Life changed. No, life had begun for me when I met Mallory…On my twenty-second birthday Aidan dragged me along to this strip club. He'd purposely avoided giving me a card and a gift. All throughout the day I'd thought he was cheap but he put two hundred and fifty dollars in my left hand when we got to the bar. It wasn't money for drinks but to pay some hooker. I was about to give it to some short blonde haired girl named Ally but then I saw her, Mallory.

Mallory had brown long hair that flowed down her back, and sparkling green eyes. She wore tights that barely reached her knees and a plaid skirt that didn't cover her ass. One of her legs was hitched up, the other laying down trapping some old man who must have forgot where he was. He hadn't recognised the difference between a strip club and just a bar on its own. She shook her head and took a drag from a cigarette as the man had headed for the exit. She'd slowly slid off the bar pulling her skirt up as she did, exposing the thong she had had on. That's when she noticed me. The slightest hint of rejection she may have felt was replaced with a smirk on her face. A smirk that reflected my own.

That first time in the private room I'd only been focused on her. Too focused to not notice until the second night I'd met her there, the red painted brick walls, the red fairy lights, and the red scented candles which were by the red quilt and pillow covers thrown over the bed we'd been in too many times to count. Just one hour with her could have fucked up my birthday entirely.
"I need more money." I pursed my lips as he started shaking his head. I don't know which one of us was more crazy. Him shaking his head frantically answering no plus fully incapable of holding his liquor. Or maybe I was the crazy one for needing more money for another hour with Mallory.
"No man. Are you crazy?" He blinked and took a large gulp of whiskey, slurring his speech and spilling contents on the table as some female straddled him.
"Dude, you had an hour. It's my turn…Where the fuck is your shirt? Didn't you have a shirt on before?" He squeezed his eyes trying to make out if his eyes were deceiving him.
"Who's Birthday is it," I said. I raked my hands through my hair looking back towards the back of the club where Mallory stood. Then I went through my wallet finding at least one hundred and twenty five dollars of money that had come from two relations earlier that day. "I just need half of what you gave before." His hands went to his face rubbing at them shoving the female off his lap. She scowled and cursed him, tripping up as she headed over to some other guy that could pay to take her to a private room.
"Seriously dude, that girl you got back there better be worth it. Seriously dude. Seriously dude, you owe me."

After two hours were over we still clung to each other. She was wrapped around me. She sniggered after a bouncer barged in who had been knocking constantly before. I could tell until that night that she'd never broken the rules, toyed with bouncers or her boss, by keeping a client in for over the arranged time slot. I stole one last kiss from her, hurriedly dressing before I was thrown out stark naked. I'd called her sweetheart too. She'd smirked.

Every other day after then I spent on the most mundane experiences in life. Every morning I dropped Caroline, my sister, off at school. She'd linger on the steps forcing me to promise to hanging out with her later, which was something I couldn't keep. I'd pretend to pay attention in college lectures. I'd pretend in caring about studies. Then at night it was instinct to return to Mallory. I was infatuated. And she always said I was her favourite client.

Every other part of my life stayed the same. But with Mallory nothing stayed the same. We either had an hour in a private room, or two hours depending on how far my college fund would stretch to. Sometimes I blackmailed my dad into paying me to baby sit Caroline when I played the dutiful brother. As much as it hurt her to figure out I was like everyone else in the family - a disappointment - only looking after her for money; I gained Mallory through it all. I stumbled in some nights drunk and watched her dance, touching herself. She'd lead me into a private room even when I had nothing to give. But a lot of the hours we spent together I didn't need to pay.

Once we fucked on a cop car whilst doughnuts in the diner near by were being dunked into coffee. We almost met a slap on the wrist and a night behind bars before we had the sense to make a run for it.

Somehow we found ourselves in my mother's house. It felt odd. Not because I'd introduced my mother to my stripper girlfriend, but odd in that we were roped into babysitting. However impossible it seemed, Mallory and my sister bonded over art. As we left Caroline to draw in the living room, I lead Mallory up to Caroline's childhood bedroom. More art to muse over, plus a soft single bed where soft teddies surrounded us both. She sat with her back to me, admiring one of the most adorable teddies my sister had ever been given. She seemed so young, vibrant, and beautiful that she drove me insane. At first I thought she could be innocent until she swore so loudly, in my little sister's room no less, as I slammed into her.
"Tyler," she moaned as I pounded into her. "I never had any teddies…"
"I'll buy you one." I grunted. I pulled her to me when she reached for the iron bars.

Today for the first time I woke up to her sprawled across my chest. Last night was the first time I'd been a proper gentleman and invited her back here. I squatted her ass and she looked at me sheepishly.
"You can have the spare key since you're sold on the place."