Just Friends

Should they risk their friendship for a
chance at love?

Alannah
Bailey is tired of being the boring best friend of Trenton Johnson
and decides on a makeover. After the changes, she starts dating,
but instead of being happy, Trenton acts like he wants to keep her
under lock and key.

Trenton is used to partying and having his
pick of women. Such an advantage comes with the Johnson name, their
money, and his own good looks. When he needs downtime, he depends
on his best buddy, Alannah. But he doesn’t like the changes he sees
in her lately, and by the time he figures out why, it might be too
late.

by Delaney Diamond

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © March 2015, Delaney Diamond

Delaney Diamond

Atlanta, Georgia

ISBN: 978-1-940636-12-2

This book is a work of fiction. All names,
characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s
imagination, or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely
coincidental. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by
any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to
printing, file sharing, and e-mail, without prior written
permission from Delaney Diamond.

This story takes place during the same
timeframe as
Perfect
, Book 2 of the Johnson Family
series.

Pumping his hips, Trenton Johnson gazed down
at Tonya, the beautiful young woman beneath him. A thin coat of
sweat covered his body in the dark, where only a sliver of light
managed to maneuver its way between the thick curtains covering the
windows in her bedroom. He had her wrists pinned together above her
head and one hand lifted her hips to accept each of his powerful
thrusts. Her cries of passion filled the bedroom.

“You like that?” he panted.

“Yes, Trenton! Yesss!” Almost there, tension
vibrated in her voice, and his own release pressed ever closer.

Using steady, rhythmic pumps, he sent them
both to orgasmic completion. She released a gasping wail, and his
body shuddered before collapsing on top of her. With a groan,
Trenton rolled onto his back, panting heavily. Needing a few
minutes to recover, he ran a hand over his damp face and stared up
at the rotating ceiling fan.

“Incredible,” Tonya moaned, finally catching
her breath. Limber and enthusiastic, she had turned into one of his
regular hookups from the first night he’d dived between her silky
brown thighs. He’d be ready for round two soon.

Right then, his phone rang, a special ring
tone he never ever ignored. Trenton stretched across the mattress
and picked up the phone from the table next to the bed.
“Hello?”

“I’m at home. You still coming over?” Alannah
asked.

His best friend was back in town. Trenton
smiled. “Of course.”

“When are you coming?”

“Soon.”

“How soon?”

“Soon.”

“You busy?”

He glanced at Tonya, whose frowning gaze held
a healthy dose of curiosity. “A little bit.”

“
Oh
,” she said, the word heavy with
meaning. “I’ll see you when you get here, then. Bring me something
to eat when you do.”

“All right. Bye.” Trenton replaced the phone
on the bedside table and rolled onto his back.

“Who was that?” Tonya pouted.

When he didn’t answer, she stroked his bicep
and, resting her head on his shoulder, flung one shapely leg across
his thighs. An obvious ploy to get him to relax.

Trenton stirred, disentangling himself from
her brown limbs, and she moaned her discontent. “I need to get rid
of this.” He indicated the condom with a pointing finger.

“Hurry back,” she replied lazily, with a
languid stretch.

He closed the door to the bathroom and
disposed of the condom in the toilet, relieved himself, and then
flushed.

Staring at his reflection in the mirror while
washing his hands, he thought about Tonya. She had a nice face and
great figure, and they’d been lovers on and off for eight months,
ever since she’d popped out of the cake at his fraternity brother’s
bachelor party. But they didn’t have much in common besides sexual
gymnastics, and he was bored. Probably time to move on.

He re-entered the bedroom and picked up his
discarded clothes from the floor.

“I thought you were staying, for another
round,” Tonya said quietly.

“Nah, I better go.” Trenton tugged on his
boxer briefs.

“Why?” She sat up and let the sheet fall to
her waist. “You can stay the night if you want.”

“I have things to do. Have to go see a friend
of mine.” He slipped the polo shirt over his head.

Only the rustle of his clothes could be heard
in the quiet that followed. Then, “Alannah.”

She said the name with a heavy amount of
resentment, and Trenton bristled but slipped on his shoes.

“What is it with her? What makes her so
special?”

His head snapped up, and he looked Tonya
squarely in the eye. “I don’t like your tone.”

She shrank back against the headboard. “I
didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just…”

Definitely time for him to move on. The
cracks in their perfectly orchestrated relationship were starting
to show. They’d had some great times—excellent,
freaky
times. He turned an eye to the cuffs abandoned on the floor.

But if he didn’t end this now, it could get
out of hand. He’d been in a situation before where he stayed in a
sexual relationship past its shelf life, and there was nothing
pretty about a woman who thought she deserved more than he offered.
And he sure as hell wouldn’t tolerate anyone trying to come between
him and his best friend.

Trenton picked up his phone and keys from the
nightstand, and Tonya slipped naked from the bed. Pressing her
supple body against his, she kissed his bicep, where the image of a
hissing snake circled the muscle—one of many tattoos that ran the
length of both arms.

“See you next week?” She looked up at him
with a hopeful expression on her face and placed a hand on the
waistband of his jeans.

He’d have his executive assistant send her
flowers and a nice piece of jewelry. Expensive trinkets softened
the blow and minimized the dramatic fallout of the untimely end to
an affair.

He extricated himself from her arms. “I’ll
call you.”

****

Trenton parked his white, customized Range
Rover in the driveway outside the two-bedroom townhouse Alannah
rented. Like the others in the complex, it had an attached one-car
garage. All of them, painted in bright, candy-colored paint and
white trim, looked like a row of dollhouses in the daytime, each
with a perfect little square of grass that was so well maintained
and nurtured, it looked like an area rug had been dropped in front
of the house.

On the way over he’d stopped at The Best Thai
Restaurant, a fitting name. It really was the best, and the only
Thai restaurant he and Alannah patronized.

Two weeks had passed since he’d last seen his
buddy. She’d used her vacation to visit her parents in Arizona,
where they’d moved after her father retired from the post office
and her mother from teaching. Fourteen days had never felt so long,
and he couldn’t wait to see her.

Trenton strolled up the stone-lined walkway
to the unit, second from the left in a building that held four
houses. He rang the doorbell, and when Alannah swung open the door,
his chest expanded and he couldn’t suppress the grin that spread
across his face. Seeing her always filled him with such excitement,
as if he’d won the lottery.

“Hey, stranger. What’s that?” She reached for
the bag.

He held the plastic sack out of reach. “Is
that all I’m good for? Come here, girl. I missed you.”

He grabbed her with one arm and lifted her
from the floor. He inhaled her candy-apple smell, the scent of the
sanitizer she often used.

Giggling softly, she wound her arms around
his neck and squeezed him tight. The best hugs in the world came
from his buddy.

“Glad to know I was missed,” she said
softly.

He set her back on the floor and closed the
door. “You know you were missed.”

Alannah stood before him in a pair of gray
gym shorts and a white tank top with her hair hidden under a
burgundy satin bonnet. She frowned at him. “I go away for two weeks
and you let yourself go.”

Trenton rubbed a hand across his bearded jaw.
“See what happens when you leave me? I’m lost without you.”

She ran a hand over his head. “You need a
haircut badly.”

“Careful now.” He brushed a hand over the top
of his head. “Wouldn’t want you to get seasick from all these
waves.”

“Oh lord. These women have your head so
swollen, I’m surprised you made it through the door.”

He chuckled and eyed the bonnet on her head.
“You’re ready for bed?”

“I didn’t know if you’d be staying late with
one of your hoes.”

“I told you I’d be here as soon as you let me
know you were home. And by the way, I don’t mess with hoes.”

“If you say so, but I figured I’d better get
ready for bed anyway.” Her eyes lit up and a sneaky smile curved
her lips. “And I have a surprise for you. But before I tell you my
surprise…” She sniffed the air and eyed the bag in his hand. “I
smell Thai.”

This time she managed to snatch the bag, and
he laughed as she scurried off in the direction of the kitchen. He
trailed her to the pint-sized space decorated with mahogany
cabinets and stainless steel appliances. Her home had an open floor
plan, with the kitchen, dining area—made up of a small round table
and four chairs with off-white covers—and living room bleeding
right into each other.

“Lemonade?” Alannah asked.

“Sounds good.” Trenton leaned against the
counter near the sink while Alannah removed the contents of the bag
onto the breakfast bar. Eyeing the row of twenty-odd recipe books
of various sizes nestled on the shelf above the microwave, he said,
“You added to your collection.”

She nodded. “I picked up two cookbooks on
Southwest cooking when I was in Arizona.” She removed two plates
from the cabinets and placed them on the Formica counter.

“How was Arizona?” They’d talked a few times
while she was gone, but for the most part he’d left her alone to
enjoy her time off.

“Nothing special. My sisters flew in the last
few days, so the whole family spent time together. We had a blast.”
She inhaled deeply. “This smells so good. Who cooked? Aat or
Chayo?”

Their favorite chef was Aat. They always
increased the tip in the jar at the register whenever he cooked.
The meals were hit or miss when Chayo worked in the kitchen.

“Aat, and when he found out you were back in
town, he threw in extra basil rolls. He’s in love with you.”

She laughed, tossing a glance at him over her
shoulder. “Stop.”

“He is. If you ever show him the slightest
interest, I’m sure he’ll leave his wife.” He watched her pull
utensils from drawers and then start scooping out brown rice. “So,
what’s my surprise?” he asked.

She turned to face him, and her hazel eyes
met his hesitantly. “I’ve been doing some thinking. I’m not getting
any younger.”

“None of us are.”

“And…well, I want to make some changes in my
life. So…you know what, it’s better for me to show you than tell
you.” She removed the bonnet from her head and released her hair.
Running her fingers through the strands, she sifted them loose
until they tumbled past her shoulders. “What do you think?”

Trenton took a good look at her. He walked
over and lifted a few soft strands and rubbed them between his
fingers. “You colored it.”

“Yes.” Alannah bit the inside of her bottom
lip. “What do you think?”

“I like it,” he said slowly. The vibrant
auburn brightened her light amber skin tone. “Brings more attention
to your freckles.” Rust-colored spots lay splattered across her
nose and cheeks. He grinned and tweaked her nose.

She slapped his hand away. “Really? Ugh.” She
hated her freckles, but he thought they were cute. She turned
around so he could see her hair from the back and pushed her
fingers through the shiny strands, shaking her head so the thick
mass rippled back and forth across her back. “I had it cut in
layers, too.” Turning back around, she said, “I know it’s pretty
drastic. Well, for me it’s drastic, but I only had a few inches cut
off. The craziest thing is the color. Auburn. Can you believe it?
After having dull brown hair all my life, I went with auburn.” Her
eyes brightened and filled with the excitement of the change.

“It’s an attention getter,” Trenton said
evenly. “Hey, where are your glasses?” Being nearsighted, she
seldom went without her glasses. Every time she took them off, she
walked around squinting.