Page 8 of Strictly Business

Amara

“You see? Even Mark Darcy broke Bridget’s heart,” I mutter dramatically, wiping my nose on the sleeve of my sweater. Pumpkin stretches lazily on my lap, her eyes fluttering shut. She doesn’t care about my emotional breakdown. Of course she doesn’t. She’s a cat. Her priorities begin and end with food, naps, and plotting my demise when I forget to give her a treat.

“There’s no hope for me if they can’t make it work,” I sniff, sinking further into my couch of despair. Pumpkin purrs in reply, or maybe she’s just mocking me. It’s hard to tell.

But then a knock at the door jolts me out of my pity spiral, and my heart leaps into my throat. I glance at the thin, useless curtains covering the window. The faint glow of the streetlights filters through, confirming that, yep, it’s late. And dark. And definitely not the time for unannounced visitors.

My first thought?Serial killer. My second?Do I have time to grab a weapon?

I don’t have time to do anything but stay frozen in place, staring at the door in panic.

When the knocking doesn’t stop, I groan and drag myself off the squeaky couch-bed hybrid. The cold floorboards send a shiver up my spine, but I shuffle toward the door, wondering if I’m about to be murdered with pizza crumbs on my clothes.

I reach for the door handle, mentally cursing the builder who decided a peephole wasn’t needed. Seriously, who designed this?

But when I finally twist the handle and crack the door open, it’s not a random stranger or a serial killer. It’s Jade and Sophie. Standing in my hallway.

Sophie crosses her arms over her chest, scanning the interior of my apartment, and the hallway, like someone would a crime scene—with mild horror.

Jade, on the other hand, breezes past me, scrunching her nose and arching an eyebrow. “You don’t even have space to breathe in here.” Her arms fling out wide, only to crash into my fridge and the wall.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand. I just wanted to watch a cheesy movie, drown in ice cream, and cry into Pumpkin’s fuzzy paws until I passed out.

Sophie kicks the door shut with her foot and Jade spins around, her brows raising as she assesses my pink, strawberry print pajamas, a smirk curling up her lips. “Nice pajamas,” she teases.

I cross my arms over my chest, giving her a look. “They’re comfortable,” I shoot back, shaking my head when the realization of them both being in my apartment—which I didn’t tell anyone about—hits me.

“How did you guys find me?” I ask them, glancing between them. Jade’s heels click on the floors as she walks over to thecoffee table, picking up the empty carton of Ice cream toppled on its side.

Sophie—whose eyes are still darting around the small, cramped space, from the mismatched furniture to the dishes piled up in the sink, to the laundry half-folded on the tiny pull-out couch—folds her arms, standing by the door like she’s afraid to get too close. “We went to your place, looking for you. Liam told us you moved out?” Her head tilts slightly. “He tracked your phone and told us where you were.”

I blink, my pulse quickening. I don’t know how I feel about my ex still having access to my location.

“I told you guys we broke up,” I say with a shrug.

Jade places her hand on her hip, glaring at me. “Yes, but you never told us you were the one who moved out.” Her voice drops a notch. “And to this place, no less,” she adds, shaking her head. “You could’ve come to us, Amara. I would’ve let you crash at my place without a second thought.”

I get it. I know they’re frustrated, and honestly, I’m frustrated too. I should’ve told them. But…

I cross my arms tighter around myself. “I didn’t want to tell anyone,” I admit, glancing down at the worn rug beneath my feet. “I just… I felt embarrassed. And I couldn’t stay there another second,” I confess. “Not when—” I pause, swallowing hard as the memory rushes back. “Not when he slept with someone else on our bed while I was at work.”

The silence that follows is thick. I can feel Jade’s anger building as she inhales sharply. Her eyes widen in disbelief. “He didwhat?” she asks, her voice cracking with fury. Her fists clench at her sides. “I’m going back there right now and kicking his ass.”

“Jade, stop,” I say, stepping in front of her before she can do something crazy. We both know there’s no stopping her once she’s set on something.

Jade’s eyes narrow as she glares at me. “I’m not letting him get away with this. We need to do something about it.”

Sophie clears her throat, unwrapping her arms and placing a hand on Jade’s shoulder. “I don’t think getting arrested for assault is going to help Amara.”

“I look good in orange,” Jade adds with a grin, flicking her straight brown hair behind her shoulder. “Now, are you going to help me, or am I going to have to take him down myself?”

I sigh, rubbing my temples. “Jade, you need to calm down. He’s not worth it.” Jade’s fierce. She’d die for her friends, no questions asked. But Sophie and I both know we have to keep her in check because, let’s be real, she’d alsokillfor us without a second thought.

“Amara’s right,” Sophie adds. “That asshole doesn’t deserve a single tear or a single drop of sweat, from you or anyone else.”

“Hecheatedon you.” Jade frowns. “I might be allergic to the idea of relationships, but cheating? That’s a hard no in my book.”

Sophie chuckles, tilting her head at Jade. “Who would’ve known?”

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