Page 4 of Riding Through Life

“What I’m asking, Red is, willyoubemybestman?” I rush the words together afraid if I say them slowly, lightning will strike me dead for some reason.

Red stands next to me completely mute. I turn my head in his direction when he doesn’t answer me and the little fucker has a shit-eating grin on his face. “Fuck dude, you made it sound like you were having your teeth pulled with no Novocaine.” He shakes his head, “Of course, I’ll be your best man. I’ll be the bestest best man anyone has ever heard of.”

“What the fuck is a bestest best man?” I mutter.

Red shrugs his shoulders, his face turning red from embarrassment. “No fucking idea. It sounded better in my head than it did out loud. Now that that worst best man proposal is done, are you ready to head to the dance studio? The sooner we get that done, the quicker we can get back to the Clubhouse.”

I shove Red and head back for my bike. “Don’t be a fucker, dick. I’ve never had to do that before.”

Red catches up with a smirk on his face. “None of us have ever had to do any of this before and I have a feeling things will get harder before we get any peace.”

I groan, “Fuck, dude. Why’d you say that? Now you jinxed me.”

Red shakes his head, “Nah, I’m just stating the obvious. When shit is going good and all is quiet, something is bound to happen to stir up shit.” He straps his helmet on and I do the same. We fire up our bikes and head toward Nadia’s dance studio.

Chapter

Four

AFTERMATH

Red slows down and turns left onto a quiet street. Nadia’s dance studio sits on the right, standing out in the open for anyone to see. The soft grey brick with black trim is warm and inviting. In the center of the building is a big neon sign in blue that reads Royal Dancers. Our club logo is on the bottom right. The parking lot is freshly paved with streetlights every ten feet or so, that way the customers feel safe leaving here no matter what time of day or night it is. The point of this location, according to Nadia, is it’s open and inviting for teenagers and adults to come in and learn to dance.

We park our bikes near the huge glass doors and dismount. I remove my brain bucket and set it on the seat. Then, I pull the gaiter down from my face and take off my leather gloves stuffing them in the pocket of my cut. We might be in California, but during the fall months, Mother Nature is a fickle bitch. It’s about 60 degrees today and when you’re riding it’s a lot fucking colder.

Taking in my surroundings, I see multiple cars parked close to the building. “Business is doing good, isn’t it?” I ask.

Red nods his head. “Yeah. Nadia hired a new dance instructor to help pick up the slack and bring in more classes. I guess they used to work together at a strip club and Nadia said this woman is trustworthy. I ran her background and so far everything is on the up and up but just because something isn’t out there, doesn’t mean they’re a good person.”

“What’s up, Red?” I ask stopping our forward progress into the studio.

Red releases a deep sigh and runs his hands down his face. Since he started wearing his contacts, he looks different but good. “I don’t know. This new instructor rubs me the wrong way, which is why I’m here tightening security rather than at home with my Ol’ Lady and kid.”

I slap my hands together, making a loud cracking noise. “Then let’s get this shit done and get back to our women.”

We walk into the entrance of the dance studio. There is a reception desk directly in front of us with no one manning it since it’s Saturday afternoon. We walk across the foyer on the soft grey wall to wall carpet leading to the back of the building where the lights are on. The closer we walk, the louder the dance music filters down the hallway. I follow Red as we step inside the spacious room. The room has mirrors with a gold bar thingy running in the middle of them against the walls and hardwood flooring. The eight women stop dancing and turn to stare at us as we enter.

Red continues to walk along the edge of the hardwood floor ignoring the women in here. I keep an eye on them as I follow behind Red. A woman wearing tight black leggings with a black tank top and white shoes stands in front of the room. Her hair is up in a messy bun thingy and her blue eyes follow our movement. When my gaze lifts and collide with hers, she winks at me and gives her hips an extra sway. Totally obvious what she’s doing, I give her a deadly glare, making sure she knows I’m not interested. What the fuck was that?

Red and I enter the room at the back of the studio and he takes a seat at the table where the monitors are set up. He turns each camera on one by one until all nine of them show every inch of this place. “That was intense.” Red mumbles, his face turning red. “Do you see what I mean about her?”

I shiver, remembering how her eyes tracked my every movement. “That was creepy as fuck.” I take a seat and watch Red do whatever it is he does.

After a while, I grow bored. “I’m going to go for a walk and check the perimeters. It appears all the dancers are gone now.” I say standing up.

Red grunts his acknowledgement and I leave the security room. The dance room lights are turned down low and I cross the hardwood floor, my boots echoing around me. I open the door and enter the carpeted hallway. The lights are turned down here too and I carefully make my way to the front of the studio.

Turning left, I enter another dimly lit hallway. Two doors are on my left, one on my right and a big bay window is in front of me. The one on my right is Nadia’s office and the other two on my left lead to male and female locker rooms. I check Nadia’s office door and it’s locked tight. I walk down the end of the hallway and make sure the window is shut and locked.

Turning around, I check the men’s locker room door and it’s locked tight. My hand rests on the women’s locker room and an eerie feeling crawls up my spine. I knock before pushing on the door, surprised it gives way, opening for me.

“Hello?” I call out. I wait for a beat before I take a small step inside. My heart is hammering in my chest. Something is off and I don’t like it. “Hello? Is anyone in here?”

The locker room is silent and I step further inside. It’s clean with standard blue lockers taking up three rows and a bench in between each row. My boots echo off the concrete floor as I walk further inside, cringing from the sound. If someone is here, then they definitely know I’m here.

To the far back are four stand-up shower stalls and to the right at the back are four bathroom stalls. I check each stall for someone in here. When there is no sign of anyone, I turn to leave. Making my way back to the front of the locker room I sit down on the bench and take a breath, wiping the nervous sweat from my brow.

I’ve been a ball of nerves since I walked in here and I don’t know why. I’ve been around stripper rooms my whole life and have seen many, many women shake their goods to earn a living. I don’t know why I’m freaking out.

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