CassiopeiaEuropa

They say your 21st birthday was one you never forget. Sahara most definitely had one for the ages. While it wasn't his 21st, she knew Hangman certainly remembered hers. 

As any great best friends would, they threw her a party at a Go-Go club near their local Naval Air Base. It was your usual club scene: music blaring so loud you could hardly hear yourself, warm bodies sliding over each other and drinks sloshing in their cups as the patrons swayed back and forth in a boozy haze. She wasn't much of a party girl but hey you don't turn 21 everyday. 

Letting her friends navigate, she was careful not to bump into anyone or get drinks spilled on her. This was her favourite dress after all. She loved how the gold brought out the glow of her dark brown skin and how it fit perfectly on her. Best of all, it had pockets!

The group of girls made their way to the bar and she couldn't help but gawk at the Go-Go dancers on the bar top. They had every kind of first responder there in skimpier versions of their uniforms. She always did have a thing for men in uniform. Her friends were cheering at the men and they came armed with dollar notes to stuff in the dancers’ underwear while she went to get them drinks. 

***

It had been a long day at training on base today and the Young Guns needed to unwind. They usually go to the Hard Deck but Payback was told about this up-and-coming Go-Go bar nearby. Fanboy said all the girls loved them in their uniforms and there were dancers for Phoenix. To which she had responded she preferred the women at the bar. 

Hangman was just always looking for a good time so, of course, he agreed. He scanned the room, to see who he would bring home tonight. He got his friends' order and started to head to the bar. He made his way around the club stealthily. He had an artful way of avoiding physical contact with people until he wanted to. 

Both Sahara and him made their way to the bar at the same time and ordered in sync. She chuckled softly and offered to let him go first.

“No, it’s alright," he said with a shake of his head and a heartstopping smile, "Ladies’ first.” He moved aside for her to go ahead. She hated to admit it but coupled with his warm eyes and grin, it worked. He really did have a charming smile that made her breath hitch for a moment. At this point, she took a moment to really look at him. He looked like the Popular Jock archetype from a teen movie. Everything about him screamed All-American Ken doll to her from his side-slicked hair, clean shaven look to his bright green eyes. She was willing to bet that he was a quarterback back in the day, the kind of guy who thought he was a hot-shot in some Texas - she had detected a slight accent - high school in the middle of nowhere. 

Finally the bartender came over and snapped her out of staring at him. She dipped her head gratefully at Hangman and ordered. She turned to him after she had prattled off the group's drinks. 

“Why don’t we order together. What would you like?” She offered so he wouldn’t have to wait either. He quirked up the side of his mouth in an amused grin and gave her the crew’s orders for her to pass along. He had seen her staring moments ago and had a smug smile. Now, he was certainly interested in getting to know her. Just maybe, he had found the person to bring home tonight. He returned the favour of staring back at her as she relayed their orders to the bartender. 

She had the kind of beauty that required a second look. He studied her for a few moments, to take all of her in. She certainly took him by surprise as he was checking her out. She seemed very friendly, even with strangers like him and the bartender. Her eyes were a brown that radiated warmth and he could feel her full attention when she talked to him. It was the way her nose scrunched up trying to remember the order and the disarming way she smiled at him when asking about his drinks. His eyes then sweeped down the curve of her neck leading right to the main event. 

Her breasts were hard to miss. It was a very nice pair if he could say so himself. Voluptuous and seemed very snug, resting comfortably in her dress' bust. Of course, who could miss the birthday sash across her chest? It came with the territory. He forced himself to look into her eyes when she turned to him. 

“That’s a lot of drinks for one person.” She joked after she had placed the order. He couldn’t help but how her eyes glittered in amusement. She did have gorgeous eyes. She was beautiful, what else could he ask for in a one night stand? 

“Oh, I usually can drink anyone under a table but no, those are for my team back there.” He gestured to a group of uniformed men and women. She followed his eyeline and a few of them caught her eye. She waved at them to be friendly. As the drinks came, they split their drinks between them and Hangman paid before she could get her wallet out. For an All-American hotshot, he was pretty generous. 

“You didn’t have to do that.” She smiled as she took out her own cash to pay him back. 

“No, think of it as a birthday present.” He smirked, brushing her hand aside. Before she could ask how he knew, he gestured to her sash. “Hard not to notice it. Happy Birthday.” He wished her before sauntering away to his group. She just stared at him as he walked over to his table. It felt like a dream. A guy buying her a whole round for her birthday and not expecting anything in return? It felt too good to be true. She gave her head a small shake, not going to overthink it anymore, and headed back to her own group. 

Her friend nudged her playfully, “That was a really cute guy, did you get his number?” 

She couldn’t help but laugh but shook her head no. “Come on, today is about us, I don’t need a guy intruding on girls’ night.” Sahara declared, holding her drink up and had everyone clink their glasses together. 

“No, but we DO need some dancers here!” Another one of her friends cheered as they went to get some of the dancers for their group. Sahara needed a few more drinks before she could work up the nerve to want a lap dance, so for the first part of the night, she redirected the men to her friends. 

As the night wore on, Sahara saw her friends get more sloppy and very much inebriated. One of them started to wander off, her eyes lighting up as she spotted Hangman. She recognised him from earlier but couldn’t quite place how she knew him. Seeing him in uniform, she immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had to be a dancer.  Sahara’s friend downed another shot and made a beeline for him to ask him to give Sahara a dance.

Hangman was just shooting the shit with his friends as they did every Friday going into their weekend off. The night was still young, and this was around the time he picked up the girl and headed back to his place. But he wasn’t going to go over to Birthday Girl to beg. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin never begged. He loved it when they came to him. Besides, his part was done - buying her drinks. Now, it was her move. Unfortunately for him, she was taking longer than they usually did. He had been sneaking looks at her all night to see if she was ever going to come over, and the constant glances didn’t go unnoticed by his friends. 

Coyote was the first one to notice - of course, his ex-turned-best friend knew him the best. He playfully teased Hangman, “Found your target for the night?” Coyote was loud enough that the whole crew turned to look at her across the room. 

Oblivious to the attention, Sahara was just sipping her drink and smiling at her friends enjoying themselves with the dancers. She genuinely seemed to delight in their joy. Her dark hair swayed as she bobbed along to the thumping bass of the generic EDM that was playing through speakers. Hangman was personally a country music man but he took personal satisfaction in going one night without Rooster unplugging the music to play Great Balls of Fire. It was a good song, a great song even but to hear him play it every other weekend was ruining the song for everyone. 

There was something endearing about the way Sahara was more than happy to let her friends have the fun on her birthday. Maybe he could show her some fun. 

Halo and Phoenix were the first ones to pick up on Hangman practically undressing her with his eyes. They clicked their tongues disapprovingly at the boys.

“Bagman, leave her alone.” Phoenix piped up warningly while Halo finished the sentence, “Yeah, it’s her birthday, Hang, I’m sure she wants to be left alone on a girls’ night.” 

“Hey, birthday sex is always great. Don’t knock on it until y’all have tried it.” He said smoothly as a drunk girl stumbled over to their table. She had a toothy grin directed at him. This was clearly someone on a mission. 

“Are you lost, sweetie?” Halo nevertheless asked in her gentlest voice. Hangman couldn’t help but smile softly. Halo was honestly the nicest person he had met at Top Gun, but she was ruthless in the air. The stranger shook her head and then pointed at him. Hangman gestured to himself as if to say ‘Me?’, slightly confused.

“Hiiii,” She slurred in a high pitched voice, and took a moment to get out the words. She was drunk drunk. “I know you’re on your break right now, but I think my friend would love a dance from you! It’s her birthday, so you can’t say no!” She pouted as if that would help her case. As if sad drunk girls pouting were men’s kryptonite and well, she wasn't wrong. Hangman couldn't say no to that face. The moment she mentioned birthday, he knew exactly who she was talking about. Just to make sure, he looked over at where the drunk girl was pointing. Sure enough, it was Birthday Girl. 

The crew was too stunned to speak. They couldn't believe that someone actually mistook him for one of the dancers. Rooster was the first one to break the silence with a snort. 

"Oh honey, he's not-" 

"Shut the hell up, Bradshaw." Hangman hissed at him immediately, shutting Rooster down. He was flattered to be mistaken and more than happy to try to live up to the expectation. Now, even more so to prove Rooster wrong. He turned to the girl and put on his sweetest smile. 

"Of course I can, sweetheart. Lead the way." He stood up and started to follow her. He gave his friends a cheeky grin and two finger salute as he walked away. This burst their bubble of shock and Phoenix was the first one to laugh. 

"He's going to crash and burn." 

"Care to wager on that?" Payback asked the team, his eyes bright. Fritz took off his baseball cap to serve as their winnings pot and everyone started to toss their bills in. 

"My question is how the hell did he get asked?" Rooster folded his arms, huffing in annoyance. Coyote elbowed him playfully. 

"Jealous it wasn't you?"

"God, you sound just like him." Fanboy teased. 

Havard was the one who ended up shushing them.

"Hey guys, shut up! He's actually doing it." He pointed across the room where Hangman was chatting her up. Instantly, 10 camera phones came up and were recording. With the exception of Bob who was mortified for everyone involved. Yet, he couldn't look away. None of them could. They watched with bated breath as Hangman went over to make his move. 

*

Hangman strutted over to the birthday party, his eyes gleaming. He's never done this before but there's a first time for everything. As always, he's going to be the best at it. It was going to be so easy having her be his first. I mean look at her. She was hot. He could already imagine running hands down those curves. He saw the exact moment she realised he was prowling towards her. Her eyes were wide and her lips parted as she flushed. Her long, toned legs flexed in front of her as though she was bracing for him. He imagined them wrapped around his waist, her high heels digging into his back as she urged him on. 

"Saharaaaaa, look what I got you!" Her friend excitedly presented Hangman to her with jazz hands. Sahara looked up from her drink in surprise. 

"So we meet again, sugar." He had on his shit-eating grin. There's that Southern charm, she thought to herself. 

"So we do." She echoed before looking at her friend curiously, "What exactly did you get me, babe?" 

"A stripper!" She cheered and raised her glass with their other friends. They all started to egg Hangman on. He flashed her friends a dazzling smile at their encouragement.

Barely able to contain himself, he positioned himself in front of the Birthday girl. He leaned in close to her. Her hair seemed shiny and soft to touch. He could already imagine how they'd feel between his fingers pulling them. His fingers playfully tapped up to his zipper as he took his time to slowly unzip his jumpsuit. He was already teasing her. Her friends were eating it up and cheering for them. 

She couldn’t tell if it was the tantalising way he dragged the zipper down or how close he was to her, but she felt herself getting hot under the collar. There was just something about the way he looked at her with those intense green eyes. It made her blush. It was the kind of intense blush that went down to your neck and you felt yourself go warm all over. It made her still in her seat, curious to see what he was going to do next. She honestly didn’t know what to do with herself. That was the main reason she had declined lap dances all night. She didn’t want them to feel awkward just because she was. 

Hangman recognised the nervous look in her eye. Hell, he didn’t even know what he was doing. But he had watched Magic Mike and Burlesque, and figured he knew enough. He did his best to move his body against hers - dancing sensually while shrugging off his jumpsuit. Those strippers made it look so easy. Having those rippable velcro costumes most likely helped. He scoffed to himself. 

He finally had his jumpsuit off, leaving only his undershirt and boxers on. He pressed his body against her, his hips flushed against hers. He leaned over to whisper to her. His lips were so close to her ear, his warm breath tickled her, earning a giggle from her. 

“Just relax, I’ve got you.”

“What do I do with my hands?” She whispered back as her friends cheered once more. 

“WOOO SAHARA GET IT GIRL!” She cringed at their shamelessness and shot him an apologetic look. 

He waved them off, and made her focus on him. He took her hands and guided them to his undershirt. 

“You can help me take this off.” He smirked as she started to lift it, “And feel free to look at them, I don’t mind. It’s a part of the job description.” 

She snorted at his last line. "I'm fairly certain real strippers don't have this many layers. " She murmured as she pulled off his shirt. 

He clicked his tongue as he hovered over her. "Appreciate that I'm the real deal, sweetheart." He then bent down to her eye level as she completely took his shirt off. The intense way they stared at each other did her blushing no favours. It took a moment before she was able to tear her eyes away from him. His abs easily caught her eye next. They were extremely well defined, as though they were sculpted from marble. All she could think about was running her hands over them, taking in every single detail of them and committing it to her memory. 

In short, they were gorgeous and nothing short of perfect that she couldn't stop staring. 

In one smooth move, he took the top from her and put it around the back of her neck - closing the gap between them. She couldn't help but marvel at his body up close. He did say she could stare and then she decided to take it one step further. She looked up at him with a mischievous grin as she reached out to touch them, feeling like Peggy Carter in the first Captain America film. She grew more self-assured as she started to drag her fingers down to his happy trail. This elicited a soft, satisfied moan from Hangman. She grinned at the reaction and became more bold. Pulling him by the waistband of his underwear, she encouraged him to grind on her. "Well, Mr. Real Deal, show me what you've got." 

"Tell me what you like, sweetheart." His voice was low and he dropped the shirt in favour of sitting on her lap. He started to move his hips against her. His fingers ran down her arms, giving her goosebumps. 

"This is a good start." She said breathlessly, holding his hips and guiding him at the speed she liked. She could feel warmth pooling in her underwear. 

He held her firm by her waist, his large hands fitting perfectly against her curves. He kept going at it for a few more minutes, her hips slightly bucking up to his to close whatever was left of the space between them. He saw the way she was hungrily taking in his abs. He did her a favour and lifted himself ever so slightly to show them off more. She whimpered softly at the loss of contact and pulled him back down before he could. 

"No, keep going." She gasped as she was getting close. A smug grin made its way onto his face. He loved it when they wanted more of him. He wasn't going to stop anytime soon. As she held him in place, his hands started to wander. He wanted to explore every inch of her before the night ended. 

"Happy to oblige, sugar." He flashed her his best smile and got to work. He then grabbed her thighs and had her wrap them around him. Just as he was pressing his length against her, he felt someone pull him back. Both Hang and Sahara groaned at being ripped apart. The sudden coolness of the air took them by surprise. She sucked in a breath as she looked up at the stranger. 

Rooster cleared his throat, snapping them out of their bubble. "Pack it up, Hangman. It's starting to look like a porno." At his words, Sahara's cheeks started to turn a deep red once it hit her they were in public. 

Hangman groaned but relented. Rooster was right. It was a public space and his flight suit with the Navy patches was discarded on the floor. It wasn't a good look. He was quick to put on the jumpsuit and zipped it up as if their little strip tease hadn't happened. 

He turned to Rooster with a sour look, "A porno, really? What, were you filming on camera?" He scoffed, being sarcastic. What he didn't expect was for Rooster to hold his phone with the video. 

"We got you on 10 different angles, Hang." He gestured to the rest of the team. 

"Fuck you Rooster." Hangman flipped him off then narrowed his eyes at his team. Turning to Sahara, he gave her an assuring smile. 

"You alright, sweetheart?" 

"I'm fine." She mumbled and had a hand covering her face in embarrassment. She was desperately trying to cover up how violently she was blushing. Hangman shooed Rooster away as he perched himself on the armrest of her chair. He lazily dangled his arm around her. 

"I'll tell them to delete the videos." He promised her. She shook her head. 

"No, it's not that - I bet you looked hilarious." She chuckled. Rooster joined her, having overhead it. 

"She's a keeper, Hang."

"A little privacy please, Brad Squared." Hangman knew how much Rooster hated being called that. It was enough to get him to leave after glaring. 

"I'm just surprised at how much I enjoyed that." She admitted to Hangman quietly once they were finally left alone. He gave her a teasing grin.

"Don't get lap dances very often?"

"Well, I suspect you don't do them very often either." She countered. 

He clicked his tongue in agreement and then reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it, darlin', I did too.” 

There was just something special about him and the charismatic way that he drew her in. She definitely liked him and didn’t want their night to end. She snuck a look at her friends to check in on them. They all looked done for the night. This emboldened her to make her proposition. 

“Hey, do you want to go back to my place?” 

This caught him off guard, it was usually him asking the question of the night. He had to admit it: it was pretty hot when the other person made the first move. He was not going to complain, he accomplished his mission for the night. 

“I would love that.” He said, doing his best to be nonchalant. Then gestured to their group of friends, “We should probably tell them, and maybe in your case get them home?” 

Sahara glanced over at her friends, most of them already passed out in their seats. She nodded, agreeing. “I’ll meet you out front in 15?” 

“Sounds like a plan.” They split off as Sahara called Ubers for her friends. 

Hangman strutted back to his crew with a smug look. The whole gang groaned when they saw his face. Money was being passed around from most of them with defeated looks and most of the cash going to Coyote, Yale and Payback. 

“Always bet on Hang to get the person!” Coyote hollered while Yale high fived him. Payback just snickered, “I don’t know how he does it, he always ends up taking them home, y'all.” He was relishing in being able to live up to his name. Everyone always paid back Payback. 

He shook his head amused at the gang, “Any of you want to front me cash for the Uber?” He asked the three who won the bet. Of course, his boy, Coyote came through and fished out a couple of bills. Hangman took them gratefully and tipped an imaginary hat at him.

"Thanks, buddy." 

“Thank you for always scoring, Hang.” He snickered and Hangman left his friends behind after bidding them good night. 

***

When he exited the club, he immediately clocked her standing by the curb. She was smiling sweetly at the last group of friends as she sent them off in the Uber. She gave them one last wave before wrapping her arms around her coat, trying to keep warm. Then she started to look around for him. Her eyes lit up the moment it met his. 

“Hey stranger.” He came up to her with his signature cocky smile.

“After what we did back there, I think we’re a little more than that. And we haven’t even exchanged names.” She laughed lightly. They did all that and he still didn’t know her name. 

“It’s Sahara, right? That’s what your friends were calling you.” 

She was pleasantly surprised he remembered. That Rooster guy did call him Hangman but that had to be his codename or something. 

“Bingo.”

“Like the desert?”

“Hangman, like the game?” 

“Touché. Actually, I’m Jake Seresin but you can call me anything you like, sweetheart.” He winked at her and she couldn’t help but giggle. 

“Are you always this cliché?” 

“I am.” He then draped his aviator jacket over her shoulders to prove the point further. “And I’m even going to cover our cab fare.” He said as he flagged down a cab. Her eyes softened at how kind he was being. 

“God, you’re a dream.” She said in awe and couldn’t wait to get him back to her place. She gave the cabbie her address before turning to Jake. She grabbed the lapels of his jumpsuit and pulled him closer to her.