Underneath The Perfection

Chapter 18

“So why do you work at the club anyways? Doesn’t really suit that whole perfect girl image you’ve got going.” Riley says as the credits roll in. I blink in surprise, slightly taken aback at the suddenness of his question.

“Where did that come from?” I ask, unsure of what to say.

“What? I can’t ask?” Riley rolls onto his stomach and props himself up on his arms, smirking up at me.

“You can. Whether or not I’ll give you an answer is an entirely different question.” I answer, a smirk of my own curling onto my lips.

“You suck.” He chuckles, flicking my forehead.

“Tell you what.” I say, an idea popping into my head, “I’ll tell you if you tell me why you’re in a gang.”

Riley thinks it over for a second, slightly scrunching his face as he probably goes over the pros and cons.

“Fine.” He agrees. “But you go first.”

Suddenly, I feel unsure. Do I trust him? Telling him about the Club means telling him about Alex. The only people who know about what truly happened to Alex are Chloe and Matt. Absentmindedly I bit my lip, weighing out the options and what might result if I tell him. There’ll be no going back. Riley will know more than some of my closest friends. Am I willing to take that step?

“Em,” he says, softly taking my hand. “You can trust me.”

Taking a deep breath, I start to speak. “Six years ago my dad lost his job. That’s when things started to sort of get out of control. He started to drink.” Looking up, I notice that Riley was intently watching me, studying my face. He opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. Not wanting any pity.

“But that was nothing. A year later my brother ran away, all he left was a note. For five years, I didn’t hear anything from him. I thought he was dead. Jesus,” I ran my hand through my hair, feeling the tears starting to burn in my eyes. Taking a shaky breath, I continued, feeling a strange sense of relief telling Riley about Alex. It was like a giant weight being lifted off my shoulders.

“Things got worse when he left. My dad started using, and eventually my mum did too. I work at the club because I have to pay the bills. It’s disgusting but I get paid fairly well. I keep a little bit for my sister and the rest goes to my parents.”

“Thank you.” He says, pulling me over and into a tight hug. I lay my head on his chest and breathe in deeply, feeling a form of relief wash over me. After releasing each other from our embrace, I jump off the bed and put another DVD in.

As the opening music begins, I grab a pair of sweatpants from Riley’s closet & slip them on, making sure to be out of his eyesight. Although I work in a strip club, I’m not a whore.

“The movie’s starting.” Riley calls out, sounding bored. Pulling at the legs of the dark blue sweatpants, as to not trip over the ends.

Riley snorts. “You look ridiculous.” I roll my eyes in response, making myself comfy and concentrating on the film.

A slightly unsettling feeling suddenly comes over me and I look up, noticing that Riley’s intently looking at me.

“What?” I ask him, feeling insecure under his intent gaze.

“Will you go out with me?”

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” I ask, surprised at his unexpected question.

He chuckles, and asks me the same question again. The words rolling off his lips so smoothly. I watch him raise his eyes expectantly, and pull myself out of my trance-like state.