Dysfunctional

Author's Note: What did you guys think of the last chapter? For the first time in ages Dallas begins to feel light and uncomplicated, away from the cut - throat world of stripping where all that matters is money. Laila brings a whole new dimension to his life in just one day - a simplicity he didn't have before. But after the angry confrontation with Mark and Richie, and the incidents of this chapter, will Dallas be able to see Laila ever again? Or will their relationship end with the first date? Warning: Nudity in this chapter.

I stood in my usual place behind the curtains as I watched Adam perform. I could see him and the first few rows of the audience, but I was hidden in the heavy fabric of the curtains. I wasn't in my usual flashy stripper duds. I was in the same jeans and button down shirt I had worn all day. The only difference was that I had thrown on my signature cowboy hat. The Kid was high tonight. He had probably taken a puff too many of weed, 'cos he was gettin' a little too close to the ladies, even by Xquisite's standards. As I watched him grind against a pretty lil' thing in a barely - there dress that kind of defeated the purpose of wearing a dress at all. The Kid lifted her and spun her around, unintentionally revealing her lack of panties to the whole club. She had pierced privates. The club was filled with cheers and giggles, but the girl was clearly too drunk to care. She turned and kissed Adam wetly on the lips, pushing her tongue into his mouth. We saw that that was pierced, too. There were screams of laughter and whoops from the crowd as she started a slow, sensuous slide down the Kid's body, the zipper at the back of her dress sliding lower and lower with each inch. When she finally stood up after her mile long shimmy, her dress (which was already strapless) slid off completely. She was naked underneath, except for a tattoo on her pelvic bone. By this time the Kid was also down to his thongs and as inebriated as the girl he was dancing with, and things could have gotten out of hand if I hadn't walked into the middle of the stage, removed my shirt, and covered her with it, leading her off the stage to a few boos from the crowd. Adam was momentarily confused at the loss of his dance partner, ended with a bow to plenty of hooting, applause, and a shower of money. I was too pissed off with the Kid for ignoring practically EVERY warning I had given him about not letting women get too close or too touchy-feely at the club. It was against our policy. And I didn't want any unwanted pregnancies being laid at the Xquisite Club's door. One of the boys who'd finished his act came jogging towards me with the girl's' tiny dress, which he had picked off the floor after the curtains went down. I handed it to her. She could barely hold it. She was leaning against my chest for support, the shirt I had given her falling open and baring her body. "Lady, you need to cover up," I said, trying to pull the shirt closed without touching her skin. Fortunately, another young girl came anxiously up to me. She looked relieved when she saw the girl I was supporting. "Thanks, man," she said when she saw that I had covered her friend with my shirt, "Lydia just went through a really hard break up and she's been taking it real bad. She's goes to work during the day, but she drinks herself silly at night and after that, it's not easy to control her." "Naw, that's cool. Jus' take her an'...Make sure she doesn' do anythin' stupid." I said. The girl nodded and led her friend away. I exhaled and turned around to see the Kid sauntering towards me. "Hey boss! How'd I do?" he slurred. Looking at him standing in front of me in nothing but a black satin thong with dollar bills stuffed in it like some cocky prick after having risked my business, I felt nothing but anger in that moment. I punched that cocky fucker right in the nose.