Chapter One
Riana Albury stood frozen at the doorway of her bedroom, stunned. She couldn’t move her legs let alone avert her eyes from the scene that played before her. The shock had her rooted to the floor. Her eyes bulged out and her mouth was ajar. There was a buzzing noise in her ears and dinner from her boyfriend’s favorite Thai restaurant that was two subway trains out of her way spilled onto the floor after slipping through her fingers.
And yet, in all the chaos, only one thought filled her mind—a porn production studio would pay top dollar for the noises Claire was making. And not only for not only the noises she made but for the moves she made on Steve as well—evident by his horse-like grunts he made as she rode him like a professional horse rider.
What did they call them…ah yes, jockeys, she thought.
Riana turned around to the floor-to-ceiling mirror. Steve had insisted on her getting that room just because of it. Claire was leaning over him, one hand pressed to his chest and the other behind her holding onto something between his legs, her chestnut hair in his face, and the breast that was free of Steve’s hand swaying in sync with her hair.
Claire made a shrieking noise and arched her back forward, throwing her head back. Steve rose with one hand on her breast, the other between their bodies. He grabbed the swaying breast in his mouth and sucked hard on her nipple, making Claire scream. Then he made a low shout, pushed Claire up with his hips, and fell back on the bed taking her with him.
Riana turned back to look at their sweaty, flushed bodies still in a daze. After a few minutes of her standing there and them finally catching their breaths, they began to laugh and Claire rolled off Steve’s body.
“That was wonderful,” she purred.
“Yeah, better than last time. Claire, you are a dream come true.”
She turned to face him and pushed up on her elbow. “It’s the least I could do. I feel sorry for you because I know Riana will only let you fuck her missionary style.”
Riana felt her heart push forward in her chest as if trying to escape the stabbing pain from Claire’s words.
“Damn, how long have you guys being dating…six months?” She declared like it was an amazing fact. Like a newly discovered, terminal disease. Then she fell back on the bed. “Six months of boring sex? I admire your strength.”
He snorted then quickly rolled on top of her. “I was her first and it would have been a fucked up move if I didn’t stay in the relationship for at least a little while. From the moment I saw her, I wanted to screw her. Damn, she has a body to kill for.”
Under him, Claire turned on her belly, and then pushed up on all fours forcing Steve to move up on his knees. The buzzing grew to a bell ring in Riana’s head, her heart pounding faster against her ribs.
“Wait, so you made her your girlfriend to get between her legs and you think leaving her after she gave up the goods was a fucked up move and what we are doing isn’t?” She laughed. “I like you style.”
“And she’s paying the bills and leaving me all the free time,” he said as he slapped her ass, making her shriek with laughter, “to fuck you.”
Claire laughed. “You are a bastard.”
Steve’s hips jerked forward making Claire whine. “And you are a bitch, fucking your roommate’s boyfriend.”
“You don’t love her.”
He chuckled. “Never claimed I did. But I do love her tight, innocent pussy.”
“Steve, stop.” Claire turned her head, trying to look past him. “What’s that hissing noise?”
Hissing noise? Riana paid attention to the noise. It was coming from her. Was she seriously hyperventilating?
I am not having a panic attack! Riana chastised herself.
Steve turned around. His eyes grew wide and his hips stopped moving. “Babe!”
Claire scrambled away from him off the bed, pulling the bed sheet with her. “Riana, how long have you been standing there?”
Too long, Riana thought as she took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. For too long she’d been standing there watching her roommate and her boyfriend betray her.
Steve quickly pulled on his boxers and moved toward her. “Babe, it’s not what you think. You know I love you. Claire is just a fuck.”
You know I love you. His words rang in her head, clearing the haze but building the blur in her eyes.
Was she really that stupid? How could she be so blind? He was using her for her money, her home... she felt her body cringe with disgust. He was using her body for fun. When he looked at her he saw nothing but her tight innocent... she cringed again.
“You never loved me?” Riana cried facing him.
Steve closed the distance between them in three easy strides. “Oh babe, I do love you.”
Claire’s snorted. “Sometimes Riana, I can’t believe you got a full ride to NYU. Don’t be so naive!”
Steve turned to her, his eyes narrowed to slits. “Shut the fuck up, Claire!”
She let out the most evil laugh Riana had ever heard. “It’s the truth. The genius—and I use that term loosely—didn’t know we were fucking in her bed. For four months!”
Four months. In my bed! Riana felt like she’d been punched in the gut! “Oh God no!” She doubled over, pressing her hands on her knees as she struggled for breath.
“Babe…” Steve started, placing his hand on her shoulder. The contact stung.
She jerked away. “Get the hell off me!”
Steve took a step back. “Babe, please…” he begged, his face showing exactly how panicked he was.
If she hadn’t heard them laugh at her earlier, she would have thought the panic was because he was afraid of losing her. But no longer. She knew now he was only afraid of losing his carefree, easy going life.
Riana shook her head, dislodging the tears in her eyes. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t stand to look at them for one more minute. She needed to get out, to breathe.
Without another word, she ran out to the living room, and then out the front door. She didn’t even bother to take the elevator. She pushed the door to the stairway open and ran down the six flights of steps in her apartment complex to the lobby, crying. She ran into the streets and straight onto a bus seconds before the door closed. She didn’t know where it was going. All she knew was she needed to get away from them.
She took the seat in the back then she leaned forward and cried her eyes out.
* * * *
Riana wiped her wet cheeks dry before she knocked on Loraine’s apartment door. She couldn’t let Loraine see her tears. Right now, she couldn’t take being told ‘I told you so’. She’d always suspected the two of them.
She and Loraine had taken the same art course at New York University, and that was all they had in common. But it didn’t stop them from being best friends. Loraine was a party girl and her studies came second. For the three years Riana had known her, she had never seen Loraine miss even one party advertised on the notice boards. But she had no problem missing lectures and Riana didn’t mind getting notes for her in exchange for stories about her exciting escapades. Sometimes Riana envied her relaxed life. She might be that relaxed if she had parents to pay for her studies and didn’t live in the constant fear of losing her scholarship for making one stupid mistake.
So for Riana, studies came first, then her job, and finally her social life. Riana’s chest tightened. The only social life she’d had was her unfaithful boyfriend Steve.
She should have listened to Loraine.
The one time Riana had let down her hair and gone to a party, she’d invited Claire and Steve along. Loraine had only spent two minutes in their company before she’d told Riana that they were screwing behind her back. Riana had just laughed it off to Loraine’s overactive imagination. She’d loved him and he loved…
“Oh, God.” Riana’s head dropped, hitting the door with a loud thud as fresh tears burned the back of her eyes
Claire was right. She didn’t deserve a scholarship. She was the dumbest creature to ever exist!
The door flew open and Riana stumbled forward. She grabbed onto the door frame to keep from falling face first on the wooden floor.
“Riana…what the hell?”
