The Upside of Being Let Down (new adult romance - 1) Read Free Page B

across the floor and
heard the sound of people yelling, cheering, screaming. I rushed out the front
door of the strip club to my car.
    As I started it, I realized that I
had probably been better off with the dead air radio station.
    At least there I couldn ’ t hurt anyone.

(3)
     
    Of all the things that caught Bryan ’ s attention in a strip club it
had to be one of the few women there that was clothed. Fully clothed, head to
toe, walking around like she uncomfortably owned the place.
    The conversation of his two friends
suddenly became background noise as he watched the stranger. When she took a
seat at the bar and ordered a drink, Bryan became fascinated.
    It didn ’ t make sense to him.
    What was she doing there?
    Better yet, why the hell did Bryan
care?
    “ Dude,
did you hear me? ”
    Bryan shook his head and waved.
    “ Come
on, listen, ” Jeff said.
    Bryan took his eyes off the
stranger and looked at Jeff and Gary.
    “ What
I said, ” Jeff said, “ was that we should buy Gary a
private dance. ”
    “ I ’ ll use my phone and tape it, ” Gary said.
    “ Seriously?
That ’ s what you two think
of? ”
    “ Well,
we ’ re in strip club man,
okay? ”
    “ To
enjoy a night, ” Bryan said. “ A night you two fools
wanted. ”
    “ Fools? ” Gary asked. “ Weren ’ t you the one who said you wanted someone to take
the sting off of Chloe? ”
    “ Don ’ t say her name, ” Bryan said.
    “ Oh,
that ’ s right. We ’ re sworn, ” Jeff teased. “ Why
don ’ t Gary and I get you a
private dance? Then you could really get off... ”
    “ Shut
up, ” Bryan snapped.
    The conversation slowly changed to
more important things and Bryan was able to casually watch the girl from
before. He couldn ’ t put his
finger on it, but something about her was instantly addicting. Even when he
went to talk to her for a few minutes, it was something else. She was bold,
flirty, afraid, yet confident all at the same time. Bryan swore to himself he ’ d get her number before she
left.
    In fact, he decided that after he
finished his drink, he ’ d
offer to buy another round for his friends and then get another chance to talk
to her.
    He already knew her name.
    AJ.
    An interesting name for a girl yet
it definitely fit her.
    “ You ’ re hot on that chick, ” Jeff said.
    “ What
chick? There ’ s a lot of
chicks here. A lot of them are topless too. ”
    “ No,
no, ” Jeff said. His voice
slurred. He was feeling good. Really good. “ You
keep looking at her. You want to go get her, don ’ t
you? ”
    “ Get
her? What does that even mean? ”
    “ Oh,
shit, ” Gary said. “ Looks like she ’ s a little feisty. ”
    “ Why ’ s that? ” Bryan asked.
    “ She
just threw a drink at a guy. ”
    Bryan turned and his jaw almost hit
the table.
    Sure enough, AJ had thrown a drink
at a guy. And the guy looked ready to unleash hell on her. Bryan gripped his
chair, ready to pounce if needed. He wasn ’ t
afraid of a fight and he certainly would love the chance to save AJ. That ’ d be a hell of a way to work his
way in.
    The guy lifted his drink and Bryan
shook his head.
    “ If
he does it, I ’ ll fucking
punch him, ” Bryan said.
    Jeff cackled.
    “ Cool
it, man, ” Gary said. “ Not your battle. You don ’ t know... ”
    Things got worse.
    Another girl entered the picture.
She appeared out of nowhere and grabbed AJ ’ s
hair and started twisting.
    “ Holy
shit, ” Jeff said. “ This is awesome. ”
    “ This
isn ’ t good, ” Bryan said.
    He stood.
    AJ turned and pushed but the other
girl wasn ’ t backing down.
She screamed something about her boyfriend. The way she swayed told Bryan she
was dead drunk. As the two started to get into it, over and over, Bryan knew
there was no good outcome.
    He took a step and Gary grabbed his
wrists. “ Bryan... ”
    “ Stop
it, ” Bryan said. “ I ’ m
not going to let someone get hurt for no reason. ”
    “ That ’ s what you said when you met
Chloe, ” Jeff