Page 32 of Stroked
My mouth went dry, and I struggled momentarily to form words. “Same to you.” That was the best I could do. Was that lying? Deflecting? Either way, it was my shitty effort to avoid what was being asked of me while still maintaining her privacy. I knew plenty of women who were closeted, some even married to men. Who was I to out someone? I was a bitch sometimes, but I wouldn’t do that. As much as I didn’t want to lie for myself, I decided I could, at least, pretend for her.
“If you will excuse me, I need to go mingle with these people. Hopefully, they will buy some pieces. You two carry on without me. I think you would get along well, and I am always telling Val she needs more friends. She works so much.” Maria walked off, taking Filipe with her.
“Thank you. I am so sorry.” Valentina’s words sounded sincere, but her face was still as relaxed and smiley as when her mother was still standing with us.
“It’s fine. I imagine we shouldn’t talk about this here. I need to go find Lucy and make sure Jason isn’t scaring the servers. Excuse me.”
I turned on my heel and searched the room for Lucy. Spotting her walking arm in arm with Jason, I walked over, sure to appear casual and in control.
“Hey, this is all so bright and fun. So, is everything, ya know?” Lucy asked.
I walked beside her so I could smile and nod to the patrons as they walked past. “She’s not out and didn’t realize I worked here. A little awkward to say the least, since the artist is her mother.”
“Well, she’s not the first person to be in the closet. Not everyone is like you, Amy. What did you say?”
“I said okay. What could I say? Even if I wanted to argue,” I said through clenched teeth and the best fake smile I could manage, “I can’t very well do it here, now can I?”
“Does it matter?” Jason asked.
We both shot him a look and my fake smile disappeared. Lucy smacked his arm.
“Don’t listen to him.” After a pause, she asked, “But, does it?”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just take his side on the biggest night of my career.” My forced smile found its way back to my face as more patrons wandered in front of us.
“I’m just saying, since when do you care about any woman?”
I kept looking out into the crowd, holding my smile. I didn’t know how to answer. Normally, none of this would have mattered at all because even if one of my flings showed up, we likely wouldn’t even speak. But for some reason, this did matter. But it had only been days since I met her.
“Are you ignoring me now? Because I will make a scene.”
“It shouldn’t matter, but it does.”
“Awww,” Lucy gushed.
“Don’t do that. Clearly, this is not anawwsituation. Also, I think The Suit lost its magic. I blame you.” I wore it for luck and while the opening was going well, my personal life was going to shit.
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, just talk to her. Not here, but you know what I mean. If it bugs you, it’s worth talking about, don’t you think?”
I considered her words. It would be easier to just forget I met her and go back to my normal one-night encounters. Even though the thought of having any kind of deep conversation formed knots in my stomach, the thought of not speaking to her again was even worse.
“By the way, you clean up nice, Jason. I appreciate you wearing real clothes, instead of jeans and a t-shirt.”
“I was bribed by your friend. But thank you. How long are we staying, by the way? This doesn’t count as dinner, right?”
“He’s right,” Lucy said. “We need to run by the club anyway and it’s going to be hell getting back to our side of town. I hate traffic. How you do this commute is beyond me.”
“Oh, fine, leave meagainfor Jason. I see where I stand. I told you to get dinner before you came.”
“We didn’t have time to stop on the way down. We have jobs, too.” Jason was clearly getting hangry.
“Oh, shut up, bitch, and give me a hug.” Lucy pulled me close, enveloping me in her warm embrace. “I love you. Just get through the night, text her later, then text me. We probably won’t be at the club still, once you’re done here. See you tomorrow night?”
I drew in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “Yes, see you tomorrow. I have to be here for the official opening to the public but won’t be here all night. I have a feeling I’ll need a drink. Thanks for coming all the way down. You too, Jason. Get our girl home safely.”
Jason reached out and shook my hand. I wanted to hate him, but he had his moments. And I couldn’t help but grin as I watched him escort Lucy outside. He was such a grumpy ass to everyone but her. He treated her like fine China. Well, in public anyway. I heard otherwise when they slept over at our place.
The rest of the night, I was sure to stay on the other side of the room from Valentina and tried to ignore her, but every time I looked around to make sure we weren’t closing in on each other, I couldn’t help but stare briefly. She looked exquisite in the bright dress that hugged her round perky breasts and flowed gently over her curvy hips. She caught me watching her several times and would quickly look away.
