The women jumped for it, tearing the fabric into pieces and holding up their trophy of scraps. Onstage he continued to move, showing off his chiseled chest. A woman jumped onstage and ripped off her shirt. She had large breasts that bounced as she ran toward him.

Rather than retreat, he danced toward her, staying at arm’s length, but moving around her. Seconds later, security pulled her off stage.

Thaddeus watched her go for a second, gave a little shrug, then turned his attention back to his audience. Unity heard cries of “I need you, Thaddeus” and “Take me, please. I’ll do anything you want.”

The beat of the song increased, as did the screaming. Without warning, Thaddeus grabbed the sides of his pants and gave a sharp tug. The garment split along the side seam and he pulled them away. Dressed only in a G-string, he paused to let them enjoy the show. Seconds later, the video ended.

Unity closed the window and tried to make sense of what she’d seen. Despite the visual proof, she couldn’t reconcile the man she knew with the man in the video. Thaddeus was nothing like that. He was funny and kind and he loved his aunt. She couldn’t imagine him dancing like that in front of her. She would die of embarrassment.

She wasn’t offended by what he’d done—if she had to pick an emotion, she would say she was confused. Obviously he’d done well and used the money and time to prepare for the next stage of his life, which spoke well of his character. She supposed part of the problem was the sexuality of it all. In her world, that stuff was private.

She clicked on one of the articles about him and scanned the text. Thaddeus had been voted the man women would most like to make love with three years in a row.

“Oh, honey, I’ve been married ten years,” one fan told me for this article. “When I’ve had a bad day with the kids and my husband gives me the look, I know I just have to picture Thaddeus and I’m good to go. That body, those hands, the way he fills his G-string. It’s all so yummy. I hear the music in my head and it’s about five seconds to launch.”

Unity felt her eyes widen. “Maybe people are different in Las Vegas,” she murmured aloud.

She couldn’t imagine thinking about someone else while making love with her husband. She’d only ever thought of Stuart. And if she were with a different man, she would be thinking of him. Not that she was going to have sex with someone else. She was—

She stood as unexpected tears burned in her eyes. Was that true? Was she never going to make love ever again in her entire life? Was she done with that?

Stuart was gone and she didn’t plan on being with anyone else, so not having a sexual partner was a natural outcome. She would be fine. She didn’t really need that kind of closeness or touching.