I’d been dancing for three hours straight, the bass from the speakers still throbbing between my legs like a second heartbeat. The Velvet Lounge smelled like sweat, perfume, and spilled whiskey tonight, and I was already soaked before the last customer even slid his hand up my thigh. My stage name was Jade, but right now I was just a girl who’d run away from a house that never felt like home.
I hated my mother—her screaming, her belts, the way she’d look at me like I was the reason her life turned to s**t. Stephan, my stepdad, had been the only soft thing in that house. Quiet. Kind. He’d sneak me money for school supplies, cover for me when I came home late, never once raised his voice. But kindness alone couldn’t keep the roof from caving in. So at twenty I packed a duffel and left witho
