Page 1 of Stroked
Chapter 1
Amy
Loud banging and shuffling sounds echoed from the living room. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Eight thirty.Seriously?
I slinked off the bed, dragging my feet to my door, and flung it open.
“Oh, hey, were we loud?” Luce asked as she wrinkled her nose.
“No worse than your bedroom escapades, I suppose,” I shot back sharply as I pushed the straight but messy brown hair from my face. I stared at them briefly before making my way to the coffee pot in the kitchen. Luce and her fiancé were taking the weekend to move her things.
“Hey, Amy. Sorry. Just wanted to get this done before we had to be at the club,” Jason said as he walked over to Lucy.
My best friend decided to abandon me for the moody-turned-mushy Jason, who owned the club we frequented. After a whirlwind relationship, he popped the question and she accepted. I was happy for her, but we’d been best friends since high school, and roommates since college. Eight years of sharing an apartment and she was moving in with some man. And fine, he’s okay, if you liked the rugged burly type with a beard. Or a dick. I preferred the alternative.
But even though I didn’t care for the testosterone, watching how much he loved her was cute. He pushed the blonde curls behind her ear before planting an innocent kiss on her cheek. She stared up lovingly at his strong features. Dirty blond hair, short beard, square jaw, nice shade of cognac eyes, tall, even compared to me. He was a nice specimen for the other half of the species.
It’s better this way, really. They woke me up constantly with their animal noises all hours of the night. Now I could have full reign of my lair.
Who was I kidding…I was going to miss the shit out of this bitch.
“Hey, are you going to the club later?” Luce asked as she continued shoving things in big moving boxes while Jason loaded up the dolly and rolled it outside.
Lucy started working at the club on top of her radio job, but I didn’t know how long that would last. She had a local artist buy one of the songs she wrote and had been really enjoying working as the entertainment manager at the club.
“I dunno. I didn’t intend to be up this early,” I grumbled.
Luce chuckled. “Sorry! And you came in late. Were you at The Lounge? I missed you last night.”
Since everything went down with the two of them, I had been a little withdrawn, I guess. I was a little jealous, at first, that a man stole her away, but I also loved seeing her so happy, so I wanted to give them some space.
“I worked late but stopped at The Lounge on the way home. No good action but still hung a while.”
She smiled softly before she walked to her room to keep packing it up. I put my mug on the counter and walked after her.
“Hey, listen, Luce. I’m sorry I haven’t been to the club in a few days. I’ve just been busy.”
She nodded and smiled. Another forced smile. She was never scared of confrontation, but she was treading lightly with me now because we’d never been in this place.
“Okay, that’s a lie. We both know it. I’m sorry. This fucking sucks,” I wailed as I threw my hands up in the air. Her face started to break, and she was about to speak but I stopped her. “And yes, I’m happy for you. And Iwantyou to be happy. But it’s just been you and me for so long. Then mister Big Dick Energy swoops in and steals you away.”
“Yeah, I’m in the living room, ladies,” Jason yelled.
We yelled back simultaneously, “Shut up, Jason!” We looked at each other and both started laughing so hard we were cackling.
Lucy walked to me and grabbed my shoulders. “Amy, I love you, and I’m just down the street. You’re out so much anyway, we hardly spend half an hour a day together,” she said as she tucked my hair behind my ear. “You’re my best friend, and me living with Jason won’t change that.”
“You promise?” I asked with my bottom lip poked out.
Luce pulled me to her, wrapping her arms around me, and we rocked together as we squeezed.
“I love you, bitch,” I finally told her.
Luce pulled back from our embrace. “Great, then help me pack all this shit.”
Chapter 2
Amy
