Read Online Life Before Damaged Vol 7 :The Ferro Family (Life Before Damaged #7) by H. M. Ward - Free Book Online Page A

wanting to talk to him, just to hear his voice and make sure he's okay.
    I even thought about asking if he wanted another dance lesson at the club, but I chickened out and shut off my phone instead. I couldn't face the possibility of his rejection. I never know which side of Pete Ferro I will get, and the thought of being turned down by the player is not something I need right now.
    How absurd is that? I'm scared of being rejected by the man who I'll be married to.
    “Hey, Gina! It’s stripper time! Check it out! Dick got a makeover and he's hubba-hubba-hot tonight!” Erin interrupts my pity party by yanking a magazine from my hands and tossing it on the floor behind the couch.
    She shuts off the lights before sitting down next to me and plops the bowl of popcorn on my knees. This has become a nice ritual of ours. Popcorn and real reality TV with my best friend.
    The lights are on in the stripper’s apartment, and she’s practically crawling up the man she’s with tonight. Not her usual M.O. She usually saunters in, acting aloof and slightly disinterested, until she starts to pole dance.
    Not tonight, though. She’s breaking her pattern and wow! She’s really going to town with this guy. His hands are all over her, squeezing her ass through her black leather pants, and then running up her back and tangling in her long brown hair. A moment later, he’s smoothing those locks down over her sequined gold top.
    This isn’t frantic or awkward. Dick is all passion and intensity of movement, worshiping every inch of her body, claiming every bit he can manage to touch.
    I wonder if they love each other.
    The way he’s holding her--like he doesn’t want to let her go, like she might vanish into thin air--makes me envious. The only person to have ever touched me like that was Pete; that is until he turned me down and walked away.
    Blinking twice, I clear my thoughts and look back at the show underway. The stripper brings her hands up to Dick's shoulders and removes his jacket. She tosses it to the side.
    “This is weird.” Erin says what I’m thinking. “She's breaking all of her rules.”
    “I know.” What the hell is she thinking?
    The woman removes his shirt as quickly as she can, their lips breaking contact only long enough to pull Dick's shirt over his head. From what I can see around our soon-to-be naked neighbor, Dick has a very nice body with broad shoulders and toned arms. He’s a looker.
    Erin is as engrossed in the show as I am. She is rarely this quiet while watching ‘reality TV.’ She’s usually busy doing vulgar running commentary, but not tonight. Tonight, we’re both quiet. Erin stuffs more popcorn into her mouth, unable to look away from the window.
    The stripper’s hands travel up and down Dick's torso and abs. When she reaches for his belt, he takes a step back, then another, pulling her with him, never breaking their kiss. When they reach the padded chair the client usually sits in, Dick spins them around and sits her down on the chair instead.
    Dick backs up to the pole, and the stripper points to her sound system with a remote. Music must be playing, because shirtless Dick with his broad, toned back starts to sway his hips, running his hands up and down his chest. Erin’s jaw drops and she squees.
    “Holy fuck! We’re getting a male stripper tonight! Must be one of those guys from the 'Whacker Shack' three blocks down. Those dudes are jacked! Show me whatcha got, Dickie-Boy!”
    Erin whoops and fist pumps, grabbing an entire handful of popcorn and stuffing it into her mouth. My eyes are riveted to the window across the street.
    Best. Neighbors. Ever.
    The woman is squirming in her chair, grabbing her breasts through her clothes and squeezing them, obviously excited about this unexpected turn of events too.
    Watching Dick move and how the stripper reacts to him sends my imagination to wild and dangerous territory. Mental pictures of me sitting in that chair, while an unnamed, blue-eyed