“I would, but they’re not my size.” He grins. “Besides, I’m not a stripper in training.”
“For your information, pole isn’t just for exotic dancers. It’s a sport and you have to be strong as hell to do it.”
“Coach would kick your ass if he knew you did that shit.” Reid frowns. “Hell, I would have kicked your ass if I’d known about it. It was risky as hell.”
No kidding. I don’t mention just how close I came to injury.
All’s well that ends well.
“I know. That’s why I quit.”
“Okay, but why did you sign up in the first place?”
“It was the only way I could convince Piper to date me.”
“For real?” Reid holds out his fist and I bump it. “Mad respect, brother.”
“It was actually kind of fun when I wasn’t falling on my face.”
“Come on,” Coop says, nudging my shoulder. “You can’t say shit like that and not show us something. Give us one move and I swear I’ll never bring it up again.”
He’s full of crap and we both know it.
I’m never going to hear the end of it, but whatever. I’m not ashamed of the lengths I went to in order to score a date with Piper.
“Fine.” I toss the shorts in my bag. “You want to see some moves? Give me some music.”
Coop pulls out his phone and while he brings up an app, I walk to the center of the locker room where there’s space to move.
A few heads turn my way, but I ignore them.
“Okay!” Coop howls. “Here we go.”
The opening notes ofPonyfill the locker room.
“Really, asshole?”
“What?” He shrugs. “It was good enough for Magic Mike.”
I give him the finger and drop into a sitting position with my legs stretched in front of me. I wiggle them mermaid style and as Ginuwine croons about looking for a partner, I transition into a knee spin, which is hell on the carpeted floor. When I lose my momentum, I roll onto my back, fanning my legs the way Mai taught me. My movements aren’t nearly as fluid as hers, and there’s a real possibility I’m going to split my pants, but I give it my all.
Anything worth doing is worth doing right.
That’s what my grandfather always said.
The old man would probably keel over if he could see me now.
So would Piper. She’s never going to believe I did this.
A loud cheer goes up from my boys and it occurs to me that one of these assholes is probably filming me, but I’m in it now, the music taking hold.
I pop my hips and thrust into the air, earning a round of applause before I roll onto my knees and arch my back into a bridge.
The music dies and I climb to my feet, amid hoots and hollers from the entire team.
“Our boy has skills!” Coop shouts. “Did you see that shit?”
To me he says, “It really would’ve been better with the shorts, though.”
