"Sophie, come on!" Rosie groaned, grabbing her sister's hand and pulling her towards the strip club.
"Rosie, why do I have to do this?" she asked for the hundredth time, digging the soles of her feet into the gritty parking lot, grinding her teeth in frustration. "I don't get why this is such a big deal!"
"Because you're a lesbian, and there has to be some sort of, like, lesbian ritual of going to a strip club, isn't there?"
Sophie found herself blushing, and hid her face behind a curtain of her hair, putting one hand out to swat at Rosie's still clasped fingers around her wrist. "Yeah but not with your straight sister! That's just weird!"
"But I've always wanted to do this!"
Her foot suddenly gave way, and she tumbled forward right into Rosie's waiting arms. Grinning, her older sister helped her up, and all but pushed her towards the doorway.
"It'll be fun, Sophie! I promise!"
Scoffing, the younger brunette looked up at the sign atop the door. Circle of Lust, said the glowing green neon sign, with a large stiletto silhouette right next to it, the heel ending in a trident. She tried to remember where she'd seen a similar design before, but was pushed inside by her sister, who was waving their IDs at the bouncer.
Sophie's eighteenth birthday had been just the week before, and her sister had risen to the opportunity, cancelled all their plans, and picked a day when they would go to the strip club together. After sulking about it for a day, Sophie finally found the courage to turn to her and say 'You are going to pay for this'.
Rosie had simply said, "Oh please! You're eighteen, a lesbian, and you still haven't had a girlfriend! Seriously, Soph, this is going to do you a huge favour!"
Now they were sitting at the bar, and Sophie had a drink in her hand. Rosie was twirling the little umbrella on hers around with her pinky finger, staring around at the people in the bar, and Sophie was hanging her head, trying very hard not to look.
"Oh, come on, Sophie! Have some fun!" Rosie chided her, clapping her on the back lightly. "Look around, enjoy yourself! Just don't touch…"
Sophie lifted her head to say something, probably some snide remark, but as soon as her eyes left the drink before her to look at her sister, all words left her mouth. Her eyes never landed on her sister, instead they found something else.
Sitting a way behind Rosie, on her own with her own drink, was a very beautiful blonde. She was sadly looking around, the lights near her on the stage flashing across her face and lighting it up in a way that flattered her, especially her eyes. The hand clasped around her drink was fingering with the beer label, tearing off small pieces and discarding them onto the table, going back for more each time.
"Sophie?"
She barely heard her sister over her concentration and the beating of the bass drum on the club's PA. She was too focused on the blonde, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from her.
Rosie raised an eyebrow and looked behind her, following her sister's gaze and spotting the blonde easily. She turned back around, a sly grin lighting her features, a lazy wink flitting over her face. "She's well pretty, Sophie! Go talk to her!"
"I can't! What if she's straight?" Sophie countered, turning her eyes back to Rosie and resting her chin on her hand, pouting slightly.
"Sophie, she's gay. I mean, you can see it from a mile away!" Rosie countered back, sipping at her drink. "I mean, she might as well have rainbow hair!"
"But how can you tell?"
"I have a gaydar, you know! I've known you were gay for ages before you came out, Sophie! Besides, just…look at her!"
Sophie turned her eyes back to the blonde and narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"Well, watch what happens when that stripper walks by…now!"
A very scantily clad woman passed by, and the mysterious blonde swiveled around in her seat, turning her eyes to stare after the girl as she walked by, her eyes clearly roaming up and down her body. She gave a small grin, her teeth biting at her bottom lip, her eyebrows rising and falling too quickly unless you were paying attention.
"She's gay."
"I dunno, Rosie."
"Do you need another drink to make you feel better?"
"Rosie!"
Nevertheless, she found herself downing another Vodka Coke, courtesy of Rosie, and still staring at the girl a way off. Rosie was chatting up to the bar tender, a handsome young man that Sophie didn't really want to pay attention to, much preferred giving her attention to the girl who she was still too shy to approach.
"Right, I'm going out for some air and a smoke, and when I get back you had better be chatting her up!" Rosie announced to her, kissing her lightly on the forehead before exiting the club, and Sophie gave a sigh, looking up at the bartender.
"Should I do it?" she asked him as he polished a glass. He shrugged.
"Why not? Nothing to lose, mate!" He handed her another drink, winking.
"For luck."
She downed the drink, smiled at him, and got off the stool.
Her girlfriend had just broken up with her, she was probably failing her classes, and here she was, eighteen and single in a strip club, alone. She looked down at the drink she had been holding, now warm after so many minutes, and the pieces of paper surrounding it. They said that ripping the label off a bottle was a sign of sexual frustration. She had no doubt that this was the case with her.
"Hey." The hot whisper behind her ear, breathing on her neck, startled her, and she jumped up slightly. She didn't turn though, simply froze in her seat and shuddered slightly as the stranger's breath collided with her neck once more, warm on her skin, and a lone finger touched her skin, running down the slope of her neck down to her shoulder, stopping near her collar bone. "Wanna dance?"
She turned around on the seat, staring up at the brunette, and smiled at her.
"And who might you be?" she joked, running her eyes slowly up and down the girl's figure.
"We'll find that out later, yeah? So, you wanna dance?"
"There's nowhere to dance, just talk."
The brunette gave a small laugh and leaned forward, giving Sian a fly grin, and winked. "Well then, we can talk if you like…"
She realized how close she was to her, how very close their body heats were, how she could easily have reached out with her hand and brushed any part of the other girl's body with it.
She didn't push her away.
When Rosie came back into the club, she was surprised to find her little sister speaking to the elusive blonde, her hand running up and down the other girl's arm expertly, almost dance-like as her fingers flitted over the light skin. The other girl was smiling back at her, flirting back, nonetheless, and obviously very into the conversation, as much as Sophie was. Rosie looked around, and smiled. Had they been in a regular club, they would probably be dancing together by now, their bodies mingling together in a way only people dancing together for the first time could manage. But this atmosphere would have to do…
She watched as the blonde said something that seemed to upset Sophie, and then raised an eyebrow as she handed her a small piece of paper, giving her a wink as she got off her stool. Sophie hastily rose too, almost crashing the stool backwards, her right hand clutching the paper tightly. The two stared at each other for what seemed like forever before, finally, Sophie leaned forward, brushing her lips tentatively against the other girl's. For what felt like forever, nothing happened, and then the blonde reacted, reaching her hand out to cup the back of Sophie's neck, pulling her into a deeper kiss.
For a few minutes, it was just them, connected. Rosie tried to look away, but she was shocked at seeing her little sister, her meek little sister, turn into such a sly, flirty vixen that made the first move. She watched them pull apart, their eyes shining and their cheeks slightly red under the blue lights, and then the blonde walk away with a large grin.
Sophie soon returned to her sister, the shine still evident in her eyes. Rosie nudged her head in the direction of the door. "That went well?"
"Yeah."
"So, that her number."
"Sian."
"Bless you," Rosie joked.
Sophie snapped out of her reverie and looked at her sister, smiling slightly. "No, that's her name. Sian."