A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been awhile, I've been in new york for the holidays! So MERRY CHRISTMAS and happy holidays to those who don't celebrate it! :) I'm pretty proud of this one shot, so I hope y'all enjoy. I promise I have a good chapter of Crazy Stupid Love coming up. Thank you for your patience!
Summary: Maya didn't know Lucas was back in town. They had a history, so why would he tell her? But neither Maya nor Riley knew that his job was something as crazy as it is. Rated M for smutty references and some making out, still no actual sex tho lol ;)
"I don't know why he wouldn't have told at least you that he's back. I mean, you were his-"
"Girlfriend. Yeah, I'm aware, Riles." Maya chuckles as they walk along the sidewalk at ten o'clock at night. "Key word: were. In freshman year at JAHS. That was what, almost three years ago? If I were him, wouldn't tell me shit either." Maya sighs at the end of the sentence.
"But peaches! You're his Maya! He's your Lucas! You two loved each other!" Riley whines as they walk, a New York summer breeze hitting them pleasantly in the hot night. "But then he moved back to Austin. You were tragically torn apart, and now he's back, and he doesn't even call you? That's what I don't get."
"It's ancient history. I don't spite the cowboy, per-se, but we grew apart. He didn't tell me he was back for the same reason he didn't tell you." Maya sighs, looking toward a stopped taxi cab as they cross the street. "I don't matter to him anymore." Her tone saddens slightly, but she quickly ignores and pushes away the feeling.
"That's such a lie!" Riley groans, looking at Maya as they walk. "You know what he said when I spoke to him last?"
"And when did you speak to him last, exactly? Sophomore year?"
"Last week, actually." Riley chuckles, Maya opening her mouth to speak, but not finding any words. "My mom is still in touch with his mom, and she hinted to me a few times about him coming back.. I called him so I could know if it was just my mom being weird, but he said it was true. And you know what else he asked?"
Maya licks her lips quickly, crossing her arms and sighing. "What."
"He asked me how you were. Almost immediately, really. He sounded pretty nervous about seeing you." Riley chuckles, pushing back her brunette locks before they slide back down to just reach her shoulders.
"Oh." Maya quickly tucks a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, what did you say?"
"I said you were doing good with art club and stuff. I told him about Malachi, too." Riley raises her brows in one quick motion at the name of Maya's most recent ex-boyfriend. "He just said 'oh' like the moody butt he always has been, but there was something in his tone. It was like he was kind of disappointed. Maybe even jealous."
Maya swallows thickly, nervously massaging her hairline. "Oh, god.." she groans, before stopping her walking and turning towards Riley. "Why are we doing this? I can't see him.. I haven't seen him in years. What if he's even more super gorgeous now? What if he makes a move on me? What if I start to like him again? It would be disastrous. We'd go off to college, and I'd lose him again.."
Maya puts a hand over her own mouth as a grin spreads on Riley's face.
"You still like him." She grins in a sing-sing voice, crossing her arms languidly.
Maya scoffs and runs a hand through her hair; playing with her blonde waves always having been a nervous tick of hers.
"Do not."
"Sure you don't." Riley nods sarcastically.
"W-whatever. That's not the point." Maya stammers, pointing a finger at a still grinning Riley. "We can't just go to where he works. There's gotta be some reason why he's already been here for a month and hasn't reached out to us. Maybe he doesn't want to see us!"
Riley, being the nosy person she is (who is also slightly convinced she's the modern reincarnation of Nancy Drew), had googled Lucas's name the previous day to see if she could find any social media pages or anything. She found his name on a list of employees of a place called "Danny's", which they figured was a restaurant or a bar. So here Maya was, being dragged to Danny's by Riley.
"Oh, come on. He'll be so excited to see us!" Riley laughs, the two of them approaching the door of Danny's. Maya watches as a group of women in their twenties walk in, laughing as one of them stumbles in her impossibly high heels. "I don't know what kind of place this is, but it'll be okay.. It's probably just some kind of bar."
"Why would they let a high school kid work at a bar?" Maya furrows her brows as they walk up to the bouncer by the door.
"Well he is eighteen. It's not illegal." Riley shrugs, the large bouncer giving them a look as they approach.
"How old are you two?" The bouncer suddenly asks, crossing his arms.
"We're both seventeen." Riley says, her smile fading slightly. "Is that a problem?"
"Nah. As long as you don't take any drinks." The bouncer shrugs, stepping aside and letting them pass.
"Thanks." Riley grins, grabbing Maya's hand and leading her inside. She immediately hears the bump of music vibrating off the walls, muffled as they walk through a dimly lit hallway.
"Are you sure Lucas works here?" Maya says loudly over the music.
"Positive." Riley responds, her smile faded as she slows her pace down the hallway.
They soon approach a door, and Maya pushes it open with Riley now timidly standing behind her. The music is immediately audible, and Maya recognizes the song as Pony, having heard it in Magic Mike when she watched it with her mom a few months ago.
"Maya, what's going on?"
And then Maya realizes exactly what's going on.
The music, the women everywhere, the trays of shots being carried around by hunky waiters in very little clothing. This is a fucking male strip club.
But there's no way Lucas is a stripper. He couldn't be. He's a senior in high school, for fuck's sake. He's probably one of the waiters, or a busboy, or something that doesn't involve him taking his clothes off in front of older women.
Please god, don't let me have to tell my grandchildren that their grandfather used to strip for cash.
Wait. Grandfather? What the fuck, Maya?
Maya exhales deeply and shakes her head, grabbing a shot off of a random tray that passes her by and downing it without thinking.
"Maya!" Riley gasps indignantly. "Did you even hear what the bouncer said?"
"There's no way I'm doing this if I'm not at least a little buzzed." Maya shakes her head, walking closer to the stage as she feels the liquor burn in her throat.
"Alright, ladies!" A woman's voice booms over the speakers, the crowd of women erupting into cheers. "And gentlemen, because we don't judge y'all here at Danny's. Who's ready to see some fellas?"
"Maya?" Riley yells over the music and the wild cheering, a confused look still on her innocent face. "What is this place?"
Maya doesn't respond, watching the empty stage as she grabs another shot as it passes her by. She downs it and groans at the warm burn in her throat, putting the glass back on the tray.
"We like to start our act with one of our newest additions. He's the cutest thing you ladies will see all day, has muscles like a soldier. He's young, he's hot," the women cheer at this, "we like to call him the kid."
The women in the crowd go wild at this, those of them in the front waving handfuls of cash in the air. Maya watches as the curtains part, and she wishes she wasn't seeing who she was. Yet there he is, clear as day, and about five times hotter than he was the last time she saw him.
He's wearing a black sweatshirt with a white tank top and jogger pants. And he was cute, back when Maya was with him, but now? Holy fucking shit.
Maya's eyes widen as she takes him all in; his long lashed green eyes beneath his thick brows, his tousled dusty brown hair, the cute smirk that his face uses as a default. It all reminds her of the boy she knew, but he has a few upgraded parts to him. His jawline is sharper and more defined, his shoulders broader, his new size and build making him look like more of a man as opposed to the teen boy Maya remembers.
"L..Lucas?" Riley says breathily as she stares at him in shock, her brown eyes wide as saucers.
Maya turns back to the stage, her cheeks puffing out in an exasperated exhale.
Maya jumps slightly as the first beat of Pony hits again, Lucas stepping forwards slowly and running a hand through his hair. Women scream and wave money at him, eating up his tousled hair and cute smirk like they live off of it.
Maya watches him in slight awe, gasping slightly as the beat drops in the song. He slides to the edge of the stage on his knees, throwing off his sweatshirt and showing his muscular arms in the tank top. Women scream, someone tucking cash into the waistband of his pants. He gives the woman a quick wink that makes Maya's stomach tie in a knot.
He soon leans over onto his arms and does a single pushup, receiving more screams, before pushing up hard enough to stand up again. And as the beat to the chorus drops, he pulls his shirt over his head, revealing the chiseled panes of his perfect muscles. Maya rubs her thighs together briefly in a rush of arousal, Riley standing silently in shock beside her.
Lucas then falls forward onto the stage, catching himself in a half-push up before he leans on his forearms. He grinds his hips onto an imaginary girl below him in one fluid motion, women going nuts and showering him with cash as goosebumps erupt on Maya's skin.
Maya may think it's messed up that he's doing this as an eighteen year old, but she can't deny that he looks fucking delicious. His piercing green eyes, his perfect muscles, the tattoo on his bicep. He's basically perfect, and it almost distracts Maya from the fact that he's stooped to stripping in front of horny cougars (and as of today, one horny seventeen year-old, but we don't talk about that.)
He then stands again in a fluid motion, doing a subtle body roll and resting his hands in front of him. He slides them up his torso and up to his head, thrusting his hips once in time with the song. Money is thrown at him, which he picks up by falling back into his forearm-plank and grabbing the cash. He then rolls his hips three more times against the stage with the music, the song nearing its end as he gets up and sits at the edge of the stage, women screaming and tucking cash into his pants.
"Riley, give me a dollar." Maya says suddenly, the song coming to a close as Lucas sits at the edge of the stage, smiling at the crazed women.
"W...what?" Riley stutters, still processing what she just watched.
"A dollar, Riles. A dollar." Maya says flatly, turning to Riley.
"R-right." Riley pulls her wallet out of her purse. "Wait.. why?"
"Riley."
"Fine.." Riley sighs, taking a dollar out before Maya snatches it from her hand.
Maya turns and starts to push her way through the crowd, women scoffing at Maya as Riley apologizes for her. She gets to the front and sees Lucas as he stands up, running a hand through his hair and smiling at a woman who catcalls him.
Maya gets to the edge of the stage, and she shoves her dollar up in the air at him. He suddenly looks down at her and his eyes widen as he sees who she is.
"Maya?"
"Hey there, Lucas. Or should I call you the kid." Maya says with a mischievous grin. He looks down to her hand quickly and takes the dollar with an unamused look. "You should seriously consider changing your name to Huckleberry. Maybe do a number where the only thing covering your dick is a gun holster."
Lucas clenches his jaw, clearly not finding Maya's joke very funny. He looks away from her, sighing and running a hand through his hair.
"Can we go talk somewhere quieter?" He says, and Maya is taken aback by how his voice has matured. It's lower and rougher, his southern drawl a bit stronger since he's spent the past few years in Austin.
Maya just nods, Lucas hopping down from the stage, which gets a few cheers from the women. He suddenly places a hand on Maya's waist, leaning in to say something into her ear.
"Follow me." He says it quickly before he starts to walk, the skin on Maya's waist touched by his hand tingling in anticipation.
Maya follows him through the crowd, receiving smirks and scoffs from the girls around her. They all probably think they're going off to hook up or have a private lap dance. Maya frankly doesn't give two shits, following Lucas shamelessly.
"Uh.. Maya?" Maya can hear Riley say timidly from behind her. Maya stops walking and turns to Riley, whose eyes are wide as she nervously rubs her arm.
"What?" Maya asks with furrowed brows, not really aware if Lucas kept walking.
"I think I'm gonna leave."
"Wait, wha-"
"Maya, you and I both know this is way too much for me." Riley shrugs, starting to back away. "Tell Lucas I said hi."
Maya opens her mouth to protest, but she lets it go with a sigh. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye." Riley gives her a small smile, turning and walking towards the door.
"Maya? Why'd you stop?" Maya hears from behind her, turning and seeing Lucas approach. His shirt is still off for whatever reason, and it takes Maya everything not to stare.
"Riley just left."
"Riley was here?" Lucas sighs and rubs his jaw exasperatedly. "Well good. Perfect. Now I've corrupted fucking princess dancing sunshine."
Maya chuckles and pushes her blonde hair back, looking back up at Lucas to see him staring at her with an expressionless look, almost like he's hypnotized by the way her hair falls around her face.
"Are we going somewhere quiet, or what?" Maya says after the silence, and she's glad the club is too dark for him to see her blushing.
"R-right. Yeah." Lucas stammers, pushing a hand through his tousled hair. "C'mon."
He leads them through the last bit of people, Maya's eyes fixed on the muscles of his back and shoulders. She knows he's some sleazy stripper now, but she can't help but feel incredibly turned on by him. But to be fair, he's still fucking gorgeous, so you really can't blame her.
They break through the crowd and Lucas leads her into a hallway beside the main room of the club. The door shuts behind them and the music from the speakers is again muffled into a soft pounding of the bass against the walls.
He takes her to another doorway without saying a word, Maya following without question as he swings the door open. The dimly lit hallway is flooded with light, and they're exposed to a small dressing room filled with weird costumes and wardrobes. There are a few piles of cash on a dresser, and Maya watches as Lucas pulls a wad of dollar bills out of his waistband. She spots a few half-drank and empty beer bottles on a vanity, and she picks up one of the bottles, examining the label.
"So you're drinking now, too?" Maya asks, looking up at Lucas. He turns around to her languidly, sorting through the cash in his hands as his eyes refuse to meet hers.
"Don't act like you didn't just take any shots." Lucas' pale green eyes soon flicker up to meet hers, his head soon following. He works out a kink in his neck, his sharp jaw showing prominently and making Maya's stomach tie in a knot. "They carry them around on those trays like they're free candy. And well.. you're you."
Maya scoffs, putting a hand on her hip as Lucas pockets his cash. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Maya, you got drunk on wine coolers at Riley's New Years party with Billy Ross in your freshman year." Lucas says as he crosses his arms, Maya's favorite smirk of his playing on his lips. "It's supposed to mean that you're you."
Both of them laugh, Maya looking at her feet as she does so. Their laughter slows to a stop and she looks up at him, meeting his eyes with hers. He smiles at her softly, his face holding an endearing look that makes his whole badass-tattooed-stripper image fall away and reminds her of the dopey cowboy she remembers.
"What're you doing here, Lucas?" Maya says after a silence, her voice softer and filled with more concern. "You're a straight-A student. An amazing athlete. Why would you throw it all away?"
Lucas sighs, rubbing his jaw and walking up to the vanity that Maya is standing beside. He sits down in it's chair, pulling the wad of money out of his pocket.
"You know how much money I made just in that last number?" He puts down the cash on the table. "Fifty bucks. That's enough to pay for my little sister's new shoes for the next two years."
"But do you need that? Isn't your mom doing okay at her clinic?" Maya narrows her eyes, leaning on the vanity and looking down at Lucas. "I hardly think you need to be stripping."
"My mom got let go. She spent basically her last penny on moving back here, so I said I'd get a job." Lucas sighs, looking up at Maya. Her heart skips a beat like it does every time he looks at her, so she sighs and tucks her hair behind her ear.
"And your mom is just cool with the job you've gotten?" Maya chuckles, Lucas leaning forwards and running a hand through his hair. Maya suddenly becomes aware of how close they are, his head only inches from her abdomen. She leans back slightly to try and stop her heart from racing, but to no prevail.
"She thinks I work as a fry cook at the shake shack. I'm bribing one of the other cooks with cash to vouch for me." Lucas leans back in his chair, Maya's eyes helplessly drawn to the ridges of his abs as he puts them on display. "I did work there for a few weeks, but the paychecks weren't cutting it. So Billy introduced me to Danny one night, and the rest was history. She lets us keep what we earn, so that fifty bucks.." he pulls Maya's one dollar bill out of his pocket, "-fifty one bucks, are all mine."
"So your mom just thinks.." Maya puts a hand on her hip as she leans on the vanity with the other, her eyes narrowing as Lucas sits (sexy as all hell) in the chair beside her.
"..that I got a raise at shake shack. Like, a really good raise." Lucas says and Maya chuckles, Lucas sitting up in his chair again. "But she doesn't question much. As long as she's getting that much money from me, she doesn't have much to say."
"You still don't have to be doing this." Maya sighs, looking down at him sweetly. She still has feelings for him, she knows now for sure, and seeing him sacrifice this for his family breaks her heart. But she also knows that Lucas has always been one to sacrifice for his family, and when it comes to that, he won't budge.
"I know. And I won't be for much longer." Lucas shakes his head, scooting his chair in slightly, which just brings him closer to Maya. She wonders if that was his intention. "I'm gonna quit once school starts. My mom has some interviews at new clinics, and let's be real. I can't do this on school nights."
Maya feels a wave of relief. "Good." She gives him a small smile, him returning it with a warmth behind his seafoam gaze. "So you're gonna be back at John Adams?"
"Yup." Lucas nods.
"Cool." Maya says quietly, looking down and nervously picking her black nail polish as she can feel his eyes on her.
"Maya, can I ask you something?" Lucas asks suddenly, his eyes meeting hers as he turns towards her in his chair.
"Yeah." Maya says lightly, looking down at him as her heart pounds in her chest.
"So Riley told me about your boyfriend." He looks to the ground nervously, rubbing his hands together slowly. "How long did that last?"
"Around a year."
"Did you two ever.. You know.."
"Yeah. We did." Maya nods, rubbing her arm.
Her and Lucas had lost their virginities to each other in a moment of impulse and passion, when he was leaving for Texas the next day. It had been late August when it happened. Maya was fifteen, and he was a year older. It was amazing, and Maya remembers how he had made her feel like it was yesterday. She was a mess for the first few months of Sophomore year, since long distance relationships were too hard for either of them. So she wasn't with anyone else until Malachi, in the beginning of Junior year. She slept with him a few months after they got together, but he dumped her that June for a Sophomore Volleyball player named Hailey.
"Oh." Lucas nods after a silence, clearly attempting not to appear bothered.
"Did you date anyone back in Austin?" Maya asks, preparing herself for a list of girls who he slept with and dated, him looking as he does.
"No." Lucas replies, Maya surprised at his response. "I had a few flings over the years, after parties and stuff, but I never went.. All the way. With anyone."
Maya's eyes widen. "So let me get this straight.. You're a stripper, and you look.." Maya glances at his body and feels her cheeks redden. "..Like you do," Lucas blushes slightly at this, "But you haven't had sex since-"
"You." Lucas scratches the back of his neck. "You seem to have caught on."
Maya lets out a sigh. "Lucas.."
"I couldn't, Maya. I just couldn't." Lucas stands suddenly, his hand moving up and running through his hair as he paces away from her. "Every time I was with a different girl, I started picturing she was you. And then she'd say something, or do something different than you, and I wouldn't be able to go through with it. I just couldn't."
Maya says nothing, her mouth slightly agape as she searches for words that just don't come.
She knows she pictured Malachi as Lucas every time they were together. She just was never brave enough to admit it to herself.
"And now you're here again, and I.." He walks back up to her, his eyes running over her whole figure before meeting her eyes intensely. "You're even more beautiful than when I left. If that's possible.."
Maya sighs and looks back up at him in shock, her body on overdrive as it attempts to process the wave of emotions he just sent upon her.
"Lucas, this is just.."
"Too much. I know." Lucas sits back into the chair, resting his face in his hands for a moment before sighing and leaning back. He runs both hands through his hair sexily, Maya aching for him once again (as if it ever stopped).
Maya says nothing, stepping towards him and standing right in front of his chair. He looks up at her surprisedly, watching her with a darkened gaze as she steps forwards and sits on his lap.
His hands immediately find her waist, her heart pounding again at his touch. She stares into his clear seafoam eyes as they stare up at her, filled with wonder and longing, the years of separation from her flashing behind their green.
"Baby, this is.." Maya mutters, sliding her hands up so they're draped over his bare, muscular shoulders. "You are just enough."
Lucas smiles and pulls her forwards by her waist, connecting their lips in a fervent, deprived kiss. He lets out a low groan from deep in his throat, fully wrapping his arms around her waist as she kisses him back deeply and passionately. Her hands fall forwards to hold the sides of his neck, one hand sliding up as her thumb strokes his cheek. He tilts his head to deepen the kiss, tugging at the fabric of her tee with his fist. She backs away from his lips and allows him to pull her shirt over her head, leaving her in a white bralette.
He wastes no time in meeting her lips with his again, his hands sliding up and cupping her face this time. She wraps her arms around his neck, rolling her hips onto his crotch without thinking. They both break away from the kiss, their lips still grazing each other's as they both let out unsynchronized moans. Lucas hungrily wraps his arms around her waist again, forcing her hips to roll against him again as Maya moans. He places wet kisses on her neck, making her gasp sharply as he pulls her skin between her teeth. He quickly runs his tongue over her skin, soothing the bite.
Maya rolls her hips onto him again, making him moan deeply, his arms tightening around her waist. Maya gasps as he picks her up with ease, His lips leaving her neck as he places her down on the vanity. He sweeps his hand over the vanity's surface and knocks all the items onto the floor, Maya giggling before he kisses her lips again amidst a grin.
"Are we doing this?" Maya says breathlessly against his lips. "Here?"
"Do you want to?" Lucas smirks, placing gentle kisses on her collarbone.
"Hell yes.." Maya grins, her eyes fluttering closed as his hand moves down and squeezes her ass.
"Danny keeps free condoms in her office. Wait here while I get one?" He replies with a grin.
"Don't be too long.." Maya grins, Lucas capturing her lips in another filthy kiss before pulling her bottom lip between his teeth as they break apart, him turning to the door.
"Luke?" Maya stops him before he leaves, crossing her legs as she sits atop the vanity.
"Hmm."
"I love you." Maya smiles, Lucas' face filling with warmth as he looks back at her.
"I love you more." He grins, flashing Maya an adorable wink before he rushes out the door, leaving her giggling atop the table.