Page 53 of Thirst

My legs can't take me to him fast enough. I weave through the crowd, ignoring men’s stares until I reach Amari seated with his back against the bar wearing a long-sleeved black top and a thick gold chain. I can see a gold watch shimmering on his wrist to go with ruby-red earrings and his matching nose ring, and when he sees me coming, he flashes a smile that floors me. He's wearing a gold grill over his teeth, decorated with intricate geometric lines. I've never been one to trip about anyone wearing a grill, but I've seen a few that really looked incredible. What comes to mind first is when I saw Michael B. Jordan rocking one for a Sinners promo that sent the internet into a frenzy. I'm not saying Amari is Michael B. Jordan, but that grill looks incredible on him. I want to be reserved when I approach him, but my smile is involuntary.

“Hey,” he says first. I see the woman next to him staring hard, but he ignores her. Still, his eyes are only on me.

“Hi,” I reply, trying not to blush and thankful that my skin doesn't show it if I do. “You look … good.”

He smirks in a way that lets me know he's fully aware of how he looks. “Thank you. So do you. Burgundy and white is a beautiful combination on you. I love your hair, too. Well, I love everything about you, but you know that, don't you?”

I pinch my lips together and nod. “Mmm-hmm. Umm, so are we going to a booth?”

Amari shakes his head. “Not tonight. I just wanted to come see you because Shawn told me you were upset about this morning. I'm sorry I had to leave. Work called. I knew you’d be working and wouldn't have your phone, so I wanted to come see you and say sorry in person. I also wanted to let you know that I had a magnificent time last night. It was unreal, and spending the night with you made me the happiest I've been in a long time.”

“Wow,” I reply with raised brows. “That’s really sweet of you to say. I appreciated that very much. I had a great time, too, but something tells me you already knew that.”

He smirks devilishly. “I did. But now I wanna know when I get to have you all to myself again. I think you might’ve made me an addict.”

“Oh yeah?” I say, smiling way too hard “Of me or my bl—,” I stop myself as I look at the girl next to us, watching like a nosy bitch. I even see Von and Shay standing at the corner of the bar together, both of them eyeing us and leaning forward like they're trying to hear our conversation. I have to be careful with what I say, because I don't need these people all in my business.

Instead of saying what I wanted to, I clear my throat and change the subject to something more public-friendly. “So, you're sure you don't want a dance?”

“Nah, I think I just wanna watch you tonight.”

“Watch me?”

“Yeah. I wanna see you in action, and maybe you can watch me watching you.” Amari gives me a look, and I get it immediately. Instead of focusing on my customer, he wants me to focus on him. That's … interesting, to say the least, but since I have no choice but to dance for other people, I can get with it.

“Aaliyah,” a familiar voice suddenly says from behind me. I whirl around, and sure enough, there's Von. “Here you go again. Y’all gotta either get in a booth, or break this up. I just had somebody come over and ask for you, but he wasn't sure when you'd be finished talkin,’ which is crazy.”

I glance at Amari, who stares at Von like he's ready to hurt him just for interrupting, then I turn around to look at the booths.

“We’re not going to a booth tonight,” I say. “So, which one are you talking about?”

Von sighs. “All this time talkin’ but you're not goin’ to a booth? Wastin’ time and money. The customer is in booth three. Hurry up, man, because I'm gettin’ real tired of tellin’ you to get back to work.”

I roll my eyes. “Alright, Von,” I say before turning to Amari. “Gotta go.”

“All good,” Amari says, smiling and putting that grill on display. I smile in response to how good he looks, and Von stares at us with loathing in his eyes until I walk away.

Booth three is actually close to the bar, so I’ll be able to see Amari easily from here, which makes me feel secure as I walk over. But when I enter the booth, my good feeling vanishes. The customer is one of the assholes from the group who was cheering on the kid who smacked my ass. He's dressed nearly identical to the last guy, except he has on a red hat with white letters, and a smug smile to go with it.

“Hey darlin’,” he says in an accent that clearly isn't from Philly.

“You're with the last guy,” I say. “Are we gonna have to throw you out, too?”

He raises his hands as if showing he's unarmed. “No, no. I don't want any trouble. My friend Chad got a little carried away. I'm much more civilized. Plus, we saw how upset you were and I wouldn't wanna do that to you again. Not when you look so pretty in that burgundy outfit with those white flowers. I just want a regular dance. No problems at all. Wouldn't wanna see you so bothered twice in one night.”

“Hmm,” I scoff, just as a new song starts. I hate it, but I'm on the clock now, so I bite my tongue and start moving to the music.

I start with shaking my ass in front of him, and I'm glad when I feel him slip money into my panties the way he’s supposed to. As the song plays on, I spin around and straddle him, and he puts even more money into the strap of my bra. I start to grind on him, knowing the song is coming to an end, but I look up and see Amari staring directly at me. He doesn't look pissed or anything. In fact, he looks amused and maybe even a little proud. We lock eyes as I keep dancing, grinding on this customer who hasn't said a word since I started—thank goodness. Then the music begins to fade out and the dance is over. I exhale a sigh of relief, but just as I'm starting to climb off him, I feel the unmistakable sting of my ass being smacked hard. I jolt up from the pain and look down to find the customer smiling from ear to ear.

“Sorry,” he says. “I just couldn't help myself.”

His friends all burst into raucous laughter as the pain sends tears to my eyes and rage to my heart. The customer laughs along with his friends, even standing up and bowing like he just gave the performance of a lifetime for his little friends. Heat rises through my abdomen and ignites a fire that spews from my mouth.

“You asshole!” I blare “You stupid sonofabitch! Fuck you! Fuck every single one of you!”

“Shut up,” the little prick says. “Go cry in the back again, whore.”

“Fuck you!” I scream again, even as everyone turns to look at us. My anger takes over and I forget the world as the guy tries to leave the booth like nothing happened. I know I shouldn't do it, but when he's next to me, I slap him. I hit him just as hard as he smacked my ass, knocking him back.