“Shit,” Cassie said, defeated. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Just forget it. I don’t know-“
“Don’t know what?”
“I don’t know why I said that,” she said, feeling her face turn bright red. “I just, I was in my car and I was getting ready to leave and I felt bad.”
“You felt bad?”
“I felt bad,” she continued. “Just, look, this isn’t what either of us wanted but I wasn’t kidding earlier. I like doing this and I like making people feel good. I don’t like … I don’t like this.”
“Well neither do I,” Tony said. “This is pretty much the most embarrassing moment of my life.”
His words stung her more than he realized.
“Yeah, me too,” she said.
Great. Another uncomfortable silence.
Tony spoke first.
“What do you mean you’ll strip for me?”
The thought was almost too taboo to even entertain.
“I mean, if that’s what you want,” Cassie said, more unsure of herself than she’d ever been in a sexual situation before, at least since she awkwardly lost her virginity. “If that’s what you want, I’ll do that. It’s just a striptease. It doesn’t mean anything.”
Tony couldn’t believe this. Of all the ways he thought tonight was going to go, this was most certainly not how he pictured it.
“If it will make you feel better, I’ll strip for you,” she said once more. “It’s not like I have anything you haven’t seen before. They’re just tits and ass.”
Tits and ass.
The words sent an unsolicited jolt of electricity through Tony’s pants.
“I won’t look at you and you can pretend I’m someone else,” she said. “I just, I know I ruined this for you and I know you’re the type of person who will never live this down in your head. So if a little striptease makes you feel better, what harm can it really do? Who cares? It’s not going to be anymore awkward than this night has already been anyway, so whatever.”
Tony thought about it. In a way, she was right. This night couldn’t get more awkward and he already admitted to liking her body when he didn’t know it was her he was referencing, so what harm could it cause? It’s not like this wasn’t already beyond awkward. He may as well get something for his money.
He really took a moment to look her over, head to toe. Cassie could feel his eyes scanning her and wondered what he was thinking.
The thought of giving her cousin a striptease and a lap dance was one she came to pretty quickly in her car but now that she’s back in this room and it was becoming a very real life possibility, she felt nerves like she’d never felt before.
“What am I doing?” She wondered to herself. “Am I for real right now?”
The moment she noticed Tony’s eyes scanning her body, she watched them fall rapidly to the floor. He was still embarrassed.
She had an idea.
“Okay. I get it,” she said. “This is weird, right?”
“Yeah.” he said.
“Alright,” she said. “So don’t think of me as your cousin. I’m just Alyssa. I’m the girl you hired to do a job and I’m here to do that job.”
“What?” he replied. “We can’t have sex!”
“No!,” she said, confused. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Okay.”
“I’m here to do a job and that job is to strip for you,” she said. “Let’s forget we’re related. Forget it’s awkward. Let’s just do it, have some fun and then we’ll go our separate ways.”