The Dare
Raina Cole
The bass hit me before I even entered the club.
Lights flashed, people screamed, bottles lifted in the air.
I shouldn’t be here.
“Woooo!! It feels like a dream. Raina Cole is actually in a club,” my friend, Cassie, yelled, flinging an arm over my shoulder,
“You two deceived me,” I yelled back over the music, pointing at both my friends. “You said a small dinner.”
“Yeah, we could still have a small dinner,” Katrina jollied, already eyeing one of the male dancers. “Just… in the club.”
“Besides, it’s my bachelorette night.” Cassie added. “And you, Miss Billion-Dollar Queen, need to remember what fun feels like.”
I scoffed as we took a seat in the VIP section. “I know what fun is,” I muttered, under my breath.
“Yeah, sure you do. Your idea of fun is a quarterly report that balances to the last decimal.” Cassie mocked me.
“Or a meeting that ends after midnight,” Katrina added.
They both burst out laughing.
Katrina gave me a smirk and I instantly knew where she was going. “You know what would make tonight historic? If Raina actually looked at a man.”
“Ohh yess!” Cassie seconded. “Come on, Raina. When was the last time you even looked at a man, or went on a date or even got railed?”
I shrugged. “What’s the point? You meet someone, think he’s different, fall in love, he cheats, you cry, you spend months hating him, and then you do it all over again with a new face and the same disappointment. No, thanks.”
The memories of what happened the last time I completely gave myself to a man came flooding my head all over again and I sighed, finally pouring myself a drink.
Katrina and Cassie booed in unison.
Cassie stopped booing first. “Sweetheart, it has been three years! The world moved on. You can too.”
I rolled my eyes and released a laugh that sounded fake even to me. “I have moved on. Love’s just bad business. High investment, low return, guaranteed loss. I stopped playing that game. Hard pass, guys.”
Katrina groaned. “There she goes again. Three years without a man and she’s quoting business philosophy.”
“Three peaceful years!” I reminded
They were about to press further to convince me to take a man home tonight when the lights in the club suddenly dimmed
The crowd screamed louder, and I looked at the stage.
Twelve spotlights flared. Five dancers strode out shirtless, muscles gleaming.
Katrina got on top of her seat and cheered while Cassie clapped.
I tried to pretend to be interested to get Katrina and Cassie off my back for the night, but I couldn’t even fake it until the last dancer walked in.
I felt my breath stop in my throat.
My eyes followed him instantly, the noise in the club immediately drowning.
He was taller than the other five, and his muscles looked like God himself had taken his time to sculpt them and the oil— f**k, the oil on his skin made him glisten like he was an actual meal.
I bit my lower lip before I even realized. Three years of silence, and one look had me unraveling.
What was happening to me?
I blinked, shaking my head as though I could shake the thoughts of him away completely.
I looked away immediately, pouring myself another drink.
‘He’s just another guy. They’re all the same.’ I said to myself, downing my glass.
I tried to look anywhere else but at the stage and at him.
Okay, one more look wouldn’t hurt. One more look and that’s it. I lifted my head to the stage once more and his eyes caught mine
I froze, refusing to even move my neck. His stare lingered on me, and he grabbed the pole on the stage, dancing slower and more seductively now, as though I was the only one he could see in the club, and he was performing for just me.
My eyes were now glued to him as he spread his legs on either side of the pole, his pelvic region and his body now directly in contact with the pole.
I swallowed, my entire body suddenly hot. I tightened my legs and folded my hands, piercing my skin, hoping I would snap out of whatever hypnotics this man on stage had me on.
He moved according to the slow sensual sounds, grinding and dry humping against the pole, his eyes burning into me
Ohh…fuck me
I found myself wishing I could be the pole. I was sexually deprived, willfully, but I had never been this turned on before.
“Oh my God, Rainaaa!!!! Are you actually looking at a man??” Katrina was the first one to notice, yelling so excitedly
I jerked, blinking. “What? No..I..”
“Don’t even try to deny it. You were totally eye f*****g him. Raina has found a male creature attractive.” Cassie singsonged, bouncing in her seat, she and Katrina holding hands.
My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. Even I was confused. Was I attracted to him? I hadn’t found a man attractive in three years!
Maybe it was just the neon lights and the music making everything feel like a sin worth committing.
“Just appreciating the choreography,” I defended, even as my pulse disagreed.
I tried to keep my eyes on them, holding back everything in me that wanted to drift back to the stage to look at him.
The sudden applause and cheers from the crowd made me realize that their performance had come to an end.
“Ok then, prove it.” Cassie's voice interrupted my thoughts.
“What?”
“Prove that he’s just another guy, and you’re not in any way attracted to him,” Cassie dared
“How am I supposed to do that?” I rolled my eyes, throwing my hands softly in the air.
Katrina and Cassie exchanged glances and then whispered in each other's ears before they looked at me with mischievous smiles on their faces.
I raised my brows, bracing myself for what they were going to say.
“If you really aren’t attracted to him,” Katrina said, “book a private dance with him. Ten minutes. I guarantee you’ll fold and be all over him in less than five minutes.”
“We’ll pay for the private dance if you agree. Unless you admit that you’ve finally found a guy attractive,” Cassie teased.
I could easily refuse, but if I did, they’d think I hadn’t moved on, or they’d think I was finally coming alive and would try to link me up with men.
“Fine. Book the dance. When I don’t melt because I honestly couldn’t care less, you both owe me silence for a month.”
They screamed, high-fived, and called for the hostess
A part of me that agreed was just to prove to myself that I was still in control, and he was just like every other man.
Across the room, I looked up just in time to see him glance over his shoulder, his gaze landing right on me again, his lips curved into a smirk.
My n*****s hardened instantly, what had I just agreed to?