This Love

Chapter 45

SCARLETT PARKER

"So what is it like working at a strip club, anyway?" Hailey asks, watching me inspect an emerald green lace corset bra with major cushioning in the cups.

"It's great and it's the worst thing imaginable," I answer honestly.

"Why?"

I drop the bra and matching underwear in my shopping basket, then move on to the black pieces. "It's great because I make crazy money only working one night a week, and it's the worst thing imaginable because I've had to do things I wish I didn't just to make tips."

"Have you ever had to have sex?"

I scoff and look over at her as she holds a purple bra against her chest. "No, that's called prostitution and it's typically frowned upon in most establishments."

"So..."

"Oh my God," I mutter and snatch the bra she's looking at to find the size that would actually fit her. "No, I've never had sex in the club except for with Harry."

She gasps. "You did?"

I laugh at her genuine shock. "Well, he's my boyfriend. It's not that insane, is it?"

"I mean," she chuckles in exasperation. "I just don't understand how your life is even what it is. I never thought I'd know anyone who works in a strip club, let alone for that person to be my sister."

"You're just lucky, I guess," I wink at her and head over to pay at the register.

"Do you think you're going to work at the strip club forever? Like, when you're old and your boobs are saggy?"

"Ew," I grimace at the image. "I'm gonna work there until I don't feel like it anymore, and I'm assuming that'll happen before I'm old with saggy boobs."

"What will you do when you stop working then?"

I take my credit card back and accept the heavy shopping bag from the cashier. "Why so many questions about my occupation?"

She follows me out of the store and into the cold. "Well, I'm just trying to figure out what I wanna do for a living, but I have no idea. I think I just wanna be a stay-at-home mom like Mom is."

At that, I have to resist the urge to laugh right in her face. "You don't have any passions or anything?"

"Um..." She makes clicking sounds with her tongue until she thinks of something. "I like shopping. Does that count?"

I press my lips together, nodding knowingly as I light myself a cigarette on our way to my car. "Sounds like you're gonna have to marry rich and hope for the best."

"Okay–hey, I forgot to ask you," she waits until we're both sitting in the front seats, chattering her teeth as I start the engine. "Will you come to my birthday party on Friday?"

"Can't," I answer without giving it a second thought, though I suppose I feel slightly guilty in the brief silence that follows.

"Why not?"

Despite the cold, I roll down the window to keep her from breathing in too much secondhand smoke. "Is it happening at your house?"

"Yeah, but Mom and my dad won't be there," she assures me. "They're going to stay in a hotel in the city all night so that I'll have the house to myself."

Once again, Frank and Amber never would have offered that deal to Seth and me even if they were held at gunpoint, but I guess if they won't be there...that changes things.

"I thought you didn't have any friends?"

"I invited everyone except for those girls and my ex," she clarifies, which I think is sort of hilarious. "The whole school is pretty much coming, but I really want you and Harry to be there."