NxE: Take My Lips - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Return


The day passed by normally, nothing noteworthy happening to either Nick or Ellis and Keith.  The three proceeded about their days normally, all anxious for the night to come, obviously all for different reasons.  Ellis was nervous about having to dance again, reality suddenly striking him and making him realize he might be driving his chances of a career with cars into the ground.  Keith was excited because tonight was his pay night, happy that he was going to be able to spend a few dollars after they got off work.  Nick was anticipating that lovely body Ellis had been blessed with, almost quivering at the idea of it close to him.  Should he be so lucky...

Nick had swindled only a few folks out of their money in the hours he'd been at the bar.  If he did it constantly, the bartender or other bar patrons would have suspected him and probably kicked him out, so he made sure to lose a few times, but only when the stakes weren't too high.

He'd finally wasted enough time that it had become 7 PM and he could start heading on over to the Savannah Sauna.  Ah, that sweet, sweaty and trashy name housed some damn fine men in it, one obviously sticking out like a sore elbow in his mind.  Nick stretched as he got up, feeling a slight crick in his back.  Nothing to be too concerned about, but it certainly interrupted his stretch in a weird, awkward way, making him jumping forward slightly.  He tried to shrug it off, but he'd clearly lost his intimidation factor to anyone who might have been even slightly wary of him.  Knowing there was nothing left for him, the older man quickly made off with a few extra hundreds for the day.

He hailed down another taxi without an issue, hopping in and asking the driver to take him to that shady part of town.  The yellow car sped off with Nick in it as the driver spotted the hundreds in Nick's hand.


Ellis and Keith had long since finished their food, having taken a nostalgiac trip down to the creek where they typically went during their childhood.  It was a quaint place, a ways away from most civilization, save a few small houses with old folks living in them.  They all knew it was a special spot for Keith and Ellis, so they never bothered them and only told them the news of the area or what was happening with their grandchildren.  It was a small price to pay for such a beautiful secluded spot with a (somehow) still-intact rope swing that had been there for almost twenty years.  The creek flowed gently east, out of town.

"Shit, remember that time you fell off the rope swing by accident and went belly-first inta the water?" Keith asked.  Ellis laughed.

"Ah sure do!  My belly was achin' fer the rest of the week after that!" Ellis said.  The two laughed in unison before Keith jumped up onto the rope swing, moving from side-to-side to get some momentum.  He grinned his clever wolfish grin at Ellis.

"Wanna take a dip?" he proposed.  Ellis shook his head.

"It's gettin' late, Ah still gotta get ready fer work," the brunette responded.  Keith shrugged.

"So do Ah, but Ah'm hot and this river's lookin' awful nice and cool," he said, letting the last word linger on his tongue.  Ellis rolled his eyes.

"Ah ain't goin' in there."

"Suit yerself," the redhead responded, jumping back onto the ground and stripping off his clothes.  He had finally stripped down to his underwear before he looked over at Ellis with his sly look.

"Keith, Ah swear if you do..." Ellis began, but it was too late.  Keith ran towards him and, despite Ellis's frantic attempt at fleeing, grabbed him.  Ellis may have been more muscular, but Keith was slimmer, faster and somehow stronger.

"Keith, lemme go!" Ellis shouted in avail.  Keith only laughed, lifting up Ellis around his waist and heaving him into the river – clothes and all.  Ellis sank into the water with a surprisingly large splash, causing Keith to laugh even harder.  It was only when Ellis emerged from the water that Keith's laughing stopped.

Ellis practically leaped out of the water and grabbing Keith by the arm.  Keith hadn't expected him to move so fast, so the look on his face was quite worth it to the brunette when he heaved his best friend into the creek as well.  But the action only quelled Ellis's anger instead of exacerbating it, which resulted in a splash fight between the two.  Ellis was sopping in his casual clothes but Keith was only in his underwear so he wasn't worried.

"Sheesh, what gotcha so pissed off in tha first place?" Keith finally asked Ellis as the two began to simply float around in the water.

"Ah dunno... Ah think I'm just tired of havin' to dance fer money, ya know?" he responded.  Keith nodded.

"An understand."

"No yew don't."  Ellis's words cut into Keith's hard exterior and the redhead twitched.

"Whatcha mean?"

"Yew don't dance in fronta them.  Yew juss spin records and make beats on yer machine.  Sure, guys look at yew sometimes but yew don't hafta dance in order to get a paycheck," Ellis told him.  A look of genuine concern crossed Keith's faced and he floated forward, embracing Ellis.

"Ah'm sorry, buddy.  Ah shouldn'ta said that.  How's aboutchu just quit tonight, huh?  We can always find work elsewhere, ya know.  Yew shouldn't hafta do it if yew don't want to," he said while still holding his friend.  Ellis narrowed his eyes.

"How come the change-a heart, Keith?" Ellis asked.  Keith noticably tensed up before he relaxed and continued.

"Ah guess Ah never thoughta it that way.  Ah mean sure, Ah could dance too, but Ah really don't want to.  Ah never thought about it if Ah had to do it, but... now thatcha say it, it does sound pretty rough," he finalized.  He tightened his embrace and then pulled away, smiling.

"How's about we go elsewhere, huh?" he asked.  Ellis sighed.

"Ah gotta see if Ah can talk to the manager 'bout it," he said.  Keith shook his head.
"Yew ain't gotta talk to her dumb ass, jus' leave!" he protested.  Ellis shook his head.
"She knows where Ah live.  If word gets to my mama... Lord, Ah'll never hear the enda that.  Ah gotta leave on good terms and Ah gotta stop bein' the number one dancer there.  Otherwise she ain't never gonna let me leave," he concluded.

"True, true," Keith said with a nod.  Then he smirked.

"Yew do a lot more thinkin' than ya let on, Ellis," he said with a wink.  Ellis pushed him lightly and turned away, hiding a blush.

"Oh, shut up," the brunette replied, walking out of the creek and taking off his shirt to wring it out.  Keith knew by his tone of voice that he was just joking around, perhaps slightly embarassed, but definitely not offended.

Ellis, yew sure are weird.  Dancin' in fronta all those guys and scratchin' yer head like an idiot, but Ah give you a single compliment and yew get all rosy-cheeked.  Wait a sec...?

Keith didn't let his thoughts finish, distracted by Ellis waving him out of the creek to get dressed so they could both get ready for work.  The taller one smiled to himself, walking out of the water and into the field, picking up his clothes and walking alongside his friend as they headed on back to Ellis's truck.


Nick had finally arrived to the shady spot of town.  As he got out of the taxi, he dropped not a one-hundred dollar bill, but a fifty instead.  The taxi driver was a bit disappointed, seeing all the cash that Nick had to spare, but he didn't complain anyhow.  The 35 year-old man walked down the sidewalks and all the way to the club once again.  He noticed there was a long line this time, since it was earlier in the day than his last visit.  Plus, the club had just opened up so people were scrambling for admission.  The man was normally accustomed to paying his way into any club, but hesitant as to whether or not it worked like that down here in Savannah.  He walked up to the bouncer, a very tall and muscular black man with a lighter complexion.

"You got a VIP pass?" the man asked in a deep authoritative voice..  Nick smirked.

"No, but I got this," he said, flashing one of his hundreds.  The bouncer looked at it carefully through his shades, barely showing any emotion.  He finally snatched it on up and moved aside for the Northerner.

"Thanks," Nick said sarcastically.  The bill had barely gotten him in, let alone gotten him some nice treatment – he'd expected better.  As he walked into the red-walled club, he saw a few of the customers there eyeing him up and down.  One even had the nerve to say "Ooh I like a man who dresses well!"  While still walking away from him, Nick spoke up.

"Yeah, and I like a man who sounds like a man instead of a woman," he responded.  The man who'd made the comment merely gawked at him in amazement, but Nick never even looked back, grabbing a front-row seat right next to the right-pole of the strip club.  As he sat down, he checked his Rolex.  8:30 on the dot.

In half an hour... showtime.


Ellis and Keith drove to work together to save gas, and because they were both running a bit late.  Both went to Ellis's mother's house and showered; separately, of course.  The pair rushed out the door, Ellis barely remembering to turn back and shout "I love you" to his mom before he jumped down to his truck in his jumpsuit.

"Shit, we gotta get," Keith said as Ellis revved up his car's engine.

"Ah know, Ah know!" Ellis responded, backing the car out of the driveway with the parking brake still on.  Keith reached over and disengaged it quickly as Ellis changed gears and hit the accelerator, sending them flying forward and towards their destination.

"Ah sure hope they're okay with us bein' a lil' late," Keith said.  It was 7:45 and he knew they had to be there in 15 minutes.

"They will be.  Bein' the bes' dancer at the club has its perks ya know?" Ellis asked Keith with a giant grin.  Keith grinned back.

"Uh course," he responded, reaching to the backseat to pull out Ellis's yellow bag.  He knew what it was used for and he knew what Ellis had to do with it.  Once they'd reached a mile away from his house, he stopped the car and got into the back seat.  Keith hopped out and stood watch outside.

"So that guy who was there last time... think he'll be there tonight?" Keith asked.

"Which one?" Ellis asked, bunching up the jumpsuit and putting it into the bag.

"Yew know which one," Keith replied.  Ellis stopped for a second, then resumed his changing of clothes.

"Ah dunno, Ah guess.  He seemed pretty interested in me fer some reason," Ellis said, trailing off.

"Gee, Ah wonder why?"

"Shaddup."

"Jus' messin'!  Wonder what his name is...?" Keith asked nobody in particular.

"I dunno.  Todd or Brett or somethin' Northern?" Ellis responded.  Keith laughed.

"Northern names?  You drunk, Ellis?"

"Shaddup!"


Ellis finished changing and the two drove off to the Savannah Sauna, racing in through the employee entrance and getting ready as fast as they could.  The manager could chew them out later, right now she was just glad they'd showed up.

The segment began, and the dancers all walked out.  Nick had seen them all before and just ignored them.  Even when the drag queen pointed out that he'd been there a second night in a row, he merely grunted, wanting for him to proceed the show and stop delaying.
Finally, the curtain opened and there stood Nick's god.  But instead of his jaw-dropping, he retained his composure and looked up, smirking.  Ellis looked back at him, seeing that indeed he was there for the night.  The two shared a brief identical thought.

Jackpot.