·̩̩̥͙ $ * ☆ •̩̩͙ * ♡︎ * •̩̩͙ ☆ * ˚ $ ·̩̩̥͙

Mariah woke up to good morning texts from Fezco the rest of the week.

She couldn't remember the last time she was genuinely smiling at her phone as early as 7 a.m. after reading Fezco's text every morning.

After blocking Danny for being annoying as fuck, she literally felt free. She hoped he got the hint that she was serious about being done with him since she hadn't directly broken up with him yet, but only because she hadn't talked to him or seen him since that night in the parking lot with Fezco. When he saved her.

She thought about that night a lot; she thought about Fezco a lot. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he stood up for her and protected her, made sure she was safe.

Fezco really was fucking Superman. And Mariah always had a crush on Superman when she was little.

Speaking of Superman...

"He texted you, didn't he?" Faye asked Mariah once seeing Mariah smiling at her phone screen.

The two girls were on Facetime, catching up, talking shit and packing their stripper bags together since they were both working that night.

Mariah hadn't worked since what happened with Danny, because she felt like Danny would show up and try some shit again, and according to Faye, her feeling was right. Danny had shown up the night after, banging on the door for Mariah.

She was playing it safe and decided to skip one more day, going back today; Thursday.

Mariah had just finished telling Faye about what happened a few nights ago with Danny, then began telling her about Fezco.

"Yeah," Mariah squealed excitedly as she read his text.

iMessage–Fezco
Really hope to see you tonight ma

"I don't remember ever seeing you like this over...the D-word," Faye told her best friend, who smiled nonstop at her screen, not wanting to mention Danny's name.

"Shut up," Mariah laughed, brushing it off and blushing as she read the text once again–she was definitely offering Fezco another private dance later.

"So like, you actually really like him, don't you?" Faye asked, watching Mariah leave Fezco on read and put her phone down, we then move around her room, collecting whatever she was taking to work that night.

"Yeah," Mariah laughed, smiling to herself as she held a black outfit to her body, standing in front of the mirror. "I do."

"Save the I do for the wedding," Faye smirked.

"Faye Faye shut the fuck uppp," Mariah laughed. "It's just a lil crush."

Mariah also told Faye about her crush on Fezco. She felt lowkey stupid for catching feelings so fast, but at the same time, she couldn't blame herself.

He was so sweet to her, and somehow always had her blushing. Even through text.

She and Fezco texted back and forth everyday since he got her number, and spoke on the phone a few times too, especially whenever they ate. Mariah found herself hiding in her room to eat just so Fezco had the excuse to call her. She loved talking to him.

But she didn't know if they were talking talking, or if they were talking as just friends. They both flirted with each other countless times, but that was all. Maybe Fezco was just naturally like that. Maybe he talked to all girls like that.

Mariah hated thinking that he talked to other girls the same way he talked to her. All sweet and shit, calling her beautiful and saying shit with that fine ass voice of his that he knew would have her blushing. She swore she could hear his smirk through the phone.

Thinking about it, there was no way they were talking as just friends. No fucking way. She just hoped she was right, and that he would say something soon, because his flirting wasn't loud enough.

"He's gonna be at Wayne's tonight, you think he'll like this?" Mariah asked Faye, showing her the outfit she had held to her body.

"He'd be stupid not to, that's cute. You're gonna look hot, wear it!"

"I don't know though, it's like, see through and I don't want him to see all that and think I'm a–"

"Don't even say it. He's not Danny. Just put on some pasties and a black thong if you don't wanna be all exposed though," Faye advised.

Mariah grabbed both, placing them in her bag along with the outfit and some glittery rhinestone heels before grabbing her phone to text Fezco back.

u will :) make sure those eyes stay on me

She quickly set her phone back down, stepping away from it to keep packing her bag to pass time as she waited for a response. Typical I'm texting the guy I have a fat ass crush on behavior.

Her phone dinged within a minute, making her pick it up as fast as she had set it down.

"Ughhhh, Custer's calling me," Faye groaned in annoyance.

"It's fine, see you at Wayne's bitch, I love you," Mariah blew her a kiss, which Faye blew back before hanging up, leaving Mariah to read the new text.

iMessage–Fezco
Only you

She smiled, her heart fluttering along with the butterflies in her stomach, making her excitedly giggle as she put her phone back down after leaving Fezco on read.

She actually really fucking liked him. Maybe it wasn't just a crush like she told Faye.

And Faye was right; she was certainly most definitely positively not like this when she first started talking to the D word. Obviously she had feelings for him then, but she doesn't think there's even a word to describe what she has for Fezco now.

And they haven't been talking for even a week yet. Superman was just so fucking charming. And Mariah was just the type to catch feelings quick.

Her phone buzzed three times in a row as she grabbed a random bag of sour gummy worms off her vanity table that were probably Reyna's, sitting in her bed and grabbing her phone as she picked a red and blue worm to eat.

iMessage–Fezco
Can I be honest with you

iMessage–Fezco
I be thinking about you a lot

iMessage–Fezco
I don't know what's up with you and your homeboy but I really wanna get to know you

Fezco's heart dropped as he reread his own texts to Mariah, shaking his head at himself before he shut his phone off and put it down on the counter besides him, glancing up at Rue to distract himself as she rambled about this girl, Jewel, she had a crush on.

"You'll like her, she's so fucking cool, Fez. I really wanna introduce her to you," Rue told Fezco.

Rue had been talking about this girl ever since she walked in about an hour ago, but if Fezco was being honest, he hadn't paid attention to anything she had said.

"Who?" Fezco asked.

Rue gave him a look, wondering if he was even listening to her talking as she ate a few Doritos from the bag she snatched when she came in.

"Jules, man," She said. "How about tonight? We're supposed to hang out but we don't know what to do so maybe we can swing by your pla–"

"Nah, not tonight, I ain't gon be home," Fezco cut Rue off before she went any further with her plan.

Rue raised an eyebrow at Fezco, as a way to ask where he was gonna be on a Thursday night other than at home.

"Where the fuck are you gonna be on a Thursday night?" Rue asked him with a laugh.

Fezco shrugged, "Business, Rue."

"He's going to the strip club," Ashtray informed her from where he restocked the fridge, making Rue smirk.

"Oh, I see. Well maybe me and Jules can come!" Rue told Fezco, who gave her an unamused look.

"Yo Fez," Some regular walked into the store, raising his hand up, which held a few bills.

Fezco nodded his head towards the freezer, walking towards it. Rue watched both Fezco and his customer disappear into the freezer through the door before looking back at her chips, and then at Fezco's phone on the counter after noticing it out of the corner of her eye.

She smirked and picked his phone up without a second thought, pressing the side button to activate Siri.

"Facetime Mariah," Rue told Siri, making Ashtray look back at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Yo, ain't that kinda weird?" Ashtray asked.

"Who cares? I need to see what she looks like," Rue shrugged.

Rue had gotten Fezco to tell her a little bit about Mariah while they smoked together the other day, but she still didn't know what she looked like, and she was quite literally dying to know.

And Rue was a full on detective when she wanted to be, but there was only so much she could find by just knowing the girl's name and occupation.

Ashtray shook his head at Rue as he continued restocking, "All strippers are hot."

"No, the strippers in GTA are ugly as shit," Rue argued as the Facetime call connected.

"It's a game, dumb ass," Ashtray rolled his eyes.

Mariah fixed her hair in her phone camera before she accepted the Facetime call, fanning herself with her hand for a second due to how red she had gotten. She had been excitedly giggling *cue Pop's laugh from Regular Show* while reading his most recent texts to her, thinking of how to tell him her ass was already half in love with him and to forget about her homeboy when her phone started ringing.

She took a deep breath as the call connected, but instead of seeing Fezco, some girl eating Doritos and squinting hard at the phone took up her screen.

Who the fuck is this bitch
Oh shit. What if this is his girlfriend
FUCK I knew he was too good to be true

Rue dropped her jaw upon seeing Mariah, covering her mouth with her hand for a split second before smiling.

"Holy shit," Rue gasped, taken aback with how pretty this girl Fezco had been texting was. No wonder his lame ass was smiling at his phone 24/7.

"What?" Mariah asked her and awkwardly laughed.

"You're Mariah?" Rue asked, pointing her finger at the screen.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Right, sorry, I'm Rue!" Rue smiled and waved her hand. "I'm like, Fez's best friend, but who cares about him, let's talk about you–you're so pretty."

"Thank you," Mariah smiled.

"No, like, actually, you're hot. Now I get why Fez is over here giggling at his phone and shit," Rue said, making Mariah blush at the new knowledge. "You have him whipped."

"Good to know," Mariah laughed.

"I mean, I asked Fez if you were hot and he just laughed, which gave me the impression that you were hot, but holy fuck, he should have laughed louder because you are so–like seriously, Mariah, nothing could have ever prepared me for this," Rue spoke in disbelief, waving her hand around as she talked.

Mariah smiled, biting into the red half of a red and yellow gummy worm. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Oh he's busy right now," Rue said, looking back into the freezer to see Fezco talking to his customer. "I kinda...stole his phone, but like, it's his fucking fault because who just leaves their phone on the counter?"

Mariah laughed at the way Rue scoffed and shook her head at Fezco, noticing another head pop in the frame.

"Oh it's you," Ashtray smiled upon seeing the stripper who called him out on his age. "Sup beautiful."

"Hey Rollingtray," Mariah smiled back.

Ashtray dropped his smile and furrowed her eyebrows as Rue laughed, making Mariah realize she misnamed him again.

"Oh wait no, my bad, I forgot, it's Asht–"

"Stop smoking weed and maybe you won't forget," Ashtray scoffed before walking off, making Mariah raise her eyebrows.

Rue just laughed, "No way, one second he was flirting with you and the next he hates you."

"Oh my god, I didn't mean to say the wrong name," Mariah lightly laughed. "Fezco corrected me the other day too."

"Nah, don't worry, he'll get over it. He pulled a gun on me once cause I ate his Lucky Charms and we're still cool," Rue told Mariah before glancing at Ashtray. "Ash, don't be an asshole."

"Peace out bro," Fezco dapped his customer up as they exited the freezer together, glancing over at Rue as she talked to her phone. "Yo Rue, you gon need a ride? Ima close in a few."

Mariah raised an eyebrow once hearing Fezco's voice, causing Rue to stop talking mid sentence.

"Uh, no, I can walk," Rue answered with an awkward laugh as Fezco walked back to the counter.

"Is that my–why you got my phone?"

"Oh this is your phone?" Rue continued awkwardly laughing, exchanging panicked looks with Mariah.

"Rue," Fezco sternly said as she looked back at him, then looked back at the phone in her hand.

"I gotta go, it was nice to meet you Mariah, you're really pretty!" Rue smiled before shoving the phone in Fezco's hand and walking towards the exit.

"Rue, what the fuck," Fezco called out after her, his heart dropping at hearing Mariah's name.

"Sorry, gotta go meet up with Jules. Have fun at the strip club," Rue smirked as she walked out of the store, patting Ashtray's head on her way.

Fezco huffed in amusement after hearing Mariah laugh a little from his phone, "Fuck you, bro. Be safe."

He finally glanced down at his phone, his heart fluttering once meeting Mariah's eyes with his, making them both smile.

"Hey," She said as she pressed her lips together, still smiling.

"Wassup ma," Fezco smiled back, glancing at Ashtray who silently gagged, then shot his brother a smirk as he walked back into his freezer. "Yo, I'm sorry bout Rue, she a lil–"

"Oh no, it's fine," Mariah said before laughing. "She was saying that I was so pretty that nothing could have prepared her for seeing me."

Fezco smiled, shaking his head at Rue. "Well, she ain't wrong," He agreed, looking at Mariah. "You seen my texts?"

Fezco noted Mariah's pink tinted cheeks as she looked away from her screen, but still smiled.

"Yeah I seen them," She answered.

"And like, what you th–"

"Why don't we talk about it later?" Mariah suggested.

"Later?" Fezco asked, eyebrows pulling together.

"At Wayne's?" Mariah smirked a little as they met eyes again, Fezco getting the hint. At Wayne's in the private session rooms.

"Aight," He agreed. "It is better to talk in person."

"Yeah, it is," Mariah smiled.

"Yeah," Fezco smiled back. "I'll see you then?"

"You will," Mariah confirmed once again. "Bye Superman."

She blew him a kiss before hanging up, dropping her phone in her lap and resting her head on her bed frame behind her. She stared up at the ceiling with the biggest lovesick smile plastered on her face, her heart beating so fucking fast.

He looked finer than she remembered. And she hadn't noticed he had freckles and his eyes were blue until now, since she had only ever seen him in the dark before.

But he still had that cute ass smile. And the gap between his two front teeth made him ten times cuter.

For the first time ever, she was genuinely excited to go to work.

"That was the softest shit I ever seen. You haven't even fucked and you're already pussy whipped," Ashtray snarked from the freezer door, smirking as Fezco glanced back to look at him.

"Shut the fuck up and get back in yo freezer."

—$—

"Hey, Wayne wants to see you in his office," Diamond advised Mariah as she got ready for her set.

Mariah and Faye exchanged looks, both a little worried since Wayne had been yelling at one of the other girls when they got to the club, which meant he was in a bad mood, which meant that she was probably gonna get yelled at too.

"Fuck," Mariah muttered under her breath, fanning the lashes she had just put on so that the glue would dry completely quicker.

"Well you missed like two nights in a row, I wouldn't be surprised," Zara commented from a few vanities away.

"Shut the fuck up Zara, she was going through something," Faye rolled her eyes.

Zara laughed, "We're all going through shit, that don't mean we can skip out on work. Mariah–"

"I do whatever I want," Mariah shut her up, standing up and checking herself out in the mirror before walking out of the dressing rooms and into the hall, making her way to Wayne's office.

Her rhinestone platform heels clicked against the floor as she walked, which she loved to hear, it reminded her of the bad bitches in the movies.

As she walked into Wayne's office, the smell of weed and a certain someone's cologne filled her nostrils, almost making her smile because he had been in here. He's already here.

"Diamond said you wanted to see me?" Mariah spoke, making Wayne look up from some money he was counting. "Make this quick cause my set's starting soon and–"

"Shut the fuck up," Wayne cut her off.

Mariah gave him a look, waiting for him to speak. She watched him wrap a rubber band around the money, thinking of the way Fezco did that in his car a few nights ago. Fezco definitely looked way finer doing it.

"You were out for two fucking nights, Valentine," Wayne gritted as he dropped the stack on his desk. "Do you know how many men get up and leave when they hear that you're not working?"

AKA do you know how much money you cost me when you're not working?

Mariah fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm sorry, there's just been some shit going on at hom–"

"And now you're gonna lie about it?! I spoke to Mouse, he said you've just been locked in your room the past few days."

"You're gonna believe him over me?"

"So you're saying Mouse is lying to me?" Wayne squinted. "You didn't spend these past few days locked away in your room at home?"

"Oh my god, okay, yeah I have, because I've been sad, and honestly, I don't fucking feel safe over here anymore," Mariah truthfully said.

"Why's that?" Wayne questioned. "What's got you down?"

Mariah scoffed, "Don't act like you care."

"I'm your boss, Mariah, of course I care. I care about you."

"No, actually, all you care about is the money I bring you," Mariah corrected him, making him furrow his eyebrows and sit up.

"Who do you think you are?" Wayne scoffed. "I could throw you out of here right fucking now."

"Do it then."

Wayne stared at Mariah for a good minute before just laughing. He knew he wouldn't, and he hated that Mariah also knew.

"You said you don't feel safe here, why's that?" He changed the subject.

"My ex showed up the other night and almost beat my ass," Mariah let him know, not holding back. "And there's always some old ass guys tryna touch me and shit. I remember asking you for a personal bouncer?"

"I'll get you a personal bouncer, Mariah," Wayne gave in with a sigh, looking Mariah up and down.

"Thank you," She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Wayne's eyes fixate themselves there.

His eyes flickered up to hers before giving her a cold smile. "Better hurry up, your set's starting soon, sweetheart."

Mariah turned around and quickly exited his office without another word, feeling his eyes on her ass as she walked out. Fucking creep.

Within five minutes, she was on stage with the rest of the girls apart of her set.

She spotted Fezco immediately, sat back on the sofa in the VIP section with a blunt hanging from his lips as he sold dime bags of pills and weed, but kept his eyes on her through it all. Only her.

Besides him sat Faye's boyfriend Custer, and on his other side sat Zara.

Bitch get the fuck away from my man or I'll beat the fuck out of you

It was almost like Zara heard Mariah's thoughts, rolling her eyes at being ignored by Fezco and moving to talk to someone else.

Fezco wasn't playing when he said his eyes would be on only her. Mariah's heart fluttered at the thought.

His eyes shamelessly moved up her body, and unlike with Wayne, she loved the attention. It was different coming from the guy you liked.

It was different coming from the guy you wanted.

Fezco's eyes stayed on Mariah through her whole 10 minute set, then followed her off the stage as she approached the private sessions manager to ask if anyone had requested her, hoping nobody did so that she would have to go around offering private dances, knowing she was gonna go straight to Fezco again.

"Four guys came up and asked for you," The manager told her. "But the dope boy bought you out for the night."

Mariah looked over at Fezco in the VIP section as the other girls spoke to the manager, heart fluttering as she unconsciously but excitedly made her way over to him.

The D word never ever came and bought her out for the night.

Mariah found herself plopping down right besides Fezco as he exchanged a dime bag for a few 20's, feeling both nervous and excited under his flickering gaze and in his presence.

Once his customer walked off, he turned his full attention to Mariah, staring at her as he took his blunt out of his mouth.

"You bought me out?" She asked him, running her fingers up his arm, which rested between them on the sofa.

"Is that okay?" He genuinely wondered, goosebumps spreading over his skin at her touch.

Mariah smiled at his worry, "Yeah. That means you get me all to yourself...not that you already don't have me."

Fezco licked his lips before smiling, "Is that so?"

"It is," Mariah glanced down at his hand, making him open it for her to take. She didn't think twice before she grabbed his hand, locking her fingers with his.

Fezco watched as she stood up, pulling his hand up with her, making him get up with her after a few seconds.

Mariah and Faye made eye contact as Mariah pulled Fezco along with her, both of them exchanging some excited smiles at who's hand she was holding.

"You know the drill this time, right?" Mariah teased Fezco as they entered a room, turning around to close the curtains.

"Yeah I know the drill this time," He scoffed playfully as he took a seat, watching Mariah step closer to him. "You lookin real pretty tonight, ma."

Mariah smiled, holding her arms out to her side as she did a lil spin. "You like it?"

He nodded, smiling back as he reached up to touch the fuzzy ends of the sleeves. "I do."

Mariah laughed a little, hearing Faye's voice in her head. Save the I do for the wedding.

Fezco's breath hitched as she stepped in between his legs, grabbing his hand from where it played with her sleeves to help her steady herself as she sat in his lap.

"Shit, my bad," He apologized for not helping before. "You got me stuck in a trance."

Mariah blushed, eyeing the blunt he held in his left hand before looking at him. "I think you're just high, Fezco."

"Maybe," Fezco sucked in a breath. "But it ain't off this blunt."

"Shut upppp," Mariah laughed, breaking their eye contact to look around the room. She then glanced down at Fezco under her, laughing a little as she lightly tapped her fingers along his neck.

"What?" Fezco asked, eyes flickering up to meet Mariah's as she laughed.

"Nothingggg...I'm just nervous," Mariah admitted, making Fezco furrow his eyebrows and smile a little.

"Shit, I'm nervous too," He laughed, watching as Mariah grabbed his hand and placed it on her thigh for him. "You...you seen my texts."

Mariah tried not to smile at the fact that he was really set on talking about his texts before anything else. It showed how serious he was about it.

"I reread them like a million times," Mariah said, smirking as Fezco started to bounce his leg up and down. "You be thinking about me?"

Fezco licked his lips before nodding his head. "All the time," He told her, butterflies invading his insides at the sight of her smiling. "I, um..."

Fezco trailed off, looking away from Mariah to look down at his blunt, thinking of how to tell her he liked her, thinking if it was even a good time to tell her, a million thoughts flooding into his mind at once.

He wasn't the best with words, which explains why the one word he said the most was word. But he knew he liked her. And lucky for him, Mariah also knew.

At least, she did now.

"Hey," Mariah spoke softly at seeing him become discouraged due to not knowing what to say. She placed her hand on his cheek, turning his head to face her.

She gave him a comforting smile, rubbing her thumb against his cheek, which only had Fezco even more nervous.

"I know," She whispered as if it were a secret between them. "Me too."

Fezco stared up at Mariah, focusing on the way she moved his chin up a little and slowly leaned in. Before he knew it, she had pressed her lips to his and his eyes fluttered shut, much like the butterflies that fluttered within the both of them.

Fezco wrapped an arm around Mariah's waist, pulling her closer to him on his lap and deepening their kiss at the same time.

He thought about kissing Mariah ever since she wrapped her pretty lips around his blunt the other night. And in Rue's words:

Nothing could have ever prepared him for this.