"Don't break a hip, old man," I laugh as I jog after Ohm.
Like every day, he and I are out for our morning jog, and we're having a little race. Last one to the cafe has to pay for our breakfast.
"I don't see how you can talk so much shit from back there," Ohm laughs back.
Shaking my head, I start to speed up a little, excepting Ohm to do the same, however, I quickly pass him. Once I do, I slow down to a jog and wait a couple seconds. He doesn't catch up.
Frowning, I slow to a walk and look behind me, "You know I don't like it when you let me win, so don't even try it."
He finally catches up to me and slows down to a walk. "I was just storing up my energy to beat you at the end."
"When we're less than a block from the cafe? No, you wanted to let me win."
He sighs, "Okay, yeah. But you can't blame me for wanting to let you win. I mean, your hip is still red from last night. It's obvious it's going to turn into a bruises, and once it starts to turn purple, you're sitting on the sidelines."
"That doesn't mean you have to let me win."
"I know, but still, I don't want you to pay for us again. You know I always win."
"You don't always win," I say as I roll my eyes.
"Yeah, you only win when I trip in the last block or when I'm so focus on you that I run into a trash can."
"Those still count."
"Either way, I'm not letting you pay. Even if Lui has offered to split his tips with you until you come back, I'm going to worry about you. You still have to pay off your car and buy food. Don't think I didn't notice how little you have in your fridge."
"You couldn't just watch TV until I got dressed," I ask in a annoyed tone.
"Not when you have a bruise forming."
I sigh and shake my head. "Fine. You can pay for the sandwiches until I get back to work. However, I want something in return."
"I'm paying for your food and I have to do something for you letting me do it?"
"Yes, because I didn't want you to do it in the first place. Now, after we get home from the run, I want you to teach me how to give a lap dance."
"What?"
"I've been doing really well on the pole, but we haven't even touched lap dancing. Come on; I want to learn."
He shakes his head and rolls it back, rubbing his eyes. "Fine; we'll practice when after we eat our sandwiches and shower."
"Alright," I yell out, jumping like a little kid. When I stop, I smirk and quickly say, "By the way, watch out for the trash can."
"Wha-" is all he has time to say as he trips over a trash can that was just put out when he rolled his head back. He yells out as he falls into the bike lane, boxes falling on top of him as the trash begins to fall on him.
Laughing, I pick up the can and start putting some of the boxes back in, but just as Ohm starts to pick himself up, I smile. "Last one to the cafe pays," I yell out before I take off for the cafe, which is around this upcoming corner and a few stores down. Ohm yells after me, calling me a cheater, but I keep running until I'm in front of the cafe.
Seconds later, Ohm runs up next to me and he gives me a playful push. "Fuck you, Evan. That was cheap."
"What can I say; I wanted the win. Now, I'll have my usual," I tell him in a cocky tone.
"Yeah, yeah," is all he says before he walks into the cafe.
Smiling, I walk over to one of the tables in front of the cafe and take a seat, pulling out my phone and sending Panda a quick text. After the party, we were just told to go home for the night, so I never really told him about what happened. I'm not sure if Marcel or David told him either, but I know that he has to know about it.
So, I text him, saying, "Hey, I'm not sure if you were filled in on what happened at the party last night, but there is something that I need to talk to you about when I come into work."
After I send the text, I put my phone down and let out a sigh. After all this time, I've never had to leave work for more than a day at most. Now, however, I'm not going to have a choice. I can't hide this from Panda, and he's made it clear that we can't even cover up any bruises with makeup.
After about a minute, my phone rings, and I pick it up and read the text Panda replied with. "I understand that someone tried to make you dance on them. I was afraid that might have happened. Are you okay?"
"Yes sir; but that isn't what I needed to talk to you about. Well, fully." I send that text and take a deep breath before I write out the next part and send it shortly after. "When the customer grabbed me, sir, he left what might be turning into a bruise on my hip."
"Come to my office as soon as you come in today."
Sighing again, I text back, "Yes sir," and put my phone on the table before I start rubbing my forehead in frustration.
I put my hands down and grab my phone before I look into the cafe to see where Ohm is in line. From what I can see, he's only half way through the line. Turning back, I pull out my headphones from my pocket and plug it into my phone. I'm about to open my music library, when I get a weird feeling. It's a feeling I know far too well. The feeling of someone's eyes on me.
Pulling my phone back down, I slowly start to scan the area around me, but I don't see anyone. Then, a thought comes to my head. There are two places I haven't really looked. Inside the cafe, and behind me.
Turning my head to the right, I look into the cafe again and really focus on scanning the place. No one seems to be looking at me from in there. Which only leaves one place, which I didn't want to check, because if I was wrong, it only makes me look paranoid.
I start to turn my body to the side so I can look behind me, but jump when I feel someone tap on my shoulder. Heart pounding in my chest, I look over my shoulder and feel the air get ripped out of my chest. I wasn't expecting to see anyone from the party.
"Did I scare you," Jonathan laughs as he starts to walk in front of me. "I thought I saw you; I just couldn't tell from across the street."
"What are you doing here," I ask, shocked to see him.
"After we got kicked out of the club, we went to a hotel a couple blocks from here. Do you mind if I sit," he asks, grabbing the chair across from me and pulling it out a little.
"Uh, sure," I say, not sure what to do.
He pulls it out more and takes a seat, leaning towards me with a smirk on his face. "A couple of my friends took off after we left the club to pick up so more drinks while myself and a couple others went to the hotel. We ended up locking the guy that grabbed you in the bathroom for the night as well."
I chuckle a bit, but a couple questions come to my mind. "How did you guys lock him in there? Don't you lock the bathroom from the inside?"
"We pushed a chair in front of the door."
"Don't most bathroom doors open inwards?"
"Yeah. And that was one of them. He was so fucked up, he kept pushing the door open."
I start laughing at this point, shaking my head to try to keep the image from forming, otherwise I'm going to be laughing at nothing for fifteen minutes.
His blue eyes soften a bit before he says, "I'm sorry he did that to you. Even if we were at a club, no one should be grabbed or forced against anyone."
"It's fine. I'm fine, no one got hurt, and you guys aren't in trouble. By the way, thank you, for making him let me go."
"I wouldn't want anyone to hurt someone like you, so don't thank me. I would do it again in a heart beat."
My cheeks heat up and I look away from him, counting in my head before I take a deep breath and look back. "Nice one. That's a line I've never heard before."
He chuckles, "Oh I'm sure someone that looks as good as you has heard it all before."
"Multiple times," I say, flashing him a smile.
"I bet I can make you blush again."
I roll my eyes and look back to him, a confident smile on my face. "Alright. Try it."
He leans closer to me and asks, "Do you want to go out sometime?"
My eye widen and my face heats up again. Out of everything I've heard, someone asking me out hasn't been the something I've heard all that much.
"No," I quickly say, pulling myself away from him.
"Why not," he asks, pulling back as well. "I know where you work, I know what you do, and I don't care."
"It's not that," I say, looking away.
"Then what is it?"
The fact that I'm underage is a big reason, I think to myself. Tyler told me multiple times that none of his friends knew my age, and I know Panda would want it to stay that way. No one needs to know my real age.
"It's against the rules at my club. Employees aren't allowed to date the customers."
"I've been there one time, I highly doubt that counts as me being a customer. Besides, if I were to go back, it would only be for you."
"And that's even more of a reason why I shouldn't go on a date with you. I give you a reason to want to go back to the club."
The expression on his face quickly shows how unamused he is due to my answers, and he shakes his head. "Look, if I were to go there, it would be to try to talk to you. I wouldn't drink, or pay any of the other guys. Pretty sure Tyler would ban me from the damn place after the first damn day. So, I'll ask again now that you know that I'm not going to be a customer. Will you go out with me?"
I look to the side and bite my lip. I would love to, but I'm only seventeen. It would technically be illegal for us to be together.
"Why would you want to go out with me? Aside from where I work and what I do, you don't even know me. Hell, you don't even know my name."
"That's why I want to go out with you. So I could get to learn more about you. Besides, I really want to know what your real name is. Even after getting Tyler fucked up, he wouldn't tell me a damn thing about you. He passed out before he even told me your name."
I laugh, "That sounds about right."
"Come on, Vanoss. Throw me a damn bone. Tell me your name and go on a date with me."
"That's more than a bone," I laugh.
I'm about to tease him with the idea of giving him my name, but I get interrupted by Ohm walking out of the cafe and saying out loud, "Alright Evan; I got our food, let's go."
My eyes widen and I watch as Jon's unamused expression breaks and he starts to smirk. At this point, Ohm seemed to have noticed that I wasn't alone like normal, so he starts yelling out, "Evan? Oh, you mother fucking son of a bitch! You better not have left me again!"
"Save it," Jon says, his eyes now on Ohm. "I recognize you from the club. You're the guy that kept dancing on Luke. The guy with the beard, or the birthday bitch, whichever you want to call him."
I look over my shoulder and see Ohm looking at us with a awkward smile. "Oh yeah? Uh, well, it was nice seeing you again. Tell Luke I said hi. Sorry Vanoss," he then quickly says as he start backing away from us.
"Ohm, I swear to god," I growl at him. Once I do, he turns away and runs around the corner, our food in his hands.
"So, your name is Evan," Jon says. I turn around and see that his eyes are trained on me, and he has a more confident smile on. "Come on Evan, we won't be breaking any rules by going out. I just want to get to know you a little more."
As he talks, he slides one of his hands closer to my hand, which is on the table, and he gently caresses is with two of his fingers. I look down and watch his hand and it gently runs along the side of my hand and up my arm, only to go back down and run on the my hand again. Then, I look away, sadly.
I want to say yes. He seems like a really nice guy, and he's been nothing but sweet to me. A bit pushy, but still sweet even then. However, Tyler told me that all of his friends were around his age, and he's only twenty. That means this guy is more than likely twenty or twenty-one. If we were to date, it would still be illegal. Or at least, it would be illegal for us to do anything that I'm sure he would want to do.
However, "You're not going to stop asking until I say yes, aren't you," I ask, looking back up to him. Still smiling at me, he shakes his head somewhat slowly, keeping his eyes locked on me as if he thinks I'll disappear if he looks away. Sighing, I close my eyes and really think about what I'm about to do. There are so many things that can go wrong, but the knot in my stomach is begging me to just say it already.
Opening my eyes, I give him a soft smile and say, "Alright; why not?"
His smile instantly grows bigger than before and I can see the excitement grow in his eyes. However, he tries to keep his cool and says, "Alright, great. Uh, why don't you give me your number so I can text you later?"
I then watch as he quickly pulls out his phone, locks it, and hands it to me after opening a new contact slot for me. After I type in my name and number, I save the information and give him back his phone. "Alright," I then say as I stand up, pulling my hand away from his. "I better go catch up with my friend. Text me or call me tomorrow, and I'll let you know when I'm free."
He nods and says, "Got it. I'll call you later."
After that, I walk over to the corner and look over, seeing Ohm leaning against it. He looks away from me and bites his lip. "Sorry about that man. I didn't know he was there."
"Of all the times you could have called me Vanoss, you choice that second to call me by my name."
"I know! I'm sorry!" Shaking my head, he and I start walking back down the street. "So, what happened?"
Before I can say anything, my phone starts to go off. When I pull it out of my pocket, I see an unknown number. Confused, I answer it. "Hello?"
"Alright, just wanted to make sure you didn't give me a fake number."
I stop and blink, before I take a couple steps back and poke my head around the corner. There I see Jon, leaning against the chair I was sitting at with his phone to his ear.
Shaking my head, I laugh and say, "Idiot," before I hang up on him.
He put his phone in his pocket before he turns his body towards the door and yells out, "I'll call you tomorrow," and walks into the cafe.
I turn back to Ohm and see that he's now smirking at me. "What?"
"I haven't see you with a smile that big since you got the job at the club."
"Shut up," I then say before I start walking again.
He keeps up with me, and when I look, his smirk is now gone. "Does he know how old you are?"
"I don't think so. He barely learned my name now."
"Evan, he's in college. He could get in a lot of trouble."
"I know, but he just wasn't taking no for an answer."
"He would have if you told him you can't even stay out past ten at night by yourself."
"Shut up!"
He starts laughing before he starts jogging ahead of me. "Come on; I want to eat before we start learning the art of L.Ds."
"Art of L.Ds? Just because you try to make it sound fancy, doesn't make teaching me how to dance on people's laps any better."
We then start laughing as we both pick up in speed and start racing back to the apartments. It's not even noon, and I can already tell today is going to be a long day.