TopGuns Read Free Page B

contestant slammed the barbell down and stood. Jason
moved his leg when the man charged over and grabbed his bag from beneath the
bench. “Fuck this. I don’t need this place.”
    A couple of the other contestants slapped the guy on the
back as he charged toward the door. Jason kept to himself and nodded at the
dancers across the way when he noticed them watching the other contestants as
if gauging their reactions.
    Whatever.
    He hadn’t expected it to be an easy road. Anytime you get
that many guys in a situation, shit’s gonna happen. The best solution was to
roll with it.
    Silence loomed for a few seconds and then the door slammed
open as the manager stormed in. He crossed his arms and regarded the guys
across the room. “What the fuck happened this time?”
    One of them laughed. “It’s bunk, dude. He couldn’t take a
joke.”
    “Yeah, he wouldn’t have lasted long anyway. You gotta have a
sense of humor to do this shit,” another commented.
    The manager shook his head and held out a stack of folded
papers. “All right, contestants, you’re up. Come draw your position.”
    Justin hung back a moment as the other guys drew. An older
scraggly haired guy with a touch of gray in his facial hair limped up and took
a number. The manager gave out the remaining two sheets to Justin and a pale,
skinny guy.
    Number four.
    The manager mumbled a few instructions to the group but
Jason’s brain was feeding off a surge of adrenaline and didn’t hear much of
what he said. They were herded to an area just offstage that gave them a chance
to check out their competition and—more importantly—gauge the ladies.
    Jason noted the sparse crowd. At least he wasn’t first. By
the time he got up maybe there’d be more out there but he doubted it. The first
guy made his way to center stage, looking like a fool caught in his speedo.
    Uncomfortable watching what could happen to him when he got
out there, Jason focused on the club itself. The women began gathering around
the stage. Bursts of laughter echoed from the small crowd and he knew he didn’t
want to hear that when he went up.
    Determination kept him mute and inattentive as the second
man replaced the first. The man was a walking skeleton who’d never seen the
sun. The ladies shifted on their feet and darted their glances around as though
unsure whether to pity the guy or ignore him altogether.
    By the time the third guy limped onto stage, Jason’s
adrenaline was pumping full force. He was next. The guy sat in a chair
mid-stage and…
    No way.
    Jason blinked and heard the dancers behind him laughing in
disbelief.
    “No fucking way,” one of them screamed. He turned around.
“Hey, dudes, you gotta check this guy out. He has no legs.”
    Jason watched in disbelief as the scraggly dude with the
graying beard gyrated and danced on nubs with more confidence than his two
predecessors combined. The ladies went nuts. Their screams tunneled across the
stage and settled in Jason’s gut with a sense of dread.
    A guy laughed behind him and slapped his back. “I’m really
glad I’m not going up after him and I’ve been doing this shit for ten years.
Good luck, dude.”
    Luck and dancing skills only went so far. Jason made his way
to stage when signaled and forced back the nerves rattling his guts. He focused
on the music, thought about each move and tried to ignore his brain as it
judged he was too mechanical.
    Too boring.
    The ladies screamed as he made his way to them and he zoned
out—drunk on adrenaline and fueled by pleasure as the women took their
respective turns tipping him. Their hands touched and squeezed.
    For a guy who’d always been shy around the ladies this was a
change of pace—one he was all too willing to enjoy permanently. As the song
continued he’d found a groove and embraced the sexiness of the situation.
    By the time his performance was over he knew this was what
he wanted to do. Even though nervousness still crawled along his skin, some
foreign