath your eye with his thumb, his touch surprisingly tender. “So fucking good for me.”
Your head bobs faster and faster. Wet, gurgling noises fill the room as his pelvis begins to twitch, losing its rhythm. You can sense he’s close, and you’re determined to make him come, quickening your pace as you fantisize about the taste of him on your tongue.
“Stop,” he commands suddenly, his voice firm as he fists your hair, pulling you off him with a wet pop. “Stop. Stand up, baby.”
You obey, blinking away fat mascara tears as you rise to your feet. He hooks his hands beneath your thighs, lifting you effortlessly and laying you down on the bed. The cool sheets contrast with the heat of your body, and you prop yourself up on your elbows, watching him as he unbuttons and removes his shirt, his eyes never leaving yours.
He’s back a moment later, working his hand slowly up and down his shaft as he covers your body with his and kisses you again, this time slower. You indulge in it, rooting your fingers into the curls at the back of his neck and pulling him in closer. You arch into his touch, your hands exploring the soft planes of his chest and back, reveling in the warmth of his skin against yours.
His hands roam your body with purpose, sliding under the hem of your panties and pulling them down roughly. You kick them off, sending them flying across the room, and your legs return to hook around his back, pulling your naked body flush against his. The heat of his cock brushes against your entrance, teasing your swollen nerves and sending shivers down your spine.
"Fuck me, Dieter," you beg, your voice breathless and needy. "Please, fuck me."
"I got you, baby," he breathes into your ear, that familiar smirk audible in his voice. He lines himself up at your entrance and pushes forward.
You moan together as he fills you, his head sinking into the curve of your shoulder. It’s a stinging stretch as he enters you, but it feels good. You squeeze around him instantly, the heft of him inside of you drawing air from your lungs. He starts slow, rocking into you gently. Each movement is deliberate, his pace unhurried as he lets you adjust. He works deeper into you, thrusts growing stronger as your body stretches to accommodate him.
He’s groaning in your ear, a depraved voice telling you how amazing you feel and sending tingles down your spine. It’s all you can do to moan in response, your head thick and foggy now. His hand cups roughly around your jaw again as he finds a rhythm, his cock sliding in and out with ease and you bend into him, eager to take as much of him as you can.
“Dieter,” you gasp, the intensity building within you. “Oh, my god. Don’t stop.”
He doesn’t. With a groan, he quickens his pace, groaning as his free hand slides down to your clit. The moment his thumb makes contact, pressing and circling the sensitive bundle of nerves, a deep moan rips from your chest, your arms wrapping tightly around him, nails digging into his shoulders.
He shifts, standing and lifting your legs to bend in front of you, his forearm pressing across your calves until your knees are nearly at your chest. His eyebrows knit together in concentration as he fucks into you with an intensity that fills the room with the wet, rhythmic sounds of skin slapping against skin, punctuated by the hoarse, desperate moans pouring from your throat.
“God damn, you can take it, baby,” he praises, wrapping his hand around the back of your neck and using it as leverage to push even harder into you. All you can do is moan and whine - it’s complete nonsense, slurred approximations of “Yes, Please, Dieter, Please”
He fingers strum at your clit and you cry out, the feeling of his fingers incredible. He begins to draw small circles on the bundle of nerves, the movement mirroring his thrusting in and out of you. His hold around your jaw shifts down to your collarbone, his fingers curling around your neck with just enough pressure to make your head spin. The circles turn to quick flicks up and down and you feel your stomach begin to tighten, pleasure mounting with each stroke.
You pull your knees up higher as he pistons into you, your cunt soaked and squelching with each thrust. You try to match his rhythm, but it becomes more and more difficult as the nerves at your core threaten to burst.
“Come on my cock,” he commands, his breath hot against your ear. “Wanna feel you come.”
His words push you over the edge. Your body tenses as a wave of pleasure crashes through you. You can’t fight the high-pitched cry of relief that rips from your chest and you cling to his wrists, his arms, anything you can get your hands on as your orgasm shudders and ripples through you.
He groans, too, his own control slipping as he collapses onto the bed beside you. He turns over, pulling you with him until you're straddling him.
“C’mere, baby,” he says and you nod, unable to speak. You pant, climbing on top of him and lowering your head to kiss him deeply. As you do, you lift your hips to position yourself over him and he buries himself in you, thrusting his hips up and bottoming out inside of you. You moan into his mouth, a deep, depraved cry vibrating through your chest.
His hands grip your waist as you push yourself back up, guiding you up and down his length, and his breath is ragged and hot against your skin. He lifts himself to take your breast in his mouth and you root your fingers in his hair as he latches onto you. His tongue swirls around the stiffened bud of your nipple and his hands stray towards your clit, insatiable, unable to stop touching you. It’s overwhelming and your head is empty as the pleasure turns you into a trembling mess.
“God damn,” he breathes the words into your chest as he buries his head between your breasts, his fingers digging tighter into your waist as he holds himself tightly against you. He’s a man determined now, his thrusts into you unforgiving as you cling desperately around his neck. Your chests are sweaty and slick as they move against eachother, the sounds of your hot, salty skin slapping together echoing through the room.
He lies back on the bed, hands still roaming your body, his chest heaving beneath you. Your hands brace on his thighs, giving him a perfect view of your body as you take him as deeply as you can, his cock buried inside you, slick with your arousal.
Finally, his hips begin to stutter and a long groan escapes him. Noticing that he’s beginning to falter, you pick up your speed, determined to return the pleasure he’s been giving you all night. You lift up and drop down, bouncing yourself on his hips. He slides in and out, burying himself to the hilt and back again, his cock sending sharp pangs through your stomach. You brace yourself with a hand on his chest and he grabs it, guiding it to his throat, his eyes dark and pleading, and you obey, tightening your grip just enough to make his breath catch as you continue to ride him.
“F-Fuck,” he stutters raggedly, arching slightly into you. You squeeze just a little tighter and he’s done for. The feeling of his cock twitching inside of you is unmistakable. You hum happily, tracing your nails along his chest and squeezing around his length as he spills inside of you with a guttural groan. You collapse on top of him to rest on his chest and he wraps his arm around your back, pulling you closer to him. You feel him twitch and pulse inside of you as he steadies his breathing, rubbing circles into your shoulders as he slowly comes down.
You press your lips to his neck softly, fingers trailing through his sweaty curls and scratching slightly at his scalp. Soft, quiet moans follow his orgasm, his breath hitching slightly as you teasingly squeeze your pussy around his softening cock, his release still hot and thick inside of you.
You had no intention of spending the night. You don’t even remember falling asleep.
When you wake up, your face is buried in a pillowcase made of the softest fabric you’d ever felt in your life, and you’re drooling. The room is filled with the warm, muted light of the mid-afternoon sun filtering through the curtains. You push yourself up onto your elbow, squinting against the brightness as you try to piece together where you are. The suite was quiet. Dieter was gone.
You sit up fully, ruffling your hair with both hands as you try to shake off the remnants of sleep. A yawn escapes your lips, and you stretch, attempting to soothe your sore, stiff muscles.
Your eyes drift to the nightstand beside you, and you do a double-take when you notice the stack of paper sitting there. Eight crisp, hundred-dollar bills are neatly stacked on top of a piece of hotel stationery. You reach out, picking up the note, curiosity fluttering in your stomach as you unfold it. One word is scrawled across the page in a bold, hurried script: “Stay.”
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theperfectawful · 3 months ago
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Heheh 😈 thanks so much for reading!
Waking Up in Vegas
Dieter Bravo x Stripper!Reader
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Summary: A bad night at work turns around when you meet Dieter Bravo. Word Count: ~10k Content & Warnings: Vegas nightlife, stripping, sex work, reader goes by “Bunny” at the club but is otherwise unnamed, alcohol use, douchey dudes, unwanted physical touch (not from Dieter), lap dance, unprotected PinV sex, oral sex (m!recieving), hair pulling, light choking, no sleep! bus, club, 'nother club, 'nother club, plane, next place... Author Note: Fun fact - my favorite movie ever made is Pretty Woman. I've been toying for a while with the idea of writing a fic inspired by it, and while Dieter Bravo shares approximately 0 traits with Edward Lewis, I couldn't help but imagine that kind of scenario with him. What I came up with isn't a carbon copy of the first act of Pretty Woman, but it is heavily inspired by it. If you're reading this fic and think to yourself - "did she rip that bit off from Pretty Woman?" the answer is yes! Absolutely I did. This is also my first attempt at writing a smut-heavy one-shot. Enjoy!
“Shit,” you mutter under your breath, licking the tip of your finger to smudge away the botched eyeliner wing. You lean in closer to the mirror, trying to salvage what’s left of your makeup, but your heart just isn’t in it tonight.
You’d been tempted to call out of work. Sunday nights at the club were the worst - quiet, boring, with the weekend tourists already on their way back home. The locals steered clear of the strip on Sundays, and you knew tonight would be slow, the kind of slow that made every minute drag on. The stragglers who did wander in would likely be a pain, more trouble than they were worth. But with the 1st of the month looming and you still $400 short on rent, skipping a shift wasn’t an option.
It was time to find a new club anyway. When you first started, they promised you’d be dancing, maybe bartending occasionally. But since the end of the summer, things had changed. It had been weeks since your name was on the schedule for a floor show. Instead, you found yourself waitressing almost every shift. You didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t what you came to Vegas for. This job was supposed to be a stepping stone - a way to keep dancing while making extra cash. But now, your shifts were barely covering the bills, and the weight of barely scraping by was starting to crush you.
You tried not to dwell on it too much, but the nagging thoughts kept at it. Was it something you did? Maybe you had a bad night, and someone complained. Or perhaps you weren’t making the same kind of money at the bar that you used to - maybe you weren’t pulling in enough customers. That suspicion gnawed at your confidence, making you second-guess everything you did. But beyond the sting of that potential rejection was the harsh reality of your dwindling paycheck. Dancing had been your main income, and with fewer opportunities to perform, you were struggling to stay afloat. Whatever the reason, it felt like a subtle push towards the edges of the room, away from the center stage where you’d once thrived.
You’d thought about finding another club, starting fresh somewhere new. But the thought of walking into a new place, rebuilding your reputation from scratch, learning a whole new set of unspoken rules - it felt like too much. This club was familiar, the regulars knew you, and you had a rhythm here, even if it was starting to falter.
You draw another wing on your eyelid, take a step back, and decide it looks good enough. With a sigh, you grab your things and head out into the night, hoping to make the best of whatever the evening throws your way.
“We need you in the back,” Gary says as you pass in front of his booth, not bothering to glance up from the stack of bills in his hands.
“The back?” You stop in your tracks, wobbling slightly as you balance the tray in your hands. The request catches you off guard—it's been weeks since you were called into the VIP lounges, and tonight the floor is busier than usual.
He finally looks up, splitting the stack of bills between his hands with a look that makes you feel like you’ve just asked the dumbest question in the world.
“Yeah, the back,” he repeats, his tone clipped and impatient. “Big party tonight. High rollers. I need everyone back there making sure they’re taken care of.”
You nod slowly, your feet rooted to the spot. Were you performing?
“What are you standing around for?” he snaps, irritation flaring in his voice. “They’re waiting for drinks. Go take care of our guests!”
You nod again, quicker, and start back towards the VIP lounges. You can hear them halfway down the hallway, loud, boisterous voices carrying over the heavy bass of the music.
The room is dimly lit, the air thick with cigar smoke, and you can detect at least four different Tom Ford colognes competing to choke you. Men in tailored suits lounge on plush leather couches, their conversations loud and punctuated by obnoxious bursts of laughter.
“Bunnyyyyy!” Your coworker, Angel, exclaims from where she sits perched in Suit #1’s lap like a decoration. The attention in the room shifts to you, a dozen predatory gazes following your every move. You raise your arms, tray aloft, smiling big and feigning enthusiasm as you move deeper into the den of wolves.
“Gentlemen,” you purr, embracing the act. You start around the room, introducing yourself and taking orders.
“Here comes the entertainment,” Suit #1 sneers, shamelessly staring at your chest. He requests a bottle of Clase Azul, something you could have guessed before he even opened his mouth. He leans in close as he says it, his breath hot and reeking of alcohol, and follows up his order by murmuring something you pretend not to hear. Instead, you smile and wink, moving on down the line before he can say anything else.
“Bunny, huh?” Suit #2 leers, the cigar hanging lazily from the corner of his mouth. “How about a little bunny hop, baby? You gonna give it to me?”
Sure, loser. You force a giggle, twisting your hips just enough to appease him, your skin crawling under the weight of his stare. Angel plays along, her laugh a shade too bright as she strokes Suit #1’s chest.
“Alright, baby, alright.” Suit #2 takes a long draw from his cigar, blowing the smoke directly in your face. “Dom. Bring the bottle.”
You nod. As you begin to turn away, you’re stilled by the loud clap of Suit #2’s hand smacking your ass. You yelp, stumbling forward, your tray wobbling precariously as you regain your balance. Your jaw drops as you whirl around to face him, and the room erupts in laughter, every man on the sofa doubled over in delight.
“Did you see that? She jumped like a little bunny rabbit!” one of the suits howls, slapping his knee in delight.
“Better be careful, she might bite,” another one jeers.
For a split second, you catch a glimpse of discomfort on the other girls’ faces, their masks slipping just long enough to reveal the disdain beneath. But just as quickly, they snap back into their roles, the forced smiles and hollow laughter resuming as if nothing had happened.
You swallow your anger, resisting the urge to slap the smug grin off Suit #2’s face. Instead, you keep your composure and swiftly take the orders of Assholes 3, 4, and 5, your movements automatic, your mind focused on getting through the task without any additional humiliation. When you reach the last man in the room, something about him makes you pause.
You hadn’t noticed him before, but now he stands out. His outfit is almost pajama-like - soft silk pants and a floral shirt with sheer panels that reveal glimpses of his chest. Despite the fact that you’re indoors, he’s wearing dark sunglasses, the shades resting lazily on his nose. He looks completely out of place among the tailored suits, disheveled, chestnut gray curls and half-lidded eyes suggesting he’s either too tired to keep up the pretense or too rich to care.
But his gaze isn’t any softer. Beneath his glasses, his deep brown eyes appraise you, traveling slowly down the length of your body with an interest that feels different - more curious than lecherous, but still enough to make you uneasy. Behind him, Michelle, another dancer, rubs his shoulders while chatting with one of the other Suits. You brace yourself, remembering that each of these guys seems intent on one-upping each other in sheer douchebaggery.
“What can I get you, honey?” you ask, leaning in just enough to draw his attention back to your eyes. He doesn’t answer right away, his eyes half-lidded but intense as they look straight into yours.
“Macallan,” he finally says, his voice quiet, almost bored.
Of course, you think, suppressing an eye roll. The way these guys always tried to outdo each other with pricey whiskeys was almost laughable.
“Coming right up,” you reply, adding a playful wink for good measure. He responds with the barest hint of a smirk, his eyes remaining locked on you.
Crafting drink trays for customers required a surprising amount of effort and creativity. LED lights, sparklers - some drinks even had entire plastic centerpieces that made them look more like carnival floats than cocktails. You always joked that your customers were like toddlers, so easily dazzled by shiny objects and flashy displays that they’d gladly drop thousands of dollars if the bottle was dressed up enough.
By the time you finish assembling the trays, Angel is bouncing down the hallway toward the bar. She flashes you a smile, raising her eyebrows as she exhales a puff of exasperated air.
“They’re so ridiculous,” she says, moving in to help you carry the trays. “They’re like a pastiche of lame Vegas dudes.”
You give her a curious look, eyebrows arching at the word choice.
“My word of the day,” she explains with a grin, referring to the calendar she kept in her locker. You laugh, shaking your head.
“One of them just snapped Mercedes’ bra strap, like he’s some middle school brat.”
“Oh my god!” you reply, eyes widening. “Is she pissed?”
“Beyond pissed. But Gary doesn’t care - he’ll let them get away with murder because they’re some big movie executives.” She rolls her eyes. “Super rich.”
“Assholes,” you mutter, and she nods in agreement. You light the sparkler on your tray, carefully picking it up as you prepare to follow Angel down the hall.
“You caught the movie star’s eye, though!” She teases as you walk. You look at her, trying to figure out what she means. “He was glued to you when you left. He’s barely said a word to anyone. Real moody.”
You feel a flicker of interest at the thought, but keep your expression neutral. “He’s a movie star?”
Angel nods, telling you his name - Dieter Bravo. She lists off some of his movies, shocked when you tell her you haven’t seen any of them. Now it made sense. He was one of those millionaire celebrities who dressed like they were homeless.
“You should offer him a dance!” Angel suggests, her enthusiasm undimmed by the less-than-ideal crowd tonight. You can’t help but admire her ability to stay upbeat and eager, even with a party full of entitled jerks.
“I don’t know…”
“Don’t be shy!” She bumps your shoulder playfully, her energy infectious. “He’s, like, the least gross guy in there. Someone’s going to snag him if you don’t.”
As you approach the VIP room, the sounds of raucous laughter and clinking glasses grow louder, pulling you back to reality. You glance at Angel, who’s already flashing a bright smile, ready to dive back into the chaos. She’s right - if you don’t make a move, someone else will.
With a deep breath, you make up your mind. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot,” you say, more to yourself than to her.
“Atta girl!” Angel cheers, her eyes twinkling. “Just be yourself, and he’ll be putty in your hands.”
You both step back into the room, the smoky air wrapping around you like a thick blanket. She brings the sparkling tray of Clase Azul to the left side of the room, delivering it to Suit #1 as she returns to her spot next to him. Dieter is still there at the far end of the sofa, slouched in his seat, knocking around the ice in his empty glass. His eyes meet yours as you approach, and you catch that same curious look from earlier, like he’s trying to figure you out.
You set your tray down, steadying your nerves, and pour the amber liquid into the glass of ice on the tiny table in front of him. Before you can even straighten up, you feel the light touch of his fingers on your hip. He slips a hundred-dollar bill into your waistband, his eyes never leaving your face.
“Thanks,” he murmurs, his fingers lingering for just a moment before he lets them fall away. “Do you dance?”
“I see you, Bravo!” one of the Suits hollers from across the room before you can answer, laughing boorishly. “You fuckin’ dog!”
The look on Dieter’s face suggests he finds this guy just as charming as you do.
“Atta boy! Thought you didn’t want to come tonight, bro,” another Suit teases, his tone dripping with mock affection. There’s a round of snickering from the men, their eyes flitting between you and Dieter like this is some kind of game.
“Bunny, sweetheart, why don’t you come sit over here?” one of the Suits beckons, patting his lap like he’s calling a dog. “I’ve got a tip for you, too, if you’re nice.”
You force a smile, your skin prickling with irritation, but before you respond, your gaze drifts to Dieter. He’s watching the exchange with detached amusement, his eyes holding a silent apology as he takes a long sip of his drink, setting it down on the table pointedly.
Just then, Angel’s voice cuts through the air, sugary sweet and smooth. “Are you sure, honey?”
You turn slightly, noticing that all attention has shifted to Mercedes, dancing on the pole in the center of the room. Everyone is captivated, except for Suit #1, who’s inspecting the tall bottle of Clase Azul in his hands with a look of disdain.
“I thought you wanted the Azul,” she coaxes, her hand running coaxingly along his thigh.
“I wanted the gold bottle,” he snaps, waving her off dismissively. “That’s what I asked for. I could get this shit anywhere.”
Angel’s eyes meet yours for a brief moment, the silent message clear - you brought him exactly what he asked for. She quickly shifts back to him, lifting her hand to trace it up and down the bottle.
“I love the Azul,” she purrs, attempting to soothe his growing agitation.
“Yeah? You wanna pay for it? 'Cause I wanna pay for the fuckin’ bottle I asked for,” he retorts, his tone hostile.
You stifle a retort and start across the room. The last thing you need is for Gary to come storming back here, demanding to know what the problem is.
“I’ll get you the gold bottle,” you interject, your voice calm and composed. You start to turn away, but before you can take a step, he grabs your wrist, his grip firm and possessive.
“Make it quick, sweetheart,” he growls, his grip on your wrist lingering a second too long. You force a tight smile, carefully removing yourself from his grasp.
“Of course, right away,” you reply, your heart pounding in your chest. As you head out to the bar, you notice Dieter from across the room.
His eyes are dark, shooting daggers into the man across the room. He leans back in his seat, his fingers drumming on the table and his eyes flick towards you for just a moment, his jaw clenched tight.
You grab a bottle of Clase Azul Gold from the top shelf of the bar. You don’t bother with the theatrics this time around, simply placing the bottle on the tray before starting back towards the lounge. You return to much more activity than when you left, several of the girls performing lap dances as the men lounge back, their eyes half-lidded with alcohol and lust.
Dieter hasn’t moved, but there’s a noticeable shift in his demeanor. His glass is already empty. One of the girls is perched beside him, but his gaze is fixed on you, following your every move with an intensity that’s hard to ignore.
“There it is, I knew you could do it,” Suit #1 sneers as you present the bottle, his voice dripping with sarcasm and condescension. You bite your tongue, instead forcing a smile as you pour him a glass, the golden liquid catching the dim light as it flows.
“Such a good girl,” he mocks, the words making your skin crawl.
You busy yourself with clearing ashtrays and empty glasses, stacking them on your tray with practiced precision. The constant stream of tasks provides a welcome distraction, keeping you in motion and away from the men’s leering gazes and crude comments. It’s easier to manage the discomfort when you’re moving, not lingering too long in one place.
You filled the tray, carefully moving through the crowded room. Just as you turn to pick up another glass, one of the suits reaches out, their hand brushing against your waist in a way that’s far too familiar. You flinch reflexively at the unwanted touch, and in that split second, your balance shifts.
The tray tips precariously in your hands, and before you can steady it, everything - half-full ashtrays, glasses, the first Azul bottle - tumbles forward. You watch in horror as the inevitable unfolds in slow motion.
The tray crashes onto Suit #1’s lap, drenching him in a cascade of liquor, ash and ice. The glass shatters against the table, the sound ringing out like a gunshot in the busy room. For a moment, no one moves, the shock of the accident hanging heavy in the air.
Suit #1 erupts, his face twisting with rage as he jumps to his feet, liquid dripping from his tailored trousers. “What the fuck!” he bellows, his voice booming across the room, eyes blazing with fury as he turns on you.
Angel rushes to help, dabbing and brushing at his pants with a napkin. The other suits are no longer laughing; their expressions range from shock to thinly veiled amusement, but none of them move to help. You stand frozen, your heart hammering in your chest.
“I’m so sorry,” you stammer, grabbing another napkin and mimicking Angel’s actions, your hands trembling. “I’m so sorry, I’ll get-”
“Yeah, you’re fuckin’ sorry, I’m sure,” he spits, dismissing you with a wave of his hand. He shakes off the liquid from his suit sleeve, his angry eyes darting around the room before locking onto you. “You just ruined a suit worth more than what you make in a fuckin’ year. I bet you’re sorry.”
One of the suits chuckles. Your coworkers try to distract from the chaos, each picking up where they left off, while you and Angel continue to clean up the mess. Suit #1 pushes you away harshly, storming towards the door.
“Relax, Tom,” one of the other men calls across the room.
“You fuckin’ relax!” He snaps, not bothering to turn around, his back to the hall as he brushes off Angel’s attempts to help.
Just then, Gary’s head pops into the doorway. His eyes narrow as he takes in the scene - the mess on the floor, the shattered glass, the upturned ashtray, and finally, you.
“Is there a problem here?” he asks, his gaze fixed on you, his tone demanding an explanation. You swallow hard, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks as you look down, stacking shards of glass on your tray.
“Yeah, there’s a problem,” the Suit growls, gesturing to his soaked trousers and the shattered remnants of the evening scattered around his feet. “Your little waitress here just fucked up a perfectly good night.”
“We’ll take care of everything, don’t worry” Gary’s eyes flicker to the Suit, then back to you. “We’ll comp your bottle. Don’t worry about her. I apologize.”
You’re too embarrassed to look around the room as you stand. The bass of the music throbs in the otherwise silent room, mimicking the rush of your heartbeat in your ears. You glance up at Gary, who jerks his head toward the door, signaling you to follow him out. Your cheeks burn with humiliation as you gather what’s left of the mess and shuffle out of the room behind him.
Gary sends you home for the evening, making a pointed example out of you to avoid any further risks to the tab the Suit party was racking up. The humiliation stung, leaving you frustrated and embarrassed as you stepped out into the cool night air.
It was barely 1am - you had no idea what you were going to do with the rest of this evening. Aimlessly wandering the strip, you debated your next move. Maybe it was time to start scoping out other clubs, testing the waters before word got out about tonight’s fiasco. Better to have a backup plan in place than to wait for the fallout. But the thought of lingering around another loud, smokey club felt repulsive right now.
Eventually, you found yourself at the Wynn, the sleek and glittering resort where your best friend Kat worked as a bartender. The idea of sitting at her bar and bitching to her about your disastrous night over a drink was infinitely more appealing than anything else you could think of.
The Wynn made you feel like a bum. Kat’s bar was swanky and elegant, the kind of place where everything gleamed with understated luxury. Well, understated for Vegas, anyway. The decor was all white - plush chairs and couches arranged percectly, mirrors covering nearly every surface, reflecting the soft, ambient light. Despite its elegance, the bar was quiet tonight, so you didn’t feel too out of place in your hoodie and shorts.
Kat spots you as soon as you walk in, her face lighting up with a warm smile that instantly makes you feel a little better. You slip onto a stool at the bar, sighing as the weight of the night begins to lift slightly.
“What’s up, girl?” she greets you, pouring you your usual. “You look like you’ve had one hell of a night.”
You take a sip, letting the warmth of the liquor soothe your frayed nerves, and slide a $10 bill across the bar. “You have no idea.”
She leans against the bar, her attention fully on you, and you begin to recount the night - the Suits, the accident with the tray, the way Gary had humiliated you in front of everyone. An hour passes in a blur, Kat slipping away occasionally to serve guests but always returning to listen. As you vent, the frustration and anger pour out of you, mixing with the alcohol until you start to feel a little lighter.
“What a bunch of assholes,” she says when you finish, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’ve gotta get out of there.”
You huff in acknowledgement. “I know.”
“You should audition for one of the shows here,” she suggests, wiping down a glass. “It’s the same shit every night, but it beats dealing with all of that.”
“Yeah, maybe…” you reply, though the idea feels out of reach. Your resume wasn’t exactly packed with the kind of experience that would land you a spot in a resort show.
Kat’s attention is momentarily drawn to an older couple at a nearby table, waving her over. She glances at them, then back to you. “Stick around. I’ll be done here in an hour, and we can go grab something to eat, talk it out more.”
The idea sounded perfect. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
Kat always made you feel better. You were lucky to have found her here. As she moves off to help the couple, you pull your hood up and linger at the bar, twirling the swizzle stick in your empty glass, trying to avoid drawing any more attention to yourself. Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Maybe tomorrow, with some sleep and a clearer head, you’d be able to figure out your next step.
A few minutes later, she returns, mixing up something fancy. You’re surprised when she places it in front of you, the glass hitting the marble countertop with a clink.
“Since when do you give me free drinks?” you ask, confused, as you pluck the cherry from the glass and pop it into your mouth.
“It’s not from me,” she replies, her tone mischievous. You furrow your brows in confusion, and she tips her head toward the back of the room. You turn, following her gesture, and spot Dieter sitting alone at a corner table, still wearing his sunglasses. He nods at you.
You shoot him a puzzled glance, not bothering to return the greeting, before turning back to Kat. “What the fuck?” You whisper, biting the cherry from the stem and dropping it on your napkin.
“Were you going to tell me you knew Dieter Bravo?” Kat asks, her eyes twinkling as she removes your other empty glass and places it beneath the bar.
“I don’t know him. He was at the club tonight.”
“The suits?”
“Yeah,” you answer. “He was the only one of them behaving himself.”
“Well, it looks like you made an impression.”
You take a sip of the drink, tapping your nails on the bar as your mind races.
“Is he alone?” You whisper again, even though he’s far enough away that your voice wouldn’t carry anyway. She nods in confirmation.
What was this guy’s deal? He was famous enough. Didn’t he have better things to do than follow you around and hang around a hotel bar alone at two in the morning? He could probably make a call and have a dozen eager girls in his hotel room within a half hour. What did he want with you?
You exhale sharply through your teeth, downing another big sip of your drink. “Fuck it,” you say, sliding off your stool. “Be right back.”
Kat nods. “Let me know if he needs to go,” she reassures you.
Drink in hand, you stride across the room to Dieter’s booth. You slide into the seat opposite his, setting your glass on the table. He tilts his head slightly, peering at you over his sunglasses.
“Do you make a habit of following strippers around after they leave work?” you ask, your tone sharp but not entirely uninviting.
“No, not usually.”
“Not usually,” you repeat, a hint of sarcasm in your voice. “So, I guess that means I’m special?”
He shrugs casually. “I happen to be staying here.”
“Ohh, I see… That’s lucky, huh?”
“Guess so,” he answers, taking a sip from his drink. He seems amused, clearly in better spirits since the last time you saw him, his brown eyes glimmering from behind his dark shades.
“It’s a nice place.” Your eyes wander around the room, eventually landing back on him, still eying him suspiciously.
“And what about you?” He swallows a sip of his drink, big fingers and shiny rings gesturing towards you.
“What about me?” It comes out a little harsher than you intended.
“Do you usually hang out at hotel bars alone at two in the morning?”
“I happen to have a friend who works here,” you tease his tone from before.
“Ah,” he acknowledges.
“Mmhm.”
A brief silence falls between you, punctuated only by the distant clinking of glasses and murmurs from the bar. Dieter reclines back into his seat, once again obscured by the shadows and his sunglasses.
“What’s your name?” He asks.
“It’s Bunny, honey, you knew that already.” You answer, putting on an exaggerated version of the sultry voice you use at the club.
He huffs a laugh, clearly not interested in the act. You tell him the truth.
From across the room, Kat waves an “OK?” sign with her hand, and you nod.
“So, what are you doing here all alone?” you ask, your curiosity getting the better of you. “Don’t people like you usually have an entourage?”
“You met the people I was with. Would you want to spend any more time with them than you had to?”
You grimace. “I wouldn’t want to spend any time with them at all.”
He chuckles, the sound low and warm. “Exactly.”
“Really, though. What are you doing here?” you ask, lifting your drink slightly, gesturing with it. “Why this?”
He took a moment to think, studying you. Finally, he shrugs.
“I don’t know,” he sighs, finally. “To tell you the truth, nothing in my life is exactly going as planned at the moment.”
You purse your lips and nod, then quip, “Private jet in the shop?”
“Something like that.” He laughs, the sound of it genuine. His demeanor now was night and day compared to the sullen grump you met in the VIP room.
“No, you… I know tonight couldn’t have been a highlight for you, but you’re very… real. I don’t get a lot of that these days. Plus, the guy you spilled that drink on has been pissing me off for weeks, so I had to thank you personally.”
You laugh hard, heat burning at your cheeks as you’re reminded of the incident earlier.
“Oh, well, I’m glad you liked it. If it gets me fired, I’ll at least have that.” You flash a big, genuine smile at him.
“They can’t fire you for that,” he says, shaking his head. “An asshole like that needs a drink spilled on him every once in a while.”
“I’ll let them know you said so.” You laugh into your drink. You can’t believe he actually has you giggling. Lots of big names come into the club; you haven’t been remotely starstruck in a long time, and you can’t even remember anything this guy was in. Something about him was disarming.
You take him in as you continue to chat. It’s obvious he’s a movie star now - he’s stubbly and disheveled, but he’s movie-star handsome. Brown and gray scruff covers his jaw. He’s wearing a soft, chunky cardigan over a dress shirt, the mismatched layers somehow perfectly complementing his broad shoulders and chest. It’s a look that shouldn’t work, but on him, it does. He smells good, too, not oppressive like the Suits, but nice and warm and heady.
A comfortable silence settles between you, and you find yourself relaxing, crossing your legs underneath you in the booth. He glances toward the bar, then back at you, before pushing his sunglasses up onto his head and leaning forward with his elbows on the table.
“Do you want to come upstairs with me?”
The question surprises you.
“For?” you ask, meeting his gaze directly, trying to get a gauge on his intentions.
“More of this. Some company that won’t drive me fucking crazy,” he says, his tone surprisingly sincere. His voice drops lower. “Plus, I never got my dance from you. You girls make house calls?”
Ah, there it is. Your breath catches for a moment, but you quickly regain your composure.
Briefly chastising yourself for believing this guy was any different from any other dude at the club, you worry your bottom lip between your teeth.
“That’s a bold question.”

“I’m a risk taker,” he smiles, his forehead soft and creasing slightly, somehow still endearing despite it all.

You consider it. You weren’t paid out tonight so you really need the money, and the opportunity is right in front of you. But this is new territory, even for you.

You glance over at Kat, who’s still keeping an eye on you. Turning back to Dieter, you fidget with a cocktail napkin on the table, folding it and unfolding it. “Not for free.”
“Of course not.”

“What exactly are you looking for?”
“The dance, some conversation. You can stay for the rest of the night - there’s plenty of room.”
Yeah, right. You raise an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe you just want to talk?”
“I’m not expecting anything,” he replies smoothly. “Just hoping. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“There’s lots of girls on the strip who do that sort of thing, you know.”

“I know.”
You glance at Kat once more, then back at Dieter. If you’re going to do this, you might as well take a bold swing.
“Five hundred dollars.”
“I can do that.”
Holy shit. Between that and the hundred he gave you earlier, you’d have rent and then some. You think for another moment. All you had to do was dance. You’d be done in an hour and then you could go home.
“I don’t do any weird shit,” you say. You don’t even know what you even mean by that.
He nods, accepting your terms without hesitation.
“And I’m not entertaining a party. I don’t want to meet any of your buddies up there.”
“It’s just me.” He confirms.
You think it over for another moment.
“Okay.” You say, ​​doing your best to mask the relief surging through you at the thought of that kind of money.

You finish your drink and stand up, gesturing for him to follow. Kat catches your eye and tilts her head, curious, and you shrug slightly as you walk out of the room.
As you leave the bar, you’re immediately aware of the kind of attention Dieter gets everywhere he goes. Heads turn as you walk through the lobby, you notice at least three people attempt to subtly snap photos with their phones. He seems unfazed by it - his sunglasses are back in place, but he’s calm and confident.
The hotel is huge. You haven’t even explored most of it, usually just bee-lining to Kat’s bar whenever you visit. He leads you past the main lobby, down a short corridor to a part of this hotel you’ve never seen before. Intricate gold leafing sprawls and swirls on the marble floor before you, yellow gold fixtures evoking a version of old-Vegas that has you suddenly feeling very underdressed.
It’s the middle of the night, yet the lobby is still bustling with people dressed to the nines in suits and cocktail dresses, their chatter and laughter filling the space. As Dieter walks by, he’s noticed in a more subtle way - eyes flicker toward him, a quiet recognition that follows in his wake. An employee at the front desk greets him with a smile that falters when she notices you by his side. She glances over you, her eyes taking you in with a slight but unmistakable judgment. You shrug your hoodie forward, zipping it up a bit higher as your heels click-clack against the marble, each step feeling more out of place.
Dieter’s hand spreads across the small of your back, guiding you to turn towards a trio of tall, golden elevators. He presses a key card to the wall the middle doors open, revealing the mirrored, plushly-carpeted interior.
“So,” you begin, forcing a lightness into your tone as you follow him inside, “your penthouse or mine?”
“Mmm, mine,” he replies with a soft, tired chuckle.
The elevator ride is quiet, the tension palpable but not uncomfortable. You watch the floor numbers tick upward, trying to focus on anything but the nerves building in your chest. It’s a long ride. You count the dings as the elevator rises and lose track somewhere around twenty.
You’re fucking nervous. Really nervous. You were half expecting to wake up from this fever dream of an evening at any moment. The thought that this guy has money to burn flits through your mind, and you can’t help but worry about what he might expect for five hundred bucks.
The elevator doors open directly into his suite. It is exactly what you’d expect: luxurious, sprawling. Floor-to-ceiling windows with a stunning view of the city skyline. You walk over to the wall of glass, taking a moment to steady yourself.
“This is a beautiful view,” you say, more to fill the silence than anything else.
“It’s better now,” he replies, and you turn to see him watching you intently. His glasses are finally off and his eyes are warm and inviting, sparkling with the reflection of the skyline behind you. You find yourself relaxing just a little around him.
“Want a drink?” he asks. He shrugs his sweater off and tosses it over a chair as he moves over to the bar.
“Sure,” you reply, slowly walking around the room, surveying the luxurious decor.
As he pours the drinks, you take a seat on the plush sofa. You fiddle with the tassels on a throw pillow next to you, crossing and uncrossing your legs, trying to control your fidgeting. This was all so bizarre. The opulence feels almost surreal, like you’ve stepped into someone else’s life. You were still waiting for some perverted catch to reveal itself, but at least for now, Dieter seemed like a nice enough guy.
“So, what brings you to Vegas?” You ask, trying to make conversation. “Big Cher fan?”
Her face watched you from outside the window, fifty feet tall, advertising her residency across the strip. He laughs, looking to her, then to you.
“Of course, but that’s just a coincidence,” he says, bringing you a glass of champagne. “I’m here for an award show.”
“Oh, that’s fun…” you answer, taking a long draw from your glass. “What’d you win?”
“The opportunity to present a lifetime achievement award to someone who hates me.” He answers.
You nod, frowning in acknowledgement, unsure of how to respond to that.
“Lucky you.”
“Yeah,” he says, a slight groan in his voice as he sits on the couch with you and settles in. He picks up a remote from the side table and with a press of a button, the lighting in the room shifts to a warm, amber glow, casting everything in a soft, intimate light. “Lucky me.”
You sit in silence for a moment, sipping champagne.
You’re not sure how this is done. You know how to play this part at the club, but this was different. You slip in and out of eye contact with him, surveying the room as you try not to polish off your glass too quickly. Should you ask if he wants a lap dance? Just jump on top of him? Were you supposed to ask for the money before or after?
You take a gulp and put your glass down, deciding to just shift into character like you would for any other dance. Scooting in towards him, you place your hand on his leg and run it up and down the length of his thigh. The buzz from the drinks you’ve had tonight is starting to hit, and the contact sends a jolt of something electric through your nerves. You flip your hair to one side, batting your lashes and gazing up at him.
“So,” you purr, your voice low and inviting. “What do you want?”
His eyes flick down to your hand, then back up to meet yours, a small smile playing on his lips. “What do you do?” he asks, curious.
You lean in closer, tucking yourself into the crook of his neck, your lips hovering near his ear. “I can show you,” you whisper, letting your breath caress his skin.
His eyes darken slightly, drinking you in as you let your fingers trail and explore his chest. “I’d like that,” he murmurs.
You stand up slowly, zipping your hoodie off and letting it fall to the ground.
“Music?” You ask. He points at a shelf on the wall with a set of speakers. You walk over and turn it on, Insatiable by Prince picking up midway through the track.
“Oooh, Prince,” you say, genuinely excited as you turned around. Music you actually liked was a welcome reprise from having to writhe around to Cherry Pie for the hundredth time. He smirks, leaning back in his seat, his eyes following your every move.
​​You start your routine, taking your time as you peel off your shorts and your top, giving him ample time to appreciate the view. You’re grateful you decided to keep on what you wore to work tonight - this set accentuates your curves perfectly, a far cry from the tired-looking boyshorts and nude, full-coverage bra you usually wore off-duty.
Swaying your hips back and forth to the rhythm, you begin by tracing your fingers slowly up and down your torso. For what he was paying, you figured you’d give him a show. Your fingers linger over your breasts, tracing the edges of your bra as you lower your lashes, then lift them slowly to meet his gaze to make sultry, sexy, in-character eye contact with him. He’s staring right back into you with an intensity that makes you pause for a moment, but you slip right back into it.
You walk towards him, stretching your legs out long as you cross the room. He spreads his legs slightly when you arrive in front of him, his deep brown eyes darkened several shades as he takes you in. You rest a hand on his shoulder, hitching your leg up and placing your high-heeled foot delicately on his bent knee. You watch eachother as you stand there, rubbing your leg up and down, deliberately grazing the seam of your panties a couple of times with your pinky and ring fingers.
Planting your foot back on the floor, you turn around, giving him a full view as you bend down. The fabric of your bra and panties hugs your curves just right. He runs his hands along the outside of your thighs, a long, low groan escaping him as you slowly stand back up and lower yourself backwards into his lap. You roll your hips a couple of times as you squat down, but you swallow your gasp when you finally settle in his lap.
He’s half-hard already and you can feel it, an immediate ick under normal circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances. The feeling of this hardening length against the back of your thighs sent a jolt down your spine, a buzz moving through you straight to your center. You maintain your composure, continuing to move in rhythm with the music, your fingers weaving into his hair as you grind against him. His hands find your waist, supporting your movements as they slide down towards your thighs and back up again.
You lean backwards, pressing your back into his chest and grinding into him, His breath hitches, and you can feel his grip tightening slightly, his fingers pressing into your skin.
“You’re incredible,” he growls into your neck, his teeth just nipping the tender skin there. You try not to moan, the goosebumps spreading down your arms and legs threatening to give you away.
“Mmm, yeah?” You hum, twisting around to face him and lifting your knees up to straddle his waist. Your eyes lock onto his, and a thrill buzzes in your stomach - you’re enjoying this more than you expected. He’s hot, especially up close, especially like this. His chestnut-gray curls have started to break free from their gelled-back position, framing his face in a way that makes him look irresistible.
You reach behind your back, unhooking your bra and letting it fall down. His eyes are glued to your chest as you angle it towards his face. One hand plants behind his head on the sofa and the other traces along his jawline, feeling the roughness of his stubble before settling around the back of his neck. You use it as leverage to hold yourself steady as you settle on his lap.
“You can touch me, Dieter,” you whisper, guiding his hand up your stomach until it cups your breast. He squeezes, his grip firm and possessive, fingers trailing across your delicate skin, making your nipples harden under his touch.
The fingers of his other hand dig into the flesh of your thighs, his eyes locked onto your body. His hands guide your lower half as you rock to the beat of the music, encouraging your barely-covered pussy to drag again and again along the shape of his throbbing cock.
You try to remember that you’re working - that he���s a client, that this is a job, that you’re not here to enjoy it. You try to focus on the music and moving your body to the beat, but it’s difficult. He’s got you lined up perfectly, every sweep along his lap punctuated with a slight push of his hips into yours. You can feel how wet you are and pray he doesn’t notice, the middle of your panties damp with the arousal he’s built up in you.
Then, his fingers pinch your nipple, and a moan escapes your lips before you can stop it. The sound is loud, shameless, and your hand flies to your mouth, eyes wide with shock. He chuckles, the sound deep and resonant, and you feel a flush of heat rise to your cheeks. You lean forward, pressing your breasts into his chest to hide your embarrassment.
“It’s okay, baby,” he murmurs. You can hear the grin in his voice, unable to look directly at him. “That’s good. Take what you need.”
You exhale a breathy laugh, leaning back to meet his gaze. The smile on your face fades into a soft O of surprise as he encourages you to resume your movements. He’s getting harder, the thick length of him straining against the fabric of his pants.
Finding your pace again, you reach back to grab his knees, arching your back and rocking your hips. You’re working, you fight to remind yourself. You’re working. It becomes more and more difficult to stay detached as you roll your body for him, angling your breasts towards him. The pressure builds between your thighs, every movement pulling you tighter and tighter at your core. He’s watching you intensely, his pupils blown out in the dim, low lighting and his fingers digging deep into your waist.
Your lower lip draws between your teeth, your brows furrowed and focused as you bounce and grind in his lap. Suddenly, you’re moaning again, the noise coming out of your mouth like a rhythmic hum. You let it out freely, encouraged by his touch, the strong pull of his hands at your waist.
The sensation overwhelms you, the friction of his body against yours pushing you over the edge. Your orgasm hits you suddenly, your hips jerking in his lap as you cry out, waves of pleasure crashing through you. You collapse forward, panting into his neck as his broad hands steady you, stroking up and down your back as you ride out the aftershocks. It leaves you trembling, your body pressed tightly against his.
After a moment, you shift back up and press your forehead into his, feeling the heat of his body through your thin clothing. His hand cups your breast, and he dips his head to drag his teeth along the nape of your neck, sending a shiver down your spine. You gasp, angling your head to the side, your fingers tucking a stray curl behind his ear.
“Tell me what you want, Dieter,” you say, your voice just above a whisper, lips grazing his ear. You’re putty in his hands now, ready to give him anything.
“I want to fuck you,” he growls, his voice rough with need. “Can I fuck you?”
Your nod is quick and urgent, your body responding before your brain catches up. You stand, pulling him up with you as your fingers intertwine. Your bodies are pressed close, and you blink up at him through your lashes, lifting a hand to his jaw to trace your thumb along the patchy stubble there.
“Show me where.”
The bedroom is gorgeous, all luxurious, soft fabrics and warm lighting. Rich, dark wood furniture contrasts with crisp white linens, and a large window offers a breathtaking view of the city lights below. Although, for all you cared right now, it could’ve been a threadbare mattress in a seedy motel - you felt so incredible, it didn’t matter.
He leads you to the bed, releasing your hand only to turn around and face you. He kisses you without hesitation, hard and intense, as if he’d been doing it all night, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You draw in a sharp inhale through your nose, allowing yourself to indulge in it. You wrap your arms around his neck and lift up onto your toes, deepening the kiss.
Only momentarily breaking contact with him to see where you were going, you gently push Dieter backwards to sit on the edge of the bed.
You grab his knees and drop down between his thighs, paying special attention to the growing bulge between his legs. You run your hands from his ankles to his thighs all the way up to the waist of his pants. Stilling your hands at his belt, you look up at him to make sure you have his permission.
He cups his big hand around your jaw, angling your face up towards him.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing along your cheek and dipping into the hollow as your jaw drops in anticipation.
You undo his belt, the ornate metal buckle clinking to one side as you unbutton and unzip his pants. Your breath catches as you wrap your fingers around his cock, impressed by the girth of it even before you pull it free. The sight confirms your suspicion - he’s big.
Your fingers glide along his length, eliciting a low groan from him. Leaning in, you press a kiss to the tip before taking him into your mouth. You start slow, your tongue going flat and dragging along his shaft. Wrapping your fingers around the base of his cock, you work him steadily deeper into your mouth as you adjust your position on your knees to take more of him.
His hand tangles in your hair, guiding you as you set a steady rhythm. He’s groaning instantly, the sound turning you on as you bob over his still growing length, your tongue swirling up and down the length of it with each thrust. Saliva pools at the corners of your mouth, dripping out as he lifts his hips to position himself deeper and deeper.
He tightens his grip on your hair and you hum and swallow and whine around him, wiry curls at the base of his cock tickling the tip of your nose. You run your hands along his tightening middle, dragging your nails down his stomach to his thighs and pulling a soft, sweet moan from him. You respond by taking him deeper, breathing steadily through your nose as your throat relaxes to accommodate his size.
“Fuck, you’re amazing,” he breathes, his voice a rough whisper. You glance up at him, eyes wide and dark. Gently, he wipes away a smudge of mascara from beneath your eye with his thumb, his touch surprisingly tender. “So fucking good for me.”
Your head bobs faster and faster. Wet, gurgling noises fill the room as his pelvis begins to twitch, losing its rhythm. You can sense he’s close, and you’re determined to make him come, quickening your pace as you fantisize about the taste of him on your tongue.
“Stop,” he commands suddenly, his voice firm as he fists your hair, pulling you off him with a wet pop. “Stop. Stand up, baby.”
You obey, blinking away fat mascara tears as you rise to your feet. He hooks his hands beneath your thighs, lifting you effortlessly and laying you down on the bed. The cool sheets contrast with the heat of your body, and you prop yourself up on your elbows, watching him as he unbuttons and removes his shirt, his eyes never leaving yours.
He’s back a moment later, working his hand slowly up and down his shaft as he covers your body with his and kisses you again, this time slower. You indulge in it, rooting your fingers into the curls at the back of his neck and pulling him in closer. You arch into his touch, your hands exploring the soft planes of his chest and back, reveling in the warmth of his skin against yours.
His hands roam your body with purpose, sliding under the hem of your panties and pulling them down roughly. You kick them off, sending them flying across the room, and your legs return to hook around his back, pulling your naked body flush against his. The heat of his cock brushes against your entrance, teasing your swollen nerves and sending shivers down your spine.
"Fuck me, Dieter," you beg, your voice breathless and needy. "Please, fuck me."
"I got you, baby," he breathes into your ear, that familiar smirk audible in his voice. He lines himself up at your entrance and pushes forward.
You moan together as he fills you, his head sinking into the curve of your shoulder. It’s a stinging stretch as he enters you, but it feels good. You squeeze around him instantly, the heft of him inside of you drawing air from your lungs. He starts slow, rocking into you gently. Each movement is deliberate, his pace unhurried as he lets you adjust. He works deeper into you, thrusts growing stronger as your body stretches to accommodate him.
He’s groaning in your ear, a depraved voice telling you how amazing you feel and sending tingles down your spine. It’s all you can do to moan in response, your head thick and foggy now. His hand cups roughly around your jaw again as he finds a rhythm, his cock sliding in and out with ease and you bend into him, eager to take as much of him as you can.
“Dieter,” you gasp, the intensity building within you. “Oh, my god. Don’t stop.”
He doesn’t. With a groan, he quickens his pace, groaning as his free hand slides down to your clit. The moment his thumb makes contact, pressing and circling the sensitive bundle of nerves, a deep moan rips from your chest, your arms wrapping tightly around him, nails digging into his shoulders.
He shifts, standing and lifting your legs to bend in front of you, his forearm pressing across your calves until your knees are nearly at your chest. His eyebrows knit together in concentration as he fucks into you with an intensity that fills the room with the wet, rhythmic sounds of skin slapping against skin, punctuated by the hoarse, desperate moans pouring from your throat.
“God damn, you can take it, baby,” he praises, wrapping his hand around the back of your neck and using it as leverage to push even harder into you. All you can do is moan and whine - it’s complete nonsense, slurred approximations of “Yes, Please, Dieter, Please”
He fingers strum at your clit and you cry out, the feeling of his fingers incredible. He begins to draw small circles on the bundle of nerves, the movement mirroring his thrusting in and out of you. His hold around your jaw shifts down to your collarbone, his fingers curling around your neck with just enough pressure to make your head spin. The circles turn to quick flicks up and down and you feel your stomach begin to tighten, pleasure mounting with each stroke.
You pull your knees up higher as he pistons into you, your cunt soaked and squelching with each thrust. You try to match his rhythm, but it becomes more and more difficult as the nerves at your core threaten to burst.
“Come on my cock,” he commands, his breath hot against your ear. “Wanna feel you come.”
His words push you over the edge. Your body tenses as a wave of pleasure crashes through you. You can’t fight the high-pitched cry of relief that rips from your chest and you cling to his wrists, his arms, anything you can get your hands on as your orgasm shudders and ripples through you.
He groans, too, his own control slipping as he collapses onto the bed beside you. He turns over, pulling you with him until you're straddling him.
“C’mere, baby,” he says and you nod, unable to speak. You pant, climbing on top of him and lowering your head to kiss him deeply. As you do, you lift your hips to position yourself over him and he buries himself in you, thrusting his hips up and bottoming out inside of you. You moan into his mouth, a deep, depraved cry vibrating through your chest.
His hands grip your waist as you push yourself back up, guiding you up and down his length, and his breath is ragged and hot against your skin. He lifts himself to take your breast in his mouth and you root your fingers in his hair as he latches onto you. His tongue swirls around the stiffened bud of your nipple and his hands stray towards your clit, insatiable, unable to stop touching you. It’s overwhelming and your head is empty as the pleasure turns you into a trembling mess.
“God damn,” he breathes the words into your chest as he buries his head between your breasts, his fingers digging tighter into your waist as he holds himself tightly against you. He’s a man determined now, his thrusts into you unforgiving as you cling desperately around his neck. Your chests are sweaty and slick as they move against eachother, the sounds of your hot, salty skin slapping together echoing through the room.
He lies back on the bed, hands still roaming your body, his chest heaving beneath you. Your hands brace on his thighs, giving him a perfect view of your body as you take him as deeply as you can, his cock buried inside you, slick with your arousal.
Finally, his hips begin to stutter and a long groan escapes him. Noticing that he’s beginning to falter, you pick up your speed, determined to return the pleasure he’s been giving you all night. You lift up and drop down, bouncing yourself on his hips. He slides in and out, burying himself to the hilt and back again, his cock sending sharp pangs through your stomach. You brace yourself with a hand on his chest and he grabs it, guiding it to his throat, his eyes dark and pleading, and you obey, tightening your grip just enough to make his breath catch as you continue to ride him.
“F-Fuck,” he stutters raggedly, arching slightly into you. You squeeze just a little tighter and he’s done for. The feeling of his cock twitching inside of you is unmistakable. You hum happily, tracing your nails along his chest and squeezing around his length as he spills inside of you with a guttural groan. You collapse on top of him to rest on his chest and he wraps his arm around your back, pulling you closer to him. You feel him twitch and pulse inside of you as he steadies his breathing, rubbing circles into your shoulders as he slowly comes down.
You press your lips to his neck softly, fingers trailing through his sweaty curls and scratching slightly at his scalp. Soft, quiet moans follow his orgasm, his breath hitching slightly as you teasingly squeeze your pussy around his softening cock, his release still hot and thick inside of you.
You had no intention of spending the night. You don’t even remember falling asleep.
When you wake up, your face is buried in a pillowcase made of the softest fabric you’d ever felt in your life, and you’re drooling. The room is filled with the warm, muted light of the mid-afternoon sun filtering through the curtains. You push yourself up onto your elbow, squinting against the brightness as you try to piece together where you are. The suite was quiet. Dieter was gone.
You sit up fully, ruffling your hair with both hands as you try to shake off the remnants of sleep. A yawn escapes your lips, and you stretch, attempting to soothe your sore, stiff muscles.
Your eyes drift to the nightstand beside you, and you do a double-take when you notice the stack of paper sitting there. Eight crisp, hundred-dollar bills are neatly stacked on top of a piece of hotel stationery. You reach out, picking up the note, curiosity fluttering in your stomach as you unfold it. One word is scrawled across the page in a bold, hurried script: “Stay.”
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theperfectawful · 3 months ago
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Waking Up in Vegas
Dieter Bravo x Stripper!Reader
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Summary: A bad night at work turns around when you meet Dieter Bravo. Word Count: ~10k Content & Warnings: Vegas nightlife, stripping, sex work, reader goes by “Bunny” at the club but is otherwise unnamed, alcohol use, douchey dudes, unwanted physical touch (not from Dieter), lap dance, unprotected PinV sex, oral sex (m!recieving), hair pulling, light choking, no sleep! bus, club, 'nother club, 'nother club, plane, next place... Author Note: Fun fact - my favorite movie ever made is Pretty Woman. I've been toying for a while with the idea of writing a fic inspired by it, and while Dieter Bravo shares approximately 0 traits with Edward Lewis, I couldn't help but imagine that kind of scenario with him. What I came up with isn't a carbon copy of the first act of Pretty Woman, but it is heavily inspired by it. If you're reading this fic and think to yourself - "did she rip that bit off from Pretty Woman?" the answer is yes! Absolutely I did. This is also my first attempt at writing a smut-heavy one-shot. Enjoy!
“Shit,” you mutter under your breath, licking the tip of your finger to smudge away the botched eyeliner wing. You lean in closer to the mirror, trying to salvage what’s left of your makeup, but your heart just isn’t in it tonight.
You’d been tempted to call out of work. Sunday nights at the club were the worst - quiet, boring, with the weekend tourists already on their way back home. The locals steered clear of the strip on Sundays, and you knew tonight would be slow, the kind of slow that made every minute drag on. The stragglers who did wander in would likely be a pain, more trouble than they were worth. But with the 1st of the month looming and you still $400 short on rent, skipping a shift wasn’t an option.
It was time to find a new club anyway. When you first started, they promised you’d be dancing, maybe bartending occasionally. But since the end of the summer, things had changed. It had been weeks since your name was on the schedule for a floor show. Instead, you found yourself waitressing almost every shift. You didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t what you came to Vegas for. This job was supposed to be a stepping stone - a way to keep dancing while making extra cash. But now, your shifts were barely covering the bills, and the weight of barely scraping by was starting to crush you.
You tried not to dwell on it too much, but the nagging thoughts kept at it. Was it something you did? Maybe you had a bad night, and someone complained. Or perhaps you weren’t making the same kind of money at the bar that you used to - maybe you weren’t pulling in enough customers. That suspicion gnawed at your confidence, making you second-guess everything you did. But beyond the sting of that potential rejection was the harsh reality of your dwindling paycheck. Dancing had been your main income, and with fewer opportunities to perform, you were struggling to stay afloat. Whatever the reason, it felt like a subtle push towards the edges of the room, away from the center stage where you’d once thrived.
You’d thought about finding another club, starting fresh somewhere new. But the thought of walking into a new place, rebuilding your reputation from scratch, learning a whole new set of unspoken rules - it felt like too much. This club was familiar, the regulars knew you, and you had a rhythm here, even if it was starting to falter.
You draw another wing on your eyelid, take a step back, and decide it looks good enough. With a sigh, you grab your things and head out into the night, hoping to make the best of whatever the evening throws your way.
“We need you in the back,” Gary says as you pass in front of his booth, not bothering to glance up from the stack of bills in his hands.
“The back?” You stop in your tracks, wobbling slightly as you balance the tray in your hands. The request catches you off guard—it's been weeks since you were called into the VIP lounges, and tonight the floor is busier than usual.
He finally looks up, splitting the stack of bills between his hands with a look that makes you feel like you’ve just asked the dumbest question in the world.
“Yeah, the back,” he repeats, his tone clipped and impatient. “Big party tonight. High rollers. I need everyone back there making sure they’re taken care of.”
You nod slowly, your feet rooted to the spot. Were you performing?
“What are you standing around for?” he snaps, irritation flaring in his voice. “They’re waiting for drinks. Go take care of our guests!”
You nod again, quicker, and start back towards the VIP lounges. You can hear them halfway down the hallway, loud, boisterous voices carrying over the heavy bass of the music.
The room is dimly lit, the air thick with cigar smoke, and you can detect at least four different Tom Ford colognes competing to choke you. Men in tailored suits lounge on plush leather couches, their conversations loud and punctuated by obnoxious bursts of laughter.
“Bunnyyyyy!” Your coworker, Angel, exclaims from where she sits perched in Suit #1’s lap like a decoration. The attention in the room shifts to you, a dozen predatory gazes following your every move. You raise your arms, tray aloft, smiling big and feigning enthusiasm as you move deeper into the den of wolves.
“Gentlemen,” you purr, embracing the act. You start around the room, introducing yourself and taking orders.
“Here comes the entertainment,” Suit #1 sneers, shamelessly staring at your chest. He requests a bottle of Clase Azul, something you could have guessed before he even opened his mouth. He leans in close as he says it, his breath hot and reeking of alcohol, and follows up his order by murmuring something you pretend not to hear. Instead, you smile and wink, moving on down the line before he can say anything else.
“Bunny, huh?” Suit #2 leers, the cigar hanging lazily from the corner of his mouth. “How about a little bunny hop, baby? You gonna give it to me?”
Sure, loser. You force a giggle, twisting your hips just enough to appease him, your skin crawling under the weight of his stare. Angel plays along, her laugh a shade too bright as she strokes Suit #1’s chest.
“Alright, baby, alright.” Suit #2 takes a long draw from his cigar, blowing the smoke directly in your face. “Dom. Bring the bottle.”
You nod. As you begin to turn away, you’re stilled by the loud clap of Suit #2’s hand smacking your ass. You yelp, stumbling forward, your tray wobbling precariously as you regain your balance. Your jaw drops as you whirl around to face him, and the room erupts in laughter, every man on the sofa doubled over in delight.
“Did you see that? She jumped like a little bunny rabbit!” one of the suits howls, slapping his knee in delight.
“Better be careful, she might bite,” another one jeers.
For a split second, you catch a glimpse of discomfort on the other girls’ faces, their masks slipping just long enough to reveal the disdain beneath. But just as quickly, they snap back into their roles, the forced smiles and hollow laughter resuming as if nothing had happened.
You swallow your anger, resisting the urge to slap the smug grin off Suit #2’s face. Instead, you keep your composure and swiftly take the orders of Assholes 3, 4, and 5, your movements automatic, your mind focused on getting through the task without any additional humiliation. When you reach the last man in the room, something about him makes you pause.
You hadn’t noticed him before, but now he stands out. His outfit is almost pajama-like - soft silk pants and a floral shirt with sheer panels that reveal glimpses of his chest. Despite the fact that you’re indoors, he’s wearing dark sunglasses, the shades resting lazily on his nose. He looks completely out of place among the tailored suits, disheveled, chestnut gray curls and half-lidded eyes suggesting he’s either too tired to keep up the pretense or too rich to care.
But his gaze isn’t any softer. Beneath his glasses, his deep brown eyes appraise you, traveling slowly down the length of your body with an interest that feels different - more curious than lecherous, but still enough to make you uneasy. Behind him, Michelle, another dancer, rubs his shoulders while chatting with one of the other Suits. You brace yourself, remembering that each of these guys seems intent on one-upping each other in sheer douchebaggery.
“What can I get you, honey?” you ask, leaning in just enough to draw his attention back to your eyes. He doesn’t answer right away, his eyes half-lidded but intense as they look straight into yours.
“Macallan,” he finally says, his voice quiet, almost bored.
Of course, you think, suppressing an eye roll. The way these guys always tried to outdo each other with pricey whiskeys was almost laughable.
“Coming right up,” you reply, adding a playful wink for good measure. He responds with the barest hint of a smirk, his eyes remaining locked on you.
Crafting drink trays for customers required a surprising amount of effort and creativity. LED lights, sparklers - some drinks even had entire plastic centerpieces that made them look more like carnival floats than cocktails. You always joked that your customers were like toddlers, so easily dazzled by shiny objects and flashy displays that they’d gladly drop thousands of dollars if the bottle was dressed up enough.
By the time you finish assembling the trays, Angel is bouncing down the hallway toward the bar. She flashes you a smile, raising her eyebrows as she exhales a puff of exasperated air.
“They’re so ridiculous,” she says, moving in to help you carry the trays. “They’re like a pastiche of lame Vegas dudes.”
You give her a curious look, eyebrows arching at the word choice.
“My word of the day,” she explains with a grin, referring to the calendar she kept in her locker. You laugh, shaking your head.
“One of them just snapped Mercedes’ bra strap, like he’s some middle school brat.”
“Oh my god!” you reply, eyes widening. “Is she pissed?”
“Beyond pissed. But Gary doesn’t care - he’ll let them get away with murder because they’re some big movie executives.” She rolls her eyes. “Super rich.”
“Assholes,” you mutter, and she nods in agreement. You light the sparkler on your tray, carefully picking it up as you prepare to follow Angel down the hall.
“You caught the movie star’s eye, though!” She teases as you walk. You look at her, trying to figure out what she means. “He was glued to you when you left. He’s barely said a word to anyone. Real moody.”
You feel a flicker of interest at the thought, but keep your expression neutral. “He’s a movie star?”
Angel nods, telling you his name - Dieter Bravo. She lists off some of his movies, shocked when you tell her you haven’t seen any of them. Now it made sense. He was one of those millionaire celebrities who dressed like they were homeless.
“You should offer him a dance!” Angel suggests, her enthusiasm undimmed by the less-than-ideal crowd tonight. You can’t help but admire her ability to stay upbeat and eager, even with a party full of entitled jerks.
“I don’t know…”
“Don’t be shy!” She bumps your shoulder playfully, her energy infectious. “He’s, like, the least gross guy in there. Someone’s going to snag him if you don’t.”
As you approach the VIP room, the sounds of raucous laughter and clinking glasses grow louder, pulling you back to reality. You glance at Angel, who’s already flashing a bright smile, ready to dive back into the chaos. She’s right - if you don’t make a move, someone else will.
With a deep breath, you make up your mind. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot,” you say, more to yourself than to her.
“Atta girl!” Angel cheers, her eyes twinkling. “Just be yourself, and he’ll be putty in your hands.”
You both step back into the room, the smoky air wrapping around you like a thick blanket. She brings the sparkling tray of Clase Azul to the left side of the room, delivering it to Suit #1 as she returns to her spot next to him. Dieter is still there at the far end of the sofa, slouched in his seat, knocking around the ice in his empty glass. His eyes meet yours as you approach, and you catch that same curious look from earlier, like he’s trying to figure you out.
You set your tray down, steadying your nerves, and pour the amber liquid into the glass of ice on the tiny table in front of him. Before you can even straighten up, you feel the light touch of his fingers on your hip. He slips a hundred-dollar bill into your waistband, his eyes never leaving your face.
“Thanks,” he murmurs, his fingers lingering for just a moment before he lets them fall away. “Do you dance?”
“I see you, Bravo!” one of the Suits hollers from across the room before you can answer, laughing boorishly. “You fuckin’ dog!”
The look on Dieter’s face suggests he finds this guy just as charming as you do.
“Atta boy! Thought you didn’t want to come tonight, bro,” another Suit teases, his tone dripping with mock affection. There’s a round of snickering from the men, their eyes flitting between you and Dieter like this is some kind of game.
“Bunny, sweetheart, why don’t you come sit over here?” one of the Suits beckons, patting his lap like he’s calling a dog. “I’ve got a tip for you, too, if you’re nice.”
You force a smile, your skin prickling with irritation, but before you respond, your gaze drifts to Dieter. He’s watching the exchange with detached amusement, his eyes holding a silent apology as he takes a long sip of his drink, setting it down on the table pointedly.
Just then, Angel’s voice cuts through the air, sugary sweet and smooth. “Are you sure, honey?”
You turn slightly, noticing that all attention has shifted to Mercedes, dancing on the pole in the center of the room. Everyone is captivated, except for Suit #1, who’s inspecting the tall bottle of Clase Azul in his hands with a look of disdain.
“I thought you wanted the Azul,” she coaxes, her hand running coaxingly along his thigh.
“I wanted the gold bottle,” he snaps, waving her off dismissively. “That’s what I asked for. I could get this shit anywhere.”
Angel’s eyes meet yours for a brief moment, the silent message clear - you brought him exactly what he asked for. She quickly shifts back to him, lifting her hand to trace it up and down the bottle.
“I love the Azul,” she purrs, attempting to soothe his growing agitation.
“Yeah? You wanna pay for it? 'Cause I wanna pay for the fuckin’ bottle I asked for,” he retorts, his tone hostile.
You stifle a retort and start across the room. The last thing you need is for Gary to come storming back here, demanding to know what the problem is.
“I’ll get you the gold bottle,” you interject, your voice calm and composed. You start to turn away, but before you can take a step, he grabs your wrist, his grip firm and possessive.
“Make it quick, sweetheart,” he growls, his grip on your wrist lingering a second too long. You force a tight smile, carefully removing yourself from his grasp.
“Of course, right away,” you reply, your heart pounding in your chest. As you head out to the bar, you notice Dieter from across the room.
His eyes are dark, shooting daggers into the man across the room. He leans back in his seat, his fingers drumming on the table and his eyes flick towards you for just a moment, his jaw clenched tight.
You grab a bottle of Clase Azul Gold from the top shelf of the bar. You don’t bother with the theatrics this time around, simply placing the bottle on the tray before starting back towards the lounge. You return to much more activity than when you left, several of the girls performing lap dances as the men lounge back, their eyes half-lidded with alcohol and lust.
Dieter hasn’t moved, but there’s a noticeable shift in his demeanor. His glass is already empty. One of the girls is perched beside him, but his gaze is fixed on you, following your every move with an intensity that’s hard to ignore.
“There it is, I knew you could do it,” Suit #1 sneers as you present the bottle, his voice dripping with sarcasm and condescension. You bite your tongue, instead forcing a smile as you pour him a glass, the golden liquid catching the dim light as it flows.
“Such a good girl,” he mocks, the words making your skin crawl.
You busy yourself with clearing ashtrays and empty glasses, stacking them on your tray with practiced precision. The constant stream of tasks provides a welcome distraction, keeping you in motion and away from the men’s leering gazes and crude comments. It’s easier to manage the discomfort when you’re moving, not lingering too long in one place.
You filled the tray, carefully moving through the crowded room. Just as you turn to pick up another glass, one of the suits reaches out, their hand brushing against your waist in a way that’s far too familiar. You flinch reflexively at the unwanted touch, and in that split second, your balance shifts.
The tray tips precariously in your hands, and before you can steady it, everything - half-full ashtrays, glasses, the first Azul bottle - tumbles forward. You watch in horror as the inevitable unfolds in slow motion.
The tray crashes onto Suit #1’s lap, drenching him in a cascade of liquor, ash and ice. The glass shatters against the table, the sound ringing out like a gunshot in the busy room. For a moment, no one moves, the shock of the accident hanging heavy in the air.
Suit #1 erupts, his face twisting with rage as he jumps to his feet, liquid dripping from his tailored trousers. “What the fuck!” he bellows, his voice booming across the room, eyes blazing with fury as he turns on you.
Angel rushes to help, dabbing and brushing at his pants with a napkin. The other suits are no longer laughing; their expressions range from shock to thinly veiled amusement, but none of them move to help. You stand frozen, your heart hammering in your chest.
“I’m so sorry,” you stammer, grabbing another napkin and mimicking Angel’s actions, your hands trembling. “I’m so sorry, I’ll get-”
“Yeah, you’re fuckin’ sorry, I’m sure,” he spits, dismissing you with a wave of his hand. He shakes off the liquid from his suit sleeve, his angry eyes darting around the room before locking onto you. “You just ruined a suit worth more than what you make in a fuckin’ year. I bet you’re sorry.”
One of the suits chuckles. Your coworkers try to distract from the chaos, each picking up where they left off, while you and Angel continue to clean up the mess. Suit #1 pushes you away harshly, storming towards the door.
“Relax, Tom,” one of the other men calls across the room.
“You fuckin’ relax!” He snaps, not bothering to turn around, his back to the hall as he brushes off Angel’s attempts to help.
Just then, Gary’s head pops into the doorway. His eyes narrow as he takes in the scene - the mess on the floor, the shattered glass, the upturned ashtray, and finally, you.
“Is there a problem here?” he asks, his gaze fixed on you, his tone demanding an explanation. You swallow hard, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks as you look down, stacking shards of glass on your tray.
“Yeah, there’s a problem,” the Suit growls, gesturing to his soaked trousers and the shattered remnants of the evening scattered around his feet. “Your little waitress here just fucked up a perfectly good night.”
“We’ll take care of everything, don’t worry” Gary’s eyes flicker to the Suit, then back to you. “We’ll comp your bottle. Don’t worry about her. I apologize.”
You’re too embarrassed to look around the room as you stand. The bass of the music throbs in the otherwise silent room, mimicking the rush of your heartbeat in your ears. You glance up at Gary, who jerks his head toward the door, signaling you to follow him out. Your cheeks burn with humiliation as you gather what’s left of the mess and shuffle out of the room behind him.
Gary sends you home for the evening, making a pointed example out of you to avoid any further risks to the tab the Suit party was racking up. The humiliation stung, leaving you frustrated and embarrassed as you stepped out into the cool night air.
It was barely 1am - you had no idea what you were going to do with the rest of this evening. Aimlessly wandering the strip, you debated your next move. Maybe it was time to start scoping out other clubs, testing the waters before word got out about tonight’s fiasco. Better to have a backup plan in place than to wait for the fallout. But the thought of lingering around another loud, smokey club felt repulsive right now.
Eventually, you found yourself at the Wynn, the sleek and glittering resort where your best friend Kat worked as a bartender. The idea of sitting at her bar and bitching to her about your disastrous night over a drink was infinitely more appealing than anything else you could think of.
The Wynn made you feel like a bum. Kat’s bar was swanky and elegant, the kind of place where everything gleamed with understated luxury. Well, understated for Vegas, anyway. The decor was all white - plush chairs and couches arranged percectly, mirrors covering nearly every surface, reflecting the soft, ambient light. Despite its elegance, the bar was quiet tonight, so you didn’t feel too out of place in your hoodie and shorts.
Kat spots you as soon as you walk in, her face lighting up with a warm smile that instantly makes you feel a little better. You slip onto a stool at the bar, sighing as the weight of the night begins to lift slightly.
“What’s up, girl?” she greets you, pouring you your usual. “You look like you’ve had one hell of a night.”
You take a sip, letting the warmth of the liquor soothe your frayed nerves, and slide a $10 bill across the bar. “You have no idea.”
She leans against the bar, her attention fully on you, and you begin to recount the night - the Suits, the accident with the tray, the way Gary had humiliated you in front of everyone. An hour passes in a blur, Kat slipping away occasionally to serve guests but always returning to listen. As you vent, the frustration and anger pour out of you, mixing with the alcohol until you start to feel a little lighter.
“What a bunch of assholes,” she says when you finish, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’ve gotta get out of there.”
You huff in acknowledgement. “I know.”
“You should audition for one of the shows here,” she suggests, wiping down a glass. “It’s the same shit every night, but it beats dealing with all of that.”
“Yeah, maybe…” you reply, though the idea feels out of reach. Your resume wasn’t exactly packed with the kind of experience that would land you a spot in a resort show.
Kat’s attention is momentarily drawn to an older couple at a nearby table, waving her over. She glances at them, then back to you. “Stick around. I’ll be done here in an hour, and we can go grab something to eat, talk it out more.”
The idea sounded perfect. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
Kat always made you feel better. You were lucky to have found her here. As she moves off to help the couple, you pull your hood up and linger at the bar, twirling the swizzle stick in your empty glass, trying to avoid drawing any more attention to yourself. Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Maybe tomorrow, with some sleep and a clearer head, you’d be able to figure out your next step.
A few minutes later, she returns, mixing up something fancy. You’re surprised when she places it in front of you, the glass hitting the marble countertop with a clink.
“Since when do you give me free drinks?” you ask, confused, as you pluck the cherry from the glass and pop it into your mouth.
“It’s not from me,” she replies, her tone mischievous. You furrow your brows in confusion, and she tips her head toward the back of the room. You turn, following her gesture, and spot Dieter sitting alone at a corner table, still wearing his sunglasses. He nods at you.
You shoot him a puzzled glance, not bothering to return the greeting, before turning back to Kat. “What the fuck?” You whisper, biting the cherry from the stem and dropping it on your napkin.
“Were you going to tell me you knew Dieter Bravo?” Kat asks, her eyes twinkling as she removes your other empty glass and places it beneath the bar.
“I don’t know him. He was at the club tonight.”
“The suits?”
“Yeah,” you answer. “He was the only one of them behaving himself.”
“Well, it looks like you made an impression.”
You take a sip of the drink, tapping your nails on the bar as your mind races.
“Is he alone?” You whisper again, even though he’s far enough away that your voice wouldn’t carry anyway. She nods in confirmation.
What was this guy’s deal? He was famous enough. Didn’t he have better things to do than follow you around and hang around a hotel bar alone at two in the morning? He could probably make a call and have a dozen eager girls in his hotel room within a half hour. What did he want with you?
You exhale sharply through your teeth, downing another big sip of your drink. “Fuck it,” you say, sliding off your stool. “Be right back.”
Kat nods. “Let me know if he needs to go,” she reassures you.
Drink in hand, you stride across the room to Dieter’s booth. You slide into the seat opposite his, setting your glass on the table. He tilts his head slightly, peering at you over his sunglasses.
“Do you make a habit of following strippers around after they leave work?” you ask, your tone sharp but not entirely uninviting.
“No, not usually.”
“Not usually,” you repeat, a hint of sarcasm in your voice. “So, I guess that means I’m special?”
He shrugs casually. “I happen to be staying here.”
“Ohh, I see… That’s lucky, huh?”
“Guess so,” he answers, taking a sip from his drink. He seems amused, clearly in better spirits since the last time you saw him, his brown eyes glimmering from behind his dark shades.
“It’s a nice place.” Your eyes wander around the room, eventually landing back on him, still eying him suspiciously.
“And what about you?” He swallows a sip of his drink, big fingers and shiny rings gesturing towards you.
“What about me?” It comes out a little harsher than you intended.
“Do you usually hang out at hotel bars alone at two in the morning?”
“I happen to have a friend who works here,” you tease his tone from before.
“Ah,” he acknowledges.
“Mmhm.”
A brief silence falls between you, punctuated only by the distant clinking of glasses and murmurs from the bar. Dieter reclines back into his seat, once again obscured by the shadows and his sunglasses.
“What’s your name?” He asks.
“It’s Bunny, honey, you knew that already.” You answer, putting on an exaggerated version of the sultry voice you use at the club.
He huffs a laugh, clearly not interested in the act. You tell him the truth.
From across the room, Kat waves an “OK?” sign with her hand, and you nod.
“So, what are you doing here all alone?” you ask, your curiosity getting the better of you. “Don’t people like you usually have an entourage?”
“You met the people I was with. Would you want to spend any more time with them than you had to?”
You grimace. “I wouldn’t want to spend any time with them at all.”
He chuckles, the sound low and warm. “Exactly.”
“Really, though. What are you doing here?” you ask, lifting your drink slightly, gesturing with it. “Why this?”
He took a moment to think, studying you. Finally, he shrugs.
“I don’t know,” he sighs, finally. “To tell you the truth, nothing in my life is exactly going as planned at the moment.”
You purse your lips and nod, then quip, “Private jet in the shop?”
“Something like that.” He laughs, the sound of it genuine. His demeanor now was night and day compared to the sullen grump you met in the VIP room.
“No, you… I know tonight couldn’t have been a highlight for you, but you’re very… real. I don’t get a lot of that these days. Plus, the guy you spilled that drink on has been pissing me off for weeks, so I had to thank you personally.”
You laugh hard, heat burning at your cheeks as you’re reminded of the incident earlier.
“Oh, well, I’m glad you liked it. If it gets me fired, I’ll at least have that.” You flash a big, genuine smile at him.
“They can’t fire you for that,” he says, shaking his head. “An asshole like that needs a drink spilled on him every once in a while.”
“I’ll let them know you said so.” You laugh into your drink. You can’t believe he actually has you giggling. Lots of big names come into the club; you haven’t been remotely starstruck in a long time, and you can’t even remember anything this guy was in. Something about him was disarming.
You take him in as you continue to chat. It’s obvious he’s a movie star now - he’s stubbly and disheveled, but he’s movie-star handsome. Brown and gray scruff covers his jaw. He’s wearing a soft, chunky cardigan over a dress shirt, the mismatched layers somehow perfectly complementing his broad shoulders and chest. It’s a look that shouldn’t work, but on him, it does. He smells good, too, not oppressive like the Suits, but nice and warm and heady.
A comfortable silence settles between you, and you find yourself relaxing, crossing your legs underneath you in the booth. He glances toward the bar, then back at you, before pushing his sunglasses up onto his head and leaning forward with his elbows on the table.
“Do you want to come upstairs with me?”
The question surprises you.
“For?” you ask, meeting his gaze directly, trying to get a gauge on his intentions.
“More of this. Some company that won’t drive me fucking crazy,” he says, his tone surprisingly sincere. His voice drops lower. “Plus, I never got my dance from you. You girls make house calls?”
Ah, there it is. Your breath catches for a moment, but you quickly regain your composure.
Briefly chastising yourself for believing this guy was any different from any other dude at the club, you worry your bottom lip between your teeth.
“That’s a bold question.”

“I’m a risk taker,” he smiles, his forehead soft and creasing slightly, somehow still endearing despite it all.

You consider it. You weren’t paid out tonight so you really need the money, and the opportunity is right in front of you. But this is new territory, even for you.

You glance over at Kat, who’s still keeping an eye on you. Turning back to Dieter, you fidget with a cocktail napkin on the table, folding it and unfolding it. “Not for free.”
“Of course not.”

“What exactly are you looking for?”
“The dance, some conversation. You can stay for the rest of the night - there’s plenty of room.”
Yeah, right. You raise an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe you just want to talk?”
“I’m not expecting anything,” he replies smoothly. “Just hoping. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“There’s lots of girls on the strip who do that sort of thing, you know.”

“I know.”
You glance at Kat once more, then back at Dieter. If you’re going to do this, you might as well take a bold swing.
“Five hundred dollars.”
“I can do that.”
Holy shit. Between that and the hundred he gave you earlier, you’d have rent and then some. You think for another moment. All you had to do was dance. You’d be done in an hour and then you could go home.
“I don’t do any weird shit,” you say. You don’t even know what you even mean by that.
He nods, accepting your terms without hesitation.
“And I’m not entertaining a party. I don’t want to meet any of your buddies up there.”
“It’s just me.” He confirms.
You think it over for another moment.
“Okay.” You say, ​​doing your best to mask the relief surging through you at the thought of that kind of money.

You finish your drink and stand up, gesturing for him to follow. Kat catches your eye and tilts her head, curious, and you shrug slightly as you walk out of the room.
As you leave the bar, you’re immediately aware of the kind of attention Dieter gets everywhere he goes. Heads turn as you walk through the lobby, you notice at least three people attempt to subtly snap photos with their phones. He seems unfazed by it - his sunglasses are back in place, but he’s calm and confident.
The hotel is huge. You haven’t even explored most of it, usually just bee-lining to Kat’s bar whenever you visit. He leads you past the main lobby, down a short corridor to a part of this hotel you’ve never seen before. Intricate gold leafing sprawls and swirls on the marble floor before you, yellow gold fixtures evoking a version of old-Vegas that has you suddenly feeling very underdressed.
It’s the middle of the night, yet the lobby is still bustling with people dressed to the nines in suits and cocktail dresses, their chatter and laughter filling the space. As Dieter walks by, he’s noticed in a more subtle way - eyes flicker toward him, a quiet recognition that follows in his wake. An employee at the front desk greets him with a smile that falters when she notices you by his side. She glances over you, her eyes taking you in with a slight but unmistakable judgment. You shrug your hoodie forward, zipping it up a bit higher as your heels click-clack against the marble, each step feeling more out of place.
Dieter’s hand spreads across the small of your back, guiding you to turn towards a trio of tall, golden elevators. He presses a key card to the wall the middle doors open, revealing the mirrored, plushly-carpeted interior.
“So,” you begin, forcing a lightness into your tone as you follow him inside, “your penthouse or mine?”
“Mmm, mine,” he replies with a soft, tired chuckle.
The elevator ride is quiet, the tension palpable but not uncomfortable. You watch the floor numbers tick upward, trying to focus on anything but the nerves building in your chest. It’s a long ride. You count the dings as the elevator rises and lose track somewhere around twenty.
You’re fucking nervous. Really nervous. You were half expecting to wake up from this fever dream of an evening at any moment. The thought that this guy has money to burn flits through your mind, and you can’t help but worry about what he might expect for five hundred bucks.
The elevator doors open directly into his suite. It is exactly what you’d expect: luxurious, sprawling. Floor-to-ceiling windows with a stunning view of the city skyline. You walk over to the wall of glass, taking a moment to steady yourself.
“This is a beautiful view,” you say, more to fill the silence than anything else.
“It’s better now,” he replies, and you turn to see him watching you intently. His glasses are finally off and his eyes are warm and inviting, sparkling with the reflection of the skyline behind you. You find yourself relaxing just a little around him.
“Want a drink?” he asks. He shrugs his sweater off and tosses it over a chair as he moves over to the bar.
“Sure,” you reply, slowly walking around the room, surveying the luxurious decor.
As he pours the drinks, you take a seat on the plush sofa. You fiddle with the tassels on a throw pillow next to you, crossing and uncrossing your legs, trying to control your fidgeting. This was all so bizarre. The opulence feels almost surreal, like you’ve stepped into someone else’s life. You were still waiting for some perverted catch to reveal itself, but at least for now, Dieter seemed like a nice enough guy.
“So, what brings you to Vegas?” You ask, trying to make conversation. “Big Cher fan?”
Her face watched you from outside the window, fifty feet tall, advertising her residency across the strip. He laughs, looking to her, then to you.
“Of course, but that’s just a coincidence,” he says, bringing you a glass of champagne. “I’m here for an award show.”
“Oh, that’s fun…” you answer, taking a long draw from your glass. “What’d you win?”
“The opportunity to present a lifetime achievement award to someone who hates me.” He answers.
You nod, frowning in acknowledgement, unsure of how to respond to that.
“Lucky you.”
“Yeah,” he says, a slight groan in his voice as he sits on the couch with you and settles in. He picks up a remote from the side table and with a press of a button, the lighting in the room shifts to a warm, amber glow, casting everything in a soft, intimate light. “Lucky me.”
You sit in silence for a moment, sipping champagne.
You’re not sure how this is done. You know how to play this part at the club, but this was different. You slip in and out of eye contact with him, surveying the room as you try not to polish off your glass too quickly. Should you ask if he wants a lap dance? Just jump on top of him? Were you supposed to ask for the money before or after?
You take a gulp and put your glass down, deciding to just shift into character like you would for any other dance. Scooting in towards him, you place your hand on his leg and run it up and down the length of his thigh. The buzz from the drinks you’ve had tonight is starting to hit, and the contact sends a jolt of something electric through your nerves. You flip your hair to one side, batting your lashes and gazing up at him.
“So,” you purr, your voice low and inviting. “What do you want?”
His eyes flick down to your hand, then back up to meet yours, a small smile playing on his lips. “What do you do?” he asks, curious.
You lean in closer, tucking yourself into the crook of his neck, your lips hovering near his ear. “I can show you,” you whisper, letting your breath caress his skin.
His eyes darken slightly, drinking you in as you let your fingers trail and explore his chest. “I’d like that,” he murmurs.
You stand up slowly, zipping your hoodie off and letting it fall to the ground.
“Music?” You ask. He points at a shelf on the wall with a set of speakers. You walk over and turn it on, Insatiable by Prince picking up midway through the track.
“Oooh, Prince,” you say, genuinely excited as you turned around. Music you actually liked was a welcome reprise from having to writhe around to Cherry Pie for the hundredth time. He smirks, leaning back in his seat, his eyes following your every move.
​​You start your routine, taking your time as you peel off your shorts and your top, giving him ample time to appreciate the view. You’re grateful you decided to keep on what you wore to work tonight - this set accentuates your curves perfectly, a far cry from the tired-looking boyshorts and nude, full-coverage bra you usually wore off-duty.
Swaying your hips back and forth to the rhythm, you begin by tracing your fingers slowly up and down your torso. For what he was paying, you figured you’d give him a show. Your fingers linger over your breasts, tracing the edges of your bra as you lower your lashes, then lift them slowly to meet his gaze to make sultry, sexy, in-character eye contact with him. He’s staring right back into you with an intensity that makes you pause for a moment, but you slip right back into it.
You walk towards him, stretching your legs out long as you cross the room. He spreads his legs slightly when you arrive in front of him, his deep brown eyes darkened several shades as he takes you in. You rest a hand on his shoulder, hitching your leg up and placing your high-heeled foot delicately on his bent knee. You watch eachother as you stand there, rubbing your leg up and down, deliberately grazing the seam of your panties a couple of times with your pinky and ring fingers.
Planting your foot back on the floor, you turn around, giving him a full view as you bend down. The fabric of your bra and panties hugs your curves just right. He runs his hands along the outside of your thighs, a long, low groan escaping him as you slowly stand back up and lower yourself backwards into his lap. You roll your hips a couple of times as you squat down, but you swallow your gasp when you finally settle in his lap.
He’s half-hard already and you can feel it, an immediate ick under normal circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances. The feeling of this hardening length against the back of your thighs sent a jolt down your spine, a buzz moving through you straight to your center. You maintain your composure, continuing to move in rhythm with the music, your fingers weaving into his hair as you grind against him. His hands find your waist, supporting your movements as they slide down towards your thighs and back up again.
You lean backwards, pressing your back into his chest and grinding into him, His breath hitches, and you can feel his grip tightening slightly, his fingers pressing into your skin.
“You’re incredible,” he growls into your neck, his teeth just nipping the tender skin there. You try not to moan, the goosebumps spreading down your arms and legs threatening to give you away.
“Mmm, yeah?” You hum, twisting around to face him and lifting your knees up to straddle his waist. Your eyes lock onto his, and a thrill buzzes in your stomach - you’re enjoying this more than you expected. He’s hot, especially up close, especially like this. His chestnut-gray curls have started to break free from their gelled-back position, framing his face in a way that makes him look irresistible.
You reach behind your back, unhooking your bra and letting it fall down. His eyes are glued to your chest as you angle it towards his face. One hand plants behind his head on the sofa and the other traces along his jawline, feeling the roughness of his stubble before settling around the back of his neck. You use it as leverage to hold yourself steady as you settle on his lap.
“You can touch me, Dieter,” you whisper, guiding his hand up your stomach until it cups your breast. He squeezes, his grip firm and possessive, fingers trailing across your delicate skin, making your nipples harden under his touch.
The fingers of his other hand dig into the flesh of your thighs, his eyes locked onto your body. His hands guide your lower half as you rock to the beat of the music, encouraging your barely-covered pussy to drag again and again along the shape of his throbbing cock.
You try to remember that you’re working - that he’s a client, that this is a job, that you’re not here to enjoy it. You try to focus on the music and moving your body to the beat, but it’s difficult. He’s got you lined up perfectly, every sweep along his lap punctuated with a slight push of his hips into yours. You can feel how wet you are and pray he doesn’t notice, the middle of your panties damp with the arousal he’s built up in you.
Then, his fingers pinch your nipple, and a moan escapes your lips before you can stop it. The sound is loud, shameless, and your hand flies to your mouth, eyes wide with shock. He chuckles, the sound deep and resonant, and you feel a flush of heat rise to your cheeks. You lean forward, pressing your breasts into his chest to hide your embarrassment.
“It’s okay, baby,” he murmurs. You can hear the grin in his voice, unable to look directly at him. “That’s good. Take what you need.”
You exhale a breathy laugh, leaning back to meet his gaze. The smile on your face fades into a soft O of surprise as he encourages you to resume your movements. He’s getting harder, the thick length of him straining against the fabric of his pants.
Finding your pace again, you reach back to grab his knees, arching your back and rocking your hips. You’re working, you fight to remind yourself. You’re working. It becomes more and more difficult to stay detached as you roll your body for him, angling your breasts towards him. The pressure builds between your thighs, every movement pulling you tighter and tighter at your core. He’s watching you intensely, his pupils blown out in the dim, low lighting and his fingers digging deep into your waist.
Your lower lip draws between your teeth, your brows furrowed and focused as you bounce and grind in his lap. Suddenly, you’re moaning again, the noise coming out of your mouth like a rhythmic hum. You let it out freely, encouraged by his touch, the strong pull of his hands at your waist.
The sensation overwhelms you, the friction of his body against yours pushing you over the edge. Your orgasm hits you suddenly, your hips jerking in his lap as you cry out, waves of pleasure crashing through you. You collapse forward, panting into his neck as his broad hands steady you, stroking up and down your back as you ride out the aftershocks. It leaves you trembling, your body pressed tightly against his.
After a moment, you shift back up and press your forehead into his, feeling the heat of his body through your thin clothing. His hand cups your breast, and he dips his head to drag his teeth along the nape of your neck, sending a shiver down your spine. You gasp, angling your head to the side, your fingers tucking a stray curl behind his ear.
“Tell me what you want, Dieter,” you say, your voice just above a whisper, lips grazing his ear. You’re putty in his hands now, ready to give him anything.
“I want to fuck you,” he growls, his voice rough with need. “Can I fuck you?”
Your nod is quick and urgent, your body responding before your brain catches up. You stand, pulling him up with you as your fingers intertwine. Your bodies are pressed close, and you blink up at him through your lashes, lifting a hand to his jaw to trace your thumb along the patchy stubble there.
“Show me where.”
The bedroom is gorgeous, all luxurious, soft fabrics and warm lighting. Rich, dark wood furniture contrasts with crisp white linens, and a large window offers a breathtaking view of the city lights below. Although, for all you cared right now, it could’ve been a threadbare mattress in a seedy motel - you felt so incredible, it didn’t matter.
He leads you to the bed, releasing your hand only to turn around and face you. He kisses you without hesitation, hard and intense, as if he’d been doing it all night, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You draw in a sharp inhale through your nose, allowing yourself to indulge in it. You wrap your arms around his neck and lift up onto your toes, deepening the kiss.
Only momentarily breaking contact with him to see where you were going, you gently push Dieter backwards to sit on the edge of the bed.
You grab his knees and drop down between his thighs, paying special attention to the growing bulge between his legs. You run your hands from his ankles to his thighs all the way up to the waist of his pants. Stilling your hands at his belt, you look up at him to make sure you have his permission.
He cups his big hand around your jaw, angling your face up towards him.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing along your cheek and dipping into the hollow as your jaw drops in anticipation.
You undo his belt, the ornate metal buckle clinking to one side as you unbutton and unzip his pants. Your breath catches as you wrap your fingers around his cock, impressed by the girth of it even before you pull it free. The sight confirms your suspicion - he’s big.
Your fingers glide along his length, eliciting a low groan from him. Leaning in, you press a kiss to the tip before taking him into your mouth. You start slow, your tongue going flat and dragging along his shaft. Wrapping your fingers around the base of his cock, you work him steadily deeper into your mouth as you adjust your position on your knees to take more of him.
His hand tangles in your hair, guiding you as you set a steady rhythm. He’s groaning instantly, the sound turning you on as you bob over his still growing length, your tongue swirling up and down the length of it with each thrust. Saliva pools at the corners of your mouth, dripping out as he lifts his hips to position himself deeper and deeper.
He tightens his grip on your hair and you hum and swallow and whine around him, wiry curls at the base of his cock tickling the tip of your nose. You run your hands along his tightening middle, dragging your nails down his stomach to his thighs and pulling a soft, sweet moan from him. You respond by taking him deeper, breathing steadily through your nose as your throat relaxes to accommodate his size.
“Fuck, you’re amazing,” he breathes, his voice a rough whisper. You glance up at him, eyes wide and dark. Gently, he wipes away a smudge of mascara from beneath your eye with his thumb, his touch surprisingly tender. “So fucking good for me.”
Your head bobs faster and faster. Wet, gurgling noises fill the room as his pelvis begins to twitch, losing its rhythm. You can sense he’s close, and you’re determined to make him come, quickening your pace as you fantisize about the taste of him on your tongue.
“Stop,” he commands suddenly, his voice firm as he fists your hair, pulling you off him with a wet pop. “Stop. Stand up, baby.”
You obey, blinking away fat mascara tears as you rise to your feet. He hooks his hands beneath your thighs, lifting you effortlessly and laying you down on the bed. The cool sheets contrast with the heat of your body, and you prop yourself up on your elbows, watching him as he unbuttons and removes his shirt, his eyes never leaving yours.
He’s back a moment later, working his hand slowly up and down his shaft as he covers your body with his and kisses you again, this time slower. You indulge in it, rooting your fingers into the curls at the back of his neck and pulling him in closer. You arch into his touch, your hands exploring the soft planes of his chest and back, reveling in the warmth of his skin against yours.
His hands roam your body with purpose, sliding under the hem of your panties and pulling them down roughly. You kick them off, sending them flying across the room, and your legs return to hook around his back, pulling your naked body flush against his. The heat of his cock brushes against your entrance, teasing your swollen nerves and sending shivers down your spine.
"Fuck me, Dieter," you beg, your voice breathless and needy. "Please, fuck me."
"I got you, baby," he breathes into your ear, that familiar smirk audible in his voice. He lines himself up at your entrance and pushes forward.
You moan together as he fills you, his head sinking into the curve of your shoulder. It’s a stinging stretch as he enters you, but it feels good. You squeeze around him instantly, the heft of him inside of you drawing air from your lungs. He starts slow, rocking into you gently. Each movement is deliberate, his pace unhurried as he lets you adjust. He works deeper into you, thrusts growing stronger as your body stretches to accommodate him.
He’s groaning in your ear, a depraved voice telling you how amazing you feel and sending tingles down your spine. It’s all you can do to moan in response, your head thick and foggy now. His hand cups roughly around your jaw again as he finds a rhythm, his cock sliding in and out with ease and you bend into him, eager to take as much of him as you can.
“Dieter,” you gasp, the intensity building within you. “Oh, my god. Don’t stop.”
He doesn’t. With a groan, he quickens his pace, groaning as his free hand slides down to your clit. The moment his thumb makes contact, pressing and circling the sensitive bundle of nerves, a deep moan rips from your chest, your arms wrapping tightly around him, nails digging into his shoulders.
He shifts, standing and lifting your legs to bend in front of you, his forearm pressing across your calves until your knees are nearly at your chest. His eyebrows knit together in concentration as he fucks into you with an intensity that fills the room with the wet, rhythmic sounds of skin slapping against skin, punctuated by the hoarse, desperate moans pouring from your throat.
“God damn, you can take it, baby,” he praises, wrapping his hand around the back of your neck and using it as leverage to push even harder into you. All you can do is moan and whine - it’s complete nonsense, slurred approximations of “Yes, Please, Dieter, Please”
He fingers strum at your clit and you cry out, the feeling of his fingers incredible. He begins to draw small circles on the bundle of nerves, the movement mirroring his thrusting in and out of you. His hold around your jaw shifts down to your collarbone, his fingers curling around your neck with just enough pressure to make your head spin. The circles turn to quick flicks up and down and you feel your stomach begin to tighten, pleasure mounting with each stroke.
You pull your knees up higher as he pistons into you, your cunt soaked and squelching with each thrust. You try to match his rhythm, but it becomes more and more difficult as the nerves at your core threaten to burst.
“Come on my cock,” he commands, his breath hot against your ear. “Wanna feel you come.”
His words push you over the edge. Your body tenses as a wave of pleasure crashes through you. You can’t fight the high-pitched cry of relief that rips from your chest and you cling to his wrists, his arms, anything you can get your hands on as your orgasm shudders and ripples through you.
He groans, too, his own control slipping as he collapses onto the bed beside you. He turns over, pulling you with him until you're straddling him.
“C’mere, baby,” he says and you nod, unable to speak. You pant, climbing on top of him and lowering your head to kiss him deeply. As you do, you lift your hips to position yourself over him and he buries himself in you, thrusting his hips up and bottoming out inside of you. You moan into his mouth, a deep, depraved cry vibrating through your chest.
His hands grip your waist as you push yourself back up, guiding you up and down his length, and his breath is ragged and hot against your skin. He lifts himself to take your breast in his mouth and you root your fingers in his hair as he latches onto you. His tongue swirls around the stiffened bud of your nipple and his hands stray towards your clit, insatiable, unable to stop touching you. It’s overwhelming and your head is empty as the pleasure turns you into a trembling mess.
“God damn,” he breathes the words into your chest as he buries his head between your breasts, his fingers digging tighter into your waist as he holds himself tightly against you. He’s a man determined now, his thrusts into you unforgiving as you cling desperately around his neck. Your chests are sweaty and slick as they move against eachother, the sounds of your hot, salty skin slapping together echoing through the room.
He lies back on the bed, hands still roaming your body, his chest heaving beneath you. Your hands brace on his thighs, giving him a perfect view of your body as you take him as deeply as you can, his cock buried inside you, slick with your arousal.
Finally, his hips begin to stutter and a long groan escapes him. Noticing that he’s beginning to falter, you pick up your speed, determined to return the pleasure he’s been giving you all night. You lift up and drop down, bouncing yourself on his hips. He slides in and out, burying himself to the hilt and back again, his cock sending sharp pangs through your stomach. You brace yourself with a hand on his chest and he grabs it, guiding it to his throat, his eyes dark and pleading, and you obey, tightening your grip just enough to make his breath catch as you continue to ride him.
“F-Fuck,” he stutters raggedly, arching slightly into you. You squeeze just a little tighter and he’s done for. The feeling of his cock twitching inside of you is unmistakable. You hum happily, tracing your nails along his chest and squeezing around his length as he spills inside of you with a guttural groan. You collapse on top of him to rest on his chest and he wraps his arm around your back, pulling you closer to him. You feel him twitch and pulse inside of you as he steadies his breathing, rubbing circles into your shoulders as he slowly comes down.
You press your lips to his neck softly, fingers trailing through his sweaty curls and scratching slightly at his scalp. Soft, quiet moans follow his orgasm, his breath hitching slightly as you teasingly squeeze your pussy around his softening cock, his release still hot and thick inside of you.
You had no intention of spending the night. You don’t even remember falling asleep.
When you wake up, your face is buried in a pillowcase made of the softest fabric you’d ever felt in your life, and you’re drooling. The room is filled with the warm, muted light of the mid-afternoon sun filtering through the curtains. You push yourself up onto your elbow, squinting against the brightness as you try to piece together where you are. The suite was quiet. Dieter was gone.
You sit up fully, ruffling your hair with both hands as you try to shake off the remnants of sleep. A yawn escapes your lips, and you stretch, attempting to soothe your sore, stiff muscles.
Your eyes drift to the nightstand beside you, and you do a double-take when you notice the stack of paper sitting there. Eight crisp, hundred-dollar bills are neatly stacked on top of a piece of hotel stationery. You reach out, picking up the note, curiosity fluttering in your stomach as you unfold it. One word is scrawled across the page in a bold, hurried script: “Stay.”
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theperfectawful · 3 months ago
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Waking Up in Vegas
Dieter Bravo x Stripper!Reader
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Summary: A bad night at work turns around when you meet Dieter Bravo. Word Count: ~10k Content & Warnings: Vegas nightlife, stripping, sex work, reader goes by “Bunny” at the club but is otherwise unnamed, alcohol use, douchey dudes, unwanted physical touch (not from Dieter), lap dance, unprotected PinV sex, oral sex (m!recieving), hair pulling, light choking, no sleep! bus, club, 'nother club, 'nother club, plane, next place... Author Note: Fun fact - my favorite movie ever made is Pretty Woman. I've been toying for a while with the idea of writing a fic inspired by it, and while Dieter Bravo shares approximately 0 traits with Edward Lewis, I couldn't help but imagine that kind of scenario with him. What I came up with isn't a carbon copy of the first act of Pretty Woman, but it is heavily inspired by it. If you're reading this fic and think to yourself - "did she rip that bit off from Pretty Woman?" the answer is yes! Absolutely I did. This is also my first attempt at writing a smut-heavy one-shot. Enjoy!
“Shit,” you mutter under your breath, licking the tip of your finger to smudge away the botched eyeliner wing. You lean in closer to the mirror, trying to salvage what’s left of your makeup, but your heart just isn’t in it tonight.
You’d been tempted to call out of work. Sunday nights at the club were the worst - quiet, boring, with the weekend tourists already on their way back home. The locals steered clear of the strip on Sundays, and you knew tonight would be slow, the kind of slow that made every minute drag on. The stragglers who did wander in would likely be a pain, more trouble than they were worth. But with the 1st of the month looming and you still $400 short on rent, skipping a shift wasn’t an option.
It was time to find a new club anyway. When you first started, they promised you’d be dancing, maybe bartending occasionally. But since the end of the summer, things had changed. It had been weeks since your name was on the schedule for a floor show. Instead, you found yourself waitressing almost every shift. You didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t what you came to Vegas for. This job was supposed to be a stepping stone - a way to keep dancing while making extra cash. But now, your shifts were barely covering the bills, and the weight of barely scraping by was starting to crush you.
You tried not to dwell on it too much, but the nagging thoughts kept at it. Was it something you did? Maybe you had a bad night, and someone complained. Or perhaps you weren’t making the same kind of money at the bar that you used to - maybe you weren’t pulling in enough customers. That suspicion gnawed at your confidence, making you second-guess everything you did. But beyond the sting of that potential rejection was the harsh reality of your dwindling paycheck. Dancing had been your main income, and with fewer opportunities to perform, you were struggling to stay afloat. Whatever the reason, it felt like a subtle push towards the edges of the room, away from the center stage where you’d once thrived.
You’d thought about finding another club, starting fresh somewhere new. But the thought of walking into a new place, rebuilding your reputation from scratch, learning a whole new set of unspoken rules - it felt like too much. This club was familiar, the regulars knew you, and you had a rhythm here, even if it was starting to falter.
You draw another wing on your eyelid, take a step back, and decide it looks good enough. With a sigh, you grab your things and head out into the night, hoping to make the best of whatever the evening throws your way.
“We need you in the back,” Gary says as you pass in front of his booth, not bothering to glance up from the stack of bills in his hands.
“The back?” You stop in your tracks, wobbling slightly as you balance the tray in your hands. The request catches you off guard—it's been weeks since you were called into the VIP lounges, and tonight the floor is busier than usual.
He finally looks up, splitting the stack of bills between his hands with a look that makes you feel like you’ve just asked the dumbest question in the world.
“Yeah, the back,” he repeats, his tone clipped and impatient. “Big party tonight. High rollers. I need everyone back there making sure they’re taken care of.”
You nod slowly, your feet rooted to the spot. Were you performing?
“What are you standing around for?” he snaps, irritation flaring in his voice. “They’re waiting for drinks. Go take care of our guests!”
You nod again, quicker, and start back towards the VIP lounges. You can hear them halfway down the hallway, loud, boisterous voices carrying over the heavy bass of the music.
The room is dimly lit, the air thick with cigar smoke, and you can detect at least four different Tom Ford colognes competing to choke you. Men in tailored suits lounge on plush leather couches, their conversations loud and punctuated by obnoxious bursts of laughter.
“Bunnyyyyy!” Your coworker, Angel, exclaims from where she sits perched in Suit #1’s lap like a decoration. The attention in the room shifts to you, a dozen predatory gazes following your every move. You raise your arms, tray aloft, smiling big and feigning enthusiasm as you move deeper into the den of wolves.
“Gentlemen,” you purr, embracing the act. You start around the room, introducing yourself and taking orders.
“Here comes the entertainment,” Suit #1 sneers, shamelessly staring at your chest. He requests a bottle of Clase Azul, something you could have guessed before he even opened his mouth. He leans in close as he says it, his breath hot and reeking of alcohol, and follows up his order by murmuring something you pretend not to hear. Instead, you smile and wink, moving on down the line before he can say anything else.
“Bunny, huh?” Suit #2 leers, the cigar hanging lazily from the corner of his mouth. “How about a little bunny hop, baby? You gonna give it to me?”
Sure, loser. You force a giggle, twisting your hips just enough to appease him, your skin crawling under the weight of his stare. Angel plays along, her laugh a shade too bright as she strokes Suit #1’s chest.
“Alright, baby, alright.” Suit #2 takes a long draw from his cigar, blowing the smoke directly in your face. “Dom. Bring the bottle.”
You nod. As you begin to turn away, you’re stilled by the loud clap of Suit #2’s hand smacking your ass. You yelp, stumbling forward, your tray wobbling precariously as you regain your balance. Your jaw drops as you whirl around to face him, and the room erupts in laughter, every man on the sofa doubled over in delight.
“Did you see that? She jumped like a little bunny rabbit!” one of the suits howls, slapping his knee in delight.
“Better be careful, she might bite,” another one jeers.
For a split second, you catch a glimpse of discomfort on the other girls’ faces, their masks slipping just long enough to reveal the disdain beneath. But just as quickly, they snap back into their roles, the forced smiles and hollow laughter resuming as if nothing had happened.
You swallow your anger, resisting the urge to slap the smug grin off Suit #2’s face. Instead, you keep your composure and swiftly take the orders of Assholes 3, 4, and 5, your movements automatic, your mind focused on getting through the task without any additional humiliation. When you reach the last man in the room, something about him makes you pause.
You hadn’t noticed him before, but now he stands out. His outfit is almost pajama-like - soft silk pants and a floral shirt with sheer panels that reveal glimpses of his chest. Despite the fact that you’re indoors, he’s wearing dark sunglasses, the shades resting lazily on his nose. He looks completely out of place among the tailored suits, disheveled, chestnut gray curls and half-lidded eyes suggesting he’s either too tired to keep up the pretense or too rich to care.
But his gaze isn’t any softer. Beneath his glasses, his deep brown eyes appraise you, traveling slowly down the length of your body with an interest that feels different - more curious than lecherous, but still enough to make you uneasy. Behind him, Michelle, another dancer, rubs his shoulders while chatting with one of the other Suits. You brace yourself, remembering that each of these guys seems intent on one-upping each other in sheer douchebaggery.
“What can I get you, honey?” you ask, leaning in just enough to draw his attention back to your eyes. He doesn’t answer right away, his eyes half-lidded but intense as they look straight into yours.
“Macallan,” he finally says, his voice quiet, almost bored.
Of course, you think, suppressing an eye roll. The way these guys always tried to outdo each other with pricey whiskeys was almost laughable.
“Coming right up,” you reply, adding a playful wink for good measure. He responds with the barest hint of a smirk, his eyes remaining locked on you.
Crafting drink trays for customers required a surprising amount of effort and creativity. LED lights, sparklers - some drinks even had entire plastic centerpieces that made them look more like carnival floats than cocktails. You always joked that your customers were like toddlers, so easily dazzled by shiny objects and flashy displays that they’d gladly drop thousands of dollars if the bottle was dressed up enough.
By the time you finish assembling the trays, Angel is bouncing down the hallway toward the bar. She flashes you a smile, raising her eyebrows as she exhales a puff of exasperated air.
“They’re so ridiculous,” she says, moving in to help you carry the trays. “They’re like a pastiche of lame Vegas dudes.”
You give her a curious look, eyebrows arching at the word choice.
“My word of the day,” she explains with a grin, referring to the calendar she kept in her locker. You laugh, shaking your head.
“One of them just snapped Mercedes’ bra strap, like he’s some middle school brat.”
“Oh my god!” you reply, eyes widening. “Is she pissed?”
“Beyond pissed. But Gary doesn’t care - he’ll let them get away with murder because they’re some big movie executives.” She rolls her eyes. “Super rich.”
“Assholes,” you mutter, and she nods in agreement. You light the sparkler on your tray, carefully picking it up as you prepare to follow Angel down the hall.
“You caught the movie star’s eye, though!” She teases as you walk. You look at her, trying to figure out what she means. “He was glued to you when you left. He’s barely said a word to anyone. Real moody.”
You feel a flicker of interest at the thought, but keep your expression neutral. “He’s a movie star?”
Angel nods, telling you his name - Dieter Bravo. She lists off some of his movies, shocked when you tell her you haven’t seen any of them. Now it made sense. He was one of those millionaire celebrities who dressed like they were homeless.
“You should offer him a dance!” Angel suggests, her enthusiasm undimmed by the less-than-ideal crowd tonight. You can’t help but admire her ability to stay upbeat and eager, even with a party full of entitled jerks.
“I don’t know…”
“Don’t be shy!” She bumps your shoulder playfully, her energy infectious. “He’s, like, the least gross guy in there. Someone’s going to snag him if you don’t.”
As you approach the VIP room, the sounds of raucous laughter and clinking glasses grow louder, pulling you back to reality. You glance at Angel, who’s already flashing a bright smile, ready to dive back into the chaos. She’s right - if you don’t make a move, someone else will.
With a deep breath, you make up your mind. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot,” you say, more to yourself than to her.
“Atta girl!” Angel cheers, her eyes twinkling. “Just be yourself, and he’ll be putty in your hands.”
You both step back into the room, the smoky air wrapping around you like a thick blanket. She brings the sparkling tray of Clase Azul to the left side of the room, delivering it to Suit #1 as she returns to her spot next to him. Dieter is still there at the far end of the sofa, slouched in his seat, knocking around the ice in his empty glass. His eyes meet yours as you approach, and you catch that same curious look from earlier, like he’s trying to figure you out.
You set your tray down, steadying your nerves, and pour the amber liquid into the glass of ice on the tiny table in front of him. Before you can even straighten up, you feel the light touch of his fingers on your hip. He slips a hundred-dollar bill into your waistband, his eyes never leaving your face.
“Thanks,” he murmurs, his fingers lingering for just a moment before he lets them fall away. “Do you dance?”
“I see you, Bravo!” one of the Suits hollers from across the room before you can answer, laughing boorishly. “You fuckin’ dog!”
The look on Dieter’s face suggests he finds this guy just as charming as you do.
“Atta boy! Thought you didn’t want to come tonight, bro,” another Suit teases, his tone dripping with mock affection. There’s a round of snickering from the men, their eyes flitting between you and Dieter like this is some kind of game.
“Bunny, sweetheart, why don’t you come sit over here?” one of the Suits beckons, patting his lap like he’s calling a dog. “I’ve got a tip for you, too, if you’re nice.”
You force a smile, your skin prickling with irritation, but before you respond, your gaze drifts to Dieter. He’s watching the exchange with detached amusement, his eyes holding a silent apology as he takes a long sip of his drink, setting it down on the table pointedly.
Just then, Angel’s voice cuts through the air, sugary sweet and smooth. “Are you sure, honey?”
You turn slightly, noticing that all attention has shifted to Mercedes, dancing on the pole in the center of the room. Everyone is captivated, except for Suit #1, who’s inspecting the tall bottle of Clase Azul in his hands with a look of disdain.
“I thought you wanted the Azul,” she coaxes, her hand running coaxingly along his thigh.
“I wanted the gold bottle,” he snaps, waving her off dismissively. “That’s what I asked for. I could get this shit anywhere.”
Angel’s eyes meet yours for a brief moment, the silent message clear - you brought him exactly what he asked for. She quickly shifts back to him, lifting her hand to trace it up and down the bottle.
“I love the Azul,” she purrs, attempting to soothe his growing agitation.
“Yeah? You wanna pay for it? 'Cause I wanna pay for the fuckin’ bottle I asked for,” he retorts, his tone hostile.
You stifle a retort and start across the room. The last thing you need is for Gary to come storming back here, demanding to know what the problem is.
“I’ll get you the gold bottle,” you interject, your voice calm and composed. You start to turn away, but before you can take a step, he grabs your wrist, his grip firm and possessive.
“Make it quick, sweetheart,” he growls, his grip on your wrist lingering a second too long. You force a tight smile, carefully removing yourself from his grasp.
“Of course, right away,” you reply, your heart pounding in your chest. As you head out to the bar, you notice Dieter from across the room.
His eyes are dark, shooting daggers into the man across the room. He leans back in his seat, his fingers drumming on the table and his eyes flick towards you for just a moment, his jaw clenched tight.
You grab a bottle of Clase Azul Gold from the top shelf of the bar. You don’t bother with the theatrics this time around, simply placing the bottle on the tray before starting back towards the lounge. You return to much more activity than when you left, several of the girls performing lap dances as the men lounge back, their eyes half-lidded with alcohol and lust.
Dieter hasn’t moved, but there’s a noticeable shift in his demeanor. His glass is already empty. One of the girls is perched beside him, but his gaze is fixed on you, following your every move with an intensity that’s hard to ignore.
“There it is, I knew you could do it,” Suit #1 sneers as you present the bottle, his voice dripping with sarcasm and condescension. You bite your tongue, instead forcing a smile as you pour him a glass, the golden liquid catching the dim light as it flows.
“Such a good girl,” he mocks, the words making your skin crawl.
You busy yourself with clearing ashtrays and empty glasses, stacking them on your tray with practiced precision. The constant stream of tasks provides a welcome distraction, keeping you in motion and away from the men’s leering gazes and crude comments. It’s easier to manage the discomfort when you’re moving, not lingering too long in one place.
You filled the tray, carefully moving through the crowded room. Just as you turn to pick up another glass, one of the suits reaches out, their hand brushing against your waist in a way that’s far too familiar. You flinch reflexively at the unwanted touch, and in that split second, your balance shifts.
The tray tips precariously in your hands, and before you can steady it, everything - half-full ashtrays, glasses, the first Azul bottle - tumbles forward. You watch in horror as the inevitable unfolds in slow motion.
The tray crashes onto Suit #1’s lap, drenching him in a cascade of liquor, ash and ice. The glass shatters against the table, the sound ringing out like a gunshot in the busy room. For a moment, no one moves, the shock of the accident hanging heavy in the air.
Suit #1 erupts, his face twisting with rage as he jumps to his feet, liquid dripping from his tailored trousers. “What the fuck!” he bellows, his voice booming across the room, eyes blazing with fury as he turns on you.
Angel rushes to help, dabbing and brushing at his pants with a napkin. The other suits are no longer laughing; their expressions range from shock to thinly veiled amusement, but none of them move to help. You stand frozen, your heart hammering in your chest.
“I’m so sorry,” you stammer, grabbing another napkin and mimicking Angel’s actions, your hands trembling. “I’m so sorry, I’ll get-”
“Yeah, you’re fuckin’ sorry, I’m sure,” he spits, dismissing you with a wave of his hand. He shakes off the liquid from his suit sleeve, his angry eyes darting around the room before locking onto you. “You just ruined a suit worth more than what you make in a fuckin’ year. I bet you’re sorry.”
One of the suits chuckles. Your coworkers try to distract from the chaos, each picking up where they left off, while you and Angel continue to clean up the mess. Suit #1 pushes you away harshly, storming towards the door.
“Relax, Tom,” one of the other men calls across the room.
“You fuckin’ relax!” He snaps, not bothering to turn around, his back to the hall as he brushes off Angel’s attempts to help.
Just then, Gary’s head pops into the doorway. His eyes narrow as he takes in the scene - the mess on the floor, the shattered glass, the upturned ashtray, and finally, you.
“Is there a problem here?” he asks, his gaze fixed on you, his tone demanding an explanation. You swallow hard, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks as you look down, stacking shards of glass on your tray.
“Yeah, there’s a problem,” the Suit growls, gesturing to his soaked trousers and the shattered remnants of the evening scattered around his feet. “Your little waitress here just fucked up a perfectly good night.”
“We’ll take care of everything, don’t worry” Gary’s eyes flicker to the Suit, then back to you. “We’ll comp your bottle. Don’t worry about her. I apologize.”
You’re too embarrassed to look around the room as you stand. The bass of the music throbs in the otherwise silent room, mimicking the rush of your heartbeat in your ears. You glance up at Gary, who jerks his head toward the door, signaling you to follow him out. Your cheeks burn with humiliation as you gather what’s left of the mess and shuffle out of the room behind him.
Gary sends you home for the evening, making a pointed example out of you to avoid any further risks to the tab the Suit party was racking up. The humiliation stung, leaving you frustrated and embarrassed as you stepped out into the cool night air.
It was barely 1am - you had no idea what you were going to do with the rest of this evening. Aimlessly wandering the strip, you debated your next move. Maybe it was time to start scoping out other clubs, testing the waters before word got out about tonight’s fiasco. Better to have a backup plan in place than to wait for the fallout. But the thought of lingering around another loud, smokey club felt repulsive right now.
Eventually, you found yourself at the Wynn, the sleek and glittering resort where your best friend Kat worked as a bartender. The idea of sitting at her bar and bitching to her about your disastrous night over a drink was infinitely more appealing than anything else you could think of.
The Wynn made you feel like a bum. Kat’s bar was swanky and elegant, the kind of place where everything gleamed with understated luxury. Well, understated for Vegas, anyway. The decor was all white - plush chairs and couches arranged percectly, mirrors covering nearly every surface, reflecting the soft, ambient light. Despite its elegance, the bar was quiet tonight, so you didn’t feel too out of place in your hoodie and shorts.
Kat spots you as soon as you walk in, her face lighting up with a warm smile that instantly makes you feel a little better. You slip onto a stool at the bar, sighing as the weight of the night begins to lift slightly.
“What’s up, girl?” she greets you, pouring you your usual. “You look like you’ve had one hell of a night.”
You take a sip, letting the warmth of the liquor soothe your frayed nerves, and slide a $10 bill across the bar. “You have no idea.”
She leans against the bar, her attention fully on you, and you begin to recount the night - the Suits, the accident with the tray, the way Gary had humiliated you in front of everyone. An hour passes in a blur, Kat slipping away occasionally to serve guests but always returning to listen. As you vent, the frustration and anger pour out of you, mixing with the alcohol until you start to feel a little lighter.
“What a bunch of assholes,” she says when you finish, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’ve gotta get out of there.”
You huff in acknowledgement. “I know.”
“You should audition for one of the shows here,” she suggests, wiping down a glass. “It’s the same shit every night, but it beats dealing with all of that.”
“Yeah, maybe…” you reply, though the idea feels out of reach. Your resume wasn’t exactly packed with the kind of experience that would land you a spot in a resort show.
Kat’s attention is momentarily drawn to an older couple at a nearby table, waving her over. She glances at them, then back to you. “Stick around. I’ll be done here in an hour, and we can go grab something to eat, talk it out more.”
The idea sounded perfect. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
Kat always made you feel better. You were lucky to have found her here. As she moves off to help the couple, you pull your hood up and linger at the bar, twirling the swizzle stick in your empty glass, trying to avoid drawing any more attention to yourself. Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Maybe tomorrow, with some sleep and a clearer head, you’d be able to figure out your next step.
A few minutes later, she returns, mixing up something fancy. You’re surprised when she places it in front of you, the glass hitting the marble countertop with a clink.
“Since when do you give me free drinks?” you ask, confused, as you pluck the cherry from the glass and pop it into your mouth.
“It’s not from me,” she replies, her tone mischievous. You furrow your brows in confusion, and she tips her head toward the back of the room. You turn, following her gesture, and spot Dieter sitting alone at a corner table, still wearing his sunglasses. He nods at you.
You shoot him a puzzled glance, not bothering to return the greeting, before turning back to Kat. “What the fuck?” You whisper, biting the cherry from the stem and dropping it on your napkin.
“Were you going to tell me you knew Dieter Bravo?” Kat asks, her eyes twinkling as she removes your other empty glass and places it beneath the bar.
“I don’t know him. He was at the club tonight.”
“The suits?”
“Yeah,” you answer. “He was the only one of them behaving himself.”
“Well, it looks like you made an impression.”
You take a sip of the drink, tapping your nails on the bar as your mind races.
“Is he alone?” You whisper again, even though he’s far enough away that your voice wouldn’t carry anyway. She nods in confirmation.
What was this guy’s deal? He was famous enough. Didn’t he have better things to do than follow you around and hang around a hotel bar alone at two in the morning? He could probably make a call and have a dozen eager girls in his hotel room within a half hour. What did he want with you?
You exhale sharply through your teeth, downing another big sip of your drink. “Fuck it,” you say, sliding off your stool. “Be right back.”
Kat nods. “Let me know if he needs to go,” she reassures you.
Drink in hand, you stride across the room to Dieter’s booth. You slide into the seat opposite his, setting your glass on the table. He tilts his head slightly, peering at you over his sunglasses.
“Do you make a habit of following strippers around after they leave work?” you ask, your tone sharp but not entirely uninviting.
“No, not usually.”
“Not usually,” you repeat, a hint of sarcasm in your voice. “So, I guess that means I’m special?”
He shrugs casually. “I happen to be staying here.”
“Ohh, I see… That’s lucky, huh?”
“Guess so,” he answers, taking a sip from his drink. He seems amused, clearly in better spirits since the last time you saw him, his brown eyes glimmering from behind his dark shades.
“It’s a nice place.” Your eyes wander around the room, eventually landing back on him, still eying him suspiciously.
“And what about you?” He swallows a sip of his drink, big fingers and shiny rings gesturing towards you.
“What about me?” It comes out a little harsher than you intended.
“Do you usually hang out at hotel bars alone at two in the morning?”
“I happen to have a friend who works here,” you tease his tone from before.
“Ah,” he acknowledges.
“Mmhm.”
A brief silence falls between you, punctuated only by the distant clinking of glasses and murmurs from the bar. Dieter reclines back into his seat, once again obscured by the shadows and his sunglasses.
“What’s your name?” He asks.
“It’s Bunny, honey, you knew that already.” You answer, putting on an exaggerated version of the sultry voice you use at the club.
He huffs a laugh, clearly not interested in the act. You tell him the truth.
From across the room, Kat waves an “OK?” sign with her hand, and you nod.
“So, what are you doing here all alone?” you ask, your curiosity getting the better of you. “Don’t people like you usually have an entourage?”
“You met the people I was with. Would you want to spend any more time with them than you had to?”
You grimace. “I wouldn’t want to spend any time with them at all.”
He chuckles, the sound low and warm. “Exactly.”
“Really, though. What are you doing here?” you ask, lifting your drink slightly, gesturing with it. “Why this?”
He took a moment to think, studying you. Finally, he shrugs.
“I don’t know,” he sighs, finally. “To tell you the truth, nothing in my life is exactly going as planned at the moment.”
You purse your lips and nod, then quip, “Private jet in the shop?”
“Something like that.” He laughs, the sound of it genuine. His demeanor now was night and day compared to the sullen grump you met in the VIP room.
“No, you… I know tonight couldn’t have been a highlight for you, but you’re very… real. I don’t get a lot of that these days. Plus, the guy you spilled that drink on has been pissing me off for weeks, so I had to thank you personally.”
You laugh hard, heat burning at your cheeks as you’re reminded of the incident earlier.
“Oh, well, I’m glad you liked it. If it gets me fired, I’ll at least have that.” You flash a big, genuine smile at him.
“They can’t fire you for that,” he says, shaking his head. “An asshole like that needs a drink spilled on him every once in a while.”
“I’ll let them know you said so.” You laugh into your drink. You can’t believe he actually has you giggling. Lots of big names come into the club; you haven’t been remotely starstruck in a long time, and you can’t even remember anything this guy was in. Something about him was disarming.
You take him in as you continue to chat. It’s obvious he’s a movie star now - he’s stubbly and disheveled, but he’s movie-star handsome. Brown and gray scruff covers his jaw. He’s wearing a soft, chunky cardigan over a dress shirt, the mismatched layers somehow perfectly complementing his broad shoulders and chest. It’s a look that shouldn’t work, but on him, it does. He smells good, too, not oppressive like the Suits, but nice and warm and heady.
A comfortable silence settles between you, and you find yourself relaxing, crossing your legs underneath you in the booth. He glances toward the bar, then back at you, before pushing his sunglasses up onto his head and leaning forward with his elbows on the table.
“Do you want to come upstairs with me?”
The question surprises you.
“For?” you ask, meeting his gaze directly, trying to get a gauge on his intentions.
“More of this. Some company that won’t drive me fucking crazy,” he says, his tone surprisingly sincere. His voice drops lower. “Plus, I never got my dance from you. You girls make house calls?”
Ah, there it is. Your breath catches for a moment, but you quickly regain your composure.
Briefly chastising yourself for believing this guy was any different from any other dude at the club, you worry your bottom lip between your teeth.
“That’s a bold question.”

“I’m a risk taker,” he smiles, his forehead soft and creasing slightly, somehow still endearing despite it all.

You consider it. You weren’t paid out tonight so you really need the money, and the opportunity is right in front of you. But this is new territory, even for you.

You glance over at Kat, who’s still keeping an eye on you. Turning back to Dieter, you fidget with a cocktail napkin on the table, folding it and unfolding it. “Not for free.”
“Of course not.”

“What exactly are you looking for?”
“The dance, some conversation. You can stay for the rest of the night - there’s plenty of room.”
Yeah, right. You raise an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe you just want to talk?”
“I’m not expecting anything,” he replies smoothly. “Just hoping. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“There’s lots of girls on the strip who do that sort of thing, you know.”

“I know.”
You glance at Kat once more, then back at Dieter. If you’re going to do this, you might as well take a bold swing.
“Five hundred dollars.”
“I can do that.”
Holy shit. Between that and the hundred he gave you earlier, you’d have rent and then some. You think for another moment. All you had to do was dance. You’d be done in an hour and then you could go home.
“I don’t do any weird shit,” you say. You don’t even know what you even mean by that.
He nods, accepting your terms without hesitation.
“And I’m not entertaining a party. I don’t want to meet any of your buddies up there.”
“It’s just me.” He confirms.
You think it over for another moment.
“Okay.” You say, ​​doing your best to mask the relief surging through you at the thought of that kind of money.

You finish your drink and stand up, gesturing for him to follow. Kat catches your eye and tilts her head, curious, and you shrug slightly as you walk out of the room.
As you leave the bar, you’re immediately aware of the kind of attention Dieter gets everywhere he goes. Heads turn as you walk through the lobby, you notice at least three people attempt to subtly snap photos with their phones. He seems unfazed by it - his sunglasses are back in place, but he’s calm and confident.
The hotel is huge. You haven’t even explored most of it, usually just bee-lining to Kat’s bar whenever you visit. He leads you past the main lobby, down a short corridor to a part of this hotel you’ve never seen before. Intricate gold leafing sprawls and swirls on the marble floor before you, yellow gold fixtures evoking a version of old-Vegas that has you suddenly feeling very underdressed.
It’s the middle of the night, yet the lobby is still bustling with people dressed to the nines in suits and cocktail dresses, their chatter and laughter filling the space. As Dieter walks by, he’s noticed in a more subtle way - eyes flicker toward him, a quiet recognition that follows in his wake. An employee at the front desk greets him with a smile that falters when she notices you by his side. She glances over you, her eyes taking you in with a slight but unmistakable judgment. You shrug your hoodie forward, zipping it up a bit higher as your heels click-clack against the marble, each step feeling more out of place.
Dieter’s hand spreads across the small of your back, guiding you to turn towards a trio of tall, golden elevators. He presses a key card to the wall the middle doors open, revealing the mirrored, plushly-carpeted interior.
“So,” you begin, forcing a lightness into your tone as you follow him inside, “your penthouse or mine?”
“Mmm, mine,” he replies with a soft, tired chuckle.
The elevator ride is quiet, the tension palpable but not uncomfortable. You watch the floor numbers tick upward, trying to focus on anything but the nerves building in your chest. It’s a long ride. You count the dings as the elevator rises and lose track somewhere around twenty.
You’re fucking nervous. Really nervous. You were half expecting to wake up from this fever dream of an evening at any moment. The thought that this guy has money to burn flits through your mind, and you can’t help but worry about what he might expect for five hundred bucks.
The elevator doors open directly into his suite. It is exactly what you’d expect: luxurious, sprawling. Floor-to-ceiling windows with a stunning view of the city skyline. You walk over to the wall of glass, taking a moment to steady yourself.
“This is a beautiful view,” you say, more to fill the silence than anything else.
“It’s better now,” he replies, and you turn to see him watching you intently. His glasses are finally off and his eyes are warm and inviting, sparkling with the reflection of the skyline behind you. You find yourself relaxing just a little around him.
“Want a drink?” he asks. He shrugs his sweater off and tosses it over a chair as he moves over to the bar.
“Sure,” you reply, slowly walking around the room, surveying the luxurious decor.
As he pours the drinks, you take a seat on the plush sofa. You fiddle with the tassels on a throw pillow next to you, crossing and uncrossing your legs, trying to control your fidgeting. This was all so bizarre. The opulence feels almost surreal, like you’ve stepped into someone else’s life. You were still waiting for some perverted catch to reveal itself, but at least for now, Dieter seemed like a nice enough guy.
“So, what brings you to Vegas?” You ask, trying to make conversation. “Big Cher fan?”
Her face watched you from outside the window, fifty feet tall, advertising her residency across the strip. He laughs, looking to her, then to you.
“Of course, but that’s just a coincidence,” he says, bringing you a glass of champagne. “I’m here for an award show.”
“Oh, that’s fun…” you answer, taking a long draw from your glass. “What’d you win?”
“The opportunity to present a lifetime achievement award to someone who hates me.” He answers.
You nod, frowning in acknowledgement, unsure of how to respond to that.
“Lucky you.”
“Yeah,” he says, a slight groan in his voice as he sits on the couch with you and settles in. He picks up a remote from the side table and with a press of a button, the lighting in the room shifts to a warm, amber glow, casting everything in a soft, intimate light. “Lucky me.”
You sit in silence for a moment, sipping champagne.
You’re not sure how this is done. You know how to play this part at the club, but this was different. You slip in and out of eye contact with him, surveying the room as you try not to polish off your glass too quickly. Should you ask if he wants a lap dance? Just jump on top of him? Were you supposed to ask for the money before or after?
You take a gulp and put your glass down, deciding to just shift into character like you would for any other dance. Scooting in towards him, you place your hand on his leg and run it up and down the length of his thigh. The buzz from the drinks you’ve had tonight is starting to hit, and the contact sends a jolt of something electric through your nerves. You flip your hair to one side, batting your lashes and gazing up at him.
“So,” you purr, your voice low and inviting. “What do you want?”
His eyes flick down to your hand, then back up to meet yours, a small smile playing on his lips. “What do you do?” he asks, curious.
You lean in closer, tucking yourself into the crook of his neck, your lips hovering near his ear. “I can show you,” you whisper, letting your breath caress his skin.
His eyes darken slightly, drinking you in as you let your fingers trail and explore his chest. “I’d like that,” he murmurs.
You stand up slowly, zipping your hoodie off and letting it fall to the ground.
“Music?” You ask. He points at a shelf on the wall with a set of speakers. You walk over and turn it on, Insatiable by Prince picking up midway through the track.
“Oooh, Prince,” you say, genuinely excited as you turned around. Music you actually liked was a welcome reprise from having to writhe around to Cherry Pie for the hundredth time. He smirks, leaning back in his seat, his eyes following your every move.
​​You start your routine, taking your time as you peel off your shorts and your top, giving him ample time to appreciate the view. You’re grateful you decided to keep on what you wore to work tonight - this set accentuates your curves perfectly, a far cry from the tired-looking boyshorts and nude, full-coverage bra you usually wore off-duty.
Swaying your hips back and forth to the rhythm, you begin by tracing your fingers slowly up and down your torso. For what he was paying, you figured you’d give him a show. Your fingers linger over your breasts, tracing the edges of your bra as you lower your lashes, then lift them slowly to meet his gaze to make sultry, sexy, in-character eye contact with him. He’s staring right back into you with an intensity that makes you pause for a moment, but you slip right back into it.
You walk towards him, stretching your legs out long as you cross the room. He spreads his legs slightly when you arrive in front of him, his deep brown eyes darkened several shades as he takes you in. You rest a hand on his shoulder, hitching your leg up and placing your high-heeled foot delicately on his bent knee. You watch eachother as you stand there, rubbing your leg up and down, deliberately grazing the seam of your panties a couple of times with your pinky and ring fingers.
Planting your foot back on the floor, you turn around, giving him a full view as you bend down. The fabric of your bra and panties hugs your curves just right. He runs his hands along the outside of your thighs, a long, low groan escaping him as you slowly stand back up and lower yourself backwards into his lap. You roll your hips a couple of times as you squat down, but you swallow your gasp when you finally settle in his lap.
He’s half-hard already and you can feel it, an immediate ick under normal circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances. The feeling of this hardening length against the back of your thighs sent a jolt down your spine, a buzz moving through you straight to your center. You maintain your composure, continuing to move in rhythm with the music, your fingers weaving into his hair as you grind against him. His hands find your waist, supporting your movements as they slide down towards your thighs and back up again.
You lean backwards, pressing your back into his chest and grinding into him, His breath hitches, and you can feel his grip tightening slightly, his fingers pressing into your skin.
“You’re incredible,” he growls into your neck, his teeth just nipping the tender skin there. You try not to moan, the goosebumps spreading down your arms and legs threatening to give you away.
“Mmm, yeah?” You hum, twisting around to face him and lifting your knees up to straddle his waist. Your eyes lock onto his, and a thrill buzzes in your stomach - you’re enjoying this more than you expected. He’s hot, especially up close, especially like this. His chestnut-gray curls have started to break free from their gelled-back position, framing his face in a way that makes him look irresistible.
You reach behind your back, unhooking your bra and letting it fall down. His eyes are glued to your chest as you angle it towards his face. One hand plants behind his head on the sofa and the other traces along his jawline, feeling the roughness of his stubble before settling around the back of his neck. You use it as leverage to hold yourself steady as you settle on his lap.
“You can touch me, Dieter,” you whisper, guiding his hand up your stomach until it cups your breast. He squeezes, his grip firm and possessive, fingers trailing across your delicate skin, making your nipples harden under his touch.
The fingers of his other hand dig into the flesh of your thighs, his eyes locked onto your body. His hands guide your lower half as you rock to the beat of the music, encouraging your barely-covered pussy to drag again and again along the shape of his throbbing cock.
You try to remember that you’re working - that he’s a client, that this is a job, that you’re not here to enjoy it. You try to focus on the music and moving your body to the beat, but it’s difficult. He’s got you lined up perfectly, every sweep along his lap punctuated with a slight push of his hips into yours. You can feel how wet you are and pray he doesn’t notice, the middle of your panties damp with the arousal he’s built up in you.
Then, his fingers pinch your nipple, and a moan escapes your lips before you can stop it. The sound is loud, shameless, and your hand flies to your mouth, eyes wide with shock. He chuckles, the sound deep and resonant, and you feel a flush of heat rise to your cheeks. You lean forward, pressing your breasts into his chest to hide your embarrassment.
“It’s okay, baby,” he murmurs. You can hear the grin in his voice, unable to look directly at him. “That’s good. Take what you need.”
You exhale a breathy laugh, leaning back to meet his gaze. The smile on your face fades into a soft O of surprise as he encourages you to resume your movements. He’s getting harder, the thick length of him straining against the fabric of his pants.
Finding your pace again, you reach back to grab his knees, arching your back and rocking your hips. You’re working, you fight to remind yourself. You’re working. It becomes more and more difficult to stay detached as you roll your body for him, angling your breasts towards him. The pressure builds between your thighs, every movement pulling you tighter and tighter at your core. He’s watching you intensely, his pupils blown out in the dim, low lighting and his fingers digging deep into your waist.
Your lower lip draws between your teeth, your brows furrowed and focused as you bounce and grind in his lap. Suddenly, you’re moaning again, the noise coming out of your mouth like a rhythmic hum. You let it out freely, encouraged by his touch, the strong pull of his hands at your waist.
The sensation overwhelms you, the friction of his body against yours pushing you over the edge. Your orgasm hits you suddenly, your hips jerking in his lap as you cry out, waves of pleasure crashing through you. You collapse forward, panting into his neck as his broad hands steady you, stroking up and down your back as you ride out the aftershocks. It leaves you trembling, your body pressed tightly against his.
After a moment, you shift back up and press your forehead into his, feeling the heat of his body through your thin clothing. His hand cups your breast, and he dips his head to drag his teeth along the nape of your neck, sending a shiver down your spine. You gasp, angling your head to the side, your fingers tucking a stray curl behind his ear.
“Tell me what you want, Dieter,” you say, your voice just above a whisper, lips grazing his ear. You’re putty in his hands now, ready to give him anything.
“I want to fuck you,” he growls, his voice rough with need. “Can I fuck you?”
Your nod is quick and urgent, your body responding before your brain catches up. You stand, pulling him up with you as your fingers intertwine. Your bodies are pressed close, and you blink up at him through your lashes, lifting a hand to his jaw to trace your thumb along the patchy stubble there.
“Show me where.”
The bedroom is gorgeous, all luxurious, soft fabrics and warm lighting. Rich, dark wood furniture contrasts with crisp white linens, and a large window offers a breathtaking view of the city lights below. Although, for all you cared right now, it could’ve been a threadbare mattress in a seedy motel - you felt so incredible, it didn’t matter.
He leads you to the bed, releasing your hand only to turn around and face you. He kisses you without hesitation, hard and intense, as if he’d been doing it all night, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You draw in a sharp inhale through your nose, allowing yourself to indulge in it. You wrap your arms around his neck and lift up onto your toes, deepening the kiss.
Only momentarily breaking contact with him to see where you were going, you gently push Dieter backwards to sit on the edge of the bed.
You grab his knees and drop down between his thighs, paying special attention to the growing bulge between his legs. You run your hands from his ankles to his thighs all the way up to the waist of his pants. Stilling your hands at his belt, you look up at him to make sure you have his permission.
He cups his big hand around your jaw, angling your face up towards him.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing along your cheek and dipping into the hollow as your jaw drops in anticipation.
You undo his belt, the ornate metal buckle clinking to one side as you unbutton and unzip his pants. Your breath catches as you wrap your fingers around his cock, impressed by the girth of it even before you pull it free. The sight confirms your suspicion - he’s big.
Your fingers glide along his length, eliciting a low groan from him. Leaning in, you press a kiss to the tip before taking him into your mouth. You start slow, your tongue going flat and dragging along his shaft. Wrapping your fingers around the base of his cock, you work him steadily deeper into your mouth as you adjust your position on your knees to take more of him.
His hand tangles in your hair, guiding you as you set a steady rhythm. He’s groaning instantly, the sound turning you on as you bob over his still growing length, your tongue swirling up and down the length of it with each thrust. Saliva pools at the corners of your mouth, dripping out as he lifts his hips to position himself deeper and deeper.
He tightens his grip on your hair and you hum and swallow and whine around him, wiry curls at the base of his cock tickling the tip of your nose. You run your hands along his tightening middle, dragging your nails down his stomach to his thighs and pulling a soft, sweet moan from him. You respond by taking him deeper, breathing steadily through your nose as your throat relaxes to accommodate his size.
“Fuck, you’re amazing,” he breathes, his voice a rough whisper. You glance up at him, eyes wide and dark. Gently, he wipes away a smudge of mascara from beneath your eye with his thumb, his touch surprisingly tender. “So fucking good for me.”
Your head bobs faster and faster. Wet, gurgling noises fill the room as his pelvis begins to twitch, losing its rhythm. You can sense he’s close, and you’re determined to make him come, quickening your pace as you fantisize about the taste of him on your tongue.
“Stop,” he commands suddenly, his voice firm as he fists your hair, pulling you off him with a wet pop. “Stop. Stand up, baby.”
You obey, blinking away fat mascara tears as you rise to your feet. He hooks his hands beneath your thighs, lifting you effortlessly and laying you down on the bed. The cool sheets contrast with the heat of your body, and you prop yourself up on your elbows, watching him as he unbuttons and removes his shirt, his eyes never leaving yours.
He’s back a moment later, working his hand slowly up and down his shaft as he covers your body with his and kisses you again, this time slower. You indulge in it, rooting your fingers into the curls at the back of his neck and pulling him in closer. You arch into his touch, your hands exploring the soft planes of his chest and back, reveling in the warmth of his skin against yours.
His hands roam your body with purpose, sliding under the hem of your panties and pulling them down roughly. You kick them off, sending them flying across the room, and your legs return to hook around his back, pulling your naked body flush against his. The heat of his cock brushes against your entrance, teasing your swollen nerves and sending shivers down your spine.
"Fuck me, Dieter," you beg, your voice breathless and needy. "Please, fuck me."
"I got you, baby," he breathes into your ear, that familiar smirk audible in his voice. He lines himself up at your entrance and pushes forward.
You moan together as he fills you, his head sinking into the curve of your shoulder. It’s a stinging stretch as he enters you, but it feels good. You squeeze around him instantly, the heft of him inside of you drawing air from your lungs. He starts slow, rocking into you gently. Each movement is deliberate, his pace unhurried as he lets you adjust. He works deeper into you, thrusts growing stronger as your body stretches to accommodate him.
He’s groaning in your ear, a depraved voice telling you how amazing you feel and sending tingles down your spine. It’s all you can do to moan in response, your head thick and foggy now. His hand cups roughly around your jaw again as he finds a rhythm, his cock sliding in and out with ease and you bend into him, eager to take as much of him as you can.
“Dieter,” you gasp, the intensity building within you. “Oh, my god. Don’t stop.”
He doesn’t. With a groan, he quickens his pace, groaning as his free hand slides down to your clit. The moment his thumb makes contact, pressing and circling the sensitive bundle of nerves, a deep moan rips from your chest, your arms wrapping tightly around him, nails digging into his shoulders.
He shifts, standing and lifting your legs to bend in front of you, his forearm pressing across your calves until your knees are nearly at your chest. His eyebrows knit together in concentration as he fucks into you with an intensity that fills the room with the wet, rhythmic sounds of skin slapping against skin, punctuated by the hoarse, desperate moans pouring from your throat.
“God damn, you can take it, baby,” he praises, wrapping his hand around the back of your neck and using it as leverage to push even harder into you. All you can do is moan and whine - it’s complete nonsense, slurred approximations of “Yes, Please, Dieter, Please”
He fingers strum at your clit and you cry out, the feeling of his fingers incredible. He begins to draw small circles on the bundle of nerves, the movement mirroring his thrusting in and out of you. His hold around your jaw shifts down to your collarbone, his fingers curling around your neck with just enough pressure to make your head spin. The circles turn to quick flicks up and down and you feel your stomach begin to tighten, pleasure mounting with each stroke.
You pull your knees up higher as he pistons into you, your cunt soaked and squelching with each thrust. You try to match his rhythm, but it becomes more and more difficult as the nerves at your core threaten to burst.
“Come on my cock,” he commands, his breath hot against your ear. “Wanna feel you come.”
His words push you over the edge. Your body tenses as a wave of pleasure crashes through you. You can’t fight the high-pitched cry of relief that rips from your chest and you cling to his wrists, his arms, anything you can get your hands on as your orgasm shudders and ripples through you.
He groans, too, his own control slipping as he collapses onto the bed beside you. He turns over, pulling you with him until you're straddling him.
“C’mere, baby,” he says and you nod, unable to speak. You pant, climbing on top of him and lowering your head to kiss him deeply. As you do, you lift your hips to position yourself over him and he buries himself in you, thrusting his hips up and bottoming out inside of you. You moan into his mouth, a deep, depraved cry vibrating through your chest.
His hands grip your waist as you push yourself back up, guiding you up and down his length, and his breath is ragged and hot against your skin. He lifts himself to take your breast in his mouth and you root your fingers in his hair as he latches onto you. His tongue swirls around the stiffened bud of your nipple and his hands stray towards your clit, insatiable, unable to stop touching you. It’s overwhelming and your head is empty as the pleasure turns you into a trembling mess.
“God damn,” he breathes the words into your chest as he buries his head between your breasts, his fingers digging tighter into your waist as he holds himself tightly against you. He’s a man determined now, his thrusts into you unforgiving as you cling desperately around his neck. Your chests are sweaty and slick as they move against eachother, the sounds of your hot, salty skin slapping together echoing through the room.
He lies back on the bed, hands still roaming your body, his chest heaving beneath you. Your hands brace on his thighs, giving him a perfect view of your body as you take him as deeply as you can, his cock buried inside you, slick with your arousal.
Finally, his hips begin to stutter and a long groan escapes him. Noticing that he’s beginning to falter, you pick up your speed, determined to return the pleasure he’s been giving you all night. You lift up and drop down, bouncing yourself on his hips. He slides in and out, burying himself to the hilt and back again, his cock sending sharp pangs through your stomach. You brace yourself with a hand on his chest and he grabs it, guiding it to his throat, his eyes dark and pleading, and you obey, tightening your grip just enough to make his breath catch as you continue to ride him.
“F-Fuck,” he stutters raggedly, arching slightly into you. You squeeze just a little tighter and he’s done for. The feeling of his cock twitching inside of you is unmistakable. You hum happily, tracing your nails along his chest and squeezing around his length as he spills inside of you with a guttural groan. You collapse on top of him to rest on his chest and he wraps his arm around your back, pulling you closer to him. You feel him twitch and pulse inside of you as he steadies his breathing, rubbing circles into your shoulders as he slowly comes down.
You press your lips to his neck softly, fingers trailing through his sweaty curls and scratching slightly at his scalp. Soft, quiet moans follow his orgasm, his breath hitching slightly as you teasingly squeeze your pussy around his softening cock, his release still hot and thick inside of you.
You had no intention of spending the night. You don’t even remember falling asleep.
When you wake up, your face is buried in a pillowcase made of the softest fabric you’d ever felt in your life, and you’re drooling. The room is filled with the warm, muted light of the mid-afternoon sun filtering through the curtains. You push yourself up onto your elbow, squinting against the brightness as you try to piece together where you are. The suite was quiet. Dieter was gone.
You sit up fully, ruffling your hair with both hands as you try to shake off the remnants of sleep. A yawn escapes your lips, and you stretch, attempting to soothe your sore, stiff muscles.
Your eyes drift to the nightstand beside you, and you do a double-take when you notice the stack of paper sitting there. Eight crisp, hundred-dollar bills are neatly stacked on top of a piece of hotel stationery. You reach out, picking up the note, curiosity fluttering in your stomach as you unfold it. One word is scrawled across the page in a bold, hurried script: “Stay.”
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theperfectawful · 3 months ago
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Thinking about being a seat-filler at the Oscars and Dieter following you as you’re shuffled around the room between awards and then when he wins the cameras can’t find him because he’s not in his seat
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theperfectawful · 4 months ago
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Thank you so much!
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Blind Item Masterlist
Dieter Bravo x OFC
Rating: Explicit
Summary: 2007. Hollywood, CA. You're a former child star navigating coming-of-age under the unforgiving spotlight. After you crash your SUV on Sunset Boulevard and are caught with a bag of cocaine in your purse, your team gives you one option: Rehab. Reluctantly accepting to attempt to salvage your career and reputation, you begrudgingly agree to put your head down and suffer through a 90 day stay at Promises Malibu. It's a straightforward path to redemption, until Dieter Bravo checks in. Instantly drawn to one other, you grapple with sobriety and the wreckage of your reputation as it becomes glaringly apparent that the consequences of him being here pale in comparison to yours. The double standard of Hollywood's treatment of its troubled stars becomes all too apparent, leaving you to question whether redemption is truly within reach in a world where men and women face vastly different fates beneath the harsh spotlight of fame.
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Chapters
1: Gimme More
2: Malibu [Coming Soon!]
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theperfectawful · 4 months ago
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Not to insert myself here, but this is calling my name 🪩
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If you’re into this overall vibe feel free to look at my Blind Item inspo board over on Pinterest! https://pin.it/1p93UchUr
Ain't no party like a Pedro Party
Just a few snaps for @sp00kymulderr Pedro Party. I got carried away and starting thinking about partying with Dieter specifically... these are the pics i'd be sticking up on my wall the morning after the night before.
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Tagging in the party pals who might have some party pics to share:
@ghotifishreads @secretelephanttattoo @readingiskeepingmegoing @itsokbbygrl @hellfire-state-of-mind
@covetyou @ozarkthedog @artsy-girl-76 @beelzebeth87 @perotovar
@undercoverpena @bluestar22x @maggiemayhemnj @sixhours @goodwithcheese
@marisferasiop @mothandpidgeon @coffee-and-uhg @thesluttylittleknee @shchristine
@bitchesuntitled @futuraa-free @whatsnewalycat @tinytinymenace @oliveksmoked
@qveerthe0ry @fhatbhabiee @jennaispunk @sawymredfox @yopossum
@nothoughtsjustmeds @survivingandenduring @arthurcerverogf @kedsandtubesocks @sin-djarin
@for-a-longlongtime @rosellacwrites @whocaresstillthelouvre @luxurychristmaspudding @sunshinehaze1
All pics from pinterest
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theperfectawful · 4 months ago
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One thing about Miranda is she's gonna find a way to reference Gregory Peck or Cary Grant!!! This was so much fuuuuuuun. So fast and energetic and exciting to read. And the easy way you work in phrases like "The mirror gives you access to his features, impervious to propriety as they are," is what always impresses me so much about you as a writer. You are so clever in the way you describe things like that. THANK YOU FOR TAGGING ME! It means so much to me!!!
crimson & clover | neil lewis x reader
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summary | what begins as a innocent night at the club turns into something a bit more adventurous for you and the man who owns your favorite movie store. rating | (explicit) tags/warnings | alcohol mention, smut, explicit smut, fingering, semi-public sex, praise, unprotected, dirty talk (non degrading), neil is lovely! polite and respectful! word count | 2.8k+ a/n | i put on a 2000s club playlist and got to work. this is not beta'd because life is crazy but i hope you enjoy it. i dedicate this to @burt-reynolds, for all of her lovely 2000s aesthetics and her lovely vibes, and @theredviper for being so supportive and lovely always.
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“Holy shit,” Neil mutters, his eager fingers gripping tightly onto your hips.
A thrum of music carries from outside the bathroom, where you’ve both left your respective friend groups in the haze of your alcohol infused ardor. As Neil lines your hips up to his clothed crotch, you make eye contact in the cloudy mirror above the sink. His gray blue eyes glow under the harsh lighting - wet and earnest as one of his hands trails to your backside, drawing up your short skirt. The heart pendant on your neck dangles dangerously close to the porcelain as he pushes your legs further apart, knocking one with his knee as a soft groan falls from his lips. The heat his body emits onto your own is enough to make you let out a shaky breath.
You told yourself you wouldn’t do this. Swore to it, in fact. It was the thing your friends constantly got at you for--the way you’d stop at Neil’s store twice a week, flirt with either him or Jonathan, and come out with your movies half price. You weren’t ever supposed to fuck one of them. It was contrary to your entire relationship, giving him what you were supposed to tease forever. But God, you couldn’t help it—not tonight.
When you had entered the club, Neil had already been there with Jonathan, but you hadn’t seen him until about thirty minutes in. Over the sound of intoxicated voices trying to speak over one another and loud, pulsing music, you’d locked eyes. It had begun as an innocuous greeting - a slight nod of your heads and demure smiles, nothing more. But there’d been more drinks and more talking, and your two friend groups drew closer together as the night went on.
It had happened when Jonathan had his hand on your friend’s thigh and his tongue down her throat. You and Neil were standing awkwardly next to them, pretending you weren’t in the presence of two people who were treading dangerously close to fucking in a public space. Neil held a beer in his hand, his face flushed from the heat and most likely the drink, and you were working your way slowly through another Vodka cranberry. He’d said something you couldn’t hear and when you asked him to repeat it, he did - drawing his face nearer to your own. The setting invited your next actions: his lips on yours, the drinks abandoned on the sticky countertop of your table in favor of touching each other.
He fumbles with his jeans behind you now, the clack of his belt making your heart thud. “I don’t usually do this,” you giggle, hanging your head to look at him behind. His blunt fingers work diligently, pushing down his pants to his knees. You smile; the blue of his boxers does little to conceal his erection.
You look back to the mirror. He gives you a boyish smile, warm and lopsided, before reaching down between your bodies and sliding your thong to the side.
“Mm,” he says, caging his bottom lip between his teeth. In a gruff voice, he adds, “God, you’re fucking glistening, baby. Look at you. Just—“ His fingers part your lips, his eyebrows disappearing beneath his fringe as he coats his fingers with your slick, “look at that.”
The rich baritone of his voice coaxes unheard levels of confidence out of you; canting your hips back, you draw his fingers over your core, giving him unexpressed permission to enter you with the two fingers he’s been working through your cunt. The mirror gives you access to his features, impervious to propriety as they are: the sheen of sweat on his temples, the twist of his freckled lips, the slow bob of his throat as he teases a finger around your hole. You clench around the idea of him and he is good enough to sink a single finger in. With his other hand, he props your hips up.
In the mirror, you meet each other. The sweet, endearing nerd you had twisted your hair for in the video store is suddenly transformed into the stuff of romance books. Or a Hitchcock film. Yeah - Neil would like that reference. A positively Hitchcockian experience, the smolder of desire flashing dangerously in his eyes, like Gregory Peck with Ingrid Bergman in Spellbound. Like Cary Grant in—
“Oh.” Your nails grip onto the sink as his other hand slips down your front. Thrusting his thick finger slowly out of you, he presses two fingers over your clit, his cool lips grazing over your exposed shoulder. In this position - with his one hand focused on your clit and the other on your core - Neil’s body is completely enveloping your own. The poke of his erection on your ass is inspiring - not that you really need any inspiration. His fingers are more skilled than they have the right to be, curling inside of you, finding every nerve along your walls as he brushes, teasingly, over your sensitive clit.
When you think it can’t get any better — your body leaning back invitingly into his own, your mouth dry and desperate, the peak of your desire building and building, Neil enters another finger. His warm tongue finds a sensitive spot of your neck, and you grip the sink with renewed ferocity, feeling a dangerous, overwhelming sensation grip you.
“Oh, Neil,” you gasp, fingers carding through his hair, “I’m gonna—it feels like I might pee if you keep doing that.”
The groan that escapes his mouth, swiping hotly against the flesh of your neck, is positively guttural. “Fuck, you’re so goddamn warm and wet—“ his teeth scrap over your neck, “And you keep pressing your ass into my cock. Can hardly bear to stop this.”
He provides some alleviation by removing his hand from your clit, but he hones in on your cunt, gliding his fingers gently alongside your walls. Even through the sound of music, you can hear yourself — can hear the way your cunt beckons him in, welcomes the intrusion of him, despite your body so desperately feeling close to the point of exploding.
“Neil!” you call out with urgency, knowing you’re close to doing something you’re not prepared to. He relents when you reach behind, gripping onto his wrist, pleading. The absence of his fingers is noticeable as soon as he retracts them, but as you work at steadying your breath you feel somewhat grateful.
Smiling with a satisfied look in his eyes, he rests his dampened digits on your hips, and brings his lips to your ear. You watch him in the mirror, noting the glossy shine of your lips as he whispers, “God, you’re so fucking hot. I’ve wanted to do that—to do this—for so long. Thought about it—“ he drops his lips to spot behind your ear, murmuring, “—every time you’d come in.”
A slight return of his boyishness manifests itself in the lilt of his voice.
“Me too,” you reply, awed.
He grabs hold of your ass, pressing you lightly into the sink from the force of it. The coolness of the porcelain on the warmth of your exposed flesh makes you hiss through your teeth.
“Never thought this would actually happen, you know?” he says. It’s so genuine you can’t help the way a smile finds its way to your lips. He matches it with his own, looking every bit like the Neil you’ve known for months. But you don’t want that Neil—not now. You want a Neil who will fuck you from behind.
You grab a tuft of his hair as he gropes at your ass.
“I always imagined you fucking me over the counter like this,” you tell him purposefully, voice faux innocent. He hums, delighted by your words—you feel it in the way he’s begun to gently rock it into you. You drive the point further, pressing against him as you watch your mirrored reflections. Your eyes grow lidded, seducing. “Need your cock so bad, Neil,” you whisper.
He whimpers when you reach behind yourself, your hand on his cock. It’s the sweetest sound, but only half as good as the way his body lurches into your touch. He doesn’t need to say it for you to understand: he wants you this badly, too. It doesn’t take him long to reach for the band of his underwear, pushing them down to his ankles with his pants.
Wrapping his hand around your jaw, Neil guides your mouth to his. You arch into him, turning your head to meet his lips better. The resulting moan that you get when you lick into his mouth travels through you both. A string of saliva hangs between you as you part, detaching only when he says, “I’m gonna fuck you now, baby, just the way you wanted.”
You like him like this. It thrills you to know he exists in this form, that for all of his nervousness when you made pointed eye contact and shamelessly flirted at his store, he isn’t hesitant to be crude. You expected it of his friend, but this—it’s beyond what you could have imagined.
You watch as he focuses, the shadows of the bathroom painting over his face while he brings his cock to your entrance. Your fingers grip on the sink; already you can tell he is thick, that even though he has readied you, it will be a stretch.
Smirking, he looks back up to you. He is so achingly good looking, all sharp features, those stunning eyes of his lighting with a deep want. He swallows harshly as you share a moment, the head of his cock at your entrance, his fingers pressing into your hip, but nothing yet happening. You nod, and that is all the encouragement he needs; he presses in, a slow, careful motion.
As expected, it is a bit of a stretch. Wet as you are, it takes him a moment to work himself inside. Every careful inch of the way, you feel him: his veins against your walls, the fullness of him inside of you, the pleasure-pain of having to adjust to him. You worry your lip between your teeth in an attempt to stop a whine from falling out. From behind you, Neil looks positively blissed out as his hips draw nearer to your ass. He groans, looking at the place where your bodies connect.
“God, you’re so big,” you groan, reaching behind to touch the hand he has on your hip.
He sucks in a breath through his teeth as he slides back into. You can tell he is attempting to establish a rhythm, some place between his pleasure and yours. You can hardly stand it. You can feel the slick between your thighs, can sense just how badly your body wants him by how it welcomes him. You need him faster.
“You’re so fucking hot,” he mutters, licking his lips. He begins to draw you back into him, moving you on his cock with the guidance of your hips. His eyes flash to the mirror, and you know immediately what it is he’s looking at: your tits, the way they bounce over the edge of your shirt as you move. The longer he watches, the quicker his hips begin to move, seemingly spurred on by the simple motion.
His hand slides up your shirt, stroking your skin, until he is skirting his fingers underneath your bra. Once again, he draws you closer to his chest. This time he presses his lips next to your ear. “So tight, baby,” he growls. “Taking me so fuckin’ good. Look at you. So—so fuckin’ pretty, sliding back on my cock.”
You can tell he’s trying hard not to lose himself. You wrap an arm around his neck, adjusting. In this position, he pushes more deeply into you, his cock rutting against the top of your walls just right.
Neil rolls over your nipple with his thumb, and his tongue licks a sensitive patch on your neck as you slide back into him again. You’ve both begun to move faster, your movements desperate. He is no longer so concerned about his limits, too caught up in the ease with which your cunt takes him, and how delightfully you mewl each time he bottoms out in you.
The length of his thrusts begin to grow shorter. He barely lifts you off of him before drawing you back, his eyes once more to your chest. Even in the dim lighting, you can tell he’s got a heavy blush spreading across his cheeks—that he’s nearing completion with each unsteady thrust he pushes into you. Before it’s too late, you decide to touch yourself, reaching between your legs fingers to rub over your sensitive clit in the small space he’s put between you and the sink. He latches on to the sight almost immediately, hooked on the image of you as he is.
“Fuck,” he hums, almost reverently, drawing up the front of your skirt. You squirm against him, whimpering, and he nods. “Yeah, like that. Squeezing me so good, honey.”
A bit more roughly than you thought him capable of, Neil yanks the top of your bra down, exposing your tits. As you reach nearer to finishing, the desire in the pit of your stomach becomes nearly palpable. Neil uses one hand to play with your nipples again. His thrusts slow, becoming more purposeful. “Come for me,” he encourages, voice like Heaven, all low and rich, honey on your skin. You circle your clit faster, spurred on, wanting to pleasure him.
As the orgasm happens, the warm flush of it hitting you everywhere, he moans. A few earnest laughs fall out of his mouth too, as if he can’t believe he’s coaxed you to it.
“Fuck, I can feel it—fuck, yeah, baby,” he groans, his speed picking up. You let go of his neck, falling forward again. You’re so overcome with pleasure that when you hit the sink, the pain doesn’t even register. He thrusts inside of you, pressing you down into the porcelain. The bathroom is filled with the echoes of your bodies slapping against one another, even over the club music, and it’s so good, so delicious, evident in the etches of your faces as he finds his release.
Neil exits you without warning a few pumps later, his warm seed spelling over the back of your thighs. He gasps softly, burying himself in the crook of your neck. You’re both sweaty, the air thick around you, but still he wraps himself around you. In truth, you find it endearing, the way his arms wrap around you, how you can feel the quick thud, thud, thud of his heart against your back as you collect yourself.
When you come back to yourselves, Neil rubs an affectionate hand over your arm, meeting your eye in the mirror. “Sorry,” he says, sounding a bit sheepish. He gestures down to your thighs. “I didn’t—it just happened so quickly. I forgot to ask where I should."
You laugh softly, taking in the state of both in the mirror. Half of your makeup is smudged off, and your lips are puffy, and you’ve done a number on his hair, the back wild and mussed up from running your fingers through it. You’re both blown up pupils and uncaring, eager smiles, too, like teenagers who’ve just discovered sex. “It’s okay,” you assure. “I had fun.”
He squeezes your hip, grinning widely. “Me too. I was wondering–uh.” His nose scrunches and you can tell he’s returned to himself full force. There’s a waver in his voice and a blush on his cheek that’s not just residue from the sex, which is awfully reminiscent of each encounter you’ve had with him at his movie store. “I don’t fuck in bathrooms a lot either, so I’m unsure if this is breaking any of the pillow talk rules…”
He looks to you for assurance, and you smile, waiting patiently. He smiles weakly. “You wanna go to dinner with me sometime next week, maybe?” he asks.
It doesn’t take long for you to form a response. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Really?” He seems surprised.
“Yeah. It’s not every day a man fucks in you in a club bathroom and then ask you to dinner after. You’ve intrigued me.”
His dimples appear. “I’m glad because there’s a pizza place by the store that I love, and the owners have begun to ask me when I’m going to get a girlfriend. Even if it doesn’t work out between us, I think that’ll hold them off for a while.”
The laugh that you let out seems to come from within you, a delighted, true sound.
This won’t be so bad, you realize. There’s only thing better than half priced movies and flirting with the man who owns the movies: free ones and fucking him.
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theperfectawful · 5 months ago
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rb to bite That Man. tag where.
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theperfectawful · 5 months ago
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Blind Item / Chapter 2
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Chapter 2: Malibu Rating: Mature
Chapter Summary: You check in to rehab and run into a familiar face.
Word Count: 11.1k
Content/Warnings: Descriptions of drug use/overdose, detoxing/coming down, talk of sex, Hollywood misogyny, angsty angst.
Notes: Hello! Thank you guys again for the warm reception to Chapter 1, it was very encouraging. If you're not familiar with what a blind item is, it is a gossip column with any major identifying details about the subject removed. Every now and then this story will be broken up by excerpts of blind items and other gossip columns about Dieter and our reader. Enjoy! Sorry it's so long!
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You felt like you slept for an hour and a half. If that. Your head was pounding when you woke up, the muscles behind your eyes searing red hot when they opened. You snapped them closed again right away, the room blindingly white, bathed in the early morning sun.
To your left, you could hear a soft beeping and the murmur of muffled voices. Your mouth felt as dry as a bone as you propped yourself up on your elbows, blinking your eyes open and squinting to look around the room. Instantly, recognition flooded in. 
With a jolt, you sat upright, the pace of the beeps increasing as you grabbed at the tube attached to your arm in confusion. Your eyes darted around the hospital room, looking for any indication of where you were or how you got there. The hum of a news show on tv drew your attention to the upper corner of the room. 
“She’s now upped the ante from alcohol to alcohol and cocaine and accelerated, uh, frequency of incidents. Alleged– Allegedly, uh, alcohol and cocaine. This isn’t her first drug related incident and the judges in Los Angeles won’t look favorably on a DUI like this. This is not the atmosphere, after Paris, after Lindsay’s, uh, debacle, to be playing with these judges. They have a strict no-nonsense policy for these little starlets and she’s going to be looking at 30 to 60 days, at least, minimum in jail, and three to six months in a drug rehab.”
On the screen, footage of you and Natalie running frantically into the intersection after your car played on a loop. You, snarling at the camera. You, spinning around. You, hauling ass towards Sunset and Fairfax. This was a dream. This wasn’t happening.
You felt it first in your jaw, a blood-draining feeling, spreading and burning hot across your face. Your heart was pounding, panic surging through your nervous system and tightening in your chest.
“Hello?!” Your voice cracked as you called out, unsure who you were even looking for. Your fluorescent dress and your shoes from the night before were in a plastic bag on the chair across from your bed. The voices in the hallway quieted for a moment and then started up again, the conversation quickly wrapping up.
The door opened and a woman in scrubs entered, greeting you with a smile that felt fucking inappropriate, all things considered.
“Well, good morning!” The nurse loudly greeted you, rolling a stool in from the doorway.
“Why am I here?” You answered harshly. “Sorry, I… Hello. How did I get here? Is anyone here with me?”
“You’re at Cedars,” She answered, her tone still a little too casual for your liking. “And you’re lucky. If that young lady hadn’t brought you in when she did, you could’ve been in a lot of trouble.”
You’d kill that bitch Natalie. She freaked out and called 911, no wonder it was already on the news. Corinne must be somewhere having an aneurysm. A wave of nausea washed over you and you swallowed hard, desperately trying to calm your racing heartbeat. You should’ve just left without her.
A reporter on TV used your name and you looked back up, the nurse following your gaze and chuckling. On the screen, you were a spectacle, struggling to climb back into your car, limbs and glittery heels flailing out the door as you clumsily clamored into the driver’s seat.
“Look at that. Boy, imagine ending up on the news on a night like that,” she remarked, her hand on her hip as she watched. “The whole world seeing it...”
You shot her a glare as she turned off the TV, recognition dawning on her face when she looked back at you, chuckling once more.
“Ha! Well, I suppose you don’t have to imagine it, do you?”
This was unbelievable. This was a joke. It had to be. You were being Punk’d. Incredulously, you began looking around the room for hidden cameras.
“Well, now that you’re up,” She says, sitting down on the stool she brought in and rolling towards your bedside. “Can you recount your night for me? Where’d all the fun begin?”
Your brow furrowed, your attention suddenly snapping back to the nurse. You squinted as you looked at her standing with the window behind her - this room was way too bright.
“I don’t know.” You mumbled, pinching the skin between your eyes. “What do you want to know?”
“Give me the highlights.” She said. She was peeling off and replacing a piece of tape keeping a tube fixed to your arm.
After a long pause, you recounted the evening to her as you tried to remember it. Don Antonios. God, you were there forever, your table was completely packed with people you barely knew. It was always like that in LA - an exponential group of people attached themselves to you and everyone just shrugged when you asked who someone was.
One of the guys who showed up kept insisting you try all these different flavors of some vodka company he worked with. Cherry, Grape, Caramel. The nauseating memory of a shot of Blue Raspberry chased by a shot of Peppermint bubbled up in your throat and you choked down a dry swallow.
“Caramel vodka and tacos?” She prodded. “What sommelier came up with that pairing?”
Jesus, what is this lady, a comedian? You glared at her to keep from rolling your eyes. 
“Had you taken anything at that point?”
“What?”
“Any pills, marijuana, cocaine…”
You mustered your best offended expression.
“I don’t know. No. I just take the stuff I’m prescribed.” You answered defensively. This was none of her business. Were you seriously here all alone?
“How much had you been you drinking?”
“Not much. Only a little.”
She hummed, not satisfied. “Was that everything?”
You let the question hang. “Yes.”
You really didn’t remember. You remembered texting Andy. You remembered him never fucking answering. There were shots at Don Antonios. That girl gave you some Xanax, which did nothing. You didn’t even drink that much at Lush, just some champagne and tequila and…
Oh, shit. And Dieter Bravo. What the hell had he given you? You knew it was something, but the night was a blur after you got up from his booth. You went to the bathroom with him and… oh, my god, wait, did you have sex with him? Please say you didn’t fuck Dieter Bravo in the bathroom at Lush. Corinne might literally, actually kill you if anyone finds out that happened.
The nurse cleared her throat and you blinked and looked up, feeling her scrutinizing gaze.
“I don’t remember. That was it. I don’t do drugs.”
“At all?” She was so condescending with her stupid clipboard.
“No, not at all,” - bitch, you continued in your head. Impatience now replaced the panic in your voice. “Hey, listen, is anyone here with me now? Like, is there someone in a waiting room somewhere? I really don’t feel like talking to you about this.”
She stopped writing, making a big deal of clipping her pen and putting down the clipboard and looking at you with her lips pursed, her lingering stare irritating you even further. You hated when people did that - nothing closed you off faster than someone trying to make a big show of how serious they are about getting information out of you.
“Did you deliberately try to kill yourself last night?”
What the fuck? Was this bitch serious?
“Excuse me?”
“We ran tests and pumped out the contents of your stomach last night. We found a combination of opioids and amphetamines in your system. That, in addition to the alcohol, is a very dangerous combination.”
“No, I did not try to kill myself.” You spat, your voice much louder. “I was out with friends and I messed up. Someone gave me something and I had a reaction. I don’t know. I’m not suicidal. That’s insane.”
You had to get out of here. You needed to figure out who the hell dropped you off at the hospital and then went home. You shuffled in the hospital bed, weakly trying to remove whatever tubes were attached to your body.
There were two quick knocks at the door, followed by Corinne hurrying into the tiny hospital room, concern pulling at her Botox-frozen forehead.
“Oh, god, honey,” she said, sitting at the edge of your bed. “Thank god you’re alright.”
Oh, this was too much. It was just a night out. You may have blacked out but it wasn’t the end of the world, Natalie must have just freaked out and brought you here. Why was everyone acting like you almost died?
You rolled your eyes, frustrated with all the fuss and the concerned act Corinne was putting on for the hospital staff. Your voice softened and heightened in pitch. "I'm fine, Corinne. I just want to go home. Please tell them to let me go."
Corinne paused, grabbing your hand and looking into your eyes.
“Honey…” she started, cupping your hand with both of hers. She looked over at the nurse, who was still staring at you with that stupid, serious expression.
“Could you give us a moment, please?” Corinne asked. The nurse obliged, seemingly just now realizing that she wasn’t part of this conversation. She quickly gathered her things and left the room.
Once she was gone, Corinne’s face fell immediately, her tone shifting to something much angrier.
“Are you out of your mind?” she began, whispering harshly. “Do you remember a single thing about last night?”
“Oh, my god, what?! What does everyone want to know about last night?! I went out with Natalie. We danced. I drank a little and I guess I blacked out. It’s that stupid antidepressant they put me on.”
“You don’t remember driving home?”
“I didn’t drive, Natalie drove”
“Oh,” Corinne scoffed, her patience with you clearly nonexistent. “Oh, you drove. You drove your car through three red lights and straight into a BMW.”
She was fully whisper-yelling now, recounting the evening for you. The runaway car, the speeding, the swerving, the driving with your eyes closed. Your stomach sank, Corinne successful in jogging your memory. 
She explained how you passed out on your bathroom floor and Natalie couldn’t wake you up, how she went to wake up Rhea and Rhea had to drive you to the hospital at four in the morning. You waited for her to bring up your hooking up with a notorious movie star at least ten years your senior in the bathroom, but, somehow, it didn't come up. 
Her Blackberry was vibrating near-constantly, and she quickly glanced down to silence it before looking back at you. The Botox in her forehead was dissolving in real-time, a crescent-shaped wrinkle emerging between her eyebrows.
“Thank God Rhea called me and told me what was happening or you might be in jail right now instead of here.”
Your face sunk, horror washing over you remembered what you’d just heard on TV.
“Corrine, they’re not going to arrest me, right?”
She sighed, the look on her face not inspiring reassurance in you.
“I’ve been on the phone with the chief of the LAPD since 5 trying to work this out for you.” Corinne explained. “You apparently totaled that car, although I’m not sure how a car with no driver is even capable of that. The owner has already gone to the press saying they’re going to press charges.”
She craned her head to the side to confirm that the door to your room was shut, then her voice sank even lower as she leaned in closer to you and whispered. “The police searched your car and found a gram of cocaine in the cupholder.”
Oh my god, Dieter’s cocaine.
“That wasn’t mine!” You blurted out. The cliche felt pathetic on your tongue. “It doesn’t matter.”
“But it wasn’t! I don’t even do coke anymore! They can test me!”
Now, why the fuck would you say that?
“It was in your car. Your car that you drove, that you sent careening into an intersection. It doesn’t matter whose it was, honey.”
You covered your face with your hands, your headache intensifying. This wasn’t fucking happening.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” You felt like you were going to cry. “I messed up, Corinne, I’m sorry. Tell them to let me go home and work and I’ll be fine. I’ll focus on the reboot and I won’t go out.”
She didn’t speak right away, and you couldn’t get a read on whether she was furious with you or scared shitless.
“You’re not going back to work,” She finally explained. “Production has told me that they can’t take the risk on you. This is already out. We can’t even say for sure yet that we’ve avoided jail time here.”
The room was spinning. Your stomach felt like a brick. You rolled your eyes - a reflex you immediately regretted - and blinked over and over as fearful tears rolled down your cheeks.
“It’ll be fine, Corinne, we can talk to them. We can renegotiate,” you offered, your voice breaking despite your attempt to remain stoic. “I can be good.”
“The studio won’t take the risk. I’m sorry, honey.”
Tears streamed down your cheeks, hot and shameful, blurring the room around you. This would be the second production you’d been fired from this year. 
It felt like a testament to your failure. You, weak and out of control, sobbing in bed like a pathetic child.
The world would love you like this. Defeated, ashamed, exhausted. A cautionary tale, a trainwreck. You could already hear the chorus of “I told you so”’s, of “stupid girl”’s. Any hope you had of establishing yourself as a serious actress was crumbling right there in front of you - no, you were tearing it apart with your bare hands.
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A disheveled Dieter Bravo checked himself into rehab Tuesday morning, looking solemn and despondent following a life-threatening overdose over the weekend.  The veteran actor reclined in the passenger seat of his vehicle on the drive to Malibu, sporting dark sunglasses and his signature messy mop of curls. LAPD responded to a call from his housekeeper on Saturday morning. The actor was found unresponsive in his Hollywood home, and was quickly attended to by emergency services. “I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time,” the Cliff Beasts star said in a statement released by his representative. Bravo, who won an Academy Award for his performance in 2004’s Fragile Bonds, has recently been plagued by personal and professional struggles, including a failing marriage to actress Heidi Alcott and an arrest for a violent altercation earlier this year. This will be his third stay in a rehab facility since 2005.  Hours before the overdose, the actor was rumored to have been forcibly removed from Hollywood’s Lush nightclub, allegedly ejected by the club’s owner for canoodling and using drugs with another young actress in a staff restroom. Dieter will spend 90 days at Promises Malibu, a swanky rehab facility where daily activities include yoga, meditation, horseback riding and acupuncture.
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The next week was exactly as bad as you’d feared it’d be.
You were arrested in the hospital, which you didn’t even realize was possible. That same, horrible nurse took your blood pressure again and again as two police officers read you your rights. Hospital staff lingered in the hallway outside of your room, just far away enough for them to think you wouldn’t notice, their murmurs were complemented by the cops’ walkie talkies, staticky voices discussing what to do with you.
Corinne wasn’t allowed to come with you for processing. You traded your hospital gown for the dress you’d worn the night before along with a hoodie Corinne gave you, slipping your stupid, clunky heels back on to follow the cops into the parking garage. Corinne used the contents of the makeup bag she’d brought with her, wiping mascara smudges from your cheeks and tapping powder under your eyes to try and make you look somewhat presentable for your mugshot. She walked with you to the police van, all the while assuring you that she’d arrange representation, that this would all be over as soon as it possibly could be.
Faces and cameras pressed to the windows of the car and didn’t let up for the entire drive to the station. You squeezed your eyes shut at red lights, letting the tears run down your face and sinking as far as you could into the back seat.
Fluttering camera clicks and flashing lights surrounded you on all sides as you were led up the stairs of the police station. You were processed, fingerprinted and booked. People gawked at you from holding cells. A security guard asked for an autograph for his daughter. Your bail had been posted by the time you’d taken your mugshot.
You were allowed to go home and detox while you awaited next steps, but, as Chateau staff had politely requested you not return for the time being, Corinne insisted that you stay with her. You spent the next week in Corinne’s guest bedroom, sleeping through headaches and shakes and waking up to change the channel when your name came up on late-night talk shows.
The come-down from amphetamines was not for the weak. You cried and cried for days. Any time you were conscious, you were sobbing. You’d had a taste of this before, long weekends leading up to busy weeks with minimal opportunity to refill prescriptions, but nothing like this. Never this uncomfortable. Never this helpless.
After a couple days, Natalie called. She told you she was sorry. She wouldn’t say for what. Tears tore from your eyes, burning hot and angry down your cheeks. When you hung up she didn’t call back.
You tried to talk to Corinne, but all that came out was a tearful slew of apologies for what you’d dragged her into. You soaked in her giant bathtub, running the water scalding hot and trying to focus on anything but the fear tearing at your mind. 
Her home was perfect - a shiny, ultramodern thing tucked in the hills of Beachwood Canyon. Her guest bedroom looked like something out of Architectural Digest. Your place in it was chaotic, your belongings haphazardly packed up by Chateau staff and now piled in a corner of the otherwise extremely chic bedroom. Club dresses, hair straighteners, bedazzled clutches. You, in her bed, sobbing until your face was puffy, dripping tears and snot onto her 800 thread count sheets. You and the wreckage you carried with you were out of place in a home like this.
When your body wouldn’t let you sleep anymore and your tears slowed down, you stared at the ceiling, clammy and anxious. You peeked out the windows, watching conspicuous vans circle Corinne’s home, big camera lenses perched and waiting for a glimpse of you. You tried to sleep. You rifled through your things, organizing and reorganizing clothes and accessories. You were going nuts.
Rhea spent a lot of time with you - when your schedule was wiped clean, hers was, too. She sat next to you in bed while you watched her play her Nintendo DS for hours.
“You’re all they’ve been talking about on The View for three days,” she told you one morning as she made her Animal Crossing character catch fish over and over. “Joy Behar is veeeerrrry concerned about you.”
“Is she?” You asked. “That’s so nice.”
“Mmhm,” Rhea replied. She cast her line, reeling it in too soon and spooking the fish. “Damn.”
Silence hung between you for a moment as she made her character walk up and down the beach.
“Can you give me something, Rhea, please?” You looked up at her, pleading softly. "No," she answered immediately. “Please, Rhea. I can’t sleep. I’m going insane. I think even just an extra antidepressant would work.”
She put the device down in her lap and gave you a look that told you you should know better. It had always been a not-so-secret secret that Rhea was the one who brought you drugs when you couldn’t get them yourself. She was still in college when you hired her and seemed to know how to get her hands on whatever you wanted.
Corinne was never supportive of your drug use, per se, but she was aware of how your engine ran, and you were certain that she knew Rhea supplied them to you. Under her extremely watchful eye since you’d been discharged from the hospital, you figured Rhea’d been instructed to cut that shit out, but it was worth a try. Plus, she was kind of your friend.
“I’m allowed to give you melatonin,” She answered. “And it wouldn’t, by the way.”
You sighed, defeated. “I was prescribed Xanax before.”
“You were prescribed a lot of things before.” 
She wasn’t wrong. You picked at the skin around your thumb nail, rolling onto your back and staring up at the ceiling, watching the fan spin.
“You know, people die this way.”
She scoffed, looking back at her game.
You weren’t dying. You were just excruciatingly bored. More bored than you’d been in years. Maybe in your entire life. The hours were unbearable, but soon they turned to days, then a week. You weren’t in a good mood, but you could at least say you’d gone from negative to zero. 
The ache didn’t go away, but you got used to it being there. You wanted drugs - hard ones. You fantasized about them when Corinne would wake you up at 6am to go on neighborhood walks with her. As you laced up the running shoes she let you borrow, you reminisced on doing angel dust at warehouse parties in Miami and about the time some rock star from the 80s showed up at your 20th birthday party and showed you and your friends how to freebase heroin. You’d spent the morning after that throwing up and had vowed to never touch it again, but even that morning sounded preferable to wearing lycra leggings and enduring the big, goofy smiles Corinne’s neighbors gave you as they jogged by.
You woke up early one morning to the sound of Corinne’s excited, unusually high voice outside your door. In her usual fashion, she knocked quickly, opening the door without waiting for an answer. She held a finger up to you as she wrapped up her call.
“Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay,” she looked at you, lifting her finger up slightly higher in response to your questioning expression. “Oh, I can’t tell you how great this is. We’re so excited. Uh huh. Okay. Thanks. Okay. Bye, now.”
“What’s happening?” You asked as she hung up.
“This is a best case scenario,” She answered. “This is fantastic.”
You sat up straight in bed. “Is the show back on?!”
Corinne’s smile faltered as she settled on the bed. “Oh, honey, no.”
You deflated slightly. “Then what?”
“You’re not going to jail.”
“Yaaaay,” you cheered weakly.
“That’s a miracle, by the way.”
“Yay! I mean it.” You tried again, a little more convincingly this time.
Her phone buzzed, and she quickly glanced at the name on the screen and silenced the ring. She sighed again, her demeanor turning serious.
“You’re going to rehab.” She continued. “You’re going to the best facility, it’s the Four Seasons of rehab centers, it’s going to–”
“Excuse me?” you interjected, disbelief in your voice. There was that feeling again, the same one you got at the hospital. Tingly jaw, burning hot cheeks.
“Rehab,” she repeated. “You’ve been given the option to complete 90 days in rehab and avoid all jail time. Most people do not get that choice. You should be thanking me right now.”
She paused, presumably expecting you to stand up and start doing cartwheels. The lid of your coffin was in place - it had been for days now - so you should have expected the nails. 
“Where?” You asked after a moment.
“Promises - it’s in Malibu. You’ll do yoga and meet with lifestyle coaches who can help us figure out what you need to get everything back on track. It’s going to be great, honey. It’s where Lindsay went!”
You groaned, throwing yourself backwards onto your pillow.
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Which fading starlet is trading red carpets and VIP sections for rehab? This former child star recently checked into a luxurious Malibu facility, not for a rejuvenating spa weekend, but as part of a plea deal to dodge jail time. At least she's in good company! Perhaps she and a fellow famous patient at the swanky rehab facility will find solace in ‘growing together’ during their time in recovery. Hopefully, this stint helps her avoid following in the footsteps of fellow socialites.
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Promises was impressive. You could give Corinne that. You told her as much when she dropped you off at intake. 
“You’re going to be okay,” she told you, giving you a tight hug in the entryway. “I’ll call you soon.”
It was a huge, sprawling property with a big Spanish-revival monstrosity smack-dab in the middle of it. You’re sure she was thoroughly impressed by the tennis courts and meditation studios and panoramic ocean views.
Intake was less glamorous. You were instructed to remove your clothes and put on a paper gown, and then to open your suitcase and put it on this big, metal table at the back of an office. The woman checking you in gave you a full pat-down, making you bend over and cough to check for contraband before giving you an outfit to change back into. It occurred to you that you should have been humiliated by this whole ordeal, but at this point, you were so beyond that. Humiliation was for the version of you from a week ago. This was just your life now. She then proceeded to take a TSA-level look at all of your belongings.
“We’re a strictly cell phone-free facility,” she explained, removing your Sidekick from your purse. “If you’re caught with a cell phone in your room, we’ll do a full search of your property - if you’re caught again, you’ll be discharged. Phone calls can be made at the booths in the hallway.”
You nodded, not having the willpower to argue with their stupid policies at the moment. You crossed your legs and tried to warm yourself by rubbing your hands up and down your arms.
“Can’t bring these in,” she said as she took three bras out of your suitcase. “Underwire. You’ll get them back when you leave.”
Sure. Whatever.
“You’ll have to hand these over, too,” she held up a pack of cigarettes. “Smoke-free facility.”
“Wait,” you started, interrupted by another staff member entering the office.
“Well, well!” He said, his voice booming in the tiny room, glimmer-white smile beaming at you. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Todd.” He paused, taking a long moment to stare deeply, creepily, into your eyes. “I’m so happy you’re here to grow with us.”
You limply shook his hand. 
“Hi.”
“Hi. I know it’s been quite a journey getting here. I’m sure you’re ready to relax,” he replied, his giant smile not faltering for a second. He broke his unblinking gaze and looked over at the woman zipping up your suitcase. “If you’re finished, I’d like to show our movie star to her room.”
“Oh, another movie star,” she said dryly as she zipped up your suitcase and put her hands up, finished.
“Yes, yes,” Todd said, still smiling like a maniac. He looked like he had more teeth than a normal person, and for a moment you tried to count them before he turned back to face you. You flinched slightly at the intensity of his expression. “Shall we?”
The entire facility was co-ed - a detail that Todd told you repeatedly, each time with a slightly more discernible degree of warning in his voice, like he was a parent instructing you not to throw any parties when they left for the weekend. He walked you across the property, pointing out various amenities to you on the way to your room.
The gym, the pool, the zen garden, the library. The various meeting rooms - men’s meetings, women's meetings, family meetings. The kitchen, the internet cafe. The saltwater pool. It was like a resort, except that there wasn’t any alcohol, and there were copies of The 12 Steps & 12 Traditions all over the place.
“You’ll attend workshops here,” he said, gesturing to the deck on the far end of the swimming pool. “Journaling, vision boarding, knitting. Anything you want. We’re even doing an acting workshop this month - maybe you could help us with that. We have some fantastic facilitators - just fantastic.”
“Juuust fantastic…” you repeated. 
You followed him back inside, walking through a long corridor towards your room.
“Ah, this’ll be our noon men’s meeting,” he explained as you approached an open door to your left. He took a look at the oversized silver watch on his wrist. “They should just be getting started now.”
Peeking into the room, you observed the setup - a classroom-like setting with a whiteboard, low, tan carpeting, and a circle of wicker chairs. Men milled about, chatting as they waited for the meeting to begin.
Just as you started to turn your head away from the door, you caught a glimpse that made you snap back immediately. In a fraction of a second, even though they were hidden halfway behind dark wayfarers, you instantly recognized the deep, brown eyes that locked with your own. You slowed down slightly to confirm your suspicion, but quickly looked away when he craned his neck to follow you.
No way.
There was no way.
You sped up, now walking in step with Todd.
"Hey, Todd?" you interjected, cutting off his explanation of the gym or the pickleball court or whatever it was. "Did the lady at intake mention another actor being here?"
“Oh, yeah,” he chuckled. “Lucky us!”
Your eyes darted to the ground, then back and forth as you tried to process what was happening.
“Who is it?”
“Sorry,” he answered, his smile faltering into something more serious for the first time since you’d met him. “I can’t share that with you. But we’re a friendly bunch here - I’m sure you’ll run into each other soon enough. Here we are!”
You’d arrived at your room, the last door at the end of the corridor.
“I’ll give you some time to settle in, but please don’t hesitate to call if there’s anything you need,” he said, smiling and staring unblinkingly. His spray-tan was extra orange around the corners of his mouth. “We’re so glad you’re here.”
You broke his intense eye-contact to look back down the hallway towards the meeting room. An arm extended from the doorway, pulling the door shut as the meeting began. You bit the skin on your bottom lip, looking back at your door.
“Yeah, thanks,” you mumbled, quickly shuffling into your bedroom and shutting the door behind you.
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It probably wasn’t Dieter. I mean, most likely, it wasn’t him, right?
It wasn’t like he was the only wannabe-bohemian, homeless-looking, disheveled-just-so actor in this town, let alone the only one who’d end up in rehab.
It probably wasn’t him.
And even if it was him, what were the odds he remembered you, anyway? A guy like him slept with so many people, it had to just be a huge blur for him. You probably weren’t even the only one fucked that night.
It wasn’t him. You laughed to yourself as you unpacked, feeling silly for getting so worried.
You shoved your clothes into the dresser that stood across from your bed. Your room was nice, and only reaffirmed your feeling that this was more resort than rehab. The bed was huge, an actual bed with crisp white sheets and big pillows. When you sat in it, you had a beautiful view of the pacific ocean from your window. You also got it to yourself, one of the only single bedrooms in the entire facility. You’d have to remember to thank Corinne for that. 
On top of the dresser was a schedule detailing the week’s activities:
10/03/07 - WEDNESDAY
6AM - SUNRISE HORSEBACK RIDE - EAST HILL
6AM - SUNRISE YOGA - SALTWATER POOL DECK
7AM - OPEN GYM
8:30AM - WOMEN’S MEETING - ROOM A
9AM - SPEAKER SERIES - WE DO RECOVER! - ROOM C … But what if it was him?
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Rehab was not like detox at Corinne’s. Here, you were expected to be up early, to follow a strict schedule of meetings and activities, to act like a functional adult. It felt kind of like summer camp, if at summer camp you were constantly under surveillance and forced to confront your deepest insecurities instead of making friendship bracelets.
You thought that you'd have a late start on your first morning at Promises. You figured you’d sleep in, go get breakfast at the cafe, then maybe hit up the 11am meditation session. Instead, you were woken up at 7 sharp by a cheerful staff member gently knocking on your door, reminding you that you were to be in the cafeteria no later than 8, and that a nurse would be in shortly to take your vitals.
After groggily going through the motions of having your blood pressure taken and your heart rate checked, you threw on an outfit and headed down the hall to get breakfast.
You were excited. That was one thing about being sober - you actually had an appetite for the first time in forever, and you were constantly hungry. As you made your way towards the cafeteria, you began to fantasize about omelets and bagels and pancakes and…
“Morning!” A voice called out to you as you padded down the hallway. Emerging from the room next to yours was a woman who looked to be slightly older than you. She had a cute, cropped pixie cut and was wearing a stack of bangles all the way up her arms.
“Morning,” you replied, smiling at her.
She introduced herself as Sadie. She’d been at Promises for a month already, so she practically owned the place. You had a lot in common - including what brought you here.
“God, I’m obsessed with Adderall,” she said, stabbing her fork into the fruit salad on her plate. She popped a piece of cantaloupe in her mouth and kept talking. “There’s just nothing better for getting shit done. Did you know it’s literally meth? Methamphetamine! And they give it to kids.” “Really?” You asked. Honestly, this was how you knew you didn’t belong here. You didn’t know anything about drugs. You liked adderall, too, but these people were drug addicts.
She nodded.
“God, no wonder.”
“I was a writer. Am a writer,” She continued on. “In the real world.”
“Right,” you laughed. “I’m an actor in the real world.”
“I’ve seen you in things,” she nodded. “The 80s show with, uh… Bob Saget?”
“That’s Full House. I was on Growing Together.”
“That’s it!” She snapped her fingers and pointed at you. “Hey, so do you know Dieter?”
Your cheeks went hot, stopping mid-chew when she mentioned his name. You were having so much fun with Sadie that you’d almost forgotten all about yesterday.
“Dieter Bravo?” You asked, mouth full of food.
“Yeah, him. He’s been here for, like, a week now,” she confirmed. “You know him?”
“He’s here?”
She nodded, giving you a funny look.
“No, not really.” You answered. Which was true.
She hummed in response, moving on quickly to tell you more about the magazine she wrote for, but you fully stopped listening. Oh, shit, it was him. You scanned the faces gathered around the tables throughout the room, looking for him, suddenly paranoid that he’d be watching you from somewhere. You weren’t all on the same schedule here, right?
You couldn’t avoid him. Todd said there were something like 30 residents here right now. There was no shot. You tried to tune back into what Sadie was saying - something about Hearst, something about a blog - and immediately dropped her again. 
You could avoid him. You could stick to womens meetings. God, why was seeing him making you this anxious? This was so unlike you.
The idea of running into anyone you encountered in the state you were in that evening was humiliating. Maybe that was it. How were you supposed to get a fresh start if there was a reminder of the worst night of your life creeping around the halls here? It was unsettling. Corinne and Rhea were practically family, so that didn’t matter, but the idea of even seeing Natalie at this point made your stomach turn. You needed one of those things from Men In Black to zap everyone who was at Lush that night and make them forget that they’d even seen you.
“Sadie,” you interrupted. “Sorry. Do you see him around a lot? Dieter?” She thought about it for a moment. “Yeah. He’s all over the place, if that’s what you mean. I think he’s been here before. He's like the mayor.”
You scoffed, leaning back in your seat. Of course this is no big deal to someone like him. It probably didn’t even get reported on.
“And you said he’s been here for a week?”
“Mmhm,” she nodded.
That meant he’d checked in here right after that night at Lush. He seemed fine that night, though - he was at least with it enough to hook up with you. He wasn’t even really partying - you remembered him sitting alone in that chair when you noticed him. He looked bored. Why would he even need to come here?
All morning, you looked for him in the corner of your eye. You peeked around during your yoga class, scanning the room through your legs during downward dog.
Your first full day was consumed with resident onboarding tasks, which, fortunately, gave you a lot of opportunities to hide. You tried your best to forget about him during your first one-on-one meeting with your counselor.
Jane, your counselor, was nice enough. She at least seemed more normal than Todd - she smiled less, anyway - so it was reassuring to know that not everyone here was straight out of The Twilight Zone. You went through your story with her - how you got started, what happened that led you here. Blah, blah, blah.
“Growing up in Hollywood, that must have been challenging. Were your parents supportive?”
“I guess so. My mom was really into the whole acting thing,” you told her. “Maybe too into it.”
“Tell me more,” she encouraged.
You shrugged. “I don’t know. She liked that I was good at it. It was all we really talked about.”
She nodded, clearly expecting you to tell her more. Suddenly, you really didn’t want to talk about your mom.
“I don’t know. The usual stage mom stuff. That’s all.” You paused, shifting uncomfortably in your seat. "It's not like it matters now anyway." She nodded again, jotting something down. "It's okay if you're not ready to talk about it. We can focus on what's happening in the present and how we can support you moving forward."
“There’s nothing to talk about,” you mumbled.
Fortunately, she let it go, taking a few more notes.
“When did you know you were an addict?” Your eyebrows shot up, shock rippling through you at the audacity of her question. A drug addict?
“I am not a drug addict. That’s insane. I’m twenty-two years old.”
She eyed you skeptically, which only made you angrier.
“You can’t just call people that,” you continued.
“It’s not my intention to offend you,” she replied calmly. “And it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It's important for us to address the behaviors and patterns that led you here.”
You crossed your arms in front of you defensively, looking out the window at the ocean. Several moments dragged by, Jane patiently waiting for you to break your stubborn silence. 
“You could start by not calling me names,” you finally said.
“I apologize,” she said. She talked like a robot. You were wrong, everyone here was a freak.
Despite your best efforts, tears were beginning to roll down your cheeks. Your eyes darted up at the clock for the hundredth time since this meeting began.
“That’s time.”
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Dieter recognized you right away, too.
It didn’t take long for confirmation - word about you checking in traveled very quickly. Suddenly, he was no longer the most famous person in rehab. Shame.
The story was that you’d had a bad night after you’d crossed paths at Lush - something that only made him feel worse about his role in the whole thing. He had a lot of time on his hands to feel guilty these days, and he spent most of it reflecting on that evening.
He was sure you didn’t remember him. At least, he hoped you didn’t. 
That night had been a low point for him. The realization struck on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after his intake process, when that post-overdose glow had finally worn off and he slowly readjusted to reality. With each passing day, the picture of what he’d done only grew clearer.
He had no business pursuing you that night. He may have been pretty far gone himself, but the image in his memory of him attempting to shake you awake so he could try to fuck you was something that made him feel a kind of shame he hadn’t felt in years.
He remembered waiting for you for a while after you’d both been kicked out of the bathroom, lingering around your table trying to figure out where you went. It wasn’t long, though, before Clint was urging him to leave. Apparently the owner of the club was not happy with the commotion he’d caused and wanted him out. Not that it was a major disappointment - he’d been ready to go since he’d arrived.
Following the lead of Clint and the two models from his table, Dieter climbed into the backseat of the SUV parked outside and promptly pulled a tab of acid from his pocket, slipping it onto his tongue when no one was looking. During the drive home, he remembered the black-haired model climbing onto his lap, her whispers in his ear barely registering through the haze he was in. He wasn't in the mood for any of it. He peeled her off of him once they arrived in his driveway, climbing out of the car and saying goodnight without any invitation to keep the party going.
He was restless. The coke, the alcohol, the acid - none of it made any difference. He shuffled around the house - the enormous, Spanish-style place he’d bought when he was still a bachelor. Or, the last time he was a bachelor, he supposed. It felt so empty, so staged, like it was perpetually about to be put on the market. The feeling that he didn’t belong here anymore gnawed at him. Maybe it was time to go back to New York for a while.
He decided to go to bed, at that point completely uninterested in trying to get anything else out of the evening. Sifting through the medicine cabinet in his bathroom, he mixed up a cocktail of Valium and Percocet and climbed into his empty bed, his curtains wide open to watch the city lights swim as he waited for the curtain to fall. 
The next thing he remembered was waking up with a gasp that rattled his entire chest, coming to life to see his bedroom full of paramedics. There was a crust on his cheek and pillow and he was drenched in sweat. His housekeeper stood in the corner, clearly shaken, clutching her hands to her chest.
And now, here he was, back in rehab. It marked his second stint at Promises, returning to confront the shitshow that his life had become through the routine of Pilates classes, group therapy sessions and journaling. Kumbaya.
His agent wasn’t happy with him. This little holiday of his interrupted production of Cliff Beasts 4, the project he was currently working on. He was set to begin shooting in a week - that date now pushed back indefinitely. 
Dollar amounts were something that was discussed in meetings he didn’t care to go to, but he figured this interruption cost some producer somewhere a pretty penny. Good. Fuck those guys. It wasn’t that he wanted to make a habit out of nearly killing himself, but he’d be lying if he said the idea of making one of those suits sweat didn’t bring a smile to his face.
So, here he was. His afternoon yoga class was ending. He decided to skip out during shavasana, looking to avoid any post-vinyasa mingling. He returned his mat and block to the table by the door and headed inside. Pushing the door open with a huff through his teeth, he headed straight towards his room, needing a shower before taking on the rest of his day. When he heard the door at the end of the hall thrown open, he looked up to see you storming out, tears running down your cheeks. Shit.
You both stopped when you noticed one another, frozen in an unexpected moment of mutual recognition. You definitely remembered him, he quickly realized. Dieter’s gaze lingered on you, caught off guard by your emotional state. Why were you crying? He hesitated, unsure of what to say or do, while you stood across the hall and debated whether to say something or retreat to the safety of your room.
Finally, Dieter managed a tentative nod in your direction, attempting to break the ice. You blinked rapidly, hastily wiping tears from your eyes. Before he could utter a word, though, you abruptly turned and hurried away, disappearing around the corner without another glance back.
He sighed, continuing down the hallway towards his room. The message from God or the universe or whatever all-powerful being was orchestrating this mess was clear - he hadn’t just fucked up his own life this time. He’d managed to drag you down with him.
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“I’m glad it’s working out, honey,” Corinne said, her voice coming in staticky through the receiver.
“It is…” you tentatively agreed before putting on your best sales-pitch voice. “I think I’m going to do well. I might not even need to stay three whole months.”
“Nice try.” Worth a shot.
“Have you talked to the producers at all?” You asked, tapping a pen on the desk.
“I’m going to meet with Kevin on Friday,” she said, uncertainty in her voice. “Let’s not get our hopes up about Growing Together, honey, but if this doesn’t work out I do think another series down the line might be a good path out of this. I think the–” “I just don’t understand how they think they’re going to make it without me,” you interrupted, your voice growing louder and attracting the attention of a group of residents at a nearby table. Embarrassed, you turned your head away from them, scooting in closer to the desk. “It doesn’t make any sense. How are they going to write off their daughter?” You continued, voice lowering. 
“They don’t like the optics of the reboot drawing any negative attention. It’s not what they had in mind,” she explained. “We’ll discuss it.”
“I mean, Jesus, it’s not like I’m the first actor in the history of the world to get a DUI,” you continued, your tone hushed. “I’m not even the first actor on Growing Together with a DUI! What about Peter?”
Peter Moinihan played your uncle Bobby on the show. The man had a reputation that put yours to shame before you were even born. He was constantly partying and constantly hungover, which was a running joke among the cast and crew that you didn’t understand until you were much older. 
During the show’s run, he went from hiding his weed-smoking from you, to sneaking you weed, to smoking with you, to, by the final season, asking you where to buy it. Last you heard, he was a cast member on The Surreal Life. Despite all of that, there seemingly wasn’t any question about whether or not he’d be returning for the reboot. So why were they making such a big deal about having you back?
“Believe me, I’ll be bringing that up. You know I’ll fight for you, honey,” Corinne said. “So you fight for you too, alright?”
“Okaaay,” you agreed, rolling your eyes.
“I know you just rolled your eyes. Are you sick of all the Hallmark-ism’s yet?” She asked with a smile in her voice.
“I think if I can’t get any more work, I’ll have a promising career in motivational posters…” you laughed. 
After a pause, Corinne’s tone got all serious and sincere. “Are you okay, honey?” You thought about it. No, I’m not. I’m unemployed, I’m a national punchline, and I have to spend the next three months airing my most vulnerable secrets with a guy I had an awkward one-night-stand with a week ago. I’m stuck in this place with a bunch of drug addicts and therapists from Stepford. I want to snort a line of cocaine the size of my middle finger. I want to drink a bottle of Grey Goose alone in my bed. No, I’m not fucking okay.
“I’m fine,” you answered. “Really.”
“Good.” She said.
With a promise to be good, you hung up the phone. Your face fell quickly, though, the absence of Corinne’s voice reminding you where you were and how much longer you had left in this place.
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Optimistically, after a couple of days of successfully avoiding him, you found yourself believing that the people in charge here might’ve actually had the sense to keep you and Dieter apart. Surely, having to celebrities in an AA meeting together would be too much of a distraction - they had to keep you apart somehow.
You were wrong. When you and Sadie walked into your Sunday afternoon meeting, there he was. He sat in a chair at one end of the room, in a thick, hole-y wool sweater, nursing a paper cup of coffee and wearing those stupid dark sunglasses indoors like always. God, everything about him was so typical Hollywood bro-hemian. He probably lived in Venice.
Still, when your eyes fell to his lips, you flashed on a memory of how good they felt peppering kisses along your neck, how his hands felt on your thighs. The way the flashing lights accentuated his hooded gaze as it drank you in when you were in his lap. You snapped yourself out of it, shaking your head and focusing on pouring yourself a cup of coffee before sitting down as far away from him as you possibly could, directly across the room.
Truthfully, you zoned out for the first half of the meeting. The loosely defined topic of the afternoon - fear - was, frankly, not something you were interested in diving into at the moment. 
You fidgeted with the hem of your shirt, agitated. Inevitably, your mind wandered back to your career, to the reboot you didn’t even care to be associated with a week ago. How could they even consider making it without you? You had poured years of your life into playing Courtney, your entire childhood. The show was practically synonymous with you and your character. It was ridiculous. What, were they just going to say Courtney died or something? They wouldn’t replace you, would they?
“I feel like my family is disappointed… not so much in the behavior, in me being an alcoholic, but… in the way I’ve hidden, the way I’ve had to hide everything from them,” a man to your left shared. You managed a sympathetic nod.
If they wrote you off, it wasn’t like you’d just disappear. People would know why you weren’t there, and if they didn’t know, they’d look for the reason why. Their wholesome little reboot was tarnished whether they liked it or not, so they might as well have you back.
The room went silent as the guy to your left finished up his share. You crossed your legs and picked at the distressing on your jeans. Across the room, Dieter cleared his throat. You snapped your head up immediately, then looked back at your pants, trying to play it off.
“Hi, my name is Dieter Bravo, and I’m an addict,” he recited.
“Hi, Dieter,” the room answered back.
“Uh, yeah, fear,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck. “Fear has kind of, uh, been in charge here for a while now, I think. I’m afraid of a lot of things. Afraid of failing, of losing what little I have left. I think I’ve spent the majority of the last, I don’t know, twenty years, just afraid – scared shitless – and operating from that place.”
You glanced up, surprised by the vulnerability. He leaned forward, his forearms settling on his thighs. As his head tilted down you could see his eyes behind his glasses, fixed on the ground in front of him.
“I know it’s me, you know, making the decisions, ultimately,” he continued, his voice unsteady. “But the filter that every thought and every decision is going through is just afraid. Before I came here, I was working on a project, a project that a lot of people are counting on, people who have been very good to me. And now I think I've fucked that up.”
You perked up. That sounded like you. For a minute, you forgot who was speaking, instead caught up in hearing your own experience validated. 
“And when I think about how I’ve messed that up now, how I’ve delayed that project indefinitely, it’s tempting to get caught up in the guilt… like, feeling guilty is, I guess, easier than admitting I was afraid. I can – uh, I’ve gotten very good at figuring out how to treat guilt, if you know what I mean.”
He tapped the side of his nose, eliciting a few knowing chuckles from around the circle. Wait – ‘delayed indefinitely’? As in, ‘resuming eventually’?
“Anyway, that production is very upset with me, and knowing that I’m holding that up puts the pressure on me to find something that works. So I now have the next three months to do something, anything, other than reacting in fear. I think–”
“You’re going back to work?” You interrupted. Heads around the room turned in unison to look at you.
“No cross-talk, please,” the meeting facilitator said.
“Yes, I am.” Dieter answered, his brows raising, eyes meeting yours and lingering there for a moment before continuing. “I think - I hope, that I’m in a position this time around to do something differently, and that maybe examining those, uh, fearful reactions will help me do that. But even saying that kind of makes me worry. In the last few years, I’ve become an tolerated eccentric at best, and a liability at worst. I almost feel like I’ll let people down if I take away the behavior they’ve grown accustomed to disapproving of.”
Unbelievable. He was going back to work. Here you were begging to be allowed back onto a stupid reunion special and he had a production waiting for him when he got out of here. A movie, too, probably - he didn’t do TV. You huffed quietly, crossing your arms and leaning back in your chair. Sadie tapped your knee with hers, giving you a questioning look. You shook your head and turned your attention back in front of you.
“I was sober for months when I was married - really, for a long time, longer than I’d ever been off anything. This summer we started shooting, everything was going great, then I got home and… I just imploded. I don’t know what happened. Even I wanted to stop. It was like I was on a plane that was fuckin’ nosediving and I had no idea who was in the cockpit."
You snorted. You couldn’t hold it in anymore. This was unbelievable.
Dieter, along with everyone else in the room, turned his head to look at you. He was leaning forward in his chair with his forearms on his thighs, raising his eyebrows at you inquisitively as his glasses rode down his nose.
This was interesting, he thought. It wasn’t ideal, but he liked that you were finally talking to him. His instincts told him to push.
“Something funny?” He asked.
“So, what is this, a vacation to you?” You spat. “I mean, what, you’ve been to rehab, like, 6 times now, right? You summer in Ibiza and winter in Aspen and spend a few weeks somewhere like this whenever you need a little damage control, then it’s back to work.”
Aspen? You thought he was an Aspen guy?
“It isn’t exactly that simple.”
“Guys,” the facilitator attempted, unsuccessfully.
“But you go back to work, right? Everyone on that project is just waiting for you to finish up here?” The resentment was spilling out of you.
Fuck, you were mad at him. He raised his palms outward slightly, half-shrugging.
“It doesn’t even matter to them that you’re in rehab and that everyone knows?”
“It’s a project I’ve worked on before,” he clarified. “A sequel. So I guess they’re being easy on me.”
“Unbelievable,” you scoffed again, shaking your head. “That’s not fair.”
A woman seated to your left chuckled, and you whipped your head around to glare at her.
“What?” You snapped.
“You’re one to talk, princess.” She replied coolly. “You know, most of us ‘little people’ would’ve been arrested for a DUI, not in a luxury rehab.”
You froze, jaw dropping open as you stared back at her.
"Alright, everyone, let's settle down," the facilitator interjected, trying to regain control of the room. "We're all here with the same goal, remember? ‘Restoring ourselves to sanity’?"
You slumped back in your chair, pulling your knees up to your chest, while she continued. Dieter adjusted his glasses to cover his eyes but maintained his posture, watching you for the remainder of the meeting.
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The veneer of Promises had worn off quickly. You were frustrated, you were restless, but now more than anything, you were humiliated. If they didn’t have the sense to keep you and Dieter separated before, hopefully they did now.
It didn’t help that the main thing that occupied your time here was a nonactivity - not doing drugs, not drinking alcohol. That’s what you did in rehab: not drugs, not drinking. So on a night like tonight, after a day like today, during which you normally would’ve called someone up and took shots until you blacked out, all you could do was ruminate on what happened.
You snuck out the meeting early, sulked through a therapy session and then immediately headed to the gym to get on the treadmill and run for as long as you could - which admittedly, wasn’t very long. Turns out long-term drug use affects your stamina. Who knew.
You slowed down to a walk, huffing and bracing yourself on the arms of the machine.
You regretted snapping at him, but still - it wasn’t fair. It was bad enough that he was here. You felt embarrassed even being in the same room as him, knowing the condition he saw you in the last time you met. There was no way you were going to be able to reap any of the benefits of rehab because there was no fucking way you were going to share anything personal with a dude you hooked up with when you were wasted. Now he had to rub his flourishing career in your face, too?
How was it so much easier for him? What was he doing differently? Dieter was as famous as you were, you figured, if not more. He was a bona-fide movie star. Why wasn’t it a massive scandal that he was here? That it wasn’t even the first time?
You slowed to a stop, stepping off the treadmill and wiping the sweat from your face. The gym was quiet at night, which you liked. You wiped down the machine and threw on your robe, heading back towards your bedroom to shower and turn in.
As if it couldn’t get any worse, this entire facility had a 10pm curfew. You stared at your feet as you walked, counting tiles aimlessly. You had to get out of here. In your head, you devised various plans to escape. Jumping out the window and making a run for it wasn’t totally off the table, but you might need to get more creative. 
You could call Corinne in the morning and tell her about Dieter. It’d be embarrassing, but you could explain what happened at Lush, tell her that he’s a reminder of your past that’s hindering your recovery. Some bullshit like that.
It’d been almost a week, anyway. That was an eternity in a place like this. Maybe if you really sold it she’d even let you off the hook and you wouldn’t have to go to another rehab, either - you could just go back to ‘house arrest’ at her place until someone decided to hire you again. It could work.
You rounded the corner, looking up and immediately stopping short. Dieter was headed down the hallway in the opposite direction, his gray t-shirt, thick cardigan, and soft pajama pants complemented by a pair of Crocs that squeaked on the linoleum. When your eyes met his, he looked weary, like he had just been roused from sleep for the last nightly check-in, but the glimmer when he saw you was unmistakable. 
You furrowed your brow, shifting your gaze back down to the ground and shuffling past him quickly.
“Hey,” he called after you. “Wait a minute.”
He followed you, footsteps growing closer behind you as he rounded the corner, and just before he could put his hand on your shoulder, you turned around to face him.
“What do you want?” You asked, your tone sharp.
He stopped just short of where you stood. When your eyes darted at his outstretched hand he pulled it away, raising both hands up before shoving them into the pockets of his sweater.
“Look, I understand if you don’t want to talk to me,” he began, exasperated. “You don’t have to. Really. But we’re both here for the next ninety days, and as–”
“Eighty-four,” you corrected.
“Eighty-four,” he repeated. “As long as we’re both here, I think it’s gonna make things easier if we can at least be friendly. You can hate me, that’s fine, but in the interest of making this worthwhile, and, uh, step 9, I just want to apologize to you.”
You lifted an eyebrow, your arms crossed at your chest inside the oversized terry cloth sleeves of your robe. He did?
“You do?”
“I do.”
“For what?”
“For…” He hesitated, confusion apparent in the tilt of his head. “For the last time I saw you. For taking advantage of you at Lush.”
He paused for a moment, trying to get a read on your expression.
“Oh, man, if you were too drunk to even remember meeting me, I really have to beg for your–”
“I remember,” you interrupted, shaking your head. “I wasn’t that fucked up.” Three-quarters of a lie.
He nods. “Anyway, I’m sorry for taking advantage of you like that. I know better,” he pauses. “It was, uh… a dark time.”
You let it sit for a moment. He really seemed sorry - or at least he looked it. Big brown eyes finally free of dark sunglasses and looking into yours, searching for your mercy. It was strange. It hadn’t even occurred to you to be upset with him for that - you were just embarrassed. Most of the hook-ups you’d experienced as an adult had taken place under the influence to some extent, and nobody had ever apologized to you afterwards.
“It’s okay. Thanks.” You finally said. “Although, really, I guess we can just call it even.”
His eyebrow cocked upwards, the shadow of a smirk and tilt of his head silently requesting an explanation. 
“I stole a bag of your coke that night, that's what I was after when I went to your table,” you explained, amusement growing on his face at the confession. “If it makes you feel better, I got a DUI that night, and when the police searched my car they found it. That’s why I’m here. If it hadn’t been for that, I probably could have just spent the weekend in the hospital being treated for ‘exhaustion’ and been back to work Monday morning. So, I guess I took advantage of you, too.”
“Yeah, well, it’s what we do,” he laughed, vaguely gesturing at the hallway before planting his hand on the wall behind you.
Only now did you realize that he had subtly cornered your body into a doorway. He smelled the same as you remembered, minus the alcohol, and the way his broad frame was caging yours felt familiar and comforting. You caught yourself staring as you let the silence hang, taking in the lines around his dark, soft eyes, and you fought the urge to drag your thumb along the patch in his beard. God, he was handsome. You might not have been completely out of your mind that night.
Encouraged by your big, beautiful eyes gazing up at him and against his better judgment, he leaned down to purr lowly in your ear.
“I was disappointed that you didn’t come find me, though,” his said, the hair on his chin barely grazing your cheek and sending goosebumps down your spine. “I should be apologizing for not finishing the job.”
On a reflex, you giggled, but then the thought caught up to you.
“Wait a minute,” you put your hands to his chest and pushed away slightly to look him in the eye. “You mean we didn’t…”
He shook his head. “No, we didn’t.”
“Oh, my god, thank god!” You exclaimed, throwing your head back, unable to contain your laughter. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, relief that you hadn’t slept with this man (who you, admittedly, really wanted to sleep with) flooding through you. Tentatively, he hugged you back, wide palms going flat at the small of your back. 
“Sorry, not ‘thank god,’ no offense, just… that wasn’t exactly my finest hour,” you explained as you pulled away.
“Yeah, I heard,” he started to respond, but he’s cut off by a staff member at the end of the hallway.
“To your rooms, please,” she ordered, firmly.
He turned to acknowledge her, then back to you, following as you made your way toward your bedroom.
“So, we’re okay?” He asked as you reached your door. “Promise you’re not going to yell at me at any more meetings?”
“I promise.”
“Good. ‘Cause I think people are starting to choose sides, and I’m not sure I stand a chance against you.”
“Yeah, right, they hate me,” you said, dipping your head to laugh. The two of you stood there in your doorway for another moment, hand lingering on the door as you stood inches from one another.
“Goodnight, Dieter,” you finally said, all low and decisive.
“Goodnight.”
You peeked out at him until the door shut completely. When it did, you folded against it, clutching your hands at your chest and smiling wider than you had in weeks.
29 notes · View notes
theperfectawful · 5 months ago
Text
This was beautiful. I think it’s so necessary for both of these two to just take stock of the mess they’re in and sit in it, and I think you’ve done that wonderfully here. To sit in the uncomfortable feeling and to cry and for Frankie to just say ‘I lied I’m sorry’ and that’s it was just a really necessary moment for this story to arrive at eventually. I think the imagery of the lake and the dock really complimented that beautifully as well.
Excellent, as always. This was a treat to read here on this sticky ass summer day 💕
Designated Person | 10
Pairing: Francisco “Catfish” Morales x F!Reader
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Chapter 10: Flat Tire
Rating: Explicit (18+ only)
Word Count: 6.9k+ (nice)
Tags / Warnings: reader pov, infidelity, past romantic & sexual relationship, angst, food & eating, blackout, movie references, car problems, alcohol & alcoholism, 12-step programs, lying, conflict avoidance, crying crying crying sorry, internal conflict, monologue, toxic relationships but listen we're tryna get better, journal entries, nightmares, ptsd, flashback
Notes: WHAT UP PARTY PEOPLE?? MAKE SOME NOIIIISE (insert dallas buyers club matthew mcconaughey scream crying in his car). Sorry for being a bummer lol sometimes growth hurts but we're gonna get thru this I swear. Ok thank u let me know what you think!!!
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Blackouts work like magic. 
One second you’re perched on a barstool, trying not to sway or slur your words while ordering another drink, and the next you’re jolted awake by the thud of a door closing. 
Heart pounding in your chest, you sit up and look around, breathing a sigh of relief to see you somehow made it to your bedroom last night. 
You grab your phone off the side table, swiping away the missed calls from Frankie and Leah, then discover that you apparently re-downloaded a dating app in your alcohol-induced fugue state. Judging by the number of reply messages in your inbox, you must have hit up every man in the tri-county area who was “looking for a good time.”
Perfect. Of course you did. Why wouldn’t you? Bad decisions and dick has never ever steered you wrong. 
You read one typo-filled exchange between yourself and Russ K, 34, before deactivating the account and uninstalling the app. 
When you set your phone back on the nightstand, you notice a mason jar filled with ice water and frown. Beside it sits a small plastic container holding four neon orange tablets and two white tablets. A sticky note on the table reads ‘Went to a meeting, be back this afternoon’ in Frankie’s handwriting. 
Alarm trickles through your veins and inspires a wave of nausea you can’t ignore. Clasping your hand over your mouth to hold down the rising bile, you jump out of bed and beeline to the bathroom. 
After emptying the sparse contents of your stomach into the toilet, you lean back against the cool tile wall and search the ceiling for answers. How did you get home last night? Did you say anything to Frankie? 
You think about the ice water and over-the-counter pills left on your nightstand, then think about the note Frankie left. However you got home, he must know you were hammered. Which means you definitely interacted with him while blacked out. Do you even want to know what you said to him? 
Mortification twists your stomach when you imagine the possibilities. You could have tried to fuck him or murder him or anything in between. Given how you feel about him right now, it’s impossible to predict. That fact alone makes your mouth start to sweat again. 
So… no, you don’t want to know what you said to him when you were drunk. You don’t want to know how you got home or why the fuck your hair is damp. All you want is to get through this fucking day without hurling again. Maybe greasy food and a NASCAR nap, too. 
With this new clear goal in mind, you pick yourself up off the bathroom floor and set about making your low-stakes dream a reality. 
You wake on the couch to the soothing lull of commentators giving a play-by-play of the Rays versus Yankees game. A thick web of fatigue clings to you, fighting against your efforts to open your eyes and sit upright. 
“Hey.” 
Instinctively, you look towards the noise at the other end of the couch, locking eyes with Frankie. His face droops with this wounded expression that gets under your skin. Diverting your gaze to the TV, you cross your arms and try to keep your demeanor aloof despite the deep ache in your chest. 
“How are you feeling?” 
You choke out a humorless laugh and shake your head, keeping your eyes trained on the screen. A few tense seconds go by before he accepts that you will not be answering his ludicrous question, so he takes an alternative approach. 
“I brought home cubanos from that place you like. For, um… for family dinner. If you still wanted to do that.” 
Home, he says, as if the word meant something to him. As if he didn’t match every brick you laid in the foundation of this relationship with paper mache blocks. As if he didn’t take a wrecking ball to whole fucking thing regardless. 
Maybe to him home is just a place he rests his head at night, not where he anchors his heart. A matter of physical location rather than a feeling. You, on the other hand… never felt quite at home in this house until he started living here. 
Are you crazy for having felt like that? Like home was a space you held with him and him alone? 
Your parents were right. You make too much of things. You’re overdramatic. 
Why would he love you? Why would he choose you over his wife? You knew what you were getting into when this started. 
Stupid girl. 
“I understand if you don’t want to, though.” 
His voice brings you back to yourself. You blink hot tears from your eyes, then wipe them from your cheeks, trying to hold yourself together despite the whisper of ‘stupid girl stupid girl stupid girl’ at the back of your head. 
“Can we… can we at least talk about it?” 
You wince as a fresh batch of tears surges up your throat. Rising to your feet, you shake your head and manage to choke out, “Just forget it,” before fleeing to your bedroom. 
I slept most of the day yesterday so it took me forever to fall asleep. Also Frankie was walking around the house all night. At 11ish, I heard him talking on the phone, then I think someone picked him up. I texted him to see where he went because I’m unfortunately still his designated person. He said he was with someone from AA and he’d be back soon, just needed to talk. I couldn’t fall asleep until I heard him come in at 1. He wasn’t stumbling around so I’m guessing he was sober??? Hopefully he was. I don’t want this to get in the way of his recovery. Which I sort of hate. I wish I could delete the feelings I have for him. I wish I didn’t care. But I guess I do, so… I don’t know. This fucking sucks. Leah said I should kick him out, but I don’t want to fuck up his program. Maybe I’ll talk to Ralph today and see what he thinks. The thing is… the more people I talk to, the more I just want to talk to Frankie. Nobody makes me feel like he does. More than the lies, this is what bothers me the most. The fact that I can feel this way and he just doesn’t. I don’t understand how he can’t feel it, too. I thought this was real. But I guess I always do. I guess he’s just a really good liar and I am just a stupid girl. 
Tossing the notebook aside, you sit up to grab your mug off the side table. Wisps of steam rise from the coffee and dissolve into the air. The image blurs as a thick, wretched sensation twists up your throat. 
God fucking damnit. 
Every time you think you have no more tears left to cry, you prove yourself wrong. They just keep coming. Yesterday you waded in and out of these sudden fits where crying was all you could do. It reminds you of all the other times he broke your heart, but especially the last time. 
After Angie caught the two of you fucking, part of you hoped that maybe she would leave him. From what you understand, though, he convinced her to stay. Called you a mistake. An ‘isolated incident’ or whatever. Fucking asshole. 
Anyway. 
Seeing each other became logistically and emotionally difficult. Participating in an affair is much easier when it’s still a secret, for obvious reasons. He tried to see you when he could, which wasn’t nearly as frequent as you wanted. When you did see him, he was drunk. You’d pick him up from the bar, or he’d come over after Angie went to bed, but he was always at least five drinks in and counting. 
You bailed him out of jail twice in those six months. Once for drinking and driving, once for getting in a fight over a fucking pool game, of all things. 
He seemed so walled-off from you, too. Like he detached from his emotions when he saw you. Maybe it was because of the liquor, but a million other reasons are just as likely. After sex, he would leave. The sex was… well, it was still good, but… different. Rougher, impersonal. It felt less like making love and more like fucking. 
You still loved him, though. You still had fantasies of having a real, normal relationship with him. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, you still wanted to believe that he was meant to be with you. 
Stupid girl stupid girl stupid girl
And then, well… 
Your phone starts to ring. It’s Ralph. 
You take a few quick sips of your coffee, then set the mug aside to answer. 
“Hello?”
“Hey, kiddo. Do you have a minute?” 
His tone, less jovial than normal, gives you a small burst of anxious energy.
“Sure, what’s up?” 
“I just got off the phone Mr. Morales and he briefed me on the, ahhh… situation over there.” 
Unsure what to say, you fold an arm over your belly and stare down at your lap. 
“I understand that things are a bit tense due to an incident that occurred on Saturday, is that correct?” 
“Yeah,” you nod, voice wavering, “Yeah, I, um… I overheard him talking to Angie, and… well, basically I found out he’s been lying to me.” 
It sounds so pathetic when you say it out loud. 
“Uh-huh. He lied about the nature of his relationship with Mrs. Morales.” 
“Correct.” 
You prepare for Ralph to tell you it’s not a big deal. Brace yourself for the inevitable scoff, or for him to accuse you of overreacting. 
So he lied to you, so what? You knew who he was. You knew he had a family to keep together. You should have known better than to get involved with him. Stupid girl, why would you put yourself in that position in the first place? 
“And this isn’t the first time he lied to you about this particular matter, am I understanding correctly?” 
“Well…” you frown and shake your head, “No, not really. When we were together before, he was pretty explicit that he wouldn’t leave her. I just… I just thought… I don’t know. It’s dumb. I’m fucking dumb.” 
Ralph doesn’t respond right away, so you add, “Sorry. I’m still in my feelings.” 
“Don’t sweat it, I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down,” he pauses here to clear his throat, then recounts, “Before, he told you leaving her wasn’t a possibility. And despite my warning going into this, the two of you re-established your romantic relationship, he told you that kind of relationship was effectively over with his wife. Which wasn’t true.” 
“Correct.” 
“Ok. Got it. Has Mr. Morales exhibited any unusual or suspicious behavior since the incident on Saturday?”
After thinking about it, you tell him, “I wouldn’t call this suspicious exactly, but yesterday he left a note saying he was going to an AA meeting, which isn’t normal. And late last night someone picked him up. I texted him to check in and he said he was with someone from AA, talking.” 
“Do you believe he was being truthful?” 
“Yeah, I do,” you shrug, “I mean, I’m obviously not the best at detecting his bullshit, but I’ve seen him under the influence more times than I can count and he didn’t seem… like that.” 
“Well, that’s good. And it’s good you checked in with him, I take that as a positive. You are still responsible for him while he’s on parole.” He sighs, “Which brings me to my next question. Are you thinking you want to continue serving as his designated person, or should we start looking for alternatives?” 
A lump rises in your throat. You swallow it down, wincing at the tears that burn behind your eyes, “I, um… I’m not sure yet. Can I have a few days to think it over?” 
“Sure. How about this. Why don’t you take some time, maybe go to one of those Al-Anon meetings I told you about, and I can stop by Saturday to have a sit down with you and Mr. Morales. Does that sound agreeable?” 
“Ok,” you nod, “Yeah, that sounds good. We can do that.”
“Alrighty then. I’ll shoot you an email with some details sometime today and we’ll go from there.” 
“Thanks, Ralph.” 
“Call me if anything comes up, ok kiddo?” 
“Will do.” 
After hanging up, you put in a load of laundry and wander around the house, stopping by the fridge to stare at the cubano Frankie brought home for you yesterday. You roll your eyes with annoyance as you grab it, then you return to the couch and put on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. 
By the time Frankie comes home, you’re four feature films deep in your angsty post-breakup movie marathon and feeling indignant enough not to surrender the common space to him. 
His eyebrows do this little surprised jump when your eyes meet his, and he glances at the TV, “Reality Bites?” 
You don’t respond, just curl deeper into the couch and return your attention to Ethan Hawke’s spiteful cover of Add It Up.
He kicks off his work boots and walks into the kitchen, coming back a minute later to ask, “If I make something for dinner, will you eat it?” 
Your stomach rumbles at the thought of food. Without looking at him, you shrug. 
Accepting the non-verbal answer, Frankie returns to the kitchen and starts bumbling around, cussing and grumbling under his breath. Eventually, though, he seems to get the hang of it. 
Just as the end credits of Reality Bites start rolling, he enters the living room holding two plates and sets one on the coffee table for you, then takes a seat at the opposite end of the couch. 
You sit up, crossing your legs as you pull the offering into your lap, and toss the remote control to his side of the dividing cushion. He wordlessly searches for something else to watch while you study the avocado-filled hot dog buns. 
“What is this?” you ask. 
“Completo. Hot dog topped with good shit, basically. Avocado, tomato, onion, condiments.” He selects play on Moulin Rouge, then looks at you and shrugs, “Ma would make it for me when I had a bad day.” 
You stare at him for a moment, then roll your eyes and shake your head as you turn to the TV, “I see what you’re doing.” 
“What’s that?” 
“Kissing my ass.” 
He chuckles, shifting a little, “Yeah, well… yeah.” 
The movie starts to play. You don’t mention that this will be the second time you’ve seen it today because he probably knows that. After taking a bite of the completo, you hum at the mix of flavors and textures as you chew. 
“Good, right?” Frankie says through a mouthful. 
“Mmm,” you nod in agreement. 
He swallows, glancing between you and his food before asking, “Can I ask why you haven’t kicked me out yet?”
When you contemplate how to answer, the reasons all snarl into a tight knot of which you can’t quite make heads or tails. 
“No.” 
“Fair enough,” he murmurs, letting his gaze linger on you, “Do you want me to give you some privacy, or…? Because I can go—” 
“It doesn’t matter, Francisco, just stop talking.” 
“Ok, but—” 
You hold your hand up to him, “Shhhhhh.”
He sighs, but accepts the silence. Tension resides in the air at first, but slowly dissipates as you clear your plates, then settle into the couch. And although your eyes stay trained on the screen, you can’t make yourself pay attention. 
You keep wondering why he lied about being with Angie. He’s never had a problem making that clear in the past, even if it meant breaking your heart. Is it because he lives with you? It’s possible he didn’t want to risk getting kicked out, so he kept it a secret. 
Then why get involved with you again? Did he think this was the best way to stay in your good graces? Has he been manipulating you this whole time? 
It’s possible. It’s also possible you’re another one of his bad habits he can’t kick. A coping mechanism. Disposable, like always. 
You remember the night you asked him to come over so you could talk to him about something important. He promised to be there at eight o’clock, which is when you planted yourself on the front porch swing to wait for him. At nine o’clock, his truck came rumbling down the street and parked in front of the house. 
“What’re you doing out here?” he smirked as he climbed the porch steps. 
“Waiting for you,” you glared at him, observing his fluid movements when he plopped down beside you.
“I went and got a drink, lost track of time.” 
He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and drew your stiff body closer to kiss your cheek.
Something hot flared in your chest, and you distinctly remember wishing he would show up sober for once. This wasn’t the scab you wanted to pick, though. 
He tilted your chin up, pressing his lips to yours, breath heavy with whiskey, then pulled back to frown at your lackluster response. His body swayed a little as he studied you, “What?” 
“I need to talk to you.” 
“Ok,” he leaned away from you with a scoff, “Well, I’m here. Talk to me. Tell me how I fucked up this time.” 
You winced, “Don’t do that.” 
Crossing his arms, he stared at you, all fucking wobbly and drunk, irritation folding his facial features. He shrugged, “Do what?” 
“That! You’re being an asshole.” 
“Oh, I’m being an asshole?” he mocked, “How’s that?” 
Rage simmered beneath your skin. You let out a chuckle of disbelief, shaking your head as tears pooled in your eyes. After taking a moment to gather yourself, you spit out, “Do you love me?” 
“Do I—?” he furrowed his brow like he didn’t understand, shifting in his seat, “Do I love you?” 
“Yes, Frankie. Do you fucking love me or not?” 
His indignation melted. Shoulders slumping, gaze going soft. He swallowed hard and looked out at the street as if searching for an escape hatch. Emergency brake. Make it stop. 
“Because I love you. I’ve been in love with you for so long… and-and I still don’t know what the fuck I am to you.” 
He seemed frozen, staring at something a million miles away without sparing a reaction. 
Nine months later, you can still feel the frantic vibration of your bones when you moved closer and cupped his cheeks, forcing him to look at you. When his eyes met yours, they were so cold and vacant that you barely recognized him. You tried to get through anyway. 
“I need you right now, Frankie. But I need all of you. I can’t be on the back burner anymore. I need you to be with me or I need to let you go.” 
“You know I can’t do that. I can’t be with you, not like that.” 
“But you could, though. You could. We could do this, we could make it work, start a life together—”
“I won’t leave her,” he shook his head, “I have a family—goddamnit, you knew what this was when it started.”
You sobbed, letting your hands fall away from his face, and his eyelids fluttered with the ghost of an emotion that you didn’t understand. 
He started, “I don’t—” then paused, tapping his clamped lips. His bloodshot eyes flicked around the porch and settled a million miles away again, “I don’t love you.” 
With this declaration, he took his chisel to you, lined it up in just the right spot, and gave it one firm tap. You crumbled at his feet. Shattered into dust. 
He got up and drove off while you were still bawling on the front porch swing. 
Onscreen, Toulouse-Lautrec shouts, “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return!” 
It hits you square in the chest. 
With tears brimming your eyelids, you jump up and flee to your bedroom before he can see them. 
Terrible nights sleep. Every time I drifted off, I was in the bedroom at my parents house but it wasn’t in my parents house. He was there but he wasn’t there. I don’t know how to explain it. I felt his presence but knew it wasn't him. I kept my eyes closed because I was scared to see, but I could hear him getting closer and closer. When I opened my eyes I woke up. The feeling stuck to me. It took me forever to fall back asleep and when I did it started over. 
Frankie didn’t go to work this morning. I don’t think he slept well either. Heard him walking around all night again. Idk if I should ask him what his deal is. I don’t want to talk to him about it yet and he’ll probably try to do that. Which is weird for him. A year ago I’d give anything for him to open up like he’s been trying to. But it hurts too much right now. It’s so messy. I’m all tangled. I need to straighten myself out before talking about it. 
I think I’m going to an al-anon meeting today and I’m nervous. Not sure what to expect. Keep worrying they’ll tell me I don’t belong there or make me talk about him. I don’t know if I belong there. I don’t know if I belong anywhere. 
Pulling back from your notebook, you stare at the last sentence for a while before closing the cover and setting it on the end table. 
Frankie walks out from his bedroom and rounds the corner to the living room, looking suspiciously formal, wearing slacks and a white dress shirt. His dark curls have been combed into a neat side part. It even looks like he trimmed his facial hair. 
As he peeks through the front window curtains, you blurt, “Are you wearing a fucking tie?” 
He looks surprised to hear you speak, raising his eyebrows as he glances down at himself, then up at you, “Yeah. I have a uhhh… a deposition today.” 
“Is that good or bad?” 
“Not really either. It’s normal, I guess. They’re just asking me questions on the record.” 
Nodding, you study his nervous demeanor, watching him reflexively go to lift his hat, faltering a little before running his fingers through his hair anyway. 
A desire to comfort him trickles through you, extinguishing the glowing embers of contempt inside your chest. 
“How is the case going, do you know?” 
The corner of his mouth pulls back into a kind of grimace. He takes another peek out the window, then steps back and shrugs as he approaches the couch, “The lawyer says they’ll probably offer a plea deal once this is over. We’ll see what that looks like.” He sits down at the other end of the couch, pulling out his phone to keep an eye on the little car on his rideshare app, “He thinks maybe they could agree to a reduced sentence.” 
You pick at your frayed cuticles, holding your tongue for as long as you can before asking, “How are you doing with… everything?” 
When you glance at him, his face is crooked with contemplation. He shifts in his seat and crosses his arms, lips parting with an answer. A notification dings on his phone. 
“My ride’s here,” he murmurs and meets your eyes with an apologetic expression, “We can talk about it later?” 
You give him a non-committal smile, “Good luck at your thing.” 
The woman who gave you your new member packet, apparently the leader of the meeting, looks around the room and announces,
“This afternoon, our fearless speaker will be Taylor. Everybody please welcome Taylor.”
From the back row, you sink down in your metal folding chair and glance around at the attendees, joining in when they start to clap for a woman approaching the podium. 
“Hi everyone, my name is Taylor. I’m a member of Al-Anon.” 
The room responds in unison, “Hi Taylor.” 
Taylor smiles and shakes her head, looking down at a small stack of trembling notecards. Her round shoulders raise with a deep breath. She closes her eyes for a moment, exhales, then looks up at the room. 
“If you would’ve told me a year ago I’d be the speaker at an Al-Anon group, there’s no way I’d believe you. But here I am,” she chuckles, “Wow. Thank you everyone for coming in today. I see so many familiar faces and some not so familiar faces and I’m grateful to see all of you. I’m proud of you for coming to this meeting today. 
“One of the biggest preconceived notions I had when I started attending Al-Anon meetings nine months ago is that they would help me support my alcoholic husband. At the time, he was about a month into sobriety and had just started going to AA meetings. He was struggling like hell and a friend of his asked if he wanted to go to an AA meeting with him. So he did. 
“I’ll be honest, when he suggested I go to Al-Anon, I was annoyed. I really was. At that point, we’d been married for five years. He tried quitting, oh, I don’t know… six times in that five years? Three 90-day inpatient rehab stays, two arrests, more sleepless nights than I can count.” 
Taylor pauses and looks down at her notes, then back up at the room as an amused smile spreads across her face. 
“What it always reminded me of was this story my husband told me. Every so often, he goes through these phases where he gets very very interested in a particular subject. It completely takes him over. All he wants to do is read about it and talk about it and… well, you get it. 
“When he was in his Greek mythology era, he told me about Sisyphus, the king of Ephyra. Sisyphus killed people who visited his palace, which angered the gods because they considered it impolite, which is the understatement of the millennium, but that’s neither here nor there. When Sisyphus died, Hades punished him to an eternity rolling a boulder uphill. He would fight his way up this steep hill, pushing the boulder with all his might. The boulder was enchanted, though, and every time the it got near the top, the boulder would roll back down the hill, then he’d have to try again. So he does this over and over and over for eternity. Infinite frustration and exhaustion. 
“Sometimes it felt like that with him. With my alcoholic. Like I was stuck in this loop, fighting like hell to push his dead weight to the top of the hill. Just when I got a scrap of hope, it went tumbling back down. Over and over and over again. I structured my whole life around his relationship to alcohol. Checking in with him constantly, making sure I didn’t say or do anything that might trigger another relapse, putting myself on the back burner to accommodate his needs. So when he suggested I try going to Al-Anon meetings, I expected it to be another chore catering to his sobriety. I thought I would come here and learn all the ways people support the alcoholic in their life the right way. Because I obviously wasn’t doing it the right way. If I was, he would have years of sobriety under his belt. 
“Regardless, I agreed to go, and quickly discovered my preconceived notions about Al-Anon were wrong. Al-Anon doesn’t exist for us to better service the alcoholic or alcoholics in our lives. Sure, we’re all here because of the alcoholic in our lives, but the point is to better service ourselves. I think that distinction is important. 
“When I came home from my first meeting, I went through the new member packet Mario gave me, and found a handout that said: Detachment is neither kind nor unkind,” Taylor nods at the memory and looks around the room, “That struck a chord with me, that phrase. Detachment is neither kind nor unkind. It didn’t make sense to me at first. I thought, how is detachment neither kind nor unkind? It went against my instincts completely. How was I supposed to help my husband if I detached from him? Isn’t love about being attached to someone, sticking together through thick and thin? 
“Attending meetings and working the steps helped me get a better grasp on the concept. I came to understand that, in Al-Anon, detachment can mean two different things. The first is separating the person you love from their alcoholic behaviors. The second is a little harder to define, but it centers around the idea that you are separate from other people, and their actions do not control yours. Let me show you what I mean, though.
“In my relationship with my husband, we were entangled,” Taylor laces her hands together and holds them up for everyone to see. “Wherever he went, I went, too.” She moves her clasped hands back and forth. Spreading her hands apart, she says, “I didn’t want to be apart from him. But what I found with detachment is,” she flattens her hands palm-to-palm, “We can be close without being entangled. That way, if he goes to a dark place,” she moves one hand away from the other and shakes her head, “I don’t have to go with him if I don’t want to.” 
Taylor looks around the room, allowing her words to sink in, then returns her attention to the stack of notecards and flips to the next. 
“When we detach in this way, it both relieves us of our perceived responsibility for their actions and emotions, and grants them autonomy to make their own choices. They deserve dignity and freedom, which is difficult to obtain if we try to manage their lives. 
“So often in our marriage, I thought that loving my alcoholic meant rescuing him from himself. I thought that if I exerted myself hard enough, pushed him up that steep hill long enough, we would get to the top together. But the effort was Sisyphean. It didn’t matter how much time or effort I put into controlling the direction of the boulder. It would always roll downhill, because the boulder was enchanted. Even if I spent an eternity trying, even if I begged and screamed and pleaded with the boulder, it would still be enchanted. And, you know… maybe that’s ok. Maybe he’s not meant to sit at the top of the hill. It’s not his fault, either, and I came to realize that instead of getting frustrated at him for being enchanted, I can meet him where he is and love him anyway. If I don’t like that place, I don’t have to stay there. When I detach with love, I grant myself autonomy as well as him. 
“Putting the metaphor aside, I’ve used this in practice by no longer lying for him. If he’s at an AA meeting and our daughter asks why he’s not home, I tell her the truth. When my family or friends ask how everything is going, I don’t try to make it seem easier than it is so he can save face. I confide in them with sincerity because that is what I need. I’ve stopped giving him advice unless he asks for it, because I’ve learned here that most times people don’t need advice, they just need someone to listen and be present. I’ve stopped trying to take the reins when I think he’s making poor decisions, because he doesn’t need someone to do it for him. He needs to learn to do it himself. Part of learning is making mistakes and growing out from beneath the consequences. 
“Detachment is neither kind nor unkind, it’s a tool we utilize to free ourselves and the alcoholic in our lives. Al-Anon doesn’t exist to teach us how to help the alcoholic in our lives, although the tools it gives us can aid in their recovery as well as ours. This fellowship exists to help us, the families of the alcoholic, so that we may lead more joyful and serene lives. Thank you.” 
Applause erupts from the crowd, and you join in, watching Taylor glow with pride as she steps away from the podium. 
Damp, hot air pours in through the rolled-down windows, carrying with it the earthy scent of algae-bloom off East Lake Tohopekaliga. Driving along the slow, steady curve, you pass by sprawling oak trees, their eaves all draped in spanish moss. 
Your hope was that taking the scenic route home would clear your head, but it’s not doing the trick. Something shifted inside you during the meeting. You can’t quite put your finger on exactly what shifted or why it happened, although your circular thoughts give you the sense you’re on the precipice of understanding. 
You keep thinking about the speaker, Taylor, and the lesson she relayed from her podium. Her situation is different from yours, but you know it all the same. You know how it feels to dig your heels into the dirt, struggling like hell to push someone in the direction you think is best. You know how it feels to see him tumble to the bottom time and time again. And for what? It’s not like he’s any better off because of your efforts. It’s not like you are, either. 
How many times have you betrayed yourself for the sake of his favor? How many times have you put your needs aside to tend to his? 
Calm blue-gray water flickers behind the trees you drive past. It looks peaceful. Further up the road, you spot a public access point to the lake and turn into the lot, hitting a bump. When you do, a loud BANG reverberates through the car. The steering wheel shakes as you slow to a jerky, lopsided stop.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” you fume, shifting the car into park. Folding forward onto the steering wheel, you pinch your eyes shut and take a deep breath, then exit the vehicle to look at the damage. 
The front driver’s side tire sits flat against the pavement. You stare at it and shake your head, muttering, “God fucking damnit,” before walking to the trunk. 
You open it and pull up the mat to the spare tire well. It’s empty. 
“Fucking of course. Jesus fucking—” 
Cutting yourself off with a furious groan, you pull out your phone and go through your contact list, pointedly scrolling past the F’s to pause at Leah, who’s over an hour away, then Marla, who’s busy enough as it is. You even briefly consider Rory, but the idea makes your stomach lurch. 
You could just do it all yourself. Order a car on one of those rideshare apps. It would take forever, though, and you’ve never changed a tire before. 
Frankie is the logical choice. The first person who came to mind, if you’re being honest. Something hard and stubborn inside your chest throbs when you hover over his name. 
It’s pride, you realize. Maybe a little fear. You don’t want to ask for his help. You don’t want to burden him. You don’t want to be disappointed if he says no. 
All the same, you dial his number. He picks up on the second ring. 
“H—”
“Are you at the house?”  
“I am.” 
“Are you busy?” 
“Nothing I can’t put off ‘til later. Why?” 
“My fucking tire blew out, and my spare is in the garage,” you sigh and throw your head back, propping a hand on your hip, “Is there any way you can bring it out to me?” 
“I, umm… yeah, of course. Where are you?” 
“East Lake Toho.”
He snorts, “Christ, what’re you doing all the way out there?” In the background, you hear the floorboards creaking, mapping his way through the house. Before you can respond, he asks, “Spare tire in the garage, need me to grab anything else?” 
“Uhhhh…” you wrinkle your nose at the trunk, “I don’t know, I have a jack and the tire iron thing.” 
“That should do it. Wanna drop me a pin? I’ll have to get a ride out there.” 
“Yeah. I can pay you back if you need to order a Lyft or whatever.” 
“Just take it off my tab,” he jokes, the back door squeaking open behind his voice, “Hang tight, I’ll be there in a bit.”
You turn around to lean back on the bumper, “Ok, I’ll be here.” 
After hanging up, you share your location with him, then wander down to the dock. It rattles around as you teeter to the end and sit down, letting your feet dangle over the edge. 
Cattails and lily pads have been cleared from the shoreline near the boat landing, giving you a clear view across the lake, broken up here and there by thick swaths of aquatic vegetation. The glassy surface of the water reflects the hazy blue sky, and stagnant air sticks humid to your skin. Insects buzz and birds sing and somewhere far away you hear a boat motor chugging across the lake. 
When you think of serenity, this is what you picture. Stillness and calm. Peace. You inhale the scene, allowing it to stretch out inside you and unfurl your tensed muscles. 
As soon as the unease evaporates from your body, fatigue takes over.  
Lying back on the dock, you stare up at tall, fluffy clouds littering the sky. Your eyelids grow heavy as you watch the slow-moving parade of shifting giants, the warm air lulling you into comfort until you let your eyes drift closed. 
Your awareness fades in and out while you sleep. At one point, a car door shuts, then the car drives off. Vaguely, you know it’s Frankie but can’t lift your limbs, syrupy thick with lethargy. You hear grunts and metallic clattering. Some time later, your trunk slams shut. 
When the dock starts wobbling around beneath you, you blink your eyes open and sit up, scrubbing your hands over your face as a yawn overtakes you. 
“Hey sleepyhead.” 
You glance over your shoulder at Frankie, who comes to sit down beside you with a groan. He’s back to his usual attire, jeans and a t-shirt, baseball cap firmly in place atop his head. 
Still groggy, you yawn, “I couldn’t make myself wake up.” 
“Not sleeping well?” 
“Fucking awful, honestly.” 
“Yeah, I know.” 
You frown at him, searching his face until he gives you a little shrug, at which point you mumble, “Oh. I forgot that I, umm… yeah. Sorry.” 
“No need to apologize,” he tells you, squinting up at the sky before dropping his eyes to his hands as he fiddles with his wedding band, “Same here. The—the sleep part, not the nightmares.” 
“Yeah, I know. I hear you pacing around at night.” 
“Oh… sorry, I didn’t realize—”
You push yourself up straighter to watch his legs dangle next to yours, “It’s fine.” 
Quiet settles comfortably between you. Near the dock, you see a cluster of bubbles rise to the surface of the lake and burst. The ripples flatten out and calm returns. 
A question swells in your ribcage. Just a small pocket of air at first, maybe the size of a pebble. The longer you sit and stare at the water, though, it expands. It works its way up your throat, taking up more and more space with each passing second until you can’t contain it any more. 
“So you were lying to me, right? About not being with her?” 
He meets your gaze, dark eyes all remorseful and gooey, then he nods, “Yeah. I was lying. To both of you.” 
Folding your legs up onto the dock, you look away in the hope that he won’t notice the tears starting to come. When he speaks, his voice comes out hoarse and quiet. 
“How much do you want me to tell you?” 
The question replaces the air in your lungs with a vibrating sensation. Another cluster of bubbles dissolve on the surface of the lake. You manage to croak, “I don’t know.” 
He doesn’t respond. You sense that he’s waiting for you to make the next move. 
Your mind wanders to the front porch swing that night you forced him to choose. He felt so far away. Until he told you differently, you were so certain he was in love with you. 
“I don’t know how to trust your words as truth, Frankie. All the way back to the start, I don’t know what was real and what was bullshit and I am fucking—” your voice cracks from the emotion burning up your throat. 
He goes to comfort you, but pulls back before making contact. 
Every cell inside you aches for him to bridge the gap. You follow the instinct, grabbing his shirt to curl into his shoulder. As soon as you do, he wraps his arms tight around you, bringing you in closer. 
A wave of moth-eaten hurt wells up your chest. 
“Why?” you sob, “Why did you do this to me? I don’t understand—”
He starts to rock you in a slow, soothing motion, burying his face in your hair as you cry into the collar of his shirt. In the background, behind your racing thoughts and shattered breaths, you hear him whisper on repeat: I’m sorry, baby… I’m so sorry.
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theperfectawful · 5 months ago
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