by Smoke, Lucy
“I’m glad Leo’s okay,” I said, sighing and resting against him. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“It’s all thanks to you,” Preston said.
I turned my head and kissed the base of his throat, raising my face and reaching up with my free hand to grab the back of his head and guide him down to my mouth. He let me control the pace, touching him as I wanted to, holding him how I needed to. It was everything I could have wanted, everything I could have ever imagined, but only in my craziest, wildest dreams.
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Turn the page for a free excerpt from Lucy Smoke’s Dark Contemporary Romance, Expressionate.
Expressionate
Chapter One: Love
Present Day
21 Years Old
The light bulb flickers overhead as I flip on the bedroom light switch, and Beverly strides through the place in her ginormous high heels. The aroma of her floral perfume permeates the apartment causing me to wrinkle my nose. It’s not that the smell is unpleasant – it’s simply overwhelming, like choking on dollar store air freshener when she passes by. At least I know she'll pay her rent; my last roommate moved out without telling me and she still owed me two months in back rent. Now that I think about it, that's probably why she moved out while I was at work.
"It's not the best," Beverly states, clutching her iPhone-whatever-number-they're-on-now, and takes another snapshot of a random place in the apartment before quickly texting it to her dozens of friends. Of course, none of her dozens of friends want to room with her either because she's bitchy, self-absorbed, and kind of a twit. I don't care about any of that though. I spend most of my time in my room, at work, or in class – the few that I actually have to attend in person. Most of my classes are online.
"The rent's cheap," I say, and Beverly looks up.
"Hmmm, then it'll do, I guess." She raises her phone to take a selfie. "New apartment!" she says with a wink and a smile as she takes the picture. When she lowers it to look at the screen, she squeals with glee. "It's perfect. Oh, my followers are gonna love this one on Instagram."
I sigh and take a step inside the bedroom. The window overlooks the back parking lot. It's nothing fancy, and the neighborhood isn't high class, but I've lived in worse places. It's fairly safe and I can get in without any sort of guarantor or cosigner. That's the main issue. I won't ask my father for help and Beverly doesn't understand how to do half the shit it takes to live on her own. She knows how to hand over money, and I don't mind that. I'll pay the bills as long as she gives me her half. Her face pops back in the doorway, blonde hair bouncing over her shoulder.
"When can we move in?" she asks.
"The landlord said we could move in tomorrow if we pay the deposit today," I reply.
"How much is that?"
"Three hundred."
She nods. "Okay, I'm going to head down to the ATM. I'll be right back." She scoots out the door faster than I can say anything. I guess we're moving in tomorrow then.
When Beverly returns, we head down again to meet with the landlord – an elderly person with white-gray hair and black bushy eyebrows. I still can't tell if it's a man or a woman. By the long hair, I'm inclined to think woman, but men can have long hair too. That, and there are a few scraggly looking hairs poking out of the he-she's chin. He-she tells us to call them Jordan. A gender-neutral name for a confusingly gender-neutral look. I nod and thank the he-she. Beverly is out the door before the ink is dry on the lease – telling me she’ll be around later.
"See you tomorrow." I wave absently to our new landlord – or landlady? – as I head out. As I walk across the parking lot to my old car, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I frown down at the text message from my boyfriend, Todd. That is, if you can call someone I barely see and only have sex with every now and then my boyfriend.
Todd: I know you've been really busy lately and we just haven't seen each other, but I'd like to see you tonight. Can I take you out? Pick you up around 7?
I grimace, my fingers sliding over the screen as I debate. I’m not really in the mood, but he’s right. We haven’t seen each other in a while, and I know there’s something I need to do. If not for myself, then for him. I shoot back a quick reply, agreeing to the time. Better now than months down the road, when he still thinks there’s a chance that I can love him.
I drop my phone in the cup holder between the front seats of my shitty Buick and turn the ignition. Backing out slowly, I watch as a medium sized U-Haul, followed by a couple more smaller cars, pulls in after me. A dark head of hair appears out the side of one of the cars – a Jeep – and a flash of golden hair in the seat next to the man catches my attention. It's a young girl, probably a teenager. She looks like a ray of sunshine – not unlike my sister – while the guy in the driver's seat is massive, barely fitting in the tiny excuse for a vehicle. Probably one of the new tenants, I decide as I turn out of the parking lot and head back to my dorm. Tonight will be the last night I ever sleep there, and I’m more than ready to get it over with.
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Also by Lucy Smoke
Iris Boys Series (completed)
Now or Never
Power & Choice
Leap of Faith
Cross my Heart
The Break Series (completed)
Study Break
Tough Break
Spring Break
The Break Series Boxset (featuring a special after story)
The Dark Maji Series
Fortune Favors the Cruel
Blessed Be the Wicked
Twisted is the Crown (Coming Fall 2019)
Nerys Newblood Series
Daimon
Necrosis
Resurrection (Coming Soon)
Sky Cities Series
Heart of Tartarus
Shadow of Deception
Sword of Damage (Coming Soon)
Standalones:
Expressionate
About the Author
Lucy Smoke is an indie author that focuses on romance of many genres - including, but not limited to, reverse harem, science fiction, fantasy, contemporary, dark romance, and new adult romance.
She lives in the Carolina region of the United States in relative simplicity with her dog, Hiro, and a plethora of stuffed penguins.
Only in her wildest fantasies did she ever truly think she would become an author. But now that her wildest fantasies have been brought to life, she endeavors to come up with more stories that satisfy her increasing need to put tears in people’s eyes and her name on their shelves.
To learn more, you can visit any of the social media outlets in search of her name or visit her website at www.lucysmoke.com