Free Camp Jameson by Wendy Lea Thomas

leg hook, and then she planted her feet back to the ground. “Okay, Tara,
you try first,” Sienna instructed, motioning Tara toward her pole.
    Tara was average height with
sandy blonde hair and slim narrow hips. She wobbled terribly in her high
platform shoes and I wanted to ask Sienna why we couldn’t go without the shoes
until we got more comfortable but I knew this was part of the torment, I mean,
lesson.
    Tara stepped in half steps to
the pole and her nervousness radiated through her tight grip on the pole.
    “Loosen your grip,” Sienna said
stepping up next to her. Sienna pulled her shoulders back and let her hand fall
to the middle of Tara’s back. Tara was a nervous wreck. Her chest was moving
hard and fast and her eyes were wide with fear. Sienna urged her forward.
Stiffly, Tara teetered around the pole and came back to her original spot. On
her last step her ankle buckled and she tumbled into Sienna. Sienna just caught
her in time before she face planted to the ground.
    “I can’t do this,” Tara said
with tears in her eyes. We all knew her dumb husband was glaring at her from
the hallway through the thick glass windows.
    “Take a break, we’ll try again
in a bit. Start by practice walking around the room in your shoes. That’s half
the battle.”
    “Now Aria, you try,” Sienna
said.
    “I think I need another shot,” I
muttered. Colt chuckled and moved to the mini sized bar and poured me another
double. He quickly hurried back to me and I tilted the glass back. I felt it burn
all the way down my throat.
    “Geez. What is that stuff?”
    Colt smirked. “It’s Jameson whiskey.
Good stuff isn’t it?”
    I nodded as I felt my shoulders
relax. I closed my eyes and just escaped into the moment. I let the music fill
my head and flow over my body. I stepped up to the pole and turned my back
towards it. I reached both arms up behind me and grabbed the pole and bent my
leg.
    “Good. Now arch your back a bit
more. Show us your goods,” Sienna commanded. “Good. Now turn and grip the pole
with your left hand and walk around it. Stop when you get to the same spot you
started.” I did as she asked, feeling more confident by the second. “Sway your
hips some… good,” Sienna continued. “Now hold the bar with your right hand.
Lift your left leg and curl it around the pole. Let your left arm fall back
behind you. Great, that’s it. Let your head fall back a little and look at me.
Pretend I’m the man you want to seduce. How do you feel?”
    “Ridiculous,” I said angling my
neck at a weird angle to look at her.
    “Well you look hot,” Sienna
said. “Okay, do it again. This time try to build up some speed.” Then it happened.
My eyes saw movement by the door and I felt my grip falter when I saw Avery
Jameson leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and staring right
at me. My sweaty palms slipped from the pole and I flew backwards as my feet
slipped and pointed up at the ceiling while the rest of my body landed hard on
my back. Bwhump!
    Giggles filled the room. I
groaned and stood up trying to gather what self-respect I had left and tried to
ignore the rather large crowd that had gathered to watch me through the windows.
    “Don’t think about the pole or
the people. Just feel the music. You’re the entertainer; the pole is an
extension of your body. Whether you’re straddling it or spinning around it,
whatever movement you choose will bring life to it, not the other way around,”
Sienna said.
    I watched as Caitlyn spiraled
around the pole like she had done it for a living. She was desperately trying
to hold Avery’s attention but his eyes kept wandering to me. Caitlyn noticed
where his eyes rested but she was confident on her heels and showed no fear. My
eyes shifted toward Amber to see that she was struggling a little with her grip
on the pole. On her other side Tara held her wide-eyed gaze as Caitlyn
straddled the pole and hung upside down. Okay, maybe I wasn’t doing as well as
I