Strip Teaser (Naked Night's) (5 page)

Tiny laughed when he saw the state of me as I opened the door to him.  I was shuffling along like an old lady, a grimace permanently attached to my face.  Every single part of me ached.  I'd discovered muscles I hadn't known existed.

He took pity on me and let me use the lift to get down to the dining room for breakfast.  The thought of even attempting stairs this morning brought me out in a cold sweat.

Breakfast was spent as the butt of the
guy’s jokes.  They thought it was hilarious, going on about me being a pussy.  I'd never thought before just how much work these guys put into staying fit. Now I could see that a great part of each day for them is spent either in the gym or practicing routines, they're always on the go.

We'll be on the road again after lunch, and I think this journey is at least a couple of hours long, we're heading to Leeds next.  A couple of hours in a minibus right now are more like my idea of hell than heaven.  I'm not sure I can concentrate on a book even, never mind making a start on the article I have to submit for the paper this week.  I still haven't come up with an angle I want to cover, though perhaps the fitness levels wouldn't be a bad place to start. I can take a couple of shots of the guys in their gym gear and that should appease my editor.

The guys are going to use the morning to head back to the gym but Alex offers to stay behind and give me a sports massage. Cue more eye rolling and kinky comments from across the table.

"Ignore these losers Sally, it's just a sports massage.  It'll loosen you up a little, ready for your next workout tomorrow." Alex whispers at my side.  That was definitely bad timing as I spit my mouthful of coffee across the table towards a rather disgruntled Jackal.

"Next workout? You're kidding me right? No way Jose, I'm not setting foot in a gym with you again." I sound like a petulant five year old right now.  My aching muscles send up a silent cheer. 

"You're not with Alex tomorrow, you're with me." Tiny gives me a triumphant grin. Shit. If I can't handle a routine that Alex set me then there's no hope of me surviving a session with Tiny. I've seen him working out.  He lifts some serious weights.

"Tiny, I'm not with anyone tomorrow. If I can walk by then I might go for a run." I pause. "On my own." I quickly add before either of them can offer to accompany me.

"You can't run on your own, it's not safe." Rick tells me. I look over at him and see he's serious.

"You're joking me right? I always run on my own." My inner feminist is bristling at the turn the conversation is taking.

"You shouldn't." Rick advises. "Trust me there are some absolute nutters out there. And don't forget you're not on home ground either. We can't let you run a new route on your own. If you won't go to the gym then one of us will go with you."

I put my coffee cup down on the table, taking a moment and pause, carefully considering the wording of my reply. 

"I am not going to the gym, and I am not running with you guys. I'm a big girl in case you haven't noticed. I know how to take care of myself and I'm not stupid."  My voice is rising slightly and the old couple at the table beside us looks over to see what's happening. I try and calm myself down before carrying on. "I'm not the plastic Barbie dolls you guys are used to, I don't need protecting, I don't need mollycoddling and I sure as heck don't need to be told what I can and can't do thank you very much."  This is the point where what I wanted to do is stand and push my chair back and stalk from the room.  Of course, in my head this was a grand exit. In reality I can only just about lift myself from the chair and shuffle from the room in a very ungraceful and extremely un-dramatic fashion.  The table behind me erupts in laughter, and I hear Jonny. "That told you Rick!" before he too lets out a loud guffaw.

The lift door is about to close when it's rudely pulled open again and Alex slips in beside me.  I give him my best dirty look.

"Don't be giving me that prissy face Sally. I'm here to help you.  Come back to my room and I'll give you that sports massage I was offering earlier. Trust me, you'll feel much better after it."  He looks genuine in his offer; I'll give him that.

"Do I look like the kind of girl that goes back to a strippers room?" I sneer. Alex's face falls. That was cruel and uncalled for on my part.

"Do I behave like a typical male stripper?" Alex sounds sad. "I'm not trying to jump your bones you know Sally, just offering to help ease a bit of that pain you're walking around with."

Now I feel like a total bitch.  "I'm sorry Alex, I am in pain and that pain is making me more bitchy than normal." I shrug my shoulders then groan as even that hurts this morning. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Thank you."

Alex's room is a few doors down from mine and I'm surprised at how tidy it is.  I try and keep my room tidy but living out of a suitcase isn't ideal and these places never seem to have room to unpack properly.

Alex gestures to the bed. "I'll go grab a towel, can you strip down to your underwear, it will make it a bit easier for me." I can't help it.  Alex asking me to strip off brings a blush to my face, even if it was a perfectly reasonable request.  He returns from the bathroom and places a towel on top of the bed. I'm struggling to get my t-shirt off; my arms don't seem to be able to lift high enough to get it over my head this morning.  Before I know what's happening Alex is in front of me.  "Can I help?" he gestures to the hem of my t-shirt.  I shrug in acceptance.

Alex takes hold of the hem and starts to lift the shirt slowly, his fingers graze my flesh and it feels erotic. It's like a lover’s touch.  Gentle.  It's maybe my imagination but it suddenly feels rather warm in here.

"You need help with these too?" he asks, gesturing to my jeans.  I nod, momentarily speechless.  My jeans are soon folded on the counter beside my shirt.  I shuffle to the bed and groan as I try and lay down on my front.

"This might be a little cold." Alex warns me.  Despite the warning, I still gasp as the cold liquid hits my shoulders.  "You're going to feel a lot more pressure than you would on a relaxation massage." He advises me. "You need the pressure to release the tension from the muscles."

"It's okay, I've had sports massages before." I'm not a wuss; I can handle the pain that goes with a sports massage.  "They're a regular part of my routine when I'm training for races." I advise.

"What races have you done?" he asks. I bite my lip before replying. He's started on my shoulders and I can feel from the pressure he's exerting just how tense they are.

"Mostly 10k's but I've done a half marathon and London Marathon once." He presses more firmly on a tense area and I can't help swearing.  He laughs.

"Sorry, I'll warn you before I do that again. How was London? I've always wanted to do that but I've never been able to get in on the ballot."

The conversation distracts me for the next hour as he works his way all over my body.  This room is definitely too warm. I can feel the sheen on my skin.  Despite the pressure he was applying it started to feel quite erotic when he was working on the back of my legs.  His hands are so soft; there were moments where it felt like he was caressing my skin.  They didn't last long though as the next second he'd be applying pressure.  All I can say is it's a good job there's no swear box in the room or I'd be bankrupt by the time we finished.  I'll say this for him; he's good at sports massage.  I've been to a few until I found the one I use now and he's at the upper range of ability.

I sense his hands leaving my skin, this time though they don't return.  "You can get up now, how does that feel?" he asks.  I can't tell him how it really feels. I'm disappointed truth be told. Despite the pressure, his touch was gentle and welcome. I miss it.

I ease myself off the bed, grateful for the increase in my range of movement.  Where before everything ached, now it feels much looser and just slightly tender.

"When was the last time you had a massage?" he questions. "Your back was pretty knotted up, much more than it should have been after that simple routine yesterday."

"It's been a while." I confess. "I kind of got involved in this article I'm working on and kept putting it off."  We start chatting about the corrupt councilor and how I really want to be working on that article.  He sounds interested in what I'm saying, and from his responses I can tell he's educated.  I don't notice that I'm still sat here in nothing more than my underwear until Alex reaches over to pat my arm. It's as if he suddenly realizes I'm not dressed as well.  He looks embarrassed and tries to hide it by gathering up the towel and bottle of lotion and dashing off into the bathroom.  I manage to dress myself without assistance this time.

"Thank you for that, it's made a huge difference."  The atmosphere between us has changed.  Where moments before we were chatting animatedly and comfortable in each other's presence, suddenly we're awkward with each other.

"That's okay, think nothing of it,” he mumbles.  "I'll see you down at the bus later?"

I nod, no longer capable of getting words out. I'm like a bloody love struck teenager suddenly.  I fumble with the door handle and breathe a sigh of relief when I find myself outside in the hallway, the door safely shut behind me.

There's a chuckle from the doorway across the hall. I look up to see Tiny watching me.

"Don't worry Sally, he has that effect on all the women." I huff, turning my back on him and walk off in the direction of my room just a few doors away. Yes, walk. That massage did wonders for my shuffling gait.

As if Alex has an effect on me, that's nonsense I tell myself.  I'm not into guys like him.  And that's when that stupid inner voice pipes up. "Who do you think you're kidding?" It's right.  There's something about Alex that gets me all worked up and hot inside. But I won't give into it. I'm here to do a job and nothing else.  My inner voice pipes up again. "Damn shame.”

I was all hot and bothered after massaging Sally this morning. I'm still frustrated. Jerking off in a cold shower didn't give me much relief.  I feel like a horny teenage boy again.  I like Sally, there's something honest about her. Being out on the road isn't conducive to a relationship though.  The only one of us who has a woman at home is Tiny.  Jonny had a girlfriend for a while, and whilst he behaved himself, she couldn't get over the jealousy, and constantly accused him of cheating.  There are plenty of opportunities to go off with someone after a show; several someone’s in fact, some of these girls aren't fussy. Becoming a male whore never has appealed to me, and aside from that I have taste.  Let's be honest, there are very few classy women in the audience at these events; not that I've come across anyway.

We've spent the afternoon, or what feels like most of it, on the minibus travelling to Kingston upon Hull. We've not got a show tonight so we can have a rest, then we've got two shows in two nights at two different venues. At least this time they're less than an hour apart. I hate the overnight trips where we have to try and sleep on the minibus as the next venue is so far away.  Eric's pretty good at keeping the venues within travelling distance of each other, but every now and then he gets a chance at a bigger venue and we have to travel for it. 

The minibus pulls up outside yet another Travelodge.  Because they all look alike you forget which town you're in sometimes. That said, all looking alike is a good thing, as at least we know we've got a certain standard rather than some of the guesthouses we used to take over when we first started.  Eric quickly realized he had no tolerance for nosy old landladies who tutted and disapproved of our career choices. Now we stick to nice, safe, anonymous hotels.

The guys are milling around in the lobby working out what they want to do this evening.  From the sound of it they're going bar hopping. Great. Not my scene at all. Luckily Tiny comes to the rescue.

"If you don't fancy going on a bar crawl with this bunch of reprobates why not come to the cinema with me and Alex tonight, Sally? The Odeon is in walking distance of here." Sally looks uncertain. 

"What were you thinking of watching Tiny?" I question. "I'm not sitting through another bloody chick flick with you; I can't stand watching you cry." I laugh and it's good to hear Sally join in.

"There's that 80's thing, Walking on Sunshine, or there's Transformers if you want a little action." he glances up from his phone where he's obviously checking out the cinema listing. "Most of them start between eight and half past so we can choose when we get there, and it gives us time to get some food into these losers to soak up all that alcohol they're going to wreck their bodies with later." He affectionately ruffles Jackal's hair, knowing how much it winds him up.

"You guys are more like brothers at times." She smiles.  Just a few days on the road with us and I can tell we've broken down some of her misconceptions.  "Okay, I'm up for it, I haven't been to watch a movie in forever, it'll make a nice change. Thanks."

We've not long finished dinner before Guido has pulled.  Pulled might be a bit over enthusiastic, she practically jumped on him.  I'm sat on one of the leather sofas in the bar with Tiny, Eric and Sally watching the scene unfold at the bar.

"This should be entertaining,” mutters Eric.  He expressly forbade us from messing around with girls in front of Sally.  He's got no chance.  It's not the guys he needed to warn; it's the over enthusiastic fans at the theaters where we perform.  Sally looks up to see what he's talking about and her face stiffens with a look of disgust. Yep, this is going to be interesting alright.